New Sony OLED TV KDL-ZX with bigger display screen coming?

A Sony OLED TV is expected to be previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 (CES) at Las Vegas in January 2009. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is the latest and most expensive display technology for consumer gadgets yet. The price? Nothing official, but it is expected that the Sony OLED TV will come with a launch price tag above $2000.

Photo: Sony XEL-1 OLED TV; KDL-ZX to come soon

The new Sony OLED TV is expected to have a screen size of 21 inches, say some reports on the web. The Sony OLED TV may come in the KDL-ZX series. The TV may have an OLED TV screen with 1000000:1 contrast ratio.  It may have more than 720 p resolution. Sony had recently showed off an LED display at a recent technical expo in Tokyo, and it is likely that the company will use the same display on the new Sony KDL-ZX OLED TV.

Sony's current OLED TV model

Sony already has an OLED TV in the market – the Sony XEL-1. The screen size of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV is a mere 11 inches, and this has been in the market for nearly two years now. Earlier this year, LG of Korea launched a 15-inch size OLED TV, and plans to launch a bigger OLED TV later. So, for Sony, improving upon its 11-inch OLED TV is a question of maintaining its technology superiority.

oled-display.net reported that Sony may launch the OLED TV with the name Sony KDL-ZX 27 at the CES. The website said that the information is from a 24-page document filed by Sony with CES on what gadgets it will display at the CES. The site added that the latest Sony OLED TV will have full HD 1920×1080 Pixels. It said the TV will also have a 10-millimeter thickness.

OLED is seen as the next big thing in the evolution of display technologies. Currently, the TV display technologies in use include CRT (cathode ray tube), LCD, Plasma and LED. OLED benefits include lower power consumption and higher picture clarity and resolution.

The OLED screen uses a display surface which has organic compounds, which emit light on stimulation. They do not require backlighting, and hence save power. They also have much higher contrast ratios than earlier display technologies.

Though OLED TVs for the consumer audience offer the highest clarity and lowest power consumption, the steep price will be a deterrent. Already, the price of the Sony XEL-1 has kept its sales down. It is expected that increasing adoption of OLED TVs will bring down their prices, and by 2016, they will be as cheap as LCD TVs are today. It will be a challenge for Sony to keep the display spirits high and keep pushing the product to enthusiasts to stay on top of the consumer electronics market.

Some features and tech specs of the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV include:

3 millimeter thin panel
Screen turns off pixels when reproducing black
Connectivity options: 2 HDMI inputs, a digital tuner, and a Memory Stick media slot
Slim stand
No backlight
Lower power consumption by up to 40% per panel square inch
Display resolution of 960 x 540 yields the same pixel density as a 1080p 40
Virtual surround sound
S-Force Front Surround enhancement
Rapid panel response time
Proprietary color filters
Enhanced Xross Media Bar (XMB) for easy navigation across the television’s menus, controls, and user settings
Color expression: 10-bit panel creates 64x the level of color expression compared to an 8-bit panel.
DMeX functionality
Video Link module (sold separately).
Viewing angle: Wide 178 degree viewing angle