Sony hints at OLED TVs for 2008

Another thin-TV standard looms on the horizon.

Sony is looking at ways to bring flat-panel TVs based around organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, Sony chief executive Sir Howard Stringer and Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow said in an interview.

"It is not as far off as you might think," Glasgow said. "Perhaps next year."

Sony has managed to make large OLED screens. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony is showing off a 27-inch OLED panel, along with other small OLED screens.

Still, a lot of work remains, and both executives emphasised that Sony is not announcing products or a definitive commitment to OLED TVs. The company, for instance, has to figure out how to mass-manufacture them at a price consumers are willing to pay. SED, a TV format promoted by Toshiba, has been delayed several times, and critics say that when it comes out, Toshiba will have challenges making SED competitive in price with plasma or LCD.

Materials in an OLED display emit light when an electrical current is applied. Because of their luminescent nature, OLED displays don't require a backlight, consume less power and can result in thinner screens than LCDs, which are currently favoured in the flat-panel industry.

To date, manufacturers have used OLEDs for screens inside phones and MP3 players. Samsung, like Sony, has also shown off larger OLED screens that can function as TVs.

They are "breathtakingly bright", Stringer said of OLEDs. "The reality is connected to price, but it is so beautiful we want people to see it." If Sony does come out with an OLED TV, it would be likely to come out in Japan first, Glasgow said.