OLED: Taking a few roses of out of the picture

If you're a home theater enthusiast, then you've probably been following the fantastically positive buzz that emerged (read examples here, here, and here) from reviews of the first commercially available OLED TV from Sony, the XEL-1.

However, it seems their season in the sun is over as quickly. Various reports have started to surface (notably in Gizmodo, and also here and http://hdguru.com/sony-xel-1-finally-a-critical-review/242) that challenge Sony's claim about the lifespan of their OLED panel, and also highlight issues with the viewing angle and brightness of the XEL-1. And let's not forget that the XEL-1 is an 11-inch display that costs $2,500.

That said, OLED still hold considerable promise for the future of high definition technology in home entertainment. Supreme black levels (sorry, Pioneer, looks like the XEL-1 is more kuro than Kuro) and motion resolution, and respecatble color reproduction are key stengths of the XEL-1, and it is probable that with Sony and Samsung already closing in on each other in the OLED race, these initial problems will be overcome soon, and we can expect OLEDs to start taking displacing LCDs and plasmas in living rooms by, say, 2010 or 2011.

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