HDTeleVision Review

Sony’s OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV, the XEL-1, is truly the next big thing in television technology. It boasts a 3 millimeter thin panel and offers unparalleled picture quality with amazing contrast, outstanding brightness, exceptional color reproduction, and a rapid response time. It delivers astounding performance in all the key picture quality categories. OLED technology can completely turn off pixels when reproducing black, resulting in more outstanding dark scene detail and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. OLED also creates unmatched color expression and detail and enables rapid response times for smooth and natural reproduction of fast moving images like those found in sports and action movies. The XEL-1 features the latest connectivity options including two HDMI™ inputs, a digital tuner, and a Memory Stick® media slot for viewing high-resolution photos.

The organic material itself is formed using two competing processes — small molecule, developed by Kodak, and dispersed polymer, first invented at Cambridge University and taken privately by spin-off CDT (recently acquired by Sumimoto Chemical of Japan). All OLED display manufacturers license one or the other of these two processes.

The base, which is surprisingly heavy, is where the speaker system is located. The rear panel connectors are also minimal, with two HDMI 1.3 inputs for external video and audio sources, a single RF connector for analog and digital TV signals, and a USB connector that’s labeled “for service only” unless the optional Bravia DMex module is connected. There’s also a side-mounted 1/8” mini stereo jack for headphones.

Perhaps the most significant thing about the XEL-1 is that it’s the first TV I’ve tested in recent years that has no analog video input connections whatsoever — no composite, no S-video, not even a component connection. It’s HDMI all the way, or nothing.

The supplied remote is also super-thin, but it has large buttons (hooray!) that are easy to find in a darkened room. In addition to Volume and Channel controls (set off by themselves), there are four silver buttons for Options (menu adjustments), Input (HDMI1/2 or TV), Return, and Favorites (pre-selected channels).

he Wide button lets you choose between three different aspect ratios – Full, Wide Zoom, and Zoom. Full is used to show 4:3 and 16:9 content in their native aspect ratios, while Zoom fills the width of the screen with 4:3 content and Wide Zoom is good for filling the screen with letterboxed 4:3 programs.

There’s not too much to adjust in the Picture menu. Basically, you get the Big 5 settings, plus four different color temperatures (Cool, Neutral, Warm 1, and Warm 2). You’ll also find three steps each (plus off) of analog and MPEG noise reduction, three steps of black levels enhancement (contrast expansion), three different and unidentified gamma settings, and a Clear White function that boosts contrast at the high end.

Like other Sony products, the XEL-1 supports the xvYCC extended color gamut, and you can switch that mode on and off from the Picture menu. Of course, you’d need video content encoded in xvYCC in the first place, of which there is exactly none right now (and isn’t likely to be any time soon).

Price: $2,499.99

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