As promised at CES early this year, Sony will launch the 11-inch Drive XEL-1 OLED TV in 2007. December 1st will be its official launch in Japan where it will retail for ¥ 200,000, which equates to roughly $1,700. Though that's rather pricey for such a small display, the little screen has some pretty amazing specs. Most dominant is the OLED's 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which crushes even the current best of the best (Pioneer's Project Kuro Elite plasmas, which are only 20,000:1). Though the XEL-1 isn't capable of real HD, the 960 x 540 resolution display is just 3-mm thick, which looks a little unreal.
The stand beneath the OLED panel houses a terrestrial digital tuner, a pair of 1-watt speakers, and inputs for HDMI, USB, and Ethernet. Though the XEL-1 is more of a high technology art piece than practical TV, it is both exciting and encouraging to see the first generation of great new technology hit the street.