Sony - Page 8

As expected, Sony finally launched its first OLED TV (well, except the 2008 11" XEL-1). The XBR-A1E Bravia OLED TV features a flat 4K OLED panel. The TVs are based on the Android TV platform and feature HDR (both HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR) and a built-in speaker which is part of the stand behind the TV to create a stand-less form factor. Sony will offer the TVs at 55", 65" or 77" and the TVs will ship later in 2017.

The OLED panel themselves are produced by LG Display. According to reports, LGD agreed to supply Sony with 100,000 panels each year.

San Francisco based Osterhout Design Group (ODG) officially announced two new AR headsets, both based on OLED microdisplays. The high-end R-9 provides a 50-degrees FOV based on a FHD (1080p) OLED microdisplay. This device is based on ODG's own Project Horizon platform, and will ship in Q2 2017 for around $1,799.

ODG R-9 headset

The R-8 offers a smaller FOV (40-degrees) and a lower resolution OLED (720p). The R-8 will ship in the second half of 2017 for "less than $1,000". Both headsets are based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 CPU and support Qualcomm's Snapdragon VR SDK and PTC's Vuforia AR platform.

In December 2016 we posted that Forbes speculates that Sony may announce an OLED TV lineup at CES 2017 - and this was confirmed by LG Display and the OLED Association a few days later.

Sony 56-inch OLED TV Prototype, 2014

Korean news site ETNews now updates that the supply contract between LGD and Sony was officially signed. LGD will begin to supply OLED TV panels to Sony in Q2 2017, and has agreed to supply Sony with about 100,000 TVs each year.

A couple of days ago we reported on an interesting story at Forbes that speculates that Sony may announce an OLED TV lineup at CES 2017, using LGD's panels. Forbes now posted a second article with more details on Sony's OLED TV plans - provided by Barry Young from the OLED Association.

Sony 56-inch OLED TV Prototype, 2014

According to Barry, Sony plans to launch two models - a 55" one and 65" one - and both will support 4K. LGD will start supplying Sony with panels in Q2 2016, and Sony will start shipping those TVs in Q3 or Q4 of 2017.

According to an interesting story at Forbes, Sony may announce an OLED TV lineup at CES 2017 (in a month's time). The company may have already done so at a private event in the UK, but at CES it will do so (according to the speculation, at least) in public.

Sony 56-inch 4K OLED TV prototype - 2013

Sony will be using panels produced by LGD. Sony is actually producing its own large-size AMOLED panels, but only for its professional monitor range. Sony had a consumer OLED TV program, and used to collaborate with Panasonic on that, but that JV was cancelled in 2013. Since then Sony's TV unit produced and demonstrated several high-end LCDs using innovative technology in an effort to match LG's OLED TV performance.

Sony launched its PlayStation VR HMD last week in Japan and according to Media Create over 51,500 units were sold within one week - over 90% of available stock. Most consumers chose the bundle which includes the headset, a camera and the Move controllers.

Sony's PlayStation VR uses a 5.7" FHD (1920x1080) AMOLED display (produced by Samsung Display), 360-degree tracking and 3D audio. It is exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and costs around $400 (headset only).

Sony and Panasonic announced several new cameras that sport OLED viewfinders. The three new cameras all use XGA OLED microdisplays (probably the same microdisplay).

First up we have Sony's a99 Mark II, a high-end 42.9-mp A-mount SLT camera that features 4K video capture, 5-axis image stabilization, 79 AF points and a newly designed shutter. The a99 Mark II will ship in November 2016 for $3,200 (body only).

In 2012, Sony demonstrated a new micro-LED based display technology called Crystal-LED. These displays use ultra-fine RGB LEDs to create a self-emitting display. Sony actually demonstrated a prototype 55" Full-HD Crystal-LED TV.

Sony never mentioned this technology again, but last week during the InfoComm trade show, Sony unveiled a large tiled outdoor 9.75 x 2.74 meter 8Kx2K display based on Crystal LED technology (Sony calls this display Canvas Display, or CLEDIS).

Sony canceled their OLED TV JV with Panasonic back in 2013, and since then the company is still developing OLED technologies, and is reportedly in talks with LGD to supply OLED panels - but currently the company is focused on LCD TVs. Sony says that they "haven't reached the full potential of LCDs".

At CES, Sony introduced a new technology that they call Backlight Master Drive (BMD) - which is a new backlighting system that improves the color and brightness of LCDs - and also enables LCDs to better support HDR content. BMD TVs can go up to 4,000 nits (!) - and special "software algorithms and intelligent local dimming" help improve contrast. Sony is specifically trying to compete with the image quality of LG's new OLED TVs.

On March 2014, Sony unveiled the Morpheus VR HMD system, specifically designed for the PS4 console. The original prototype system shown by Sony used a 5" Full-HD (1920x1080) LCD panel, but reports said that Sony plans to replace the LCD with an OLED display in the production model.

Now Sony unveiled a newer prototype of the Morpheus VR headset, which indeed uses an OLED display - a 5.7" 1920x1080 one. This OLED has lower latency (under 18 ms) and a higher field of view. Sony also said that the headset will launch in the first half of 2016. This is not a huge surprise - OLED enables a much faster display which is crucial for VR applications. Oculus's VR system also uses an OLED panel.