A/V Veteran

When Sony showed something they called Crystal LED at a CES few years ago, we all thought it looked intriguing. But then it disappeared. Apparently, however, Sony has continued work on this technology, which (in the short and sweet version) involves making the LEDs small enough that they become the self-emitting elements themselves, in theory offering the benefits of OLEDs but at much higher brightness.

This year Sony showed an immense, 32 x 9-foot display consisting of a blend of smaller Crystal LED panels linked together seamlessly. Each of the RGB LED diodes were said to be 3 microns in diameter. Now called CLEDIS (Crystal LED Integrated System), the technology is not a prototype but is available now. It’s primarily for commercial applications.

When I commented that it was likely to be too pricey for a consumer, the Sony rep responded that “Lebron James is a consumer!” While this development appears to be an exciting possibility for the real-world consumer market, considerable technical and cost barriers must still to be overcome before we’ll see it at Best Buy.