LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sony Corp. said it is introducing to the U.S. market a high-quality organic LED television only as thick as three stacked credit cards.

 

The 11-inch (28-centimeter) XEL-1 television, which the company announced Sunday will go on sale this month, is Sony's first television for the U.S. to use organic light-emitting diode technology, which enables superior picture quality on super-thin displays. The company also is demonstrating a prototype 20-inch (51-centimeter) version at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas.

 

The XEL-1 has a contrast ratio — the difference between maximum and minimum brightness — of 1 million to one, because pixels can be turned off completely for a near-perfect black. That compares with 30,000 to one for a good conventional flat-panel TV, which cannot show a perfect black.

 

The high picture quality comes at a hefty price: about $2,500 (euro1,700) for the XEL-1. It sold for $1,700 (euro1,150) at its launch in Japan in December.