Crystal LED displays created by Sony

A lot of focus has been placed on the emergence of large scale Organic LED (OLED) displays in recent weeks, but the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas has also heralded the arrival of a new technology, known as Crystal LED.

Japanese firm Sony is behind the hybrid technology which combines the best bits of LCD and LED systems in order to create a viable alternative to OLED in the future.

With a full HD 1080p resolution, the prototype displays feature a staggering six million LED units, which makes them very bright and helps to improve the quality of the image that the viewer can experience.

Because the LEDs are being used as the pixels themselves, there is no need for a separate backlighting system. This in turn means that Crystal LED displays from Sony should be able to match OLED screens from rivals like LG and Samsung, when it comes to brightness and contrast levels, while energy efficiency will also be high on the agenda.

It is worth pointing out that Sony is not putting all of its resources into developing Crystal LED screens, because it is also a key proponent of OLED development and so it will eventually end up with commercial versions of both types of technology.

The one thing which could ultimately justify the development of Crystal LED over OLED is the price, although Sony has been cagey on this point. There is no doubt that it will appear on some high end displays, but whether these will be able to undercut OLEDs in terms of cost and still provide equivalent performance, remains to be seen.

The good news is that innovations in the world of LED displays are not in short supply and the next few years should provide some interesting new screen types to discuss.