Sony XEL-1 Not As Long Lasting As First Thought

Looks like Sony has some explaining to do to the masses, as a private research firm has discovered that the Sony’s XEL-1 does not last as long as claimed. Apparently, DisplaySearch ran a couple of XEL-1 units for 1,000 hours, followed by measuring the drop in brightness. After some extrapolation, they realized that it will take 17,000 hours for a display to lose half its brightness – the standard measure of display life used. This is in stark contrast to Sony’s claim of 30,000 hours, which equals to 10 years of typical use. While this might stir up some negative press for Sony, it won’t affect their bottomline much since the XEL-1 retails for $2,499.99, leaving just a handful of people who are able to afford it. After all, this isn’t the first time Sony duped the masses. Remember the PS2 with claims that it will be able to offer Toy Story level graphics?