While LG and Samsung are showing off their OLED prototypes here at CES in Las Vegas, Sony is apparently moving in a different direction, announcing a 55-inch prototype TV that is based on Crystal LED technology.

The Crystal LED technology works much like those humongous screens used at sports arenas and music festivals, in which an individual LED represents each individual pixel. 

On the prototype TV, ultrafine LEDs are mounted behind each of the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) colours — equivalent to the number of pixels — totalling approximately six-million LEDs for full HD resolution. The RGB LED light source is mounted directly on the front of the display, which according to Sony, has a dramatic effect on light-use efficiency.

Sony promises 3.5 times higher contrast ratio, approximately 1.4 times wider colour gamut, and roughly 10 times faster video image response time, all while lowering power consumption as compared to existing LCD displays. 

Apparently, Sony will be able to make these things big and inexpensively, which could help explain why the Japanese giant seems to have lost interest in the somewhat costly OLED display tech.

No word yet on when we will actually lay our eyes on the first Crystal LED TVs at retailers.