It's been mentioned before in this thread, possibly by xrox, that PHOLEDs are not only highly efficient, but also have poorer spectral purity than the regular type. However, it shouldn't be too hard to shift their output spectra into the usable zone, but that may entail a loss of efficiency.
That's what Sony did with the "blue" panel on the XEL-1. The problem is that the people who don't mind dirty tricks like that are not the same people who would pay $2500 for an 11" screen. :o

In OLED display manufacturing they use small "sheets of substrate", I read.
So, are those sheets big emough for a 17"-er?

Who, do you think will be next with an OLED tv in shops in sizes 14" - 19"? And when (month/year)?

My prediction, if you are talking about mass manufacturing and not the "small potatoes" stuff that Sony is doing, is that Samsung SDI will be the first to mass produce 14" screens and I suspect that Q1 or Q2 of 2009 will be the date.


In OLED display manufacturing they use small "sheets of substrate", I read.
So, are those sheets big emough for a 17"-er?

Who, do you think will be next with an OLED tv in shops in sizes 14" - 19"? And when (month/year)?

What dirty tricks are you referring to? Sony didnt even use PHOLEDs, they did use microcavities to change the emissive spectrum on their fluorescent displays, but in the end people who pay $2500 are paying for the sexy image quality. Not the engineering feats. And the TV looks terrific.

That's what Sony did with the "blue" panel on the XEL-1. The problem is that the people who don't mind dirty tricks like that are not the same people who would pay $2500 for an 11" screen. :o

Actually manufacturing is one of the hold-ups, but lifetimes arent right yet either. Yield rates at every one of the mass manufacturers of AMOLEDs are too low to mass manufacture even small screens (such as 3.5 inches) at a profitable rate, never mind television-sized displays. Will they solve the manufacturing obstacles? I am sure that with time, they will. According to rumours Samsung SDI is already making great strides improving the still-difficult manucturing process.

Lifetimes are already terrific for red PHOLEDs, almost fine for green PHOLEDs, and still have a long way to go for blue PHOLEDs. However, it isnt essential to use blue PHOLEDs just to have a phosphorescent AMOLED display. They can and do make hybrid displays that use PHOLED red and green and fluorescent blue (made by Idemitsu). These displays have a lifetime that wont die in a few years.

I don't think the holdup for OLED is manufacturing - since they can use amorphous silicon processing, much like LCDs. I think the holdup is lifetime - no one wants to sell a TV that die in a few years, and become discolored sooner than that. And trying to reproduce a Blu-Ray movie in 40 inches probably needs a ton of current, especially if they're gonna crank up the brightness to compete with LCD. There goes your efficiency advantage.

I think we might see SED big-screen TVs before OLED. Seriously.

Well, sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too. When a new technology is invented, it can possibly offer all the existing advantages of an established tech, and new ones too.

In marketing maybe, but not in engineering. There are always disadvantages to a new technology.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/100/sony-xel-1-our-first-impressions-of-oled-tv/

Sony XEL-1: Our impressions of OLED TV
The first OLED TV to hit the stores is stunning but expensive
from ConsumerReports.org

Remember the first time you saw a plasma TV, the first television without a big caboose behind the screen? You were probably wondering, "Where's the rest of the set?" You might have the same reaction when you see the new Sony XEL-1.

This 11-inch widescreen television is wafer-thin, just 1/8th of an inch deep, a fraction of the depth of even the slimmest LCD or plasma sets. The XEL-1 uses a new panel technology called OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode), which offers stunning picture quality. The catch is the steep price: $2,500 for this small screen, which is half the size of some computer displays.

If the slim, stylish display panel, which comes mounted to a sleek-looking stand, isn't enough to get your attention, its picture quality surely will. This TV gets high marks on all fronts, with picture quality that is simply amazing. It displays the deepest blacks we've seen, better than even the best plasma or CRT sets we've tested. At the same time, images are bright, with high contrast, yielding a picture that looks great in both a bright or darkened room. On dark scenes containing black areas, no light is visible from this panel, even when viewed in a dark room. Colors look accurate and are richly saturated.

While the display's native resolution maxes out at 960x540 (about one-quarter the resolution of 1080p HD, but better than DVD resolution), we saw very impressive detail from typical HD programming. That's because the screen is so small that there are still enough pixels per square inch to render satisfying detail. DVDs also looked terrific.

This TV can accept image format resolutions from 480i up to 1080p. The less-than-HD resolution will not leave you wanting for detail in this screen size, and if you have a high-quality HD video source, this little TV will deliver.

In addition, it has a virtually unlimited viewing angle, so there's no problem with off-center viewing, as there is with most LCD sets. Sound is also quite good, better than you might expect given the small size of the set.

It's not perfect, though. The $2,500 price tag is extremely steep, considering the tiny screen size. But prices for OLED screens should drop over time as they did for LCD and plasma TVs, which were far more costly a few years back than they are today.

Also, given its smallish 11-inch screen, this TV is not suitable as a primary set; it's best used for very up-close viewing, say on a kitchen counter while you're preparing dinner or on a desk as you're working (though you need to take care not to scratch the specially coated screen). Models with larger screens are in the works; at CES, Sony showed a prototype of a 27-inch model, and Samsung had a 31-inch prototype, but didn't have information about when they might be available, or for how much.

The lack of analog inputs could also be an issue. Although this TV has two HDMI inputs and an antenna jack (and NTSC, QAM and ATSC tuners that will allow it to receive free over-the-air analog and digital broadcasts, plus analog and digital cable signals), it has no component-video, S-video or composite-video inputs, which you'll still find on many DVD players and cable and satellite receivers). That could limit the use of the TV with some older components.

Please visit our Video Hub on ConsumerReports.org to find the link to our free online video report on the XEL-1 OLED TV.

But if you're in the market for a top-performing, small widescreen TV, be sure to put this Sony at the top of your list-provided, of course, that money is no object. With its steep price of $2,500, this little 11-incher costs more than many of our top-rated big-screen plasma and LCD sets. All things considered, if Sony's new OLED TV is any example of what this new technology can deliver, we can't wait to see more.

Hope nobody's posted this yet...

"Samsung says OLED monitors coming next year"

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9925605-7.html?tag=bl

Original text: Only allowed URLs after I have 3 posts....I promise I'm not spamming...trying to post a big news item.
Edit: It let me edit in the url :)

Samsung says OLED monitors coming next year (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9925605-7.html?tag=bl)
22 April 2008

Sony's teased us for a bit with its impossibly thin, 11-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV, and finally brought it to the U.S. this year. Now it looks like there will be more to choose from in OLED TVs next year. Samsung SDI says that by 2009, not only will it have OLED panels for larger TVs, but also for monitors and notebook displays, according to a report in Digitimes.

The report quotes Samsung SDI's VP of mobile display marketing, Woo-Jong Lee, who says that Samsung SDI will be able to produce 3 million panels in 2009, which is double what they can crank out now. Lee said the company anticipates doubling its capacity again by the close of 2010.

The liquid crystal display (LCD) industry probably doesn't have much to worry about yet. OLED panels are incredibly expensive to produce right now, and, yes, they're awfully pretty. (Sony's 11-inch display achieves a 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio, which is by far the best available for a TV.) But even as production increases from one manufacturer, it doesn't necessarily mean the prices will drop down to where flat panels have sunk. The 11-inch OLED TV from Sony costs $2,500. For that price you could also get a 50-inch Pioneer Kuro, generally regarded as the best plasma TV on the market.

Though Samsung has previously discussed making OLED TVs, the company still has yet to release one. A year ago Toshiba also said it's planning on investing in OLED panels. Sony is betting on OLED's eventual domination of the display market, but it's also heavily invested in LCD.

However, Panasonic, which owns the plasma TV market, doesn't anticipate LCD or plasma TVs fading out anytime soon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samsung SDI says its AMOLED production to reach economies of scale in 2009 (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080421PD206.html)
22 April 2008

While active matrix (AM) OLED panels are currently implemented mostly in small- to medium-size display applications, more medium and large-size applications – such as for monitor, notebook and TV – will adopt AMOLED panels in 2009, and in 2010, flexible display applications will also adopt AMOLED panels as well, according to Woo-Jong Lee, vice president, mobile display marketing team, Samsung SDI.

Currently the biggest issue with mass-producing AMOLED panels is production costs, but Lee explained once a capacity of three million units can be achieved, economies of scale are reached and production costs become more manageable. Lee pointed out that Samsung SDI will achieve a production capacity of three million panels in 2009, up from a current capacity of 1.5 million panels. The company also expects to double its capacity again by the end of 2010.

Another issue AMOLED technology faces as it looks to compete with LCD and PDP technology in larges size applicaitons such as TVs is power consumption, according to Korea based market research firm Displaybank. Currently OLED's driving voltage is determined by two processes – injecting and transferring an electric charge – both of which should be improved to improve the driving voltage for OLEDs, Display indicated.

However, according to DisplaySearch, sales of OLED displays are expected to surge 69% this year to more than US$826.5 million, and then grow by 83% in 2009 and 53% in 2010 as AMOLED displays become mainstream. Samsung SDI, LG Display, Sony and CMEL will deliver almost 17 million OLED displays this year, up over 380% compared to 2007.

Samsung SDI began producing small-to medium-size AMOLED panels in 2007.

GE's new roll-to-roll OLED panel production process

http://displaydaily.com/2008/04/22/it-all-starts-with-a-large-pixel/

Singapore Team Solves Last Nagging Problem for OLEDs, Solar Panels (http://www.dailytech.com/Singapore+Team+Solves+Last+Nagging+Problem+for+OLEDs+Solar+P anels/article11643.htm)
30 April 2008

The fledgling OLED market hold incredible promise in terms of brightness, color, and efficiency, as well as the possibility of flexible displays (http://www.dailytech.com/Engineers+Develop+Transparent+Active+Matrix+Displays/article11318.htm). Seeing one of these displays, such as Sony's XEL-1 (http://www.dailytech.com/Slender+Beautiful+First+OLED+TV+Introduced/article9108.htm) (the first commercial OLED tv/monitor) in action the difference is noticeable. Unfortunately the displays are plagued with lifetime issues. While much of this has been resolved with better designed blue phosphors (http://www.dailytech.com/Mitsubishi+advances+OLED+manufacturing+technology/article137.htm), traditionally the weakest link, the major problem of water damage remains.

When exposed to water and oxygen, the organic materials in OLEDs corrode quickly. Even water vapor can ruin an OLED display over time. Manufacturers have come up with complex sealing processes, but have only been moderately successful in holding back the damage. Now, researchers have developed a new nanomaterial that may allow for optimal protection for OLEDs (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/afst-nbi042808.php), clearing one of the last major roadblocks to their adoption.

Researchers at the Singapore A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) developed a thin nanofilm which promises to protect not only OLEDs, but also components such as solar cells, with a moisture protection level of over 1,000 times anything currently on the market.

The UK Centre for Process Innovation analyzed the barrier and verified that it had the highest reported water vapor barrier performance to date. The new barrier promises to revolutionize the plastic electronics industry. Within five years the plastic electronics industry (http://www.dailytech.com/GE+Demos+RolltoRoll+OLED+Lighting+Manufacturing/article11053.htm) is expected to grow to a $23B USD market worldwide.

Current films typically have a water vapor transmission rate of around 10-3g/m2 at 25°C and 90% relative humidity (RH). Ideally barriers to organic electronic devices need to be much lower, around a millionth of a gram per square meter per day (10-6g/m2), at a slightly higher temperature of 39°C. The problems with current materials arise when pinholes, cracks and grain boundaries occur in the thin oxide barrier films deposited on the plastic, leading to ‘pore effects’ which allow water and oxygen molecules to penetrated the barrier plastic.

The current best solution to the pore problem is to alternate layers of organic and inorganic deposited on the plastic. This causes the pores to be misaligned, creating a "torturous path" for the damaging water and oxygen molecules. While this approach is reasonably effective, it increases production cost and complexity. The IMRE researchers instead looked to a novel approach to solving the problem, plugging the holes with nanoparticles. This reduces the complex multilayer barrier down to a simple, more efficient two layer barrier, with a barrier oxide layer and a nanoparticlulate sealant layer.

The handy nanoparticles used in the seal not only block the path of moisture and oxygen, but they also trap it and react with it, further decreasing transmission. The barrier let less than 10-6g/m2 of moisture in under testing. Further the lag time, or the time it took for water to penetrate the barrier, was an astounding 2300 hours (approximately 96 days) at 60°C and 90% RH. Senthil Ramadas, principal investigator of the IMRE project states, "With a level of protection that surpasses the ideal requirements for such films to date, manufacturers now have the opportunity to extend the lifetime of plastic electronic devices by leaps and bounds!"

One problem the team faced is exactly how to measure permeation of an extremely low permeation barrier. The team devised an improved water and oxygen pentetration measurement device, that can detect levels of less than 10-8g/m2. The new test has already been put to use in various service industry projects. Says Senthil, "Together with our expertise in encapsulation processes and permeation measurement technologies we are also able to provide a total solution package for industries such as flexible solar cells and OLED displays producers."

The research has been funded by Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd (ETPL), the commercialization branch of A*Star, due to its promise. Boon Swan Foo, the Executive Chairman of ETPL states, “Exploit Technologies sees commercial potential in A*STAR IMRE’s breakthrough barrier film technology. It has excellent promise for enabling the fast growing plastic electronics industry. We want to take this technology from the lab to the market.”

The IMRE research team is already in talks with solar cell, lighting industry, and flexible display manufacturers, it says. The center has already signed agreements with a number of companies to commercialize the technology, including a collaboration agreement with G24Innovations, a major thin film solar cell company, as well as an agreement with Asian electronics manufacture KISCO.

A review of the XEL1 from David Pogue of the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/technology/personaltech/01pogue.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=todayspaper

At a cooperative Best Buy store, I did a little test. I set the XEL-1 up next to state-of-the-art plasmas and L.C.D. sets — all hooked up to the same video signal for easy comparison — and recorded the reactions of shoppers and employees. Their adjectives for this picture included “astonishing,” “astounding,” “incredible” (twice) and “amazing” (five times).

They were right. The XEL-1’s picture is so colorful, vibrant, rich, lifelike and high in contrast, you catch your breath. It’s like looking out a window. With the glass missing.

Name a drawback of plasma or L.C.D. — motion blur, uneven lighting across the panel, blacks that aren’t quite black, whites that aren’t quite white, limited viewing angle, color that isn’t quite true, brightness that washes out in bright rooms, screen-door effect up close — and this TV overcomes it.

LG Display to start 8G panel production sooner than Taiwan-based rivals (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080423PD213.html)
24 April 2008

With equipment move-in for its 8G line (P8) slated to for mid 2008, LG Display's plant at Paju, Korea, is expected to take a faster pace than plants belonging to rivals in Taiwan in terms of 8G panel availability.

With construction of the fab shell already completed, LG Display schedules to begin volume production by March 2009. P8 will initially focus on 32-, 47-, 52- and 57-inch LCD TV panels on a glass substrate size of 2,200mm×2,500mm. In contrast to 8G lines traditionally being utilized for 50-inch and above production, growing flexibility means there is potential to produce 32-inch panels at 8G lines also, highlighted LG Display. Actual capacity distribution will depend on demand, the company noted.

LG Display's rivals including S-LCD, AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), all have plants for 2,200×2,500mm glass substrate production. Among these players, S-LCD has already started volume production, whereas AUO and CMO will only start equipment installation in late 2008. Based on LG Display's equipment move-in schedule, the Korea-based panel maker is expected to have its 8G panels available 2-3 quarters ahead of its Taiwan rivals.

In addition to investment in next-generation production lines, LG Display has also deployed into the development of AMOLED panels. Despite that AMOLED is mostly applied in small-size panels, LG Display said it would continue investing in the large-size segment, with volume production of 32-inch OLED TVs scheduled for 2011.

Regarding worries about LCD TV sales amid the sub-prime crisis, LG Display's TV division sales and marketing vice president said first-quarter sales met expectations implying the LCD TV market is not as disappointing as some industry players believe, although sales trends for the second quarter are hard to forecast.

In related news, commenting on speculation about a possible partnership with Amtran Technology and HannStar Display for a new production plant, LG Display pointed out that it currently only has investment at HannStar, but stressed it has no plans to jointly build a 7.5G line with HannStar. The company added in saying that both parties have not discussed any plant construction plans.

DisplaySearch Characterizes the AMOLED Display in the Sony XEL-1 TV and Calculates Video Lifetime to be ~17,000 Hours (http://www.displaysearch.com/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0A424DE8-E3A0E431/displaysearch/hs.xsl/displaysearch_characterizes_display_in_sony_amoled_tv.asp)
7 May 2008

http://i27.tinypic.com/rrql9e.jpg

Figure 1: Normalized Luminance vs. Time

Austin, Texas, May 7, 2008—DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, has released the new OLED Characterization Report: Sony XEL-1. The characterization report includes a description of the sub-pixel architecture, micro cavity, the compensation circuits and the top emission OLED device, and includes measurements of lifetime by color and image, power consumption differential aging, burn-in, contrast ratio and luminance. In “TV Images to Dazzle the Jaded” on May 1, the technology editor of the NY Times described a little experiment:

At a cooperative Best Buy store, I did a little test. I set the XEL-1 up next to state-of-the-art plasmas and LCD sets—all hooked up to the same video signal for easy comparison—and recorded the reactions of shoppers and employees. Their adjectives for this picture included “astonishing,” “astounding,” “incredible” (twice) and “amazing” (five times). They were right. The XEL-1’s picture is so colorful, vibrant, rich, lifelike and high in contrast, you catch your breath. It’s like looking out a window. With the glass missing.

The consumers love the display, but how good is it? DisplaySearch takes the mystery out of the design and the performance over time. The architecture is described as well as the organic material, including thicknesses. The RGB architecture is very sensitive to the image and has a 5,000 hour lifetime for white and a 17,000 hour lifetime for the typical video image, well below the published specifications of Sony. Moreover the panel suffers from differential aging: After 1,000 hours the blue luminance degraded by 12%, the red by 7% and the green by 8%. The normalized luminance change by color and video mode is shown in the next figure.

DuPont, Dainippon buddy up to develop OLED displays

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/09/dupont-dainippon-buddy-up-to-develop-oled-displays/



For those with ridiculously sharp memories, you'll easily recall that DuPont has been dabbling in OLED technology (http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/06/12/dupont-helping-with-oled-hdtvs/) for years (http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/08/dupont-unveils-host-of-flat-panel-hdtv-technologies/). Now, however, the company famous for showcasing the miracles of science has formed a strategic alliance with Dainippon Screen Manufacturing to "develop integrated manufacturing equipment for printed OLED displays." Furthermore, the duo has agreed to "bring together the elements needed -- materials, technology and equipment -- to mass produce OLED displays." In essence, the two are hoping to produce higher-quality units at a lower cost than what's currently available (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/08/sony-xel-1-estimated-to-last-customers-only-half-as-long-as-expe/), and we can happily say we hope they succeed. Now, if only we knew when some product would emerge from this here wedding...

DuPont, Dainippon Screen Partner on OLED Technology (http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/daily_news/may/article20080508.html)
8 May 2008

http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/assets/images/2008/dn_photo_oleddisplay2.jpg

4.3" diagonal full-color OLED made with DuPont materials and Dainippon equipment.

DuPont and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd., are forming a strategic alliance to develop integrated manufacturing equipment for printed organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The companies also have signed an agreement relating to their intention to bring together the elements needed – materials, technology and equipment – to mass produce OLED displays, delivering higher performance at a lower cost.

OLEDs are displays in which pixels are created using thin films made of emissive organic materials. Compared with liquid crystal displays (LCDs), OLEDs can have much higher contrast ratios, lower power consumption (because pixels draw power only when they are in use), faster response time, and eliminate the need for the backlight and color filter. Small-size active matrix OLED displays have recently become available from several manufacturers, but the current high-cost of manufacturing limits market adoption, and constrains OLED manufacturing for large size displays.

"The flat panel display market is about USD 100 billion annually and growing. DuPont is applying its science to make possible more vivid displays that are lower cost than current LCD displays,” said Dave Miller, group vice president, DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies. “We are excited to combine our strengths with Dainippon Screen’s unique printing technology to bring to market the core technology that will enable improved high definition televisions and other flat panel displays."

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Toshiba to ship small/medium OLED displays in autumn, postponing the launch of larger OLED TVs (http://www.oled-info.com/oled_production/toshiba_to_ship_small_medium_oled_displays_in_autumn_postpon ing_the_launch_of_larger)
8 May 2008

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp said on Thursday it plans to ship small-to-medium size organic light-emitting diode displays for mobile devices in the autumn, adding that it had postponed its launch of larger OLED TVs (originally planned for 2009)

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CeBIT 2008: OLED Displays from Samsung (http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cebit-samsung-oled-displays,4948.html)
5 March 2008


http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2008/03/06/cebit_2008___samsung_oled2.jpg


At CeBIT, display manufacturer Samsung is showing OLED TVs with a screen diagonal of 31". One of the first thing that catches your eye, quite literally, is the excellent colour rendition.

Samsung's OLED display has a screen diagonal of 31".
The other advantages of the technology are equally compelling - since OLED displays are based on organic light-emitting diodes, they don't need a backlight and are thus extremely flat, allowing them to be used in a wide variety of scenarios. Their response time is also very low, in the micro-second scale, which gamers will be very appreciative of.

DuPont, Dainippon Screen Partner on OLED Technology (http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/daily_news/may/article20080508.html)
8 May 2008


Toshiba to ship small/medium OLED displays in autumn, postponing the launch of larger OLED TVs (http://www.oled-info.com/oled_production/toshiba_to_ship_small_medium_oled_displays_in_autumn_postpon ing_the_launch_of_larger)
8 May 2008

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp said on Thursday it plans to ship small-to-medium size organic light-emitting diode displays for mobile devices in the autumn, adding that it had postponed its launch of larger OLED TVs (originally planned for 2009)



Hi,
What is small/medium OLED sizes? What is that in inches? Thanks.

Hi,
What is small/medium OLED sizes? What is that in inches? Thanks.
Stuff for cellphones and PDAs.

Sumitomo chemicals co. revealed plans to ink-jet print 40" and larger OLEDs in 2009. It's in the news. Are they closely related to Hitachi? Could there be a breakthrough?

Sumitomo Chemicals Co. bought out Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) in July 2007. CDT were into P-OLED. Is Sony's XEL-1 a P-OLED?
Is Sumitomo's strategy much different to Samsung's and Sony's?

I wonder how likely it is that we will see 40" in 2009. Or 2010.

Sumitomo Chemicals Co. bought out Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) in July 2007. CDT were into P-OLED. Is Sony's XEL-1 a P-OLED?
Is Sumitomo's strategy much different to Samsung's and Sony's?

Sonys XEL-1 is a fluorescent small-molecule AMOLED display, created with a white oled and color filters. It also uses microcavities. In other words, its an entirely different approach that Sumitomo. As you mentioned, Sumitomo is working on polymeric AMOLEDs.

Many speculate that eventually Sony will switch to a hybrid display that uses PHOLEDs and fluourescents, because all-fluorescent displays are power hogs.

I wonder how likely it is that we will see 40" in 2009. Or 2010.

2009? Wouldnt bet on it. 2010? Pretty likely, although I suspect they will be in small quantities, not millions/month.

Sumitomo Chemical to Launch Large Organic EL Panels in 2009 (http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=18088)
9 May 2008

Tokyo, May 9, 2008 (Jiji Press) - Sumitomo Chemical Co. <4005> said Friday that in 2009, it plans to launch the production and sales of large-screen organic electroluminescence display panels for use in televisions of 40 inches or larger.

President Hiromasa Yonekura said his company is considering forming alliances for the development of such organic panels. EL panels are thinner than liquid display panels and consume less power.

Sumitomo Chemical is developing so-called macromolecule-type organic EL panels. Because these can be produced through an ink-jet printing process, it is possible to lower production costs and make large displays, a company spokesman said.

So burn-in, short life, energy-intensive?

They've been talking about being able to print OLED displays, on flexible material, for like 10 years.

The more closely a technology is examined, the more warts it has.

The more closely a technology is examined, the more warts it has.
The warts have been there all along, and will still be there for quite some time. What makes OLED different from other problematic technologies is that all the problems are foreseeably fixable. But we've still got a long long way to go.

It appears that maybe OLED is no longer developing in the scientific field. It seems to have moved on to technological development. IOW, the scientific principles and proof of concept have been done. It's now just in the refinement stage, where they make lifespan and manufacturability improvements, etc. Maybe nothing of a major breakthru sort of thing is coming, just steady refinement and application of known ideas and methods to improve the product.

The warts have been there all alongNot according to the OLED researchers I've talked to recently. Power consumption, mura, charge trapping, light extraction.....etc are much worse that originally thought. The big surprise is power consumption. If you are referring to lifetime then yes of course, it has always been there.


It appears that maybe OLED is no longer developing in the scientific field. It seems to have moved on to technological development. IOW, the scientific principles and proof of concept have been done. It's now just in the refinement stage, where they make lifespan and manufacturability improvements, etc. Maybe nothing of a major breakthru sort of thing is coming, just steady refinement and application of known ideas and methods to improve the product. Plasma, LCD, and especially OLEDs are still undergoing serious development in the scientific field. I even think that 1 or 2 CRT researchers are still out there :)

Cheers

Samsung's 12.1-inch OLED laptop concept makes us swoon (http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/16/samsungs-12-1-inch-oled-laptop-makes-us-swoon/)

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/05/080516_sdi.jpg

As much as we would loath typing on that touch-sensitive, rigid keyboard, we're definitely geek-smitten by this ultra-thin, AMOLED laptop concept from Samsung SDI -- Sammy's display division. 12.1-inches and 1,280 x 768 resolution with infinite contrast? We'll take two... just as soon as someone can explain the extra panel around back. With Samsung projecting 14- to 15.4-inch OLED laptops in 2009, this might come sooner than you think.

... I even think that 1 or 2 CRT researchers are still out there :)


Round up the villagers. I'll bring the torches. :p

Round up the villagers. I'll bring the torches.

Now is this any way to treat an endangered species? :D

http://hdguru.com/sony-xel-1-finally-a-critical-review/242/

Slate had a layman's review of the XE1 last week.

Described it as looking out a small window with the glass open.

Now is this any way to treat an endangered species? :D

:p;)

Sony plans "medium to large" OLED panels in FY2009 -- Samsung trembles (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/22/sony-plans-medium-to-large-oled-panels-in-fy2009-samsung-t/)
22 May 2008

http://www.engadget.com/media/2008/05/oledxel1right_600.jpg

Competition: so beautiful in its simplicity, so effective in its execution. Sony just authorized an additional ¥22 billion ($210 million) as it aims to produce "medium-to-large sized OLED panels" in fiscal 2009. For Sony, that's the year spread from April 2009 to March 2010. Not coincidentally, that's the same production timeline that Samsung is on. Oh, the OLED game is so on.

Sony to go ahead with OLED investment (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080522PD207.html)
22 May 2008

Sony will go ahead with plans to invest approximately 22 billion yen (US$210 million) to strengthen its lead in the production of medium- to large-size OLED panels in the second half of 2008, according to Yoshito Shiraishi, general manager, e-products and business development department of TV business group, Sony.

The company will expand its capacity at Sony Mobile Display, enabling the plant to turn out even larger size OLED panels in fiscal 2009 (April 2009-March 2010), Shiraishi said in a keynote speech delivered at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 electronic display trade show in Los Angeles.

Sony expects its shipments of LCD TVs to top 17 million units in 2008 compared to 10.6 million units shipped in 2007, Shiraishi said.

Sony and Idemitsu announced luminous efficiency breakthrough in OLEDS.

Idemitsu, Sony Develop Blue OLED w/ 28.5% Internal Quantum Efficiency (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080520/152008/?ST=english_PRINT)
22 May 2008

Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd and Sony Corp announced May 19, 2008, that they jointly developed a blue OLED device and confirmed an internal quantum efficiency of 28.5% and an emission lifetime of more than 30,000 hours.

The new device is the world's highest level of luminous efficiency for a fluorescent light-emitting material, the companies said. It will be presented at the Society for Information Display (SID2008), which is currently taking place in Los Angeles.

According to the companies, the latest achievement is a result of combining Idemitsu's luminescence and other OLED materials, and Sony's proprietary device structure called "Super Top Emission." The light emitted from the new device has the CIE chromaticity of (0.137, 0.065). The device reportedly emits blue light, which is deeper than that of the NTSC standard, (0.14, 0.08).

After conducting a continuous emission test in an environment at a temperature of 50°C with the initial luminance set to 200cd/m2, the companies discovered that the emission lifetime (luminous half decay time) of the latest device substantially exceeds 30,000 hours. The luminance per unit current is 3.9cd/A.

The technology is expected to reduce the power consumption of blue OLEDs, the most energy-intensive of the three primary RGB colors, contributing to the future development of medium- to large-size OLED TVs.

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[SID] Sony: OLED Superior to LCD (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/)
22 May 2008


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/thumb_230_3A.jpg (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/?SS=imgview_e&FD=1521591393&ad_q)

Yoshito Shiraishi, general manager of E-Products and
Business Development Department, TV Business Group of Sony

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/thumb_230_3B.jpg (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/?SS=imgview_e&FD=1522514914&ad_q)

Sony developed a new prototype every three months.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/thumb_230_3C.jpg (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080522/152138/?SS=imgview_e&FD=1523438435&ad_q)

Power comparisons between its "XEL-1" OLED TV and Sony's "BRAVIA" LCD TV

Yoshito Shiraishi, general manager of E-Products and Business Development Department, TV Business Group, Sony Corp, delivered his keynote speech titled "Sony's Challenge to be the First Out with OLED TVs" and discussed history, performance and future prospects of Sony's OLED panel development at "SID 2008."

Sony launched its "XEL-1," the world's first 11-inch OLED TV, in December 2007 (See related article 1 (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071127/143111/)). Revealing that Sony "came up with a new prototype every three months" when developing the OLED TV, Shiraishi introduced some episodes that illustrate that Sony continuously updated the specifications over a short period of time.

He used a number of slides to show comparisons of performances including contrast ratio, gamma characteristics, power consumption between LCD and OLED panels. As for power consumption, he made a comparison with Sony's "BRAVIA" LCD TV. Presenting detailed values of power consumption by content category, such as news, dramas and variety programs, he highlighted the superiority of OLED, saying, "OLED has many advantages over LCD."

He concluded his speech with future plans for Sony's OLED business. Sony announced a capital investment of approximately ¥22 billion (US$213 million) in volume production of 20-inch OLED panels on Feb 19, 2008 (See related article 2 (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080220/147729/)). While mentioning this, he said Sony will pursue the development of products that can propose new lifestyles through the sophisticated interior designs, for example.

Is 30,000 hours a lot?

How does that compare with the backlights of LCD and plasma?

If you watched 5 hours of TV a day, the blue phosphor would reach half brightness at 16 years of age, if you ran it at full brightness during those five hours (100% luminance white, aqua or blue signal).

Samsung 12.1-inch WXGA AMOLED panel using MOS-TFT technology (http://www.digitimes.com/photogallery/ShowPhoto.asp?ID=3047)
27 May 2008


http://www.digitimes.com/Images/2008/05/26/3046_b.jpg


At SID 2008, Samsung concentrated on displaying AMOLED applications including a 31-inch full HDTV, 14-inch HDTV, 3D display panel and several other AMOLED applications.

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Samsung 12.1-inch WXGA AMOLED panel using MOS-TFT technology (http://www.digitimes.com/photogallery/ShowPhoto.asp?ID=3047)
28 May 2008


http://www.digitimes.com/Images/2008/05/26/3047_b.jpg


Samsung displayed a 12.1-inch WXGA AMOLED panel using new MOS-TFT technology at the recent SID 2008 electronic display trade show.

Sony's Stringer Promises 27-inch OLED TV 'fairly Soon' (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/146419/sonys_stringer_promises_27inch_oled_tv_fairly_soon.html)
28 May 2008


http://images.macnn.com/esta/content/0804/sonytv-6.jpg

Sony 27” OLED Prototype

Sony plans to launch a much larger version of its impressive OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) television within the next year, CEO Howard Stringer said Wednesday.

Sony launched its first OLED TV, an 11-inch model, in late 2007. The set, which also has the distinction of being the first commercial OLED TV in the world, won great acclaim thanks to the smoother, sharper and more richly colored images it offered over today's LCD (liquid crystal display) and PDP (plasma display panel) technologies.

At the same time Sony began showing a prototype 27-inch OLED screen and last month in Tokyo showed an OLED screen that was just 0.3 millimeters thick. Stringer, speaking at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference in Carlsbad, California, on Wednesday, introduced the thin prototype and talked about commercialization.

"This is 0.3 millimeters wide, it's a glass, we can produce this in plastic and you can wrap it around your arm, we're not quite sure why you would want to," Stringer told Walt Mossberg, a columnist for the newspaper and co-host of the event. "We're looking for applications for the next generation of the plastic version but this will come out in a 27-inch version fairly soon."

"Within the next 12 months, we haven't given a date," he said when asked to be more specific on timing.

Stringer didn't give much away when it came to pricing. The 11-inch model, which Sony calls the XEL-1, carries a relatively high price-tag of US$2,500.

"It's a complicated process and obviously we are working very hard to find out how to mass-produce it but until then it's very expensive," said Stringer.

Stringer's reference to a plastic OLED panel was to a prototype announced by the company in May 2007. Then it showed a small 2.5-inch OLED manufactured on a plastic substrate. The screen has a resolution of 160 pixels by 120 pixels and showed full-motion video while being bent and rolled.

Sony hasn't announced any sales targets for its OLED televisions but said earlier this month that it plans to sell 17 million LCD televisions in the fiscal year from April. That's a jump of about 7 million sets on the previous year. Sony hopes to achieve this by producing more models for the mid-market based on panels it will procure from Sharp. High-end sets will continue to feature panels produced by S-LCD, the LCD panel manufacturing joint venture it has with Samsung Electronics.

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Sony CEO Howard Stringer: Look At Our Awesome, Expensive, Money-Losing TVs! (http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/5/live_sony_ceo_howard_stringer_at_d6)
28 May 2008


http://www.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=483d944214b9b91f003a6534&maxx=366&maxy=243


Sony (SNE) CEO Howard Stringer uses his D6 stage time to show off his tiny, expensive OLED screens. We're told they're amazing, but that's hard to tell from a distance. We do know they're expensive: The model that's for sale is $2,500, and Howard won't venture a price for the new card-thin model. But unless you live in a very very fancy neighborhood, your neighbor won't have one anytime soon.

Transcript follows:

A couple of years ago Howard Stringer had high hopes for his e-reader. But Jeff Bezos Kindle has stolen that thunder, and we assume we might hear about that when Walt Mossberg chats with him. We definitely know we're about to see a very, very thin TV.

Howard comes out to "Turning Japanese" (do the D6 folks know what that song is supposedly about?).

So Sir Howard, how are things going? "We're coming on, I think... culturally the word "profit" is not high on anybody's agenda in Japan. We're turning that around... there's a sort of sense that we're climbing the mountain. We're nowhere near the top, we're about halfway up."

But TVs are doing well, right? Yeah, but we're not making any money: "If we have any more success we'll be bankrupt". Why can't you make money? It's a commoditzed business. Lots of overhead from old biz we've exited, and race for market share puts pressure on prices.

What's next, beyond the LCD? LCD has had a good run, has plenty of life in it. But now getting excited about OLED. Very expensive at the moment, but is in the market. $2,500 for an 11" screen. DreamWorks guys like it a lot. I have one on my desk. It's really, really bright. Time to see the demo:

As we worried, it's really really hard to get a sense of what an OLED screen looks like when you're looking at on stage. But, as predicted, here comes the 0.3 mm thick OLED, thickness of a playing card. Will come out in 27-inch version fairly soon. Not at mass market quantity, and it will be "quite expensive... the only people who can buy one are in this room."

Do you believe that this will supplant LCD? "I'm biased. I have mine on my desk, and I haven't turned on the wall screen since I've had it. It's a perfect television companion."

Making these panels yourself? Yes. Very technologically sophisticated. Can't outsource.

Oxide Semiconductors: Potential Revolutionary AMOLED Fabrication Technology (http://www.displaysearchblog.com/2008/06/oxide-semiconductors-potential-revolutionary-amoled-fabrication-technology/)
3 June 2008


http://www.displaysearchblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/060308-blog-image-1.jpg

IGZO based 12.1″ WXGA AMOLED

SID, the display industry’s leading annual academic conference, is always a great source of information on R&D into future display technologies. Crystallization of a-Si to p-Si and its application to AMOLED fabrication have been a favorite topic of the symposium for several years now. However, looking over the proceedings of this year’s recently held conference, there anecdotally seems to be shift in focus; I could only find one paper on LTPS crystallization for AMOLED backplanes. Instead, a variety of papers promote using oxide semiconductors as a panacea to technical and cost issues that continue to restrict the growth of the AMOLED industry.

Samsung SDI’s development of a 12.1″ WXGA AMOLED (see Figure 1) highlighted the potential of this technology. The company used amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) to replace silicon as the semiconducting layer of the TFT backplane.

A staggered gate and etch stop layer TFT design (see Figure 2) was employed to prevent degradation of the subthreshold gate swing and uniformity of the threshold voltage.


http://www.displaysearchblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/060308-blog-image-2.jpg

Staggered gate and etch stop layer TFT design

Although IGZO TFTs have much lower mobility than p-Si based TFTs formed by ELA (Excimer Laser Annealing), at around 10 cm2/V-sec, mobility is greater than 10X that of a-Si TFTs and more than sufficient to drive OLEDs.

Advantages of IGZO compared to conventional p-Si TFTs include


Deposited by PVD at low temperatures that might enable use of flexible or low-cost soda lime substrates
Can be fabricated on conventional a-Si TFT lines at relatively low cost and scaled to large substrates (i.e., Gen 7 or larger)
The smooth surface morphology of IGZO enables a clean interface with the gate insulator to provide a higher breakdown field
Transparency
Good uniformity and stability
TFT characteristics are controllable by the metal composition and deposition parameters

In other words, oxide semiconductors are potentially a revolutionary technology that would negate the need for Si crystallization and enable large size, high quality, low-cost AMOLED displays.

Whether or not this will actually happen is still to be determined. Oxide semiconductor technology for display applications is not a mature technology and repeatability is said to be a significant issue. Currently all AMOLEDs in mass production are fabricated with some version of ELA or solid phase crystallization. Sony is investing in a dTLA (Diode Thermal Laser Annealing) pilot line to prove the manufacturability of its µc-Si technology. Others pursuing direct deposit p-Si, RTA (Rapid Thermal Annealing) and other techniques to overcome the continued uniformity, cost and scaling problems related to ELA. But, at least, the strong interest by the SID paper selection committee and the impressive results shown by Samsung SDI and others, suggest that oxide semiconductors are a technology to keep a close eye on when evaluating future AMOLED opportunity.

So, I can get a 50'' OLED TV when? 2012?

LG Display shows 15-inch XGA OLED TV (http://www.oled-display.net/lg-display-shows-15-inch-xga-oled-tv)
20 May 2008

LG Display one of the world’s leading TFT-LCD manufacturers, today announced its plans to showcase its latest next-generation displays at SID’s Display Week 2008 (May 18-23 in Los Angeles, Calif.).

“LG Display continues to pave the way for the future of displays through its leadership and unrivaled technical advances. We recently announced our elliptical and circular shaped LCDs, and there are many additional, exciting demonstrations to see at our booth this year,” noted Mr. In Jae Jeung, LG Display’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President.

LG Display shows a a-Si AMOLED panel with 15 inch and XGA resolution, with an contrast ratio from 10.000:1, and a 4-inch qVGA flexible AMOLED display on metal foil with increased flexibility and durability.

LG Display’s expert team will also present 12 technical papers and 10 posters on topics including 15-inch TFT LCDs produced with TFT and color filter substrates via roll-to-roll printing and a-Si 15-inch AM OLED.

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LG Display Dual-plate OLED Display (DOD) at SID 2008 (http://www.displayblog.com/2008/05/24/lg-display-dual-plate-oled-display-dod-at-sid-2008/)
24 May 2008


http://www.displayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/lg_display_15_oled_dod.jpg


OLED displays are marvelous, at least the prototypes that I have seen at SID 2008. OLEDs are super thin, colors are brilliant and black levels are truly kuro! But there are many challenges to OLED displays becoming the next display standard. A LOT. One challenge is the short lifetimes of the OLED materials that lasts, at most, about 30,000 hours (Sony’s claim for its XEL-1 OLED TV’s lifetime). Another challenge is differential aging where brightness is lost at different rates leading to discoloration of the OLED display.

Another challenge is that in most cases OLED has to use a TFT backplane made from a Low Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS) process due to the need for higher electron mobility leading to faster performance. Well LTPS is a difficult process that has lower than wanted yields and is rather expensive.


http://www.displayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/lg_display_dual_plate_oled.jpg


LG Display showcased a concept called Dual-plate OLED (DOD) that uses the encapsulation glass as a OLED substrate and connects to an a-Si TFT backplane via a contact spacer. The contact spacer has a dual role: it is used as a spacer but also as a contact between the TFT backplane and the top OLED substrate. This allows for use of a-Si based backplane that is easier, more affordable and has high yields. The DOD prototype was rather large at 15″. Cheaper and larger OLEDs, I’m all for that! But I’m not holding my breath.

CMEL AMOLED panel yield expected to reach 85% by end of 2008 (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080612PD206.html)
12 June 2008

Chi Mei EL (CMEL), a fully owned subsidiary of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), expects its yield for AMOLED panels rise to 85% by the end of 2008 from the present 70%, and the company is mulling installing a new production line (5G or 5.5G) for the segment sometime in the future, according to company president Douglas Park.

CMEL, which is the only Taiwan-based company that has started volume production of AMOLED panels, currently offers a range of panels sized at 2-inch QCIF+, 2.4-inch QVGA, 2.8-inch QVGA, 3.4-inch WQVGA, and 4.3-inch WQVGA. It is also developing a 7.6-inch WVGA panel, which will be volume produced in the fourth quarter this year, Park revealed.

Park said the company's second production line, which is being constructed, will become operational in October. Total output from the two lines will reach 800,000 units (2.8-inch equivalent) per month, he added.

CMEL is aiming to enter the large-size segment in 2010, Park said. The company is showcasing a 25-inch AMOLED panel at Display Taiwan 2008.

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LG Display Launches OLED Production Line (http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200806/200806130014.html)
13 June 2008

LG Display formally launched an organic light emitting diode (OLED) division at its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang Province on Thursday.

OLED is touted as a driving force in the next-generation display field, and companies like Sony and Samsung Electronics have already entered the business. Because it does not require additional backlight, OLED panels can be made thinner than 1 millimeter.

LG Display will first focus on developing and producing small products but expand business to producing medium-sized to large televisions, the company said.

LG Display developed an active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) for a 20.1-inch television in 2004, and was the first in the world to produce a 4-inch flexible OLED in May 2007.

Wait, even small OLED panels only have 70% yields?

Haven't they been making small OLEDs for cell phones and other small devices for years?

So, I can get a 50'' OLED TV when? 2012?


Just a guess. . .

Lets see - a 27" but priced out of range in 2009.

Maybe a 42" very very expensive model by 2010.

Might see units in 50" range by 2012 - but start saving your pennies. I'll bet it'll be closer to 2015 before mere mortals wil be able to afford them in the 50" range.

Maybe - An affordable one by 2015 (if something doesn't come around in the meantime. . .)

In otherwords - OLED is still way too speculative at this point - Both LCD and Plasma will continue to improve and get cheaper. . . I think they'll have those black levels pretty well nailed down by then, also brighter more effecient displays, full implementation of 10 lumen technology in plasmas, LED backlighting in LCDs and thin form factors in both. . . I don't know what OLED will really offer at that point to make it worth the extra Xthousand dollars. . .

Anyway, I'm not holding my breath.

Just a guess. . .

Lets see - a 27" but priced out of range in 2009.

Maybe a 42" very very expensive model by 2010.

Might see units in 50" range by 2012 - but start saving your pennies. I'll bet it'll be closer to 2015 before mere mortals wil be able to afford them in the 50" range.

Maybe - An affordable one by 2015 (if something doesn't come around in the meantime. . .)

In otherwords - OLED is still way too speculative at this point - Both LCD and Plasma will continue to improve and get cheaper. . . I think they'll have those black levels pretty well nailed down by then, also brighter more effecient displays, full implementation of 10 lumen technology in plasmas, LED backlighting in LCDs and thin form factors in both. . . I don't know what OLED will really offer at that point to make it worth the extra Xthousand dollars. . .

Anyway, I'm not holding my breath.

I agree with you. If they keep stringing this out, its gonna be in the same boat as SED. If it lives or dies, it doesn't matter, because either way, it is good for consumers...better competition drives better improvements in existing technology.

Just a guess. . .

Lets see - a 27" but priced out of range in 2009.

Maybe a 42" very very expensive model by 2010.

Might see units in 50" range by 2012 - but start saving your pennies. I'll bet it'll be closer to 2015 before mere mortals wil be able to afford them in the 50" range.

Maybe - An affordable one by 2015 (if something doesn't come around in the meantime. . .)

In otherwords - OLED is still way too speculative at this point - Both LCD and Plasma will continue to improve and get cheaper. . . I think they'll have those black levels pretty well nailed down by then, also brighter more effecient displays, full implementation of 10 lumen technology in plasmas, LED backlighting in LCDs and thin form factors in both. . . I don't know what OLED will really offer at that point to make it worth the extra Xthousand dollars. . .

Anyway, I'm not holding my breath.


Well there are a few issues where LCD (even LED-backlit) and Plasma still mostly fall short:


Motion Resolution

Viewing Angles

In both these areas lcd and plasma still fall short of the performance enjoyed for years (really for _generations_) in CRTs.

I have a nice 42" lcd, but am thinking of picking up a used 40" Sony HD-capable CRT, because I watch a lot of sports, usually with with several friends over, and the lcds and plasmas I have/my friends have just don't cut it on either motion handling or viewing angles.

Well there are a few issues where LCD (even LED-backlit) and Plasma still mostly fall short:


Motion Resolution

Viewing Angles

In both these areas lcd and plasma still fall short of the performance enjoyed for years (really for _generations_) in CRTs.

I have a nice 42" lcd, but am thinking of picking up a used 40" Sony HD-capable CRT, because I watch a lot of sports, usually with with several friends over, and the lcds and plasmas I have/my friends have just don't cut it on either motion handling or viewing angles.

Plasmas have motion and viewing angle problems? Which plasmas have you been viewing as my off axis picture is very good and fast motion sports are awesome as I've been watching a lot of soccer and car racing and you don't get much more motion than that, oh and I've been doing it on a 50" set.
No way would I ever go back to a weigh a ton elephant like the 40" Sony.

Plasmas don't have viewing angle problems, but LCD's do.

I second Maxdog's comment. I used to have a Sony HD 32" CRT and dumped it for a 50" plasma 6 years ago. I'd never look at a CRT again. They're pretty well extinct now anyway.

I used to have a Sony HD 32" CRT and dumped it for a 50" plasma 6 years ago. I'd never look at a CRT again. They're pretty well extinct now anyway.[/QUOTE]


I sure would look back at a crt if there was a 42" full 1080p crt tv. Besides, quality weighs.

I find I like the CRTs a lot better than Plasmas. LCDs I find horrible for TV. they just don't cut it as a home theater monitor.

That 27" Sony looks nice. However, until there is a 60"+ affordable one this won't mean much to me.

However, something to keep in mind when talking price on these is to consider Sony's first SXRD. The first SXRD, the Qualia, ran about $12k. The second gen SXRD came out in less than a years time(the 60XBR1) and retailed for $5k. You never know.

Now if only they'd give SED a second chance, then we'd have something to compare OLED against when it came to better display technology. Most certainly would've been a heck of a lot cheaper.

I'm surprised LCD is so prominent. The lack of screen uniformity and poor viewing angle makes it a horrible choice in my opinion for home theater. It would have made more sense to me to stick with CRT for 20-27" sets and go with Plasma for anything larger than that.

LCD as a TV I find to be not even a reasonable option for my home theater. Perhaps as a kitchen TV or something that is not home theater I can see though. But I don't understand why people would spend lots of money for an LCD home theater TV with the limitations it has.

Interesting feature here from Kevin Miller who just visited the Sony plant regarding OLED. http://www.tweaktv.com/the-miller-channel/oled-and-new-developments-in-lcd-flat-panel-hdtvs.html

I'm surprised LCD is so prominent. The lack of screen uniformity and poor viewing angle makes it a horrible choice in my opinion for home theater. It would have made more sense to me to stick with CRT for 20-27" sets and go with Plasma for anything larger than that.

LCD as a TV I find to be not even a reasonable option for my home theater. Perhaps as a kitchen TV or something that is not home theater I can see though. But I don't understand why people would spend lots of money for an LCD home theater TV with the limitations it has.

But CRT isn't flat and is so heavy! (I'm being sarcastic of course. BTW: Even plasma had poor PQ compared to CRT until recently, so maybe in that ideal world we could use CRTs up to 34" and start plasmas at 50"...a gap in between as it would have taken a lot more inches before plasma started to look more competive in PQ. Of course now though we have Kuro and even LCDs at least look better than they did...)

Possibly big news out of Panasonic: http://gizmodo.com/5019072/panasonic-to-have-37+inch-oled-panels-on-sale-by-2011


That could be sweet. If true, of course.

Panasonic working on 37-inch OLED TV? They'd better be. (http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/06/24/panasonic-working-on-37-inch-oled-tv-theyd-better-be/)

Chris

And Gizmodo is reporting a price of only $1400 or so for that size. If so, that's a lot sooner than I expected given Sony's pace. . .If true - this may be a serious contender in 5 years from now for both the plasma and lcd markets (though 5 years from now I also imagine the technology in those two display technologies will be quite impressive even as compared with the latest models available today).

Possibly big news out of Panasonic: http://gizmodo.com/5019072/panasonic-to-have-37+inch-oled-panels-on-sale-by-2011


That could be sweet. If true, of course.

If true -this is the first realistic price point to make major inroads into the market. . .

Let me know when the 60" OLEDs are selling for $2000.00

I bought my Panasonic 50" 10UKA just a few months ago. One of the main reasons I chose this display was the ridiculously low price of a 50" plasma panel of this quality AND the fact I know my next TV purchase will be an OLED. I mean, Kuro this and Kuro that, but everything I read on OLED makes it sound like the greatest thing since..... you guessed it..... sliced bread.

So I am very much anxious to see these displays becoming main-stream.

Yes this is some good info.

Chris

Do we know whether OLED technology has developed to the point where it would make a great TV, as opposed to having incredible wow factor? Do images look realistic? Does motion? Is it pleasant to watch a movie on an OLED?

Sorry for being out of the loop on this stuff. :(

Do we know whether OLED technology has developed to the point where it would make a great TV, as opposed to having incredible wow factor? Do images look realistic? Does motion? Is it pleasant to watch a movie on an OLED?

Sorry for being out of the loop on this stuff. :(

Until i saw Sony's unit all the OLED demo sets I've seen at shows looked like crap. Sony's looked amazing and did everything you mentioned beautifully. It is a tiny screen though of course, so I still need to see a 50"+ OLED before I'll be sure it's the holy grail.

Matsushita Planning 37-inch OLED TVs? (http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/17101/matsushita-planning-37-inch-oled-tvs)
24 June 2008

Reports have Japan's Matsushita aiming to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years, potentially jump-starting the OLED market.

According to the Japanese trade daily Sankei Shimbun, electronics giant Matsushita—still in the process of transitioning its corporate identity to its better-known sub-brand Panasonic—is putting the finishing touches on plans to mass-produce 37-inch OLED televisions within three years. If the plans bear out, it would make Matsushita the first manufacturer producing OLED televisions over 30 inches in size, and could enable Matsushita to challenge Samsung for the top spot in the flat-screen television market.

According to the report, Matsushita is considering initial prices around 150,000 Yen (roughly $1,400), although Matsushita itself said only that the company is working on commercializing OLED televisions at some point in the future.

Sony launched an 11-inch OLED television in late 2007, bringing it to the United States early this year. Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Samsung are also developing OLED televisions, although so far Matsushita's proposed 37-inch size would be the largest of the bunch. OLED panels are considerably slimmer than traditional LCDs and use less energy since they don't require backlighting.

Late last year, Toshiba and Matsushita ditched a joint effort to enter the OLED television market with a 30-inch unit, following difficulties getting the system from research to production. They had planned to offer the 30-inch set in 2009.

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CMEL expects to volume produce AMOLED TV panels in next two to three years (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080624PD219.html)
25 June 2008

Chi Mei EL (CMEL) expects that its AMOLED TV-panel technologies, which are being developed with help from Kodak and DuPont, will see a breakthrough next year, and volume production may start in 2010 or 2011, according to company vice chairman Peter Chen.

When the technology is ready, CMEL –a subsidiary of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) – will then be able to work out a timetable for constructing its third production line to be dedicated to volume producing AMOLED TV panels, he said.

CMEL's yield for AMOLED panels has reached 70%, and is expected go up to 85% by the end of 2008, Chen said.

The company's second production line, which is under construction, will come online in October this year, and by then the company's monthly capacity will reach 800,000 units (2.8-inch equivalent), he added.

While CMEL demonstrated a 25-inch AMOLED panel at Display Taiwan 2008 earlier this month, Chen said that may not necessarily be the size that the company will volume produce.

As TV panels will have to be produced at 5G or above lines in order to be cost effective, CMEL is still assessing the panel size that it will make, Chen said.

Panasonic, CMEL Anticipate Volume Production of Large AMOLED-TVs in 2010 – 2011 (http://displaydaily.com/2008/06/26/panasonic-cmel-anticipate-volume-production-of-large-amoled-tvs-in-2010-%e2%80%93-2011/)
26 June 2008

At $227 per diagonal inch (in the U.S.), Sony’s XEL-1 11-inch AMOLED TV set is a combination of technological stake in the sand, early adopter’s toy, and public relations coup. And, with a lifetime that is, according to tests supervised by Barry Young at DisplaySearch, much shorter than that claimed by Sony, the XEL-1 can also be viewed as a premature delivery.

Since the XEL-1 is clearly a triumph of public relations over sound product development, I’m only inclined to give it one-and-a-half cheers. But it does look beautiful, and the enthusiastic response people have to its screen images clearly show that AMOLED-TV will be a product category to threaten both LCDs and PDPs — but only when the technology matures a bit, screen sizes grow, and prices fall.

So when will that be? At least since last October’s FPD International in Yokohama, LG Display and CMEL have had 32-inch AMOLED-TVs on their roadmaps for late 2009 or early 2010. CMEL has been showing a 25-inch prototype and Samsung has been showing a handsome 31-inch FHD prototype, although nobody, understandably, was talking about price or volume.

The media’s recent focus on Matsushita has been on its taking over Pioneer’s plasma panel research, development, and manufacturing activities and on its assuming control of IPS Alpha, the LCD-panel manufacturer jointly owned by Matsushita, Hitachi, and Toshiba. But if you looked at the corporate fine print, you could see references to Matsushita intending to do OLED development at one of IPS Alpha’s facilities.

Still, it came as a surprise yesterday when Japan’s Sankei newspaper reported Matsushita has finalized plans to mass-produce 37-inch AMOLED-TVs within 3 years. Matsushita spokesperson Akira Kadota said his company plans to sell the 37-incher for the equivalent of $1,390.

Now, $1,390 is certainly not cheap for a 37-inch TV. Today, you can buy a Sharp LC-37D64U FHD LCD-TV for $1099 on-line from J and R, or a Sony KDL-37L4000 HD LCD-TV for $889, and equivalent sets will surely be cheaper in 2011. But it’s also not crazy to expect early adopters and demanding videophiles to buy this kind of set in significant quantities at such a price.

Also yesterday, CMEL VP Peter Chen said his company anticipates the mass production of TV-use AMOLED panels in 2010 or 2011, as reported in Digitimes. The TV panels will be made at a new third production OLED line, Chan said.

And what conclusions about CMEL’s initial volume-produced product should we draw from that 25-inch prototype we’ve seen so much of? Not much. Chen said CMEL would not mass produce that size.

So real AMOLED-TVs are coming. Not rich men’s toys, but real TVs in reasonable sizes at rational price premiums. You’ll just have to wait a couple of years.

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Samsung invests over $500 million to boost OLED production (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/14658.cfm)
30 June 2008

Samsung SDI said today that it will be spending over $500 million USD to boost production of next-generation OLED displays to six times its current level by mid-2009.

This latest move comes as panel makers try to get bigger shares of the growing market for OLED displays, which offer better contrast ratio, slimmer designs and better energy efficiency than current LCD or plasma displays.

Currently, however, production costs are still high, too high to make OLED TVs available to the masses.

Samsung currently produces small-sized AM-OLED screens used in watches and other handheld devices and there was no word on whether this large new investment will be to increase production of small OLED screens or for all OLED production including TVs.

Using 2-inch screens as a basis, the new investment should raise capacity from 1.5 million units a month to over 9 million by mid-2009.

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Samsung SDI to invest $529 million to up OLED output (http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKSEO29261220080630)
30 June 2008

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean display maker Samsung SDI Co (006400.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would boost production of next-generation organic displays to six times the current level by mid-2009, spending $529 million.

The move comes as leading panel makers try to grab a piece of the fast-growing market for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, which make better-quality, slimmer and more energy-efficient screens than liquid crystal displays.

But makers need to clear hurdles such as cutting production costs and maximizing screen size in order to see an adoption in a wider range of applications.

Samsung SDI, which produces small-sized AM-OLED screens used in handheld devices, said in a filing with the local exchange that it would invest 551.8 billion won ($528.6 million) until mid-2009 to expand its AM-OLED output.

When the investment is completed, its production capacity will reach 9 million units a month in 2-inch screen terms, compared with 1.5 million currently, the company said.

Other makers are also moving fast to launch OLED products and build scale. Japan's Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) last November started selling small-sized TVs using OLED technology and Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to ship small-to-medium-size OLED screens for mobile devices in the autumn.

Last week, Japan's Sankei Shimbun daily reported Matsushita Electric Industrial Co (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is finalizing plans to mass-produce 37-inch OLED TVs in three years.

Market researcher iSuppli said in May it expected global shipments of AM-OLED panels to nearly quadruple in 2008 to 10.2 million units, with revenue reaching $225 million.

Shares in Samsung SDI ended up 0.12 percent at 83,600 won, outperforming the wider market's 0.57 percent loss.

($1=1043.8 Won)

So, I can get a 50'' OLED TV when? 2012?I don't know; butt Pana say's a 37" in 2015.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/06/27/panasonic.denies.oled.tv/

Sony - we are "awfully" close to selling 27" OLED TVs (http://www.oled-info.com/sony/sony_we_are_awfully_close_to_selling_27_oled_tvs)
3 July 2008

Stan Glasgow (president and COO of Sony Electronics) says that Sony is making progress on moving to larger OLED screen sizes. At the moment, Sony sells an 11-inch OLED TV for $2,500, which means it is hardly a mass market product. The next step, he says, will be a 27-inch version, followed by a 40-inch version. He says they are “awfully close” to selling a 27-inch OLED version commercially. The key for Sony is to find ways to automate the production of the OLED screens, which right now require significant amounts of labor.

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Panasonic Comments on Alleged 37-inch OLED TV Production (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080625/153895/)
25 June 2008

Some media sources reported June 24, 2008, that Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd are making final adjustments to start volume production of a 37-inch OLED TV in fiscal 2011.

Matsushita responded to our interview and commented on 14:00, June 24, on the news, saying, "We are currently advancing research and development in view of OLED production at IPS Alpha's Himeji Plant for the future, but nothing specific has yet been decided on the commercialization of our OLED TV at the moment."

According to some reports, Matsushita is planning to mass-produce OLED panels on the new lines to be installed and dedicated to OLED panel production at the Mobara and Himeji plants (which is slated to begin operating in January 2010) of its subsidiary IPS Alpha Technology Ltd and assemble them into TVs at its plants both inside and outside Japan.

It has been reported that Matsushita will take six 37-inch OLED panels from a sixth-generation glass substrate at Mobara Plant, while taking 10 panels from an eighth-generation glass substrate at Himeji Plant.

Matsushita feels that the era of the OLED TV is fast approaching. At its management policy meeting in January 2008, President Fumio Otsubo said, "Large OLED TVs will start replacing the existing TVs from about 2015, I expect."

Matsushita made IPS Alpha its subsidiary with a view to maintaining the vertical integration of its TV business in the era of not only LCD TVs but also OLED TVs.

It is easy to imagine that Matsushita, which always advocates the idea that "TVs are the face of home electronics manufacturers," is scrambling to move up the schedule from "2015," the year indicated by President Otsubo.

What happened to being able to print OLED screens?

Why so labor-intensive? Were the speculated cost-advantages just myth?

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/10/japan_to_fund_oled_rnd/

Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and other Japanese consumer electronics giants are to get government cash to help fund the development of big-screen OLED TVs.

Japan to fund creation of 40W, 40in OLED TV (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/10/japan_to_fund_oled_rnd/)
10 July 2008


http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/10/01/xel1_1.jpg

Sony's XEL-1: groundbreaking

Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and other Japanese consumer electronics giants are to get government cash to help fund the development of big-screen OLED TVs.

In total, ¥700m ($6.6m/£3.3m/€4.2m) will be made available to the companies, all of it from NEDO, a Japanese government agency that fuels the development of emerging technologies. The funding will be provided over the next five years to March 2013.

NEDO clearly views OLED as a key advance in cutting the amount of electrical power the world consumes. The funding is geared toward the development of a 40in 1080p screen that consumes less than 40W and can be manufactured in volume.

Sony launched the first commercially available OLED TV, the XEL-1, in September 2007. But it's just 11in in the diagonal and costs more than most much larger LCD TVs. Sony has already pledged to produce a 27in version (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/29/sony_27in_oled/) within 12 months, and has earmarked ¥22bn ($206m/£104m/€131m) for its OLED efforts.

But it's not alone: Korea's LG and Samsung are both keenly pursuing OLED technology, and NEDO's funding is arguably as much about ensure Japan doesn't lose out to Korea in the OLED race as it did with LCD technology.

What's the status again on lifetimes of 'blue' materials/components.

Highest I've heard I think (latest report from Sony) is around 30k hours.

In any case, if they can get it to 48k-60k hours, then it's smooth sailing all the way (in terms of production aspect)

NEDO Announces Consignees for OLED Display Project (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080711/154719/)
11 July 2008

A Japanese independent administrative institution decided the consignees that will undertake the "Development of Fundamental Technologies for Next-generation Large-screen OLED Displays (the Green IT project)" for fiscal 2008.

The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) made this announcement July 10, 2008.

The consignees are Sony Corp, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co Ltd, Sharp Corp, Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd, Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd, Choshu Industry Co Ltd, JSR Corp, Shimadzu Corp, Dainippon Screen Mfg Co Ltd, Hitachi Zosen Corp and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.

The 10 companies and one organization submitted a joint proposal to NEDO. The project will be conducted for five years from fiscal 2008 to 2012. Although not finalized, the annual expenses for the project will total approximately ¥700 million (US$6.53 million).

The goals are to realize an energy-saving technology that enables full-HD (1920 x 1080p) panels with a power consumption of 40W or lower and to develop the following three fundamental technologies targeted for mass-production in the sixth-generation panels (panel size: 1,500 x 1,850mm) and onward.

They are (1) material and manufacturing process technologies for the formation of large electrodes with minimum damage to the organic film, (2) transparent encapsulation technology for large displays and (3) formation technology for large organic films. NEDO invited public applications for the project from April 11 to May 20, 2008.

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OLED TV, Mini-Note Panels Lead Flat Panel Shipments, Says DisplaySearch (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080714/154765/)
14 July 2008

A DisplaySearch report forecasts a 167% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for shipments of OLED panels from 2007 to 2015. The CAGR of shipments for mini-note PC applications may be 74% over the coming eight years.

"OLED TV and mini-note PC applications are the next big opportunity for flat panel suppliers," explained David Barnes, VP of Strategic Analysis for DisplaySearch. He added, "Last year, we identified the potential for digital picture frame demand to lead unit growth. That application is still growing strong but these two applications will be even stronger."

Shipments of flat panels for all applications decreased 12% from Q4 2007 to 881.7 million units on normal seasonal weakness in Q1 2008. Compared to Q1 2007, shipments increased 15%, led by demand for mini-note PC, digital picture frames and portable navigation devices.

On a unit share basis, mobile phone applications consumed 45.8% of all flat panels in Q1 2008. By comparison, the next largest consumption came from conventional PC applications for desktop and laptop displays, which used 9.1% of the flat panels shipped. Panels for LCD TV and plasma TV sets comprised 3.5% of shipments. On a display area basis, TFT LCD technology provided 88.6% of total FPD area in Q1 2008. PDP technology delivered 9.4% and OLED delivered 0.1% of the total.

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OLED: towards a mature industry - interview with Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled AG (http://www.oled-info.com/oled_towards_a_mature_industry_interview_with_gildas_sorin_c eo_of_novaled_ag)
18 July 2008

In July 2008, I had the chance of interviewing Gildas Sorin, Novaled's CEO. Novaled is engaged in the commercialization of the new generation of OLEDs. The company has developed an innovative doping technology (Novaled PIN OLED) enabling large area OLED display and lighting.

Novaled claims to deliver the highest power efficiencies in combination with longest lifetimes and holds several OLED world records.

Novaled, established 5 years ago, is located in Dresden, Germany. Dresden city is becoming the biggest European organic electronic centre with a network of university, R&D centers and companies acting in the organic fields.

Gildas Sorin is Novaled's CEO since since August 2003. Previously he was with Philips Electronics for five years as vice president of the Display Division and, in parallel, general manager of the Philips Plasma Displays group. Prior to that, he served at Thomson Multimedia for 20 years in various executive and management roles. Mr. Sorin attended Thomson University and holds a degree in senior management.

Hello Gildas, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Recently there is a lot of hype about OLEDs. We are hearing of large investments by Sony, Samsung and LG, and plans for OLED TVs are stated. Do you think this time it is for real? or will we see more delays?

Every year in the past the message was “OLED business is starting next year”. This was said for several years, but now it is real indeed. The OLED industry is entering its mature phase; OLED technology has reached a performance level acceptable for the market in display and lighting to start. The time to make only the “noisy” announcements is over as the industry requires real performances. Different parameters have to be combined for a successful market entry. Therefore Novaled is striving continuously for the best combination of power efficiency together with the necessary lifetime.

You guys are working closely on P-OLEDs with CDT/Sumation, and also on PHOLEDs with UDC and Ciba. What do you think about these two kinds of OLEDs? Which one is closer to commercialization?

Until recently OLED was split between small molecule deposited with vacuum tools on the one hand and polymer using printing technologies on the other hand. These two approaches start to converge with the goal to have the most appropriate production process for the application.

Novaled is working on a hybrid approach with CDT/Sumitomo Chemicals mixing the Sumation polymer emitting material together with the small molecule material of Novaled. This will bring more efficient polymer OLED in top emission mode.

Can you give some more information about your collaboration with UDC?

Novaled’s technology provides better power efficiency to all OLED structures and for this reason Novaled is cooperating with the main emitting material makers. One of them is UDC which develops efficient green and red OLED emitter material. By using Novaled PIN OLED TM structure and materials the UDC performance is doubled.

In the beginning of 2008 you announced a collaboration with Ciba, on long-lifetime PHOLEDs. Any news in that area?

Ciba, like other key organic material players, develops phosphorescent emitting material specially dedicated to the Novaled PIN OLED TM structure. The PIN technology is necessary to reach highest power efficiency and is expected to play an important role in industry standards.

The OLLA project (which you were involved in) was just concluded, and a new project has been announced - OLED100.eu. Can you give us more details about your role in those projects?

The European lighting industry supported by the European Union launched a program called OLLA in 2004 to develop the OLED technology for lighting applications. Due to its freedom of design, OLED lighting technology offers many possibilities for new lighting applications whilst achieving substantial energy savings. OLLA was a consortium of 24 companies from 8 European countries such as Philips, OSRAM and of course Novaled, with funding of 12M€ from the EU.

Novaled has been the centre of this program providing the necessary power efficiency with its PIN OLED TM technology. A device with an efficacy of 50.7 lumens per watt and lifetime of 10.000 hours was delivered by the end of the program in June 2008.

The new program OLED100.eu is now launched with the mission to reach 100 lm/W and a lifetime of 100.000 h. This program is centered on Novaled technology as well.

One of the main objectives of OLED100.eu is 100 lm/W, in 3 years. UDC already claims to have 102lm/W today. So why will it take 3 years for you guys to achieve that?

The time of laboratory announcements is over. Performance of 100 lm/W with no lifetime can not be seen as an industrial result. Novaled already announced an OLED with 160 lm/W last year. We are now committed to real performance which can be used for commercial products, having the best compromise between lifetime and efficiency.

Konica Minolta plans to launch OLED lighting products in 2011. Is that realistic?

We expect the first lighting products from the key lighting makers in Europe and Japan next year already.

OSRAM is showing beautiful OLED lamp prototypes. What do you think about those? When will be able to actually buy them, do you think?

OSRAM has made a clever move to show the potential of the OLED technology for lighting through its bringing two first products on the market.

It is necessary to show to consumers, not yet aware of the OLED advantages, the benefit of the real product. We are confident that the OLED business in lighting will take off in 2009.

Another interesting development in white-light OLEDs in Lumiotec, the new Japanese JV. Are you involved with this new company?

The creation of Lumiotec illustrates the revolution in the lighting industry currently moving from vacuum (lamps, neons) toward solid state (LED and now OLED products).

This radical change of technology will bring new players into the lighting field.

We are in permanent contact with Prof. Kido, supporter of the PIN OLED technology, who is driving the technical development of Lumiotec.

Are there any products that currently use OLEDs with your IP inside?

The OLED display and lighting industry is now in the starting phase. We are working with several key players in both fields but currently under NDA.

You are also licensing your tech for Solar cells. Any news in that front?

You can imagine that Novaled technology capable of highest power efficiently structure for emitting light can also provide power efficiency advantages to organic structures absorbing light and for creating energy.

Dresden, Germany, is the biggest European center for organic electronics. One sister company of Novaled, Heliatek, is making significant progress in solar cells using Novaled technology.

Novaled is working with other partners in this organic solar cell field as well.

What are the major challenges still facing OLEDs?

We are just entering the industrial phase of this technology. Performance and lifetime are now at an acceptable level. Further progress requires the increase of cooperation among the actors: technology and material providers, equipment and device makers. The time for solo working is over.

When do you think we'll be able to actually buy a commercial OLED TV?

The first Sony OLED TV is available in Japan since end of last year. We are confident that the product offer in the display market will be extended starting next year with the arrival of additional key players.

Where do you see the display market in 5 years?

OLED is the natural evolution of the LCD. It brings much better picture performance (even better than Plasma) and new design opportunities, while reusing the major part of the LCD panel: the active matrix (TFT). To some extent OLED is an LCD display.

Having passed the necessary learning phase, OLED displays will be cheaper than current LCDs and enable more appealing products. It’s a win-win situation for both LCD makers and consumers.

Gildas, thank you for this interview. I wish both you and Novaled success, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more of your technology soon.

Interesting that most of the development is being done in Japan, the EU and other countries but not the US.

If this thing hits, another missed opportunity for American business.

Interesting that most of the development is being done in Japan, the EU and other countries but not the US.

If this thing hits, another missed opportunity for American business.

^^^
Err......there's Kodak right (a bigtime in this whole OLED enchalada).

So there are American companies involved. It's just as to whether they're putting any major investment or not.

Kodak has the patents but are they actually developing product?

More-Efficient OLED Lighting (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21116/)
23 July 2008


http://www.technologyreview.com/files/18399/oleds_x220.jpg

Beam me up: A new OLED design could help the devices emit far more light.
Electron microscope images show the top of the OLED with organic
and aluminum layers (top) and an organic grid before depositing the
organic and aluminum layers (middle). The bottom image shows polymer
micro lenses on the surface of the glass substrate.
Credit: University of Michigan/Nature Photonics

Energy efficiency and flexible lighting applications have long been the promise of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). The technology hasn't lived up to its promise, however, because in typical OLEDs, only 20 percent of the light generated is released from the device. That means that most light is trapped inside the bulb, making it highly inefficient.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University believe that they're on to a way to break the OLED-efficiency logjam. The scientists have designed an OLED that boosts illumination by 60 percent using a combination of an organic grid working in tandem with small micro lenses that guide the trapped light out of the device.

Stephen Forrest, a professor of electrical engineering and physics at Michigan, and Yuri Sun, from Princeton University, described the work in the August issue of Nature Photonics.

In OLEDs, white light is generated by using electricity to send an electron into nanometer-thick layers of organic materials that behave like semiconductor materials. Typically, the light in the substrate is internally reflected and runs parallel and not perpendicular. That's the crux of the problem because the light can't escape in the vertical direction without some coaxing. In Forrest's devices, the grids refract the trapped light, sending it to the five micrometers dome-shaped micro lenses. The light is sent off in a vertical orientation that helps release the trapped rays.

Forrest and his coworkers report that the technology emits about 70 lumens from a watt of power. In comparison, incandescent lightbulbs emit 15 lumens per watt. Fluorescent lights put out roughly 90 lumens of light per watt but have liabilities: they produce harsh light, lack longevity, and use environment-damaging substances like mercury.

Forrest says that the next step in the research is to use OLEDs that are more efficient than those the team used in the current project. Looking beyond the research lab work on these OLEDs, he is cautiously optimistic that it should be possible to scale up the manufacturing of the devices, and that production costs for manufacturing the new OLEDs will be competitive.

Today, an estimated 22 percent of the electricity produced goes to lighting buildings. A highly efficient form of OLED lighting could significantly reduce the electricity demand and boost savings. Another factor influencing broad adoption of LEDs is the fact that they outlast incandescent bulbs. Over the next 20 years, the rapid adoption of LED lighting in the United States could reduce electricity demands by 62 percent and thus eliminate 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions, according to the Department of Energy.

It will take several years to replace current lighting in office buildings and homes with OLEDs. But the continued progress in increasing the efficiencies of the devices is encouraging to researchers. "Luckily, OLEDs are the light that just keeps giving," says Forrest, who has spent much of his professional research career focused on OLEDs. "There is so much to be done and so much that's been done, but this is nonetheless a quite exciting advancement."

More-Efficient OLED Lighting (http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/21116/)
23 July 2008

Today, an estimated 22 percent of the electricity produced goes to lighting buildings. A highly efficient form of OLED lighting could significantly reduce the electricity demand and boost savings. Another factor influencing broad adoption of LEDs is the fact that they outlast incandescent bulbs. Over the next 20 years, the rapid adoption of LED lighting in the United States could reduce electricity demands by 62 percent and thus eliminate 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions, according to the Department of Energy.


If only 22% of electricity "goes to lighting buildings" how can rapid adoption of LED lighting reduce electricity demands by 62%? Surely they meant 62% of the electricity required for lighting. Maybe.

I've been a big proponent of compact florescent bulbs for many years. Yet there is a big drawback (besides not fitting in many fixtures). You can't use them in dimmable, or even often electronically controlled, circuits. Never mind the ads, they're wrong. I've tried. That needs to be addressed, both for CFs and for OLEDs. Hopefully it's not an OLED problem.

BTW, I've seen ONE CF fixture on a dimming circuit that actually works. I tried to find out about the fixture. All I could learn is that it was from Germany.

Japan's Matsushita Electric to release 40-inch OEL TVs in 2011 - report (http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/07/28/afx5262247.html)
28 July 2008

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, plans to start selling OEL (organic electroluminescent) television sets with a screen size of 40 inches or so as early as 2011, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday, without citing sources.

OEL is seen as the most promising technology for next-generation TVs because it offers a higher image quality than LCDs and plasma panels, the business daily said.

By investing several dozen billion yen, the company plans to build a prototype production line for OEL panels 20 inches and larger and to start operating it next spring, the report said.

It also plans to double the personnel involved in development of large-screen OEL TVs to around 200.

The firm plans to set up an OEL panel mass production line at an LCD panel plant it intends to start operating in 2010 in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, the report said.

This line is expected to begin manufacturing OEL panels for screens of up to 40 inches as early as 2011.

Total investment in the OEL panel mass production facility is estimated at around 100 billion yen ($930.4 million), the Nikkei said.

($1=107.48 yen)

sounds like panasonic is going to be a major player in the OLED HDTV market in the coming years.

FWIW, Samsung SDI has talked about a $4 billion investment into a Gen 6 OLED plant. I think that would be capable of making 37" screens.

Only problem is that I havent heard a timeframe on the investment.

Slacker

How TVs Will Get Much, Much Flatter (http://www.pcworld.com/article/149035/how_tvs_will_get_much_much_flatter.html)
29 July 2008


http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/149035-2609p022-1b.jpg


A paper-thin HDTV that covers a whole wall? Believe it. OLEDs are coming--not quickly, but when they do, LCD and plasma are doomed.

Plasma is dead. Front and rear projection? Fuggeddaboutit. LCD has a few good years left, and then it's sayonara, baby. TV technology's future lies in tiny phosphorescent molecules.

Organic light-emitting diodes--OLEDs--employ a thin layer of organic material that emits light when electricity passes through it. OLED displays need no backlight, so they're ultrathin and flexible. They are also brighter, cheaper to manufacture, and more environmentally friendly than plasma displays or LCDs. Over the next few years, OLED will be coming to a boob tube near you, and later maybe to the walls of your house, or even the windshield of your car.

Thin and Rich

When Sony showed off its 27-inch active-matrix OLED flat panel at last January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, you could hear jaws dropping. A contrast ratio of a million to one, with pure blacks, blinding whites, and brilliant colors; no problems with viewing angles or ambient light; faster response times than LCDs; and low energy consumption--all on a pane of glass thinner than a Bic pen.

"OLEDs...reproduce the exact colors a movie maker intended," says Barry Young, OLED expert for DisplaySearch. "LCDs [and plasmas] can't produce 100 percent of the grayscales in the original image...; OLEDs can."

Right now, only one model is available: Sony's XEL-1, which measures 11 inches diagonally, costs $2500, and has a short useful-life span.

But the XEL-1 is mostly a proof-of-concept item, says Young. OLEDs using newer materials are proving more robust, and eventually they'll long outlast plasma and LCD sets, he adds.

This year, the flat-panel industry woke up and smelled the diodes. Samsung SDI--the world's largest maker of OLEDs for cell phones and portable media players--is pumping half a billion dollars into new manufacturing plants. Epson, LG, Toshiba, and other major manufacturers of OLEDs are following suit.

Janice Mahone, vice president of technology commercialization for Universal Display, says that consumers should start to see OLED panels in the 20-to-30-inch range in 2009. But it's likely to be two years or more before OLEDs can compete with LCDs on price.

A Flat Future

OLED isn't the only promising new TV technology. Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)--LED-powered displays that employ millions of microscopic shutters to control light passing through them--use less power than OLEDs, but they trail OLEDs in development.

Mahone admits that LCDs have lots of life left, and manufacturers--who are loath to cannibalize their LCD sales--will likely try to keep OLED prices high for several years. In the long run, though, OLED sets will become cheaper to produce, thanks to having less electronics.

"You could have a paper-thin, wall-size OLED that displays video, shows photographs, or provides ambient light with a flick of a switch," says Mahone. Transparent OLED technology could provide the same instant control for the windows in your room or for a heads-up display on the windshield of your car.

If you're planning on buying a big-screen TV set this year, it won't be an OLED. But your next TV after that one very well could be--if it isn't built into the walls of your next house.

Woooow.

Sony will bring OLED tv's to Europe next year (http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraaf.nl%2Fdigitaal%2F1680752%2F_ _Volgend_jaar_OLED_tvs_in_Europa__.html&lp=nl_en&btnTrUrl=Translate).

Google Translation...

AMSTERDAM - next year appear in Europe for the first time ultrathin television based on oled-technology (organic light emitting diode) on the market. Sony that introduced the apparatus earlier in Japan and the United States says bring the technology in 2009, to Europe.

OLED TV its thinner and lower-energy than lcd or plasma, which comes among others because there is no backlight necessary for a good visible picture. THE OLED TV are thus considered as the new generation flat TV.

Disadvantage is that the OLED technology at present still a piece is more expensive than the LCD and plasma technology. Also the life span would be more limited.

Sony has sold worldly firstly OLED TV since December 2007 in Japan and since beginning this year in the US. 11-inch the model is only 3 mm thick and has a price of approximately €1250.

What happened to being able to print OLED screens?

Why so labor-intensive? Were the speculated cost-advantages just myth?
I don't see the article listed above your comment as speculating on labor intensive or any description of how the panels are manufactured/processed.

What you are refering to is the difference between regular lithography and a inkjet or other similar type of printing method. Typical lithography methods involve up to 5 or 6 steps where a print method is normally just one or two. Money is saved by th fact that normal litho processes use expensive chemicals and equipment for each step, also there is the production plant foot print that is made larger by having more process equipment. While this printing method is currently in use for several stages of production in both LCD and Plasma sets there are some manufacturing processes where it can't be used or is not scaleable to the larger glass sizes.

The glass will always be large and cut up into individual sets. The economy of scale ditates that what you can do on a single 37" panel can be done on a gen 6 size panel or gen 8 size and then cut up into several 37" panels.

What's the status again on lifetimes of 'blue' materials/components.

Highest I've heard I think (latest report from Sony) is around 30k hours.

In any case, if they can get it to 48k-60k hours, then it's smooth sailing all the way (in terms of production aspect)

I have seen allot of claims of high lifetime materials in several publications (especially for Blue OLED). Problem is that when you take the numbers quoted for the brightness you find that it is not sutible for a FPD application.

Once you reasearch most of them you find that at a brigtness level that would be needed for a FPD they have very short lifetimes.

The latest I have seen is something from Cambridge (?) that says it has a high lifetime. Haven't looked at it to check, but it might be a little better. Mostly the blue lifetime has been an incremental thing, small gains over time.

LCD is King; Long Live the King - Maybe (http://displaydaily.com/2008/08/13/lcd-is-king-long-live-the-king-maybe/)
15 August 2008

Few doubt that LCDs rule the display world from cell phones to large-sized TVs. The technology has vanquished all comers and even entrenched technologies in its bid for hegemony. But challengers remain in the wings, ready to unseat the reigning king.

Japan led the LCD revolution, but the mass production lead is now shared with Korea, Taiwan and China. While Japan still supplies many of the key components and materials, even this will be compromised in short order.

So what are the Japanese to do? Find new display technologies to champion, apparently. For bigger screens, FEDs are in contention as are OLEDs, but even SED might make a come back.

In the last few days, we have seen advancements on all these fronts. For example, Field Emission Technologies, which is partly owned by Sony, says it is planning to begin mass production of 26-inch FED panels by the end of 2009. FEDs offer flat CRT-like performance, but have proved devilishly hard to mass-produce (remember how much money Sony lost in its Candescent FED venture?). But FET claims to have a way to actually get there this time.

In the Candescent approach, tiny cone emitters, called Spindt cathodes, were constructed to generate electrons to energize a phosphor. FET uses these same Spindt structures, but instead of forming one Spindt cathode per pixel, it fabricates 1400 per pixel. This overcomes the uniformity problems that resulted from the former approach, while also improving lifetime and lowering currents. In addition, the company developed transparent insulating spacers to maintain the proper gap.

To help meet its mass-production deadline, FET will acquire Pioneer’s Kagoshima plant by the end of 2008 and will invest from $183 million to $274 million in Gen4 manufacturing equipment. It will target the high-end reference monitor market to start.

News about SED also surfaced this week regarding the patent lawsuit between Canon and Nano-Proprietary. Apparently, the US Court of Appeals issued a ruling in favor of Canon, in part reversing the rulings of the district court.

At issue was whether the SED technology license granted to Canon by Nano-Proprietary was valid. The validity came into question when Canon formed a joint venture agreement with Toshiba to commercialize SED technology. The initial ruling favored Nano-Proprietary, which contended the license was violated with the JV, but the Appeals court said the JV license was ok. Does this mean SED has new life? Not necessarily.

But the technology most likely to unseat LCD is OLED. Currently, there is much interest in the ability of OLED to scale to the sizes needed to compete with LCDs in the monitor and TV segments.

This week we learned that Panasonic is confirming its intentions to mass-produce OLED TVs. According to industry reports, the company intends to use its R&D center in Kyoto to make 20-inch prototype OLED TVs by early 2009. Then, a new $2.8B plant would start production in 2010, with mass production of 40-inch OLED TVs scheduled for 2011.

And, according to a report in Digitimes, AU Optronics (AUO) is considering re-opening its OLED production line, which it shut down in 2006. AUO was making small-sized OLEDs, but has continued development efforts with larger-sized substrates. No time frame was set, but it is yet another indicator of growing interest.

Can any of these technologies really displace LCDs in the TV market? OLEDs have the best chance, but it is likely to be some time before LCD panel, monitor and TV makers feel threatened. But on the other hand, OLED may be a way for non-competitive LCD fabs to retool old plants and get back in the game. Stay tuned.

Right, I'd still see OLED first taking off as a PC monitor technology before I'd see it becoming an HDTV, tho. That's how LCD started, and I don't expect OLED to be any different. I mean, yeah, Sony may have made theirs a television, but it wasn't HD, and it certainly didn't have quite a lot to justify that hefty price tag. For now, just having a good 20 - 30" PC monitor with OLED technology at the 1680x1050 or 1920x1200 would be a pretty good start, imo.

Right, I'd still see OLED first taking off as a PC monitor technology before I'd see it becoming an HDTV, tho. That's how LCD started, and I don't expect OLED to be any different.

The problem is that OLED's work very differently than LCD's. The power consumption of an OLED display is directly related to the image that is displayed (unlike LCD). An image which is predominantly white, like those on most laptops, might actually use more energy than an equivalent LCD display. This is obviously a non-starter when you talk about laptops. Another possible problem is burn-in as various portions of a PC display almost never change.

I believe that Samsung SDI has mentioned laptop displays but I have yet to see them demonstrate a model incorporating an OLED. JMO, but I think that we may see 30 to 40 inch TV's before we see them used widely in PC's.

Slacker

OLED has burn-in?

What about those small devices using OLED screens? Don't they have menus and stuff drawn all the time?

Like cell phones and PDAs? Such devices are expected to fail or be replaced in a short time period, before the display shows burn-in. TVs and monitors are a different story altogether; people expect TVs to last decades.

Is it that they burn in or the material loses the ability to light up over time?

Electrical stimulation causes permanent degradative changes in the light-producing materials, which cause them to emit less light over time.

So it's more burn-out than burn-in?

Rather than trying to match some abstract term, just realize the end result which is all that matters. Pixels get dimmer with use. The more they're used, the quicker they get dimmer. Same as PDP.

Is it worse than PDP or CRT?

If they are going to charge a premium, the PQ advantage better be really obvious for people to put up with the high price and the uncertain life of the materials.

I'm not involved in the making of any of these products. I don't know. It will depend on the product. There are many ways of making OLED. There are no simple answers. So just wait.

Like cell phones and PDAs? Such devices are expected to fail or be replaced in a short time period, before the display shows burn-in. TVs and monitors are a different story altogether; people expect TVs to last decades.

Go to youtube and type in CES 2008. According to the Samsung rep, he said that the OLED wouldn't suffer from burn in.

You're confusing PR with reality. Do some investigation of the actual technology before you put up some media link like that. OLED has always been subject to emitter wear. Which means if you use it unevenly then it will show. End of story.

Electric current causes changes in the emitter material which degrade its conversion efficiency. There is no known OLED emission material in existence that does not have a steady loss of conversion efficiency with cumulative use. Thus by simple logic, there can be no OLED display that does not have degraded brightness with cumulative use. And if its pixels are not all used the same amount, then the uneven use will result in uneven conversion efficiency, thus uneven brightness, aka. 'burn-in'.

For PDP, the phosphor solarizes due to UV exposure, which is also its method of operation. The process of life kills it. In addition the electrodes wear due to sputtering, though it may not be a significant contributor to actual brightness loss.

For FED/SED, various processes contribute to panel aging and emitter aging. Leakage of atmospheric gases and also gases trapped on inner surfaces into the vacuum space between emitters and phosphors provides the contaminants which both absorb electrons and also degrade emitters and/or phosphors. Emitters can lose particles (sputtering) or have structural rearrangement, and can also react with gases to form coatings that don't emit electrons efficiently. And the phosphor ages due to electron impacts causing structural/chemical changes.

You're confusing PR with reality. Do some investigation of the actual technology before you put up some media link like that. OLED has always been subject to emitter wear. Which means if you use it unevenly then it will show. End of story.

Electric current causes changes in the emitter material which degrade its conversion efficiency. There is no known OLED emission material in existence that does not have a steady loss of conversion efficiency with cumulative use. Thus by simple logic, there can be no OLED display that does not have degraded brightness with cumulative use. And if its pixels are not all used the same amount, then the uneven use will result in uneven conversion efficiency, thus uneven brightness, aka. 'burn-in'.

For PDP, the phosphor solarizes due to UV exposure, which is also its method of operation. The process of life kills it. In addition the electrodes wear due to sputtering, though it may not be a significant contributor to actual brightness loss.

For FED/SED, various processes contribute to panel aging and emitter aging. Leakage of atmospheric gases and also gases trapped on inner surfaces into the vacuum space between emitters and phosphors provides the contaminants which both absorb electrons and also degrade emitters and/or phosphors. Emitters can lose particles (sputtering) or have structural rearrangement, and can also react with gases to form coatings that don't emit electrons efficiently. And the phosphor ages due to electron impacts causing structural/chemical changes.

Whoa, easy there cupcake. I was just trying to be helpful. :D

Electric current causes changes in the emitter material which degrade its conversion efficiency. There is no known OLED emission material in existence that does not have a steady loss of conversion efficiency with cumulative use. Thus by simple logic, there can be no OLED display that does not have degraded brightness with cumulative use. And if its pixels are not all used the same amount, then the uneven use will result in uneven conversion efficiency, thus uneven brightness, aka. 'burn-in'.

For PDP, the phosphor solarizes due to UV exposure, which is also its method of operation. The process of life kills it. In addition the electrodes wear due to sputtering, though it may not be a significant contributor to actual brightness loss.

Obviously OLED suffers for uneven aging. I think I read blue component was aging faster on the XEL-1 tv. This is something the tv makers must adress, but i don't think it should be considered "burn-in".

Afaik, pdp suffers from two different effects. One is the aging of the phosphors, that may be even or uneven depending of what you show in the tv in the long term, but also the short term burn-in (which has been almost eradicated from the newer panels) which completely destroys the tv.

A single white section in a PDP panel may destroy the panel in several hours, while an equivalent and cumulative use would only show barely noticeable uneven aging. The first doesn't apply to oled, the second, obviously does.

I may be wrong anyway.

people expect TVs to last decades.

they do, but those those days are long gone

AMOLED shipments to hit 185 million by 2014, says iSuppli (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080819PR201.html)
19 August 2008


http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/20080819PR201_files/1.gif

Source: iSuppli, August 2008

Although many display suppliers have discontinued their Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) businesses, the technology continues to advance, with mass production starting in 2007, along with the rollout of multiple displays from multiple vendors, according to iSuppli.

"The stunning image quality produced by AMOLEDS has never been in question. However, there is continuing debate over when the AMOLED will become a commercially viable technology in the display industry and how effectively it will be able to compete against the current industry heavyweight: Thin-Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Displays (TFT-LCDs)," said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays for iSuppli. "Regardless of this debate, the AMOLED market is set for strong growth over the next few years, although volume shipments will be tiny compared to TFT-LCDs."

The worldwide AMOLED market will grow to 185.2 million units by 2014, rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 84.2%, up from 2.6 million units in 2007, according to iSuppli. Revenue is expected to grow in concert, expanding to US$4.6 billion by 2014, up at a CAGR of 83.3% from US$67 million in 2007.

AM technology provides major improvements to OLED quality, providing images that are comparable to LCD TVs. The most compelling example of this was Sony's AMOLED television, whose image quality has achieved wide acclaim.

In order to accelerate the process of migrating AMOLED technology from niche to mass market, multiple suppliers must add to their manufacturing resources and ramp up production quickly, Jakhanwal advised. "While mobile handsets are the obvious main target for the technology, these phones require multiple sources of suppliers with sufficient volumes to meet demand. It's unlikely that a single company will be able to fulfill this demand in the short term because no supplier presently has sufficient capacity."

Furthermore, instead of focusing on the entire mobile handset market, suppliers initially should target only high-end wireless phones because this will allow them to justify producing products with superior images that command higher Average Selling Prices (ASPs) than other displays. High-end QVGA resolution handsets could generate high-volume demand for AM-LCDs. However, the ASPs of AMOLEDs must decline in order to compete with TFT-LCDs.

In general, Jakhanwal advises AMOLED suppliers to play to their specific strengths when considering which markets to address.

Suppliers also should work on slimming down the form factor and cutting the power consumption of AMOLEDs. These attributes have always been a strong suit for OLED technology. However, the TFT-LCD industry is not standing still, as it continues to cut the thickness and power usage of its panels. "If AMOLED makers want to stave off TFT-LCDs advance in this arena, they must continue to press their advantage on these fronts," Jakhanwal said.

Finally, aggressively improving manufacturing yields and efficiency is a must for AMOLED suppliers in order to reduce the costs of their products. These issues have plagued the AMOLED business since its inception. iSuppli believes AMOLED equipment, Intellectual Property (IP), material and panel companies should collaborate to overcome these manufacturing challenges. This will help build on each company's strengths and avoid duplication of effort.

Hi all,

Are there any 4", 5", 6" AMOLED monitors or devices that accept external video/audio, that I could buy and use (experiment with) instead of buying 11" Sony? Thanks in advance.

Are there any 4", 5", 6" AMOLED monitors or devices that accept external video/audio, that I could buy and use (experiment with) instead of buying 11" Sony?
Will 2.6" do?

http://www.techradar.com/news/television/samsung-to-launch-oled-tvs-at-ces-2009-461446

Good work vtms. Samsung is a pretty aggressive company. Hopefully once they get that seperate company that's just dedicated to oled up and running, they can start pushing out bigger sized oleds.

Damn, so does that mean that 31 inch oled won't come out in 2009?

Vitex and Novaled to cooperate on OLED thin-film encapsulation (http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/5/8/28)
28 August 2008

The companies will combine thin-film technology and doping technology and materials to produce high-efficiency OLED products.

Vitex Systems, San Jose, CA, producer of thin film encapsulation technology, and Novaled, known for its organic LED technology, plan to combine advantages of the Vitex Barix thin-film technology with the Novaled doping technology and materials, targeting very thin and high-efficiency long-lifetime OLED products.

OLED technology continues to evolve in the display market in applications from mobile phones to TVs. OLEDs also hold promise in lighting, where it enables innovative design, as well as energy saving from the power-efficient Novaled PIN OLED technology.

The majority of OLEDs are currently processed on glass substrates and encapsulated with glass for protection against air and moisture. The glass represents more than 90% of the device thickness. Vitex has developed an innovative thin-film encapsulation targeting ultra-thin OLED devices.

"Novaled is famous for its highly efficient OLED technology," says Jack Saltich, Vitex CEO. "Vitex Barix thin-film encapsulation not only offers superior encapsulation properties but also enables innovative and ultra-thin product design that conventional technology can not provide."

"Our strategy is to provide complete OLED solutions around our Novaled PIN OLED technology", states Gildas Sorin, Novaled CEO. "The cooperation with Vitex illustrates our company approach. Novaled customers will benefit from the Vitex technology for their advanced design."

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Sony readying 27-inch OLED this year? (http://www.techradar.com/news/television/sony-readying-27inch-oled-this-year--460730)
28 August 2008

TechRadar loves to poke its nose about a bit when large companies make press announcements, and having got bored of the 11-inch OLED, we decided to see when bigger screens are coming out.

According to an insider, it's believed Sony will be releasing the 27-inch OLED TV to the Asian markets even before the year is out, with a worldwide release in the next year.

Acceleration

This is ahead of the other rumours, which broke earlier this year, stating that the screen will debut by the end of 2009.

The insider also said he believed the next size screen, rumoured to be around 40-inch wide, is not too much further down the line, but couldn't give any exact dates.

However, the next screen is likely to cost well in excess of the current £1,000 price tag on the 11-inch OLED Sony will be bringing to Europe, so it may be a case of all show and no sales for the short term at least.

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Samsung to launch OLED TVs at CES 2009 (http://www.techradar.com/news/television/samsung-to-launch-oled-tvs-at-ces-2009-461446)
29 August 2008

Samsung has revealed it will release 14.1 inch OLED TVs at CES 2009 in a bid to keep Sony from running away with the nascent market.

Young Joong Noh, developer of OLED parts at Samsung, confirmed to TechRadar the sets will be coming next year, with a similar £1,000 plus price tag.

However, he was keen to point out the superior panel the Koreans will be releasing:

"Sony's TV is only standard definition; in our case we'll have a HD OLED TV with 120Hz capability," he said.

"Our plan is to try and release it at CES 2009."

Bigger and better future

Noh also claimed the technology was well in place for the larger sized screens, like the 31-inch OLED screen on display at the Samsung stand, but the amount of TVs that make it through production is too low, as the larger size means they contain too many defects.

As reported earlier this year, Samsung is going to create a new company that will exclusively develop OLED displays, and Noh believes this will be announced as a new entity at the end of the year.

"When we make OLEDs, we have to modify existing LCD lines," he said. "The company is now developing production lines just for OLED, which will cater for mobile to the larger sizes we provide for LCD.

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AUO using a-Si to develop OLED panels (http://www.digitimes.com/displays/a20080829PD206.html)
29 August 2008

AU Optronics (AUO) plans on basing its OLED development using a-Si technology, and the company estimates it will enter into mass production in 2011.

CT Liu, vice-president and general manager of consumer product display business group of AUO indicated that AUO is going to start developing OLED again in the fourth quarter of this year and concentrate on commercializing small-sized panels.

Liu mentioned that OLED panels have a higher contrast ratio, lower power consumption and are much thinner compared to the thin film transistor (TFT) LCD panels. And as OLED technology matured, costs will drop below than of TFT. AUO will also focus its development on efficient OLED manufacturing processes. Liu explained that a-Si technology is more suited for OLED panel making because a-Si has better yield rates and more stable circuits compare to LTPS technology.

Although Liu noted that the panel maker has made several breakthroughs concerning materials and equipment recently, AUO estimates that it will take at least three years for the technology to be mature enough for mass production. Hence AUO plans to mass product small- to medium-size OLED panel in 2011, and then larger-sized panels in another 3-5 years.

In related news, the Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) OLED subsidiary Chi Mei EL (CMEL) estimates that its second vapor deposition line will go online early in 2009 and the company plans to use its 5G or 5.5G low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) panel production to produce large-size OLED panels. CMEL noted that it will start mass producing 7.6-inch OLED panels in the second half of this year.

I guess by HD, they mean 1920 by 1080, at least by their implication vs. the Sony...

Does anyone have pics of the Samsung 31 incher OLED TV (the one from IFA Berlin 2008)???

What's the point of 120Hz OLED displays? Ok, at least the technology is proved to deliver fast refresh rates...

Samsung to sell mass produced OLED within two years (http://www.current.com.au/2008/09/01/article/MZWHDYESIT.html)
31 August 2008

BERLIN: Samsung Electronics has not only released the world’s largest OLED television at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, but it has committed itself to commercial production of mid to large screens by 2010.

At IFA, Samsung displayed two organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens – a 14.1-inch model and a 31-inch model, whereas its arch rival and LCD business partner Sony had the XEL-1 which will be the first OLED introduced to Europe and a 27-inch prototype which was introduced at the CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

“Samsung will begin commercial production of mid- and large-sized OLED televisions around 2010. OLED is seen as a powerful contender for the future display market mainstream, given it is very high resolution, has a svelte profile and is extremely lightweight,” Samsung said in a statement.

“Electronics manufacturers have already begun exhibiting these next generation displays at major trade shows. However, Samsung is going a step further at IFA 2008, presenting the OLED as a finished TV product that features an elegant, optimised design. Samsung’s OLED TVs represent greater technology innovation and set a new standard for TV sophistication.”

Samsung claims its OLED televisions weigh 40 per cent less than other LCD TVs of the same size while boasting a contrast ratio of 1 million to one, colour gamut of 107 per cent and brightness of 550 cd/m2.

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More fantastic pictures from Samsungs OLED TVs from the IFA-2008 event (http://www.oled-display.net/more-fantastic-pictures-from-samsungs-oled-tvs-from-the-ifa-2008-event)
1 September 2008


http://www.oled-display.net/images/ifa-2008-samsung-oled.jpg


http://www.oled-display.net/images/oled-tv-samsung.jpg


http://www.oled-display.net/images/oled-televison-samsung.jpg


http://www.oled-display.net/images/oled-tv-samsung-ifa-2008.jpg


Thanks to Samsung, we have some great pictures from the AMOLED TV Panels. The lineup at the Samsung booth will include two (14.1” and 31”) organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs.

The OLED is seen as a powerful contender for the future display market mainstream, given its very high resolution, svelte profile and extremely lightweight. Electronics manufacturers have already begun exhibiting these next-generation displays at major trade shows. However, Samsung is going a step further at IFA 2008, presenting the OLED as a finished TV product that features an elegant, optimized design. Samsung’s OLED TVs represent greater technology innovation and set a new standard for TV sophistication.

These chic, ultra-slim OLED TVs employ OLED panels developed by Samsung SDI (the affiliate dedicated to display production). The finished products weigh forty percent less than other LCD TVs of the same size while boasting a contrast ratio of 1 million to one, color gamut of 107% and brightness of 550 cd/m2. Samsung will begin commercial production of mid-/large- sized OLED TVs around 2010.

"However, Samsung is going a step further at IFA 2008, presenting the OLED as a finished TV product that features an elegant, optimized design. Samsung’s OLED TVs represent greater technology innovation and set a new standard for TV sophistication."

Ok exactly where is the step further when Sony has been selling on the stores an AMOLED TV for months?

Anyway, I declare the war open! (Yay!!)

What's the point of 120Hz OLED displays? Ok, at least the technology is proved to deliver fast refresh rates...



All of the Sony & Smsung deevlopment of OLED panels for sale in the near term appear to be AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED).

However, it is the PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED) that has the amazing response times.

So why are they not developing PMOLED ?

All of the Sony & Smsung deevlopment of OLED panels for sale in the near term appear to be AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED).

However, it is the PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED) that has the amazing response times.

So why are they not developing PMOLED ?

Why? These friggin companys love to milk things and drag things out. I'm no expert but I wouldn't be surprised if they could easily devolope PMOLED. They'll come out with AMOLED first and then say, "hey we have a new breakthrough in OLED tech". Then they will come out with PMOLED. BASTARDS!!! Sorry for the anger.:D

Why? These friggin companys love to milk things and drag things out. I'm no expert but I wouldn't be surprised if they could easily devolope PMOLED. They'll come out with AMOLED first and then say, "hey we have a new breakthrough in OLED tech". Then they will come out with PMOLED. BASTARDS!!! Sorry for the anger.:DThere are many reasons why. The most important IMO is that PMOLED requires much higher current to get a useable brightness. This is because the duty cycle is so short. This destroys the EM material and kills the lifetime. By using AMOLED the duty cycle can be extended (to 100% for current products I think) and the current can be drastically reduced and liftime increased to acceptable levels. But then you get the drawback of SAH.

But... As far as I know the amazing response times of OLED has nothing to do with Passive or Active matrix but for the quicker emitter the technology inherently contains. Then, if the implementation defines continuous mode or pulsed mode is another story...

In that regard you have opened my eyes, and maybe Samsung defines 120Hz amoled TV's just in order to be able to execute a pulsed mode and eliminate SAH while reducing flicker. It's just a matter of how bright they can get the emitters to be on the long term...

We'll see. Anyway, OLED tv's, no matter the implementation, should have far less blur than LCD's even with the same SAH issue, due to their own nature. And if they define 120Hz and interpolate frames in OLED... bah, I don't like frame interpolation, but that would completely destroy blur even in continuous mode.

But... As far as I know the amazing response times of OLED has nothing to do with Passive or Active matrix but for the quicker emitter the technology inherently contains. Then, if the implementation defines continuous mode or pulsed mode is another story...Yes the response of the emitter material is in the microseconds (rise and fall I believe)


OLED tv's, no matter the implementation, should have far less blur than LCD's even with the same SAH issue, due to their own nature. ~30% improvement over current LCD is possible. But SAH will remain dominent in both.



And if they define 120Hz and interpolate frames in OLED... bah, I don't like frame interpolation, but that would completely destroy blur even in continuous mode.120Hz = 8ms hold time. Still not as good as plasma and still nowhere near CRT in this regard. This is one reason some companies are pushing 200+ Hz this year. They wan the hold time at ~4ms or less (equal to plasma)

Just an observation (my opinion/preference only) : Samsung really has to change the bezel design on all sets (LCD/Plasma/OLED). Even the OLEDs in post 616 look fisher price warpy plastic crap to me. Even the screen is warped on the laptop.

What is SAH?

120Hz = 8ms hold time. Still not as good as plasma and still nowhere near CRT in this regard. This is one reason some companies are pushing 200+ Hz this year. They wan the hold time at ~4ms or less (equal to plasma)

True, but we are talking about subjetive visuals here. Plasma may have a faster response time, and no SAH effect, but it still blurs like crazy to my eyes due to the phosphor lag. So who cares about SAH?

What is SAH?

Sample And Hold

LCD TVs are always emitting light, and your brain transform that in "blur" because it expects the movement to go on instead of being "still".

Plasmas or CRTs display in a pulse mode, so they have an ON/OFF status that cheats your brain, as cinema projectors do, therefore they have no sample and hold, because the image is not held in the screen.

SAH is the cause of part of the motion blur seen on the LCD's. OLED TV's operating in continuous mode have the same SAH effect than the LCD's, but the pixel response time (Color1->color2 time) is much faster on the OLED screens.

Theorically the OLED screens could run in pulse mode as the plasmas or CRTs, but you need a very bright emitters in order to accomplish this, because the lesser the time you held the image on the screen, the dimmer it gets.

True, but we are talking about subjetive visuals here. Plasma may have a faster response time, and no SAH effect, but it still blurs like crazy to my eyes due to the phosphor lag. So who cares about SAH?You are seeing blur due to the hold time which is a combination of phosphor decay and PWM duty cycle. Minus the subjectivity (perception and persistence) all displays have a hold time including CRT. CRTs hold time cannot go below the phosphor decay rate (~1.5ms). Plasma hold time including the phosphor decay rate is ~4-6ms due to the PWM having an effective duty cycle. AMLCD and AMOLED are true SAH (sample and hold) and have a 100% duty cycle.

Is it just me or do the OLEDs in the pictures have horrible glare? I know that they aren't being shown in a model home or anything, but to me they look almost like a mirror....hopefully they do something about that.

You are seeing blur due to the hold time which is a combination of phosphor decay and PWM duty cycle. Minus the subjectivity (perception and persistence) all displays have a hold time including CRT. CRTs hold time cannot go below the phosphor decay rate (~1.5ms). Plasma hold time including the phosphor decay rate is ~4-6ms due to the PWM having an effective duty cycle. AMLCD and AMOLED are true SAH (sample and hold) and have a 100% duty cycle.

Is AMOLED limited in any way for which it can't avoid the SAH approach? In my opinion, theorically, AMOLED could work in a pulse mode, if they find bright enough emitters, and then OLED "decay rate" is faster than plasma afaik, and at the end, the problem with plasmas is the uneven decay rate of their phosphors, that's why they blur...

All the current amoled approaches use SAH, but that doesn't mean it's mandatory. Is it?

Is AMOLED limited in any way for which it can't avoid the SAH approach? In my opinion, theorically, AMOLED could work in a pulse mode, if they find bright enough emitters, and then OLED "decay rate" is faster than plasma afaik, and at the end, the problem with plasmas is the uneven decay rate of their phosphors, that's why they blur...

All the current amoled approaches use SAH, but that doesn't mean it's mandatory. Is it?Correct. PMOLED essentially would be pulse mode. And since OLED uses current to drive the pixels a two TFT approach in AMOLED can actually have a duty cycle below 100%. But this requires long lasting EM materials or at least much more efficient materials.

Samsung: Blu-ray has 5 Years Left, OLED HD on the Way (http://www.dailytech.com/Samsung+Bluray+has+5+Years+Left+OLED+HD+on+the+Way/article12879.htm)
7 September 2008


http://www.oled-info.com/files/images/Sony_27_inch_CES_2008_Gizmodo.jpg


Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung forsees a short future for Blu-ray

Blu-ray has 5 years left before it is replaced by a new technology or format according to Samsung. Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK told gadget news site Pocket-lint (http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17399/18423/samsung-blu-ray-5-years-left.phtml) "I think it has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10".

Griffiths believes that 2008 will be the Blu-ray format's prime year. "It's going to be huge", he told Pocket-lint. "We are heavily back-ordered at the moment." With the move to offer cheaper players and one clear choice following the Blu-ray/HD DVD battle, Griffiths says the format will be a short term winner.

In the article, Griffiths also mentions that Samsung is putting its faith in its OLED HD technology. The new technology is almost ready, but is being held back by high manufacturing costs. "We will launch the OLED technology when it's at a price that will be appealing to the consumer, unfortunately that's not yet."

Griffiths, predicts by 2010 OLED technology will become mainstream and that it will replace LCD. "It's gonna be big, but at the moment it's a great story, not commercial, product," said Griffiths

Samsung previewed two OLED screen televisions at IFA in Berlin earlier in the month, introducing larger models than Sony. Coming in at 14-inch and 31-inch models, the screens are incredibly thin, and produce vivid contrasts and colors. Sony settled for second place with 9-inch and 27-inch models.

Griffiths believes a completely HD future is around the corner, "In 2012 we will be in a true HD world. Everything from your television to your camcorder will be offering you pictures in high-definition, and we plan to offer you that HD world from all angles." From Griffiths’ perspective, this future may not include Blu-ray.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Samsung: "Blu-ray has 5 years left" (http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17399/18423/samsung-blu-ray-5-years-left.phtml)
[B]3 September 2008

Pocket-lint: VIDEO: Samsung OLED TV (http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/17328/18352/samsung-oled-televisions-ifa-video.phtml)

YouTube: Speaking with Ernie Block at the SONY stand, CES 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvmQztetzVY&fmt=18)

YouTube: Sony OLEDs @ CES 2008 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UACR_5W7fRU&fmt=18)

YouTube: [CES 2008] SONY OLED TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdVkWKw7oKQ&fmt=18)

YouTube: Amazon.com at CES 2008 - Samsung OLED and 3-D Plasma (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Om3rKvT7I&fmt=18)

YouTube: [CES 2008] CES 2008 Sony to unveil its 27-inch OLED TV Aving (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a61arGCn2Js&fmt=18)

YouTube: [CES 2008] Samsung OLED TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjrpv_sqnI&fmt=18)

YouTube: CES 2008 Samsung Organic LED Television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HbXzSdResM&fmt=18)

YouTube: CES 2008 - SONY OLED TV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEt5o_jt30&fmt=18)
Samsung has said that it sees the Blu-ray format only lasting a further 5 years before it is replaced by another format or technology.

"I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10", Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK told Pocket-lint in an interview.

Hoping to capitalise before it's too late, Griffiths believes that 2008 is the format's year.

"It's going to be huge", he told Pocket-lint. "We are heavily back-ordered at the moment."

Citing online rental sites like LoveFilm's adoption of Blu-ray titles, the move to offer cheaper players and a now clear path to adoption following the Blu-ray HD DVD battle, Griffith says the format will be a winner, although not for long.

Instead Samsung is putting its faith in its OLED technology. The new technology, which is "ready to rock", is being held back at the moment due to high manufacturing costs.

"We will launch the OLED technology when it's at a price that will be appealing to the consumer, unfortunately that's not yet."

Griffiths, citing 2010 as a possible date for your calendar, told us he believes that when the technology becomes mainstream it will replace LCD.

"It's gonna be big, but at the moment it's a great story, not commercial, product."

Samsung previewed two OLED screen televisions at IFA in Berlin earlier in the month, out-manoeuvring Sony to be the largest models on show at the show.

Coming in 14- and 31-inch models, the screens that are incredibly thin, produce vivid contrasts and colours.

Sony settled for second place with a 9- and 27-inch models, but it wasn't the only area that Samsung claimed a "world's first" over their Far East rivals.

The company has recently announced it's partnered with Yahoo to offer widgets on its internet connected televisions as it tries to turn the television into an information hub of the home rather than the PC.

"The content has to be relevant, but once it is it will make the TV more than a TV", said Griffiths.

So where next? Griffiths is clearly thinking about the future citing more focus on rolling out LED backlighting in the range as well as improving the quality of the offering.

But it seems the Olympics is on the man and the company's minds.

"In 2012 we will be in a true HD world. Everything from your television to your camcorder will be offering you pictures in high-definition, and we plan to offer you that HD world from all angles."

With 4 years to go, the prospect sounds exciting, but by then Blu-ray will be, if Samsung are to be believed, on its last legs.

given what's available TODAY (2008) in terms of OLED screens, it's hard to take seriously a statement that it will be mainstream in 2010, 2 years from now...or maybe he means at 5 times the cost of LCD!

OLED Videos From IFA 2008
8 September 2008

Youtube: Sony 27 OLED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTDiZtMghAg&fmt=18)

Youtube: Sony IFA 2008 HDTVPolska.com OLED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U32EIcYulgo&fmt=18)

Hey Isochroma, you trashed me for mentioning this video (second one from the bottom). You said, "do some investigation of the actual technology before you put up some media link like that." So if you thought it was nonsense, why post it up?

Hi all,

How likely is it for Toshiba to start OLED tv's production? I am asking this b/c to me they seem a perfect candidate. They shouldn't like Sony because of (Blu-ray) so they could hurt sony rgb led lcd tvs. And Toshiba itself; they don't make plasmas, don't make LED LCD's, so what are they waiting for?

How likely is it for Toshiba to start OLED tv's production? I am asking this b/c to me they seem a perfect candidate. They shouldn't like Sony because of (Blu-ray) so they could hurt sony rgb led lcd tvs. And Toshiba itself; they don't make plasmas, don't make LED LCD's, so what are they waiting for?I heard that Toshiba shelved their plans for selling OLED TVs (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071214-toshiba-puts-oled-television-production-on-hold.html) and it looks like the two main CE companies that have production plans for OLED TVs are Samsung and Sony.

How is the response time on OLED? Is it comparable to CRT or is it like LCD?

How is the response time on OLED? Is it comparable to CRT or is it like LCD?

its under 1ms which is very fast, no blur whatsoever

its under 1ms which is very fast, no blur whatsoever
No blur due to response time. But the sample-and-hold-effect could still apply, depending on how the picture is "drawn"...

I was always under the impression that OLED worked a lot like plasma, but better. I had no idea the motion resolution was on par with LCD. In that case I would say plasma is the much better tech.

Who said that OLED motion resolution was on par with LCD? :confused:

I was always under the impression that OLED worked a lot like plasma, but better. I had no idea the motion resolution was on par with LCD. In that case I would say plasma is the much better tech.

That's not true. Current OLED Tv's are like a plasma on steroids working like an LCD because the emitters are not bright enough.

That doesn't mean the motion resolution is on par with LCD's, in fact the motion resolution of the XEL-1 TV, the first an only OLED consumer model ever is 960 lines. With a 960 lines panel, I must say.

Motion resolution and emmiter response time are near perfect on OLED tv's, but as there's no pulse on the displayed picture, but sample and hold, that is, as the current tv's work like LCDs and not like plasmas, your brain may get
"cheated" and think about blur.

Current OLEDs = Blur equivalent to <1ms response time LCDs TVs + PQ better and sharper than plasma + Blacks better than plasma + No yellow trails + No black smearing + No mura + No backlight bleeding + No uneven lightning + Less power consumption than LCDs and orders of magnitude less than plasmas.

Now imagine future oleds. Several (many) years ago, the first LCDs looked like crap. The first oleds look amazing. Do the math.

+1 to Daviii's post.

For all of the nay sayers (e.g. Kuro Fans), locate a SonyStyle store and check out the XEL-1! It's worth the trip!

Larger displays will be available within the next 6 months.... so there'll be a product to replace your CRT or LCD computer monitor (27" XEL-2).

Also, the GP2X Wiz will be available in November, making it the first hand-held video game system to incorporate an OLED screen (@ $179 for the system package)! Fun stuff! :p

OLED is here to stay... even if there are companies that cannot compete right now...

...Larger displays will be available within the next 6 months....
Granted, this is an exciting technology, but for a usefully sized TV, we can only dream about it. And, what will that 27" monitor cost when it's introduced. Right now, some very good LCD monitors exist at around $5-600 in that size, with decent contrast, brightness and response time.

Current OLEDs = Blur equivalent to <1ms response time LCDs TVs + PQ better and sharper than plasma + Blacks better than plasma + No yellow trails + No black smearing + No mura + No backlight bleeding + No uneven lightning + Less power consumption than LCDs and orders of magnitude less than plasmas. I admire your enthusiasm but you shouldn't have said "current" :) If so you'll have to remove power consumption because large OLEDs (TV size) are power hogs. Also, mura on large OLEDs is also an issue. And since there are no Plasmas that are 11" it is tough to compare PQ/Sharpness isn't it :)


Now imagine future oleds. Several (many) years ago, the first LCDs looked like crap. The first oleds look amazing. Do the math.Yes the future of OLEDs holds a lot of promise. Problem is that promise was made 20 years ago and has yet to be realized. And the first OLEDs better look amazing or it would be a lost cause.

By the time large area OLEDs (>35") are on the market, super thin and light LD-LCD and high lumen ECC plasmas will also be there. I think they will all be able to compete in terms of performance. Sounds exciting to me.

I'm getting the 141FD right now and hope to be able to upgrade in about 5 years :)

So future OLEDs will have perfect motion resolution and not use sample and hold like LCD? Why are they using it right now? Is it because they haven't sorted out the kinks yet? I saw the OLED at sonystyle and it was impressive, but I did see a lot of blur. I just hope it's better than plasma in EVERY way, not just better in some ways and then introduce LCD flaws in others. The black levels were very good, although the screen itself seemed to have some green coating on it, so while the blacks were definitely much darker than anything I've seen they also had a slight green tint to them. But I don't think black levels will be the selling point for OLED since Pioneer will have their ultimate black panels next year and the rest of the 5 lumen plasmas from Panasonic will be so black it won't even matter. Unless of course OLED has a very good ansi contrast.

So future OLEDs will have perfect motion resolution and not use sample and hold like LCD? Why are they using it right now? Is it because they haven't sorted out the kinks yet? I saw the OLED at sonystyle and it was impressive, but I did see a lot of blur. I just hope it's better than plasma in EVERY way, not just better in some ways and then introduce LCD flaws in others. The black levels were very good, although the screen itself seemed to have some green coating on it, so while the blacks were definitely much darker than anything I've seen they also had a slight green tint to them. But I don't think black levels will be the selling point for OLED since Pioneer will have their ultimate black panels next year and the rest of the 5 lumen plasmas from Panasonic will be so black it won't even matter. Unless of course OLED has a very good ansi contrast.They use sample and hold to increase lifetime (by using less current) but still maintain brightness. Right now, even with sample and hold, the lifetime is ~ 1/3 to 1/5 of current plasmas and LCDs. Also, burn-in is much easier than Plasma.

Another issue that needs resolving is uneven color aging.

OLED has INFINITE contrast, however you want to measure it. Besides SED, it is the ONLY display type that can provide a true 'window' onto reality. The OFF pixels are completely OFF, unlike plasma which must maintain gas ionization.

Also, OLED does not require Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) in order to provide variable luminance at the emitter level, also unlike plasma, which will forever be plagued by dithering, and flicker. Dither and flicker are most visible when the Field of View (FOV) is larger (30 degrees plus) which is required for the HDTV Immersion Effect, as found by pioneering Japanese researchers. Anyone would get a headache sitting close enough to a PDP to get that field of view, just due to flicker, never mind dithering which produces especially ugly 'noise' artifacts in the low-luminance areas of the picture, just the kind that show lots in the movies PDP proponents love to use against LCD.

Plasma's Lame Ass is its Gas. The gas needs high voltage to ionize (expensive hot circuits), and has to be kept ionized to maintain conductivity (imperfect blacks). Worse, its brightness is too difficult to control except by flashing it on and off [PWM] (dither 'noise'). Finally, by using gas as an intermediary energy interconverter to change electric charge into UV, a terrible loss of efficiency is obtained. The gas will continue to be a perpetual hobble until this nasty system is put out of its misery by the easily superior OLED, which directly converts charge into light, bypassing all the gassy stupidities of the PDP system.

Both LCD and PDP are deeply flawed display systems and both will be on the way out shortly. The next generation will look back with incredulity at the cost and horrible quality of previous displays, never mind their weight and power consumption, both of which are currently atrocious.

OLED has INFINITE contrast, however you want to measure it. Besides SED, it is the ONLY display type that can provide a true 'window' onto reality. Completely off plasma pixels are coming soon. I don't think LD-LCD will ever reach infinite (except dynamic which they do now). As it stands, OLED has the advantage. But like I said, by the time you can buy a large one, it will have to compete in almost every department.

You are correct that I don't see Plasma moving away from dithering.

Samsung to unveil its 14.1- and 31-inch OLED TVs (http://aving.net/usa/news/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=98137)
30 August 2008


http://image1.aving.net/2008/08/30/20080830054156200.JPG


BERLIN, Germany (AVING Special Report on 'IFA 2008') -- <Visual News> Samsung Electronics is offering visitors to this year's IFA in Berlin a glimpse at where the TV is headed. The lineup at the Samsung booth included two (14.1- and 31-inch) OLED TVs.

The OLED is seen as a powerful contender for the future display market mainstream, given its very high resolution, svelte profile and extremely lightweight. Electronics manufacturers have already begun exhibiting these next-generation displays at major trade shows. However, Samsung is going a step further at IFA 2008, presenting the OLED as a finished TV product that features an elegant, optimized design. Samsung's OLED TVs represent greater technology innovation and set a new standard for TV sophistication.

These chic, ultra-slim OLED TVs employ OLED panels developed by Samsung SDI (the affiliate dedicated to display production). The finished products weigh forty percent less than other LCD TVs of the same size while boasting a contrast ratio of 1 million to one, color gamut of 107% and brightness of 550 cd/m2. Samsung will begin commercial production of mid-/large- sized OLED TVs around 2010.

Plasma's Lame Ass is its Gas. The gas needs high voltage to ionize (expensive hot circuits), and has to be kept ionized to maintain conductivity (imperfect blacks). Worse, its brightness is too difficult to control except by flashing it on and off [PWM] (dither 'noise'). Finally, by using gas as an intermediary energy interconverter to change electric charge into UV, a terrible loss of efficiency is obtained. The gas will continue to be a perpetual hobble until this nasty system is put out of its misery by the easily superior OLED, which directly converts charge into light, bypassing all the gassy stupidities of the PDP system.

Both LCD and PDP are deeply flawed display systems and both will be on the way out shortly. The next generation will look back with incredulity at the cost and horrible quality of previous displays, never mind their weight and power consumption, both of which are currently atrocious.High lumen plasma will "self-prime" the pixels allowing for them to be completely "off" and thus have infinite contrast just like OLED. Also, high lumen plasma will require much lower voltages to discharge and thus require less robust electronics.

On the flip side, OLEDs pixel extraction efficiency is extremely low at the moment which is the main contributer to the massive power consumption of large area OLEDs. This and lifetime issues are what is keeping them off the market. If you would like I could post numbers on OLEDs true efficiency.

xrox: Completely off PDP pixels are NEVER coming. Time to re-check your physics. There is not a word anywhere that I have found about such a beast, except from you. There is no evidence either in research or product that such a thing has or will ever happen, because it is totally against the dynamics of gas ionization.

Of course even if such fairy tales do come true, there's a shitload of other junk hobbling this soon-to-be-retired technology.

xrox: Completely off PDP pixels are NEVER coming. Time to re-check your physics. There is not a word anywhere that I have found about such a beast, except from you. There is no evidence either in research or product that such a thing has or will ever happen, because it is totally against the dynamics of gas ionization.

Of course even if such fairy tales do come true, there's a shitload of other junk hobbling this soon-to-be-retired technology.Would you like if I posted info on this or should I do it through PM as to not contaminate the OLED thread with PDP stuff.

Cheers

There's really no point in discussing other display technologies except as they relate to OLED in this thread. I leave it up to you to decide if the material is relevant to OLED characteristics.

I am firmly convinced that it is time for the entire industry and its watchers to quit pouring energy into dead avenues and instead, redirect it into the creation of NEW life.

Samsung, Sony and others are busy doing that. They have Deep Vision into the future and can see beyond tomorrow's profit/loss. A tomorrow that is direct-activation and chromatically pure. A future that is totally flat and even flexible.

If you look at the first page of this thread, I reported several groundbreaking stories about the greatest visionaries, who already had 40-inch printed OLED displays in 2004 (Epson), and Samsung in May 2005 (amorphous silicon).

These guys are my pride and joy, and one of them (Samsung) has already moved far ahead to win the present and future race to market with mainstream-size OLED TVs.

Remember, the mainstream size is 32" in the HDTV market space. That size by far dominates all others in sales, and has even increased its dominance in the last few months.

All this means that when 27" and 31/32" OLED TVs are released, they will have already reached the market's pinnacle. Further expansion will merely be the picking of the topmost fruits, which of their own accord will in time fall to the ground, luscious and ripely delicious.

...Remember, the mainstream size is 32" in the HDTV market space. That size by far dominates all others in sales, and has even increased its dominance in the last few months....
I think this could be true due to the decreasing cost of this sized panel, and folks wanting to jump into high def viewing are now finding them more affordable. The price of the upcoming OLED in that size will decide if they are successful or not within a reasonable timeframe after they are introduced. How many folks are jumping on the tiny Sony???

There's really no point in discussing other display technologies except as they relate to OLED in this thread.
I fully agree with that. But you should really leave your plasma bashing out of this thread then, too. Thanks.

Wow I never thought I would post here this soon, rgb32 kuro fans comment well kuro is here :D oled is not and even if it was the oled 11" (xel 1) is $2,500 I can get a 8g elite or a 9g non elite for that price in 50" and is still more better in motion and other areas of PQ.

while I agree oled does seem to have a future its NOT READY yet for consumers ~ and what i mean by this is that its not in large volumes and not in big size and not out at all.

for the time being it will seem that oled still has motion issues close to lcd due to the sample and hold but motion resolution seems to be the highest in flat screens (960 lines I belive)

Oled is seem to be the next big thing, lets see if I post in regards to this technology in the future

+1 to Daviii's post.

For all of the nay sayers (e.g. Kuro Fans), locate a SonyStyle store and check out the XEL-1! It's worth the trip!

Larger displays will be available within the next 6 months.... so there'll be a product to replace your CRT or LCD computer monitor (27" XEL-2).

Also, the GP2X Wiz will be available in November, making it the first hand-held video game system to incorporate an OLED screen (@ $179 for the system package)! Fun stuff! :p

OLED is here to stay... even if there are companies that cannot compete right now...

Completely off plasma pixels are coming soon...
.....High lumen plasma will "self-prime" the pixels allowing for them to be completely "off" and thus have infinite contrast just like OLED......

Please post here (or send me a PM) a link about how this is possible. I recall reading part of an article explaining in technical terms why PDPs would always require a minimum amount of gas ionization and thus never reach complete blacks/max contrast. Can't say I understood it. But the idea of a rise time from zero to activate the plasma being longer than the rise from some low level seems easy to understand.

Of course, 4 or 5 years ago, who would have thought the blacks of the Kuro series would be achieved, never mind the cost. Or even the blacks of the Sammy A650 series, etc, for LCD. So we may still have a bit to learn.

However, I suspect PDPs will disappear a bit quicker than LCDs, (Kuro may have saved them from an early oblivion) and OLEDs, MEMs or some other technology will dispense with LCD and any other players on the field.

One day, 10-20 years from now, we'll see displays as cheap as CRTs were when they died out.

Wow I never thought I would post here this soon, rgb32 kuro fans comment well kuro is here :D oled is not and even if it was the oled 11" (xel 1) is $2,500 I can get a 8g elite or a 9g non elite for that price in 50" and is still more better in motion and other areas of PQ.

Did you buy your first plasma yesterday?

Have you ever seen the Sony OLED set? Probably not. You probably should beleive Iso when he says that LCD and plasma are gone if this gets to larger screens and decent prices.

With plasma and LCD you can debate the merits of blacks, detail, blur, tell you are blue in the face, but really despite what you think they really aren't all that different.

After seeing an a movie on a OLED, it is much different than both of the leading FPD's. You can see it on just the 11" screen that it is MUCH visibly better.

I admire your enthusiasm but you shouldn't have said "current" :) If so you'll have to remove power consumption because large OLEDs (TV size) are power hogs. Also, mura on large OLEDs is also an issue. And since there are no Plasmas that are 11" it is tough to compare PQ/Sharpness isn't it :)

Yes. You're right. Some of my points were not so accurate. I'm sorry.


Yes the future of OLEDs holds a lot of promise. Problem is that promise was made 20 years ago and has yet to be realized. And the first OLEDs better look amazing or it would be a lost cause.

By the time large area OLEDs (>35") are on the market, super thin and light LD-LCD and high lumen ECC plasmas will also be there. I think they will all be able to compete in terms of performance. Sounds exciting to me.

I'm getting the 141FD right now and hope to be able to upgrade in about 5 years :)

My point is that the first LCDs and plasmas were TVs, say it, with "a lot of improvement margin"(*), while the first OLEDs, besides the size, are TVs that equal or surpass most of the mature panels on the market.

Plasmas and LCD had needed many years to achieve a high enough maturity level, and for decades, they have been unable to show a PQ similar to the existing old technologies, while OLED is amazing on its very first and "alpha" appearance.

That's how I define "promising". OLED looks much more promising for me than LCDs and plasmas, that after tenths of generations of panels still have serious issues nobody knows how to adress. OLED panels are just newborn and already know how to make a rocket. Let them go to school and you'll see...

(*) = Crap

for the time being it will seem that oled still has motion issues close to lcd due to the sample and hold but motion resolution seems to be the highest in flat screens (960 lines I belive)

Oled is seem to be the next big thing, lets see if I post in regards to this technology in the future

Quote from HDTV Guru's review of the XEL-1:
As for picture quality, unlike a prototype I saw in Japan last year, this production sample had superb motion resolution. Measurements using my FPD test disc indicated that the set could resolve all 540 lines (per picture height) in the moving Monoscope Pattern test.

This set’s ability to reproduce motion without resolution loss (albeit currently at ¼ full HD with the XEL-1) creates the potential for (hopefully) future large screen versions to jump to the head of the class in this important performance benchmark. Currently plasmas have the best motion resolution, (generally) followed by 120 Hz LCD, with normal 60 Hz LCD HDTVs creating the most motion blur.
http://hdguru.com/sony-xel-1-finally-a-critical-review/242/
-AND from CNET-
The Sony XEL-1 evinced no smearing or blurring in motion even with difficult test material, which helps back up Sony's claim regarding OLED's fast response times.
http://reviews.cnet.com/oled/sony-xel-1-oled/4505-13948_7-32815284.html

So, his review backs up what I saw with my own eye's! :eek: Hence, please do not spread mis-information about the XEL-1!

Sure, OLED isn't a mass consumer item yet (duh), but the first gen product from Sony (XEL-1) is very exciting! Do you recall what plasma's looked like when they were in their infantcy? I do! Back in '98, I went to a HDTV presentation by a local news company. The room contained a CRT RPTV, and a 37~42" NEC brand plasma. When the lights turned down, and no signal sent to the plasma, the picture was not black by any means, it exhibited a glowing green picture (instead of black... like where we "almost" are today with the "best" plasmas).

Compare that to the XEL-1 (from CNET):
Those black levels make a pretty good case for OLED's eventual supremacy in the picture quality arena. The only display we've seen that comes close to the XEL-1 is Pioneer's "Extreme Contrast Concept" plasma, demonstrated at CES 2008, and we expect OLED to battle that technology for flat-panel bragging rights in the years to come.
http://reviews.cnet.com/oled/sony-xel-1-oled/4505-13948_7-32815284.html

Give OLED a break :p

I'm looking forward picking up the GP2X Wiz in November (game system with OLED screen).
http://www.oled-info.com/ :)

That's how I define "promising". OLED looks much more promising for me than LCDs and plasmas, that after tenths of generations of panels still have serious issues nobody knows how to adress. OLED panels are just newborn and already know how to make a rocket. Let them go to school and you'll see...(*) = CrapI too think that OLEDs has tremendous potential. I want to own a 60" OLED if I can.

But you have to admit that it has taken far far too long to come to market. They really have missed several opportunistic windows to enter the market. I talk to OLED researchers and they too are disappointed in the snail pace of OLED development. It was totally unexpected in the research community. They figured that OLED lifetime would have been licked 5 years ago. And they agree that the slow pace has allowed the prolific take over of LCD and PDP. And there have been some serious setbacks as well. The high power consumption and low pixel extraction efficiency were not expected.

navy the 10g kuros can already do this (zero idle lumes) total blackness thats one way of putting pdp inproving.

im sure its quite the oppisite plasma will remain more longer then lcd due to better PQ and less flaws. we'll see


Please post here (or send me a PM) a link about how this is possible. I recall reading part of an article explaining in technical terms why PDPs would always require a minimum amount of gas ionization and thus never reach complete blacks/max contrast. Can't say I understood it. But the idea of a rise time from zero to activate the plasma being longer than the rise from some low level seems easy to understand.

Of course, 4 or 5 years ago, who would have thought the blacks of the Kuro series would be achieved, never mind the cost. Or even the blacks of the Sammy A650 series, etc, for LCD. So we may still have a bit to learn.

However, I suspect PDPs will disappear a bit quicker than LCDs, (Kuro may have saved them from an early oblivion) and OLEDs, MEMs or some other technology will dispense with LCD and any other players on the field.

One day, 10-20 years from now, we'll see displays as cheap as CRTs were when they died out.[/


TNG your not getting my point, for this oled to be this advance at this early stage is truely great news! but when it comes to play would you buy this tiny tiny 11" oled and bring your friends to a game night?:eek:

thats my point, oled is not ready yet as i said earlier and for the cost i would want a super awesome display like the 50" kuro rather then the small but awesome 11" oled.

oh and i know at first when plasma came out it wasnt so good but the statement is diffrent here

Did you buy your first plasma yesterday?

Have you ever seen the Sony OLED set? Probably not. You probably should beleive Iso when he says that LCD and plasma are gone if this gets to larger screens and decent prices.

With plasma and LCD you can debate the merits of blacks, detail, blur, tell you are blue in the face, but really despite what you think they really aren't all that different.

After seeing an a movie on a OLED, it is much different than both of the leading FPD's. You can see it on just the 11" screen that it is MUCH visibly better.

RGB i never said oled suck you dont need to put all these links i know its great at this early stage as i said before!! but again like i said you wouldnt buy an oled 11" insted of a pioneer kuro 50" would you? ( since both are around the same cost) $2,500 a 2007 kuro 50" vs 11" sony oled:rolleyes:

oh and i noticed the only thing that i argued against was the motion speed/resolution due to the sample and hold, and as far as PQ well ......

lets just see what the future brings us


Quote from HDTV Guru's review of the XEL-1:

http://hdguru.com/sony-xel-1-finally-a-critical-review/242/
-AND from CNET-

http://reviews.cnet.com/oled/sony-xel-1-oled/4505-13948_7-32815284.html

So, his review backs up what I saw with my own eye's! :eek: Hence, please do not spread mis-information about the XEL-1!

Sure, OLED isn't a mass consumer item yet (duh), but the first gen product from Sony (XEL-1) is very exciting! Do you recall what plasma's looked like when they were in their infantcy? I do! Back in '98, I went to a HDTV presentation by a local news company. The room contained a CRT RPTV, and a 37~42" NEC brand plasma. When the lights turned down, and no signal sent to the plasma, the picture was not black by any means, it exhibited a glowing green picture (instead of black... like where we "almost" are today with the "best" plasmas).

Compare that to the XEL-1 (from CNET):

http://reviews.cnet.com/oled/sony-xel-1-oled/4505-13948_7-32815284.html

Give OLED a break :p

I'm looking forward picking up the GP2X Wiz in November (game system with OLED screen).
http://www.oled-info.com/ :)

Well, although I'm not in the market anymore, I'll be watching. Maybe PDPs will be long term winners after all. Regardless of what we may expect, the next 10 years are going to be very interesting.

All the technologies should be improving with time. I'm sure that the best set today will be considered mediocre in 5 years. I have no idea which technology will have the best displays in 5 years.

Kodak Debuts World’s First OLED Wireless Frame (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&pq-locale=en_US&gpcid=0900688a80999eb4)
Unmatched Image Quality from Any Viewing Angle Delivered by Kodak-Invented OLED Technology
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/documents/96/0900688a8099ab96/OLEDFinal_hero210rgb.jpg
ROCHESTER, N.Y., September 17 -- Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) has introduced the world’s first consumer-available wireless picture frame featuring innovative Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology, a Kodak invention that produces exceptionally sharp and vivid image quality. OLED technology generates greater color depth and saturation than other displays, on panels that are substantially thinner, resulting in a sleek, low-profile design.

The frame will be on display at the Kodak booth (Hall 5.2) during Photokina, the world’s largest photo and imaging trade fair, which runs Sept. 23-28 in Cologne, Germany.

“Kodak is a worldwide market and technology leader in digital picture frames, and OLED technology was created by Kodak, making us uniquely positioned to bring the benefits of OLED to consumers,” says Pete Jameson, general manager, Digital Devices Group, Eastman Kodak Company. “We’re tremendously proud to introduce this exciting new picture frame.”

The new KODAK OLED Wireless Frame features built-in Wi-Fi technology that enables the display of pictures as well as access to videos and music stored on a PC elsewhere in the home. The wireless feature also enables connectivity to online photo and video sharing sites and Internet content portals for news, weather, sports and more.

“In addition to spectacular image quality, the new frame’s Wi-Fi connectivity delivers a richer experience to the consumer, enabling them to connect to their favorite social sites and view their personalized content online,” Jameson adds.

At the heart of the new KODAK OLED Wireless Frame is an ultra-thin, 7.6-inch diagonal digital panel that produces stunning image detail regardless of viewing angle. The viewing experience is further enhanced by Kodak Perfect Touch Technology, which automatically processes images to improve exposure, brightness and color, and KODAK Image Science, which optimizes image quality for display on OLED panels.

Kodak’s extensive achievements in OLED development and innovation were recently recognized by a 2008 Technology Leadership Award from business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

The KODAK OLED Wireless Frame requires no backlighting, and incorporates an ambient light sensor that optimizes the viewing experience by adjusting display brightness based on the surrounding light. Kodak has also designed a premium audio system into the frame, providing outstanding sound reproduction for videos, digital music and online content.

“People want their images to look their best,” says Jameson. “Our new OLED frame foreshadows a dynamic future of an exciting new generation of KODAK products that deliver unsurpassed image quality and unprecedented clarity and color for capturing and reliving life’s moments.”

Benefits delivered by the KODAK OLED Wireless Frame:

Enjoy spectacularly crisp images and videos on a 7.6-inch diagonal OLED screen, with 180° viewing angle.
Experience extraordinary color, rich details and vivid image depth from the high-contrast luminous display (white to black ratio = >30,000:1).
Achieve high-quality, lifelike video playback with sharp, seamless motion.
Upload images and videos to the frame from digital cameras, memory cards, USB drives, or wirelessly from personal computers and the Internet via built-in Wi-Fi capability.
Transfer pictures from a PC to a KODAK OLED Wireless Frame effortlessly with the new KODAK EASYSHARE Digital Display Software. In addition to organizing and editing pictures, this software makes it easy to move favorite pictures, slideshows, videos and music wirelessly from a computer directly to the frame. Digital Display Software also enables access to exciting Internet content available at KODAK Gallery and Kodak partners Flickr and FrameChannel.
Store up to 10,000 images on the frame’s 2 GB of built-in internal memory (actual storage capacity will vary based on image content).
Enjoy pictures and videos from many sources with built-in memory card reader and USB port.
Wide screen display with 16:9 aspect ratio and 800x480 resolution.

Pricing and Availability

The KODAK OLED Wireless Frame will retail for US $999 (MSRP) and will be available at kodak.com from November 2008, with additional online and retail distribution to be announced later in the year.

Wow, a 7.6" screen for less than $1000, and it only displays static images!

Wow, a 7.6" screen for less than $1000, and it only displays static images!

Yes. Now we have a $2,500 11" OLED TV, and $999 7.6" OLED frame :). The frame also plays video though.

sigh..... when can i buy a 20-22inch OLED Monitor :( :mad:

I think oled tech will show up first as desk top replacements for lcd monitors and as they begin to scale sizes tv's to replace both lcd and plasma as it occured for crt computer monitors and then crt tube tv's and large rear pj's!!! I hope that by the time oled is firmly established we need a new std for hdtv where source material should be at least 1080p at min of 60 fps or next gen hdtv2 where the res is 2k at mabye 85 fps so we could enjoy oled panels with 36 bit color natively ffrom the sourcce material!!! I sti;; do not understand why even digital movies are shot at 24 fps when the tech is able to do much better than that I dont understand the film makers and studios!!! I hope oled comes to us consumers sooner than later I wish it was here right now I know it is wishful thinking

sigh..... when can i buy a 20-22inch OLED Monitor :( :mad:

From the progress so far, my hypothesis is next Fall (Oct. 2009). AVDesign makes a good point as to the potential parallels between the LCD phase out of CRTs (computer monitors in particular), and the phase out of LCDs with OLEDs...

The waiting game sure is fun, as I'd really like to replace my Mitsu DP900u (19" CRT) with a 24~27" OLED monitor! :p

sigh..... when can i buy a 20-22inch OLED Monitor :( :mad:
I will be in heaven the day I can buy an affordable OLED monitor no bigger than 24 inches. Mmm... perfect blacks.

From the progress so far, my hypothesis is next Fall (Oct. 2009).
I have a gut feeling larger size (20 - 24-inches) OLED PC monitors won't be on the market until sometime in 2010. :(

I will be really happy if they come out next year. :)

From the progress so far, my hypothesis is next Fall (Oct. 2009). AVDesign makes a good point as to the potential parallels between the LCD phase out of CRTs (computer monitors in particular), and the phase out of LCDs with OLEDs...

The waiting game sure is fun, as I'd really like to replace my Mitsu DP900u (19" CRT) with a 24~27" OLED monitor! :p

im in a similar situation i badly want to replace my Mitsubishi 19ich DP930SB
the monitor has served me well but after 5 years the blurry text, small screen size and imperfect geometry are really getting on my nerves

I will be in heaven the day I can buy an affordable OLED monitor no bigger than 24 inches. Mmm... perfect blacks.


I have a gut feeling larger size (20 - 24-inches) OLED PC monitors won't be on the market until sometime in 2010. :(

I will be really happy if they come out next year. :)

The Sony XEL-2 should be popping up in retail any month now... ;)

I've mentioned a few times here about OLEDs slow development and how this slow TTM has caused them to miss a golden opportunity to quickly dominate the market. When you combine slow TTM with solidly imroving competition you are risking disaster.

Imagine if super thin, light, super bright, power efficient ECC-plasmas and LED-LCDs are available when finally OLED large area is avialable. Now imaging the price difference.

Something like

50" OLED - 10,000$

50" ECC plasma - 3000$

52" LED-LCD - 3000$

It seems like OLED would be doomed to fail. But if the PQ is truly superb (for whatever reason) I wonder how many of us would consider it?

Note: TTM definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_market

Imagine if super thin, light, super bright, power efficient ECC-plasmas and LED-LCDs are available when finally OLED large area is avialable. Now imaging the price difference.

Something like

50" OLED - 10,000$

50" ECC plasma - 3000$

52" LED-LCD - 3000$

It seems like OLED would be doomed to fail. OLED is the new SED. It's just too expensive to produce and even more expensive for bigger sizes. Non-videophiles will always choose a cheaper TV over a panel with a slightly better PQ at x10 the price. 50" OLED won't even exist before 2012-2013 even though competing technologies will provide comparable performance at much lower cost before 2012. There's very little hope for OLED at this point.

OLED might be used for computer monitors before making much headway in the TV market.

I've mentioned a few times here about OLEDs slow development and how this slow TTM has caused them to miss a golden opportunity to quickly dominate the market.
...Excluding CRT how many major display technologies have ever quickly dominated the display market? Also I think that LCD shows that you can start with small displays and still be very successful.


OLED is the new SED.For someone that promotes TMOS, a display technology that hasn't even been released, you sure have a negative opinion of OLED. After all OLED has been sold in millions of small devices and is currently being mass manufactured in displays up to 11". That is far more than SED ever did.


OLED might be used for computer monitors before making much headway in the TV market.From what I have read Samsung is planning to release laptops with OLED displays (http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/16/samsungs-12-1-inch-oled-laptop-makes-us-swoon/) next year.

Excluding CRT how many major display technologies have ever quickly dominated the display market? Also I think that LCD shows that you can start with small displays and still be very successful. LCD vs CRT was completely different as it was flat panel vs giant cube. TTM was irrelevant for this one IMO.

LCD vs PDP was also different. During the development phase of large area LCD, PDP was already in the market but at massive price points. And when finally large area LCD reached the market PDP was at a flat point with little improvements happening, still brutally expensive, and a lot of bad press to boot.

Another thought is now that consumers have started to replace aging CRTs with affordable flat panels you can expect that when large area OLED finally arrives it will have to expect consumers to replace thier LCDs and PDPs which they paid thousands for. I expect at that point, modern PDPs and LCDs will perform fairly awesome themselves and at ~1/3 the price.

Oh, and just so Isochroma doesn't yell at me again here is some articles for him to re-post.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/article.cfm?year=2008&issue=08&file=art8
http://www.informationdisplay.org/newsarticle.cfm?newsArt=news345

OLEDs Shift Up a Gear as Developers Get Creative (http://www.informationdisplay.org/article.cfm?year=2008&issue=08&file=art8)
August 2008

The impressive array of OLED displays and prototypes at Display Week 2008 speak to the increasing acceptance of the technology as a legitimate display format. Developers are getting more creative with their offerings, and discussions are shifting from issues such as lifetime to overall performance.

HISTORY MAY WELL JUDGE 2008 to have been a pivotal year for the evolution of organic-light-emitting-diode (OLED) technology commercialization, and Display Week 2008 certainly played a key role in bringing this to the attention of the display community. Technical progress in OLED displays was quite rapid in the 12 months leading up to Display Week 2008, with key advances in materials, device architecture, optical performance, and manufacturing processes, all coming to the fore this year, along with a serious attempt to prove that broad commercialization is finally close at hand. Certainly, the amount of money being invested in product development and manufacturing infrastructure for OLEDs is increasing faster than ever before, and the impact can be seen in the growing maturity of demonstrators and increasing focus on applications rather than the technology itself.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig1_tif.gif

Fig. 1: Among the most talked-about OLED displays at the Samsung SDI booth was its
31-in.-diagonal full-high-definition (FHD) AMOLED, a 1920 x 1080-pixel display that
utilized the company's super microcavity bottom-emission technology.

The consistent message from the likes of Sony, Samsung, and Seiko Epson was clear – the active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) is being positioned as a high-end display for applications that demand superior image quality. Display Week 2008 featured numerous demonstrations of large-sized full-HD OLED-television formats as well as many innovative smaller-sized OLED prototypes in applications such as notebook computers, PDAs, electronic passports, and even wearable displays. The breadth of OLED products at Display Week 2008 was particularly impressive, ranging from large-area (31-in. on the diagonal) displays and smaller displays suitable for portable and mobile products, to microdisplays for head-up displays and viewfinders, to digital signage/lighting for information and illumination.

Another sign of growing industry confidence in OLED technology at Display Week 2008 was the notable shift away from debate over OLED lifetimes toward discussions of the look and feel of the actual OLED displays. With that in mind, here is a look at the most significant OLED developments at Display Week 2008.

Samsung SDI showed a wide range of OLED displays this year, from very small to very large displays. Its largest display was a 31-in.-diagonal full-high-definition (FHD) AMOLED, a 1920 x 1080-pixel display that utilized the company's Super Microcavity Bottom Emission technology (Fig. 1). This display attracted a great deal of attention and buzz on the show floor because the overall quality of the display was simply stunning. The marriage of OLED displays and high-definition (HD) content creates an incredible viewing experience. OLED displays offer unique crispness and warmth not found in technologies such as LCD or plasma, while HD provides image detail beyond what most viewers have experienced. An attendee who was looking at the Samsung SDI display said it best: "It's like looking through a window that does not have any glass."

In addition to the large FHD display, Samsung SDI also showed several "concept applications" that used OLED displays in a novel way, including

A rather stylish notebook computer (Fig. 2) featuring a 5-in. WVGA 800 x 480-pixel OLED display having a thickness of just 1.21 mm and power consumption of 828 mW (250 cd/m2 at 30% on).


A laptop with a 12.1-in. 1280 x 768-pixel AMOLED display (Fig. 3).


A high-tech golf glove featuring a 3.1-in. WVGA (800 x 480) OLED display that consumes 434 mW of power (Fig. 4).


An electronic passport concept developed in partnership with the Bundesdruckerei in Germany, featuring a 2-in. QVGA AMOLED display (Fig. 5).
LG Display showed a 15-in. XGA (1024 x 768) AMOLED display that utilized a novel manufacturing process known as Dual-Plate technology, whereby the OLED display is made on the surface of the encapsulation glass and the a-Si active-matrix backplane is fabricated on the other glass substrate (Fig. 6). The two dependent parts are then joined together via contact spacers.

LG Display anticipates that the Dual-Plate technology will lead to an overall reduction in manufacturing costs for two reasons: it uses lower cost backplane technology and it increases yields. LG Display said that this technique is specifically for large-area displays and is not expected to be adopted for manufacturing small- and medium-sized displays. LG Display officials offered no confirmation on if or when this technique would be deployed in practice.

At Display Week 2008, the Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) booth had fewer displays than in previous years; however, two exhibits that caught my attention were the Add Vision fully screen-printed displays (see below) and the OSRAM OLED lighting tiles (Fig. 7). The fact that the OSRAM product was showcased at the CDT booth means that it is made of a polymer-based OLED (P-OLED).


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig2_tif.gif

Fig. 2: Samsung SDI showed several concept applications featuring OLED displays,
including this stylish notebook computer featuring a 5-in. WVGA 800 x 480-pixel
OLED display with a thickness of just 1.21 mm.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig3_tif.gif

Fig. 3: Samsung SDI showed several concept applications featuring OLED displays,
including this laptop with a 12.1-in. 1280 x 768-pixel AMOLED display.

CDT CEO David Fyfe stated during the investor conference that the recent OSRAM "future wave" OLED lighting demonstrator was based on polymer materials – an interesting development. Does that now mean that polymer-OLED (P-OLED) technology will soon be hitting the market in OLED lighting? Perhaps not just yet, as the recently announced OSRAM OLED lighting product "early wave" is, according to OSRAM literature, based on small-molecule materials and not polymer. Given the rapid performance improvement of P-OLED technology over the past few years, it may not be long before P-OLED lighting products are commercially available. CDT was actively promoting its total matrix addressing (TMA) and top-emission P-OLED technology.

While most OLED displays at the show were of high quality, made on glass and expected to last several years, it is not the only option available. CDT's Add-Vision (Fig. 8) offers flexible screen-printed P-OLED displays for low-resolution and specialty-lighting applications. These fully printed segmented displays have an impressive high-quality look and feel about them, especially considering that they are not expected to last long.

DuPont Display finally announced and presented its novel deposition technique known as the "Nozzle" printing process (a combination of coating and printing), which it developed in partnership with Dai Nippon Screen. This certainly generated lively discussion among attendees on the pros and cons of this novel deposition technique. DuPont's philosophy is to achieve superior performance at low cost via the close matching of materials and process – in this case, phosphorescent solution-processed materials and nozzle printing. Displays produced by this novel deposition technique seem to be of high quality (Fig. 9). DuPont plans to make the materials, process, and equipment available as a complete package commencing in 2010. DuPont Display will be installing Dai Nippon Screen Gen 4 equipment at the company's pilot-line facility in Santa Barbara, California.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig4_tif.gif

Fig. 4: This golf-glove concept from Samsung SDI shows one potential use for AMOLED displays.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig5_tif.gif

Fig. 5: Samsung SDI's electronic-passport concept featured a 2-in. QVGA AMOLED display.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig6_tif.gif

Fig. 6: A schematic of how LG Display's Dual-Plate manufacturing process works.

The OLED displays shown by Seiko Epson featured what can only be described as superb contrast. Seiko Epson believes that achieving such high-contrast images is vital for positioning OLEDs in consumers' minds as the must-have display technology. The company describes this contrast as the "Ultimate Black." The OLED displays shown at its booth were 8 in. on the diagonal with a resolution of 800 x 400 pixels, a luminance of 200 cd/m2, and a contrast ratio of >100,000:1. The company plans to accelerate efforts to develop uses for OLEDdisplays that benefit from superior image quality.

Seiko Epson started research and development of OLED technology way back in the mid-1990s. The company has been a long-term advocate of polymer solution-processing, but the displays on show were fabricated by vacuum deposition. Furthermore, Seiko Epson reports that it has successfully achieved OLED lifetimes (T50) in excess of 50,000 hours. The device architecture consisted of a white emissive layer coupled with a RGB color filter.

The company has already installed and commenced operation of a development and manufacturing facility in Nagano, Japan, capable of small-scale production. A Seiko Epson spokesperson said that the company might enter the market in a year's time, most likely using solution-processing as its production technology.


Kodak showed a portable AMOLED TV known as the EliTe Vision KTEL-30W. Currently available only in Japan and Brazil, this product, having a 3.0-in. QVGA AMOLED display, is a great example of the potential of OLED displays in consumer products (Fig. 10).

Flexible OLED displays, OLED lighting, and transparent OLED displays could all be found at the Universal Display Corp. (UDC) booth this year. The top-emitting flexible display, made in collaboration with LG Display, was fabricated on a metal-foil substrate and was shown on a rotating fixture, convincingly showcasing many of OLED's strongest attributes: thinness, viewing angle, and no color shift. UDC also reported progress with printable phosphorescent materials in Paper 22.2, presented in conjunction with Seiko Epson Corp. In terms of material performance, UDC continues to improve lifetime, efficiency, and color of its printable phosphorescent materials. Lifetimes of red (100,000 hours at 500 cd/m2) and blue (6000 hours at 500 cd/m2) have doubled since last year, and green is now 63,000 hours at 1000 cd/m2. However, the long-life blue material has not yet reached a suitable "deep blue" as required for commercial adoption.

OLED lighting also featured prominently at the UDC booth. The company presented performance data on two white OLED devices achieved by optimizing materials and device structures and including outcoupling. The first device achieved 30 lm/W, at a luminance of 1000 cd/m2 with more than 200,000 hours of lifetime and appeared as a "warm" white (0.45, 0.46). According to UDC, this performance is suitable for market entry of simple lighting products. The second device achieved higher efficiency – 72 lm/W at the same luminance (1000 cd/m2), although at a different and unspecified lifetime. LG Chem supplied both transport and injection materials.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig7_tif.gif

Fig. 7: OSRAM's P-OLED lighting tiles at the CDT booth.

OLED microdisplays also appear in both flavors: small-molecule and polymer versions. MicroEmissive Displays (MED) showed a range of headsets having Eyescreen™ P-OLED microdisplays. These QVGA 6-mm-diagonal microdisplays use silicon active-matrix backplanes with a white P-OLED emitter and color filters and require less than 25 mW of power. MED reported it has now shipped 60,000 units for use in the Estar headsets. At the time of the show, these headsets were only available in Asia.

In contrast to MED, eMagin Corp. offers higher-resolution small-molecule active-matrix OLED microdisplay technology. eMagin announced its SXGA OLED-XL micro-display, requiring less than 200 mW under typical operation. This 0.77-in.-diagonal display has a resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels.

Ignis Innovation has positioned itself as an independent open-source provider of active-matrix-backplane technology for the emerging AMOLED market. The company has developed in-pixel compensation circuit technology coupled with pixel drivers that reduce the "image sticking," improves lifetimes, and eliminates brightness variations – "mura" was experienced by both LTPS or a-Si backplane technologies. The company envisages that such an open-source approach effectively eliminates the need for a vertical structure manufacturing approach, opening up the market for AMOLED displays. No longer are manufacturers reliant on the need to build their own active-matrix capacity; instead, they can purchase active-matrix backplanes via Ignis Innovation partners.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig8_tif.gif

Fig. 8: CDT's Add-Vision offers flexible screen-printed P-OLED displays
for low-resolution and specialty-lighting applications.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig9_tif.gif

Fig. 9: This AMOLED display from DuPont Displays utilizes a
Chi Mei Optoelectronics LTPS backplane.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/08/art8/GIFS/Fig10_tif.gif

Fig. 10: Kodak's EliTe Vision KTEL-30W portable TV, currently available in Japan
and Brazil, features a 3.0-in. QVGA AMOLED display.

Conclusion

Display Week 2008 once again provided attendees with the latest developments in OLED displays. The products on the exhibition floor and the papers presented at the symposium continue to demonstrate that there is growing confidence that developers of OLED displays understand the basic technology, understand it nuances, and are beginning to master the process of creative design. The opening speaker at the Business Conference was Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled, who said that "OLEDs are the new LCDs." Looking at the products at the show, I would tend to agree. Sorin also made the statement that the OLED industry would benefit from greater cooperation among the major OLED developers. The launch of the OLED Association is clearly a move toward creating the necessary framework for collaboration. I am already looking forward to next year's show to see what progress the next 12 months brings in terms of OLED display development.

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DisplaySearch: AMOLED Revenues Up 327% Y/Y in Q2 '08, But Down 27% Q/Q (http://www.informationdisplay.org/newsarticle.cfm?newsArt=news345)
29 September 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Samsung SDI , the leading supplier of AMOLED displays, had lower than expected shipments in Q2'08, which set a negative tone for the quarter, according to DisplaySearch's Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report, which was released on September 23. Instead of growing volume by a forecasted 12%, Samsung SDI's shipments actually contracted by 22% due to slowing demand from Japanese mobile-phone suppliers and from Nokia.

As a result, overall AMOLED revenue was $53.8 million, down 27% Q/Q but up 327% Y/Y, and shipments measured 1.7 million, down 18% Q/Q, but up 302% Y/Y. The Y/Y comparisons are misleading since Samsung SDI started mass production of AMOLEDs in Q4'07.

Main display shipments, which were expected to drive the growth in OLED displays, were 1.6 million, down 500,000 or 33%, due to the poor performance by Samsung SDI.

Surprisingly, PMOLED shipments were 20.3 million, up 17% Q/Q and 4% Y/Y. PMOLED shipments had been down Y/Y for three straight quarters. The growth was driven by increases in both MP3 players and sub-displays. PMOLEDs now represent almost 60% of the total MP3 market and 23% of all sub-display shipments.

Other key findings in released by DisplaySearch include:

RiTdisplay had a record quarter with revenues of $33.8 million.


Pioneer maintained its shipment volume of 4.4 million, most of which were monochrome displays.


Chi Mei EL (CMEL) also reported AMOLED revenues of only $7.6 million, down from $12.8 million last quarter.
The slowdown in AMOLED displays is expected to continue in Q3'08, because it is taking longer for mobile phone makers to understand the market for products with high-end displays, DisplaySearch reported. However, new products by Nokia and Sony Ericsson could improve the situation, as will the recent announcement by CMEL and Kodak on the release of a new 7.6-inch display for digital photo frames.

Sub-displays and MP3 player displays accounted for over 80% of OLED shipments at 14.2 million and 3.4 million, respectively. Of the remaining applications, industrial applications showed strong growth, but main displays fell for the third straight quarter.

DisplaySearch's Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report includes shipments, revenues and ASPs by application, material type, driver technology and supplier. It also shows capacity plans by supplier and has a comprehensive supply/demand forecast.

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CMEL shifting AMOLED focus to medium- and large-size panels (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080930PD204.html)
30 September 2008

Chi Mei El (CMEL) is adjusting its AMOLED focus to medium- and large-size panels as result of pricing pressure from TFT LCD in the small- to medium-size segment, according to company chairman Jau-Yang Ho.

Ho said AMOLED offers stunning colors and picture quality, but CMEL is coming under strong pressure from small- to medium-size TFT LCD whose prices are falling fast. The production costs for AMOLED are relatively higher and it takes more time to lower the production costs for AMOLED, compared to TFT LCD, Ho explained.

Therefore, CMEL is shifting its focus to medium- and large-size panels, Ho said. Apart from developing a 7.6-inch AMOLED panel for Kodak, CMEL will head for the 10-inch and larger segment. CMEL expects to volume produce AMOLED TV panels in 2010 or 2011.

For someone that promotes TMOS, a display technology that hasn't even been released, you sure have a negative opinion of OLED. After all OLED has been sold in millions of small devices and is currently being mass manufactured in displays up to 11". That is far more than SED ever did.Canon at least had SED 50" prototypes. Nobody is even talking about plans for 50" OLED prototypes at this point. We'll be very lucky if someone releases >20" OLED for <$6000 in the next two years. It wouldn't surprise me if Sony and Samsung, just like other companies, cancel their OLED plans next year to concentrate on ultrathin LED LCDs and next-gen plasmas.

Surprisingly, PMOLED shipments were 20.3 million, up 17% Q/Q and 4% Y/Y. PMOLED shipments had been down Y/Y for three straight quarters. The growth was driven by increases in both MP3 players and sub-displays. PMOLEDs now represent almost 60% of the total MP3 market and 23% of all sub-display shipments.


I am only interested in PMOLED, because of superior motion handling, motion resolution and no motion blur. Are there any PMOLED prototypes or products over 5" ??? I don't care at all if I have to replace my PMOLED tv every 18 months.

Electronic House just had a small article on OLED making its inroads into the display market. They stated that manufacturers are trying to get this technology into full swing as a 40" set in the year 2015! This thread may be very early in its appearance! I would figure by that time we'd have some consumer priced very large flat panels that will blow away today's versions.

The Outstanding Potential of OLED Displays for TV Applications (http://www.informationdisplay.org/article.cfm?year=2008&issue=09&file=art6)
September 2008

Despite all the buzz surrounding Sony's launch of the first commercial OLED TV in December 2007, the company is not resting on its laurels. This article details the company's approach to developing and manufacturing large-sized AMOLED TVs.

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, organic-light-emitting-diode (OLED) technology has drawn increasing attention as the next-generation display platform (along with its potential as a source for general illumination). One of the main reasons is its "all solid state" nature, which provides myriad opportunity for further evolution in a variety of aspects.

The first stage of this evolution occurred in the 10–15 years since C. Tang's pioneering work on OLEDs at Kodak in 1988. Even in this initial stage, it is likely that OLED researchers recognized its great potential for display devices; however, it's passive-matrix drive limited OLEDs great potential. Consequently, in the second stage of OLED commercialization, which has taken place during the past 10 years, R&D activities have focused on active-matrix OLEDs. Great progress has been made in this decade, not only for the driving scheme including the design of the TFT pixel circuit, but also in the OLED device and materials. Sony has developed the "Super Top Emission" device structure, which enhances color gamut and efficiency, both of which are critical for TV-quality displays. Idemitsu and Sony jointly developed long-lifetime and highly efficient OLED materials sufficient for such displays. Further reduction on power consumption can be achieved by employing phosphorescent materials.

In this article, the advantage of OLED displays in terms of image quality is described – and it is this superior image quality that gives OLED displays the potential to become the premier displays for TV applications.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_1_tif.gif

Fig. 1: A comparison of brightness vs. signal level and window
size for OLEDs, LCDs, and CRTs.

Extraordinary Picture Quality

One of the great advantages of an emissive display such as an OLED display is that the dynamic range of the brightness can be controlled pixel by pixel. Figure 1 shows brightness vs. signal level and window size. The maximum brightness of a liquid-crystal display (LCD) is basically equivalent to the fixed backlight brightness, which means that it is impossible to accurately display an image that contains an extremely bright local area. This is a very important feature for TV applications because the capability of strong peak luminance would improve the impact of images dramatically – for example, a scene of fireworks at night or strong reflection of sunlight from glass could be displayed much more realistically by an OLED display.

Extremely high contrast ratio is another advantage of OLED Displays. LCDs struggle to achieve "real black," since an LCD basically works as the shutter that modulates the polarization of transmitted light from the backlight unit – this makes it extremely difficult to curtail light leakage, which in turn limits the contrast ratio. Even a tiny amount of light leakage causes considerable image degradation for some scenes in TV pictures. Imagine a forest scene during a very cloudy day; the picture level of this TV signal is very low. Under this condition, color reproduction of the deep green color of the forest on an LCD screen is degraded by a very small amount of light leakage from blue and red subpixels. However, the same scene would be much richer in color when displayed on an OLED display, in which the off-state of each subpixel is completely black – the "off" state corresponds to a non-emissive state, which means there is no light leakage. Figure 2 shows the color gamut of an OLED display and an LCD plotted vs. picture level. A wide color gamut throughout all picture levels is extremely desirable for the display of TV images. Because an OLED display is an emissive display, similar to a CRT display, its light output can be easily managed, allowing for high contrast ratios over wide viewing angles.

Moving-picture quality, another critical factor for TV performance, is evaluated by moving-picture response time (MPRT). For active-matrix displays, the MPRT is limited by the hold-type driving scheme. Recently, LCDs have overcome this problem via a high frame-rate drive (120 Hz). OLED displays can take the same approach; however, there are other ways to solve this problem. The pixel circuit of an OLED display could be designed to turn off the emission at any time in the middle of a single frame, which reduces the motion blur originated in a hold-type driving scheme, though this would result in lower overall luminance.

OLED Process for Large-Screen Displays

Sony began to sell the world's first OLED TV, the XEL-1, in December 2007 (Fig. 3). The XEL-1's 11-in. screen size is relatively small, yet it still demonstrates the outstanding picture quality promised by OLED technology, to the point where Sony believes that the potential of OLED TV is now widely recognized. So, the next question is, how large can OLED TVs be?


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_2_tif.gif

Fig. 2: The color gamut of OLED displays, LCDs, and CRT displays plotted vs. picture level.

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_3_tif.gif

Fig. 3: Sony's XEL-1 became the first commercially available OLED TV when it hit stores in December 2007.

The XEL-1 employs vacuum evaporation of small molecules by using a metal-mask process and low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFTs for the backplane. It is well recognized these technologies cannot be applied for large glass substrates; therefore, we have to develop the new technologies both for the OLED and TFT processes.

Various approaches have been proposed to achieve large-screen OLED displays. They are classified into three categories: (1) patterning by using RGB subpixels, (2) white emission plus the use of a color filter, and (3) blue emission plus color conversion. There has been vigorous debate over which type is best for large-screen-sized OLED displays.

When trying to decide which approach to take, Sony first had to determine the best way to industrialize OLED TV, for which there are really two options. The first option is to start the business with low-cost device and process technologies, followed by the improvement of performance (with the according price increases). The second is to start a business with high-performance device and process technologies (even at high costs), followed by reductions in cost. High-quality LCD and plasma TVs already permeate the market, so the next-generation TV must have superior image quality than existing flat-screen TVs. This has led Sony to the conclusion that we should choose a technology that gives us the best performance, including image quality.

A white-emission plus color-filter device has the simplest structure, so the production cost is estimated to be the lowest among these three options. Since the patterning process of the OLED layer is not required in this case, use of a metal mask is not necessary. However, power consumption is a real problem because more than two-thirds of the energy of the white emission from an OLED is absorbed by the color filter. Furthermore, this type of device gives rise to a severe tradeoff between color gamut and brightness. Adding a white subpixel (RGBW color filter) is a potentially smart way to compensate for the transmission loss caused by the RGB color filter. However, a polarizer and quarter-wavelength plate must be put on the panel to eliminate the reflection caused by the white subpixel, once again resulting in a power loss of more than 50%.

A blue-emission plus color-conversion device is better in terms of energy efficiency because basically there is no transmission loss via the color filter, providing that color conversion efficiency is 100%. For this purpose, color-conversion materials with high conversion efficiency and low-light-scattering characteristics need to be developed.

Based on these considerations, it is concluded that an RGB-patterned-type device should be the best choice for a TV display because of its excellent image quality. For example, the XEL-1 offers a color gamut of more than 100% NTSC, a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, etc. So the next question is, how do we get an RGB-patterned device without using a metal-mask process in order to be able to use large motherglass, such as Gen 6 or Gen 7? An attempt to employ a solution process has been actively undertaken in a variety of methods, including polymer materials and small molecules. This seemed very attractive, and we expected this process would be realized. However, we could not achieve long lifetime with pure blue using a solution process, and this is crucial for TV application.

The concept of Sony's approach is to keep the existing device structure and vacuum-evaporation process, which has been proven to yield good enough performance and lifetimes for TV applications, and omit the metal-mask process. Figure 4 shows the cross-sectional view of the newly developed laser-transfer process that we named Laser Induced Pattern-wise Sublimation (LIPS). In this case, only the emission layer is processed by LIPS, while the other layers (hole-transport layer, electron-transport layer, etc.) are formed by using a current vapor-evaporation process. It could be thought that the metal layer on donor glass is equivalent to the heat source of the conventional vacuum-evaporation process.

TFT Backplane for Large-Screen OLED Displays

Amorphous-silicon TFT (a-Si TFT) backplanes are now widely used for active-matrix LCDs, and the manufacturing infrastructure is now well established. It is desirable to make use of a-Si TFTs as the backplane for active-matrix OLED displays. However, the threshold-voltage shifts of a-Si TFTs caused by the bias stress voltage is a serious problem for OLED displays. Compensating for the threshold-voltage shift by using driving scheme has been investigated, but it is not yet good enough to apply to TV displays; accordingly, a new TFT with a small enough threshold-voltage shift has to be developed. LTPS, which is now widely used as the backplane for OLED displays, has a very high electron mobility and extremely small threshold-voltage shift. It turns out, though, that such a high electron mobility is not really required to drive OLED displays. Microcrystalline-silicon TFTs, which have a considerably small shift in the threshold voltage and an electron mobility of 1–10 cm2/V-sec, is considered to be a good choice. The question is, what kind of process is the most appropriate to obtain microcrystalline-silicon TFTs? It is quite obvious that an as-deposited process is desirable in terms of production cost. There are many ways to conduct the as-deposited process, but none of them are available for mass production at this time. As a practical method, we developed a thermal annealing process using a high-power diode laser and named it diode Laser Thermal Anneal (dLTA). One reason we chose diode lasers is that the output laser light is very stable and controllable. When compared with eximer lasers, which are commonly used for the LTPS process, the advantage of this technology is scalability. The design of the annealing equipment is described in Fig. 5. There should not be any limit in motherglass size. We could increase the number of laser heads to improve tact time. By using this technology, we obtained an electron mobility of 2–3 cm2/V-sec and a threshold-voltage shift of ~2 V (after 100,000 hours under the bias conditions of Ids = 10 μA, 50°C), which is good enough as the backplane TFT for active-matrix OLED displays.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_4_tif.gif

Fig. 4: A cross-sectional view of Sony's newly developed
laser transfer process named Laser Induced Pattern-wise Sublimation (LIPS).

Conclusion: A New Technology Prototype

In order to realize the feasibility of this new technology as described above, Sony has developed a 27-in. OLED-display prototype (Fig. 6) with full-HD resolution (1920 x 1080 RGB). Newly developed microcrystalline-silicon TFTs and LIPS yields a picture that is just as vivid as that for the XEL-1, which makes us confident enough to employ these new technologies for manufacturing displays on larger motherglass. The significance of the 27-in. prototype is to demonstrate the possibility of large-screen OLED TVs without sacrificing picture quality. We recognize that there must be myriad different approaches in addition to ours, and we welcome the attempts that will be made to find better ways to develop high-quality low-cost OLED manufacturing technology. Those challenges will certainly improve the technological level of OLED TV and stimulate the OLED industry.


http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_5_tif.gif

Fig. 5: A schematic of Sony's new thermal annealing process
using a high-power diode laser, which it has named diode Laser Thermal Anneal (dLTA).

http://www.informationdisplay.org/issues/2008/09/art6/GIFS/fig_6_tif.gif

Fig. 6: Sony developed a 27-in. full-HD OLED TV prototype to test its new manufacturing technologies.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10054183-1.html
CHIBA, Japan--Already skeptical about the ability of OLED to uproot the TV technology dominance of plasma and LCD in the next few years, Panasonic cast even more doubt on the opening day of Ceatec 2008.

Speaking to a group of reporters, Panasonic AVC Networks President Toshihiro Sakamoto reiterated that OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs will not be made in sizes of 30 inches or greater for now, and it's still not suitable for mass manufacturing. Currently, Panasonic does not have an OLED product on the market, but Sony does: it makes and 11-inch OLED TV, and is working on a 27-inch model.

Though Panasonic is working on making its own OLED set, Sakamoto said "we may have to redefine the market position of OLED."

His quasi-cryptic comments indicate that LCD and plasma are here to stay for a while, and that the mass production of OLED TVs could be even further off than his previously stated estimate of 2015.

It's also not clear that we need OLED TVs before then. They're still prohibitively expensive, small, and LCD and plasma are continuing to make great gains. Here at Ceatec, for example, several major TV makers like Sharp, Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic are showing off incredibly thin TVs as well as those with decreased power consumption, both features of OLED.

Those comments lead me to believe that the 2015 date before we can get to a 40" set is probably correct, and "rethink the market" means computer monitors rather than TVs, although it could be a dual use product. They need to produce these things is some form to take advantage of their research, and not throw it away as we've seen with SED.

Those comments lead me to believe that the 2015 date before we can get to a 40" set is probably correct, and "rethink the market" means computer monitors rather than TVs, although it could be a dual use product. They need to produce these things is some form to take advantage of their research, and not throw it away as we've seen with SED.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10054183-1.html

Or perhaps Matsushita is heavily vested in PDP manufacturing (all eggs in the PDP basket)... they promote themselves in TV commercials as the #1 mfg of plasma HDTVs after all! ;)

It's certainly a contrast from Sony, who abandoned PDP for LCD. If OLED is the successor to LCD, the positions of Sony and Matsushita make sense.

vtms: I refrained from posting the Panasonic article because:

1. It has no new OLED news

2. It is pure self-serving propaganda by Panasonic, clearly and blatantly pro-PDP and anti-OLED.
That kind of 'news' will never make it to this thread; I have no love of brainwashing. Furthermore, this 'news' by Panasonic is the final shrill call of an opponent who, having failed to rout his competitor by the usual means of making a better product, is reduced to a war of words and slurs.

In contrast, the article "The Outstanding Potential of OLED Displays for TV Applications" just posted, shows how Sony is working hard - and succeeding - to develop the new processes which allow large-screen OLED TVs to be made. They have my love for being dedicated and smart with their research.

Here's some new fodder for digestion guys. Not sure of the ramifications, but interesting never the less.http://www.physorg.com/news142140073.html

vtms: I refrained from posting the Panasonic article because:

1. It has no new OLED news

2. It is pure self-serving propaganda by Panasonic, clearly and blatantly pro-PDP and anti-OLED.
That kind of 'news' will never make it to this thread; I have no love of brainwashing. Furthermore, this 'news' by Panasonic is the final shrill call of an opponent who, having failed to rout his competitor by the usual means of making a better product, is reduced to a war of words and slurs.

In contrast, the article "The Outstanding Potential of OLED Displays for TV Applications" just posted, shows how Sony is working hard - and succeeding - to develop the new processes which allow large-screen OLED TVs to be made. They have my love for being dedicated and smart with their research.

Or perhaps Matsushita is heavily vested in PDP manufacturing (all eggs in the PDP basket)... they promote themselves in TV commercials as the #1 mfg of plasma HDTVs after all! ;)

It's certainly a contrast from Sony, who abandoned PDP for LCD. If OLED is the successor to LCD, the positions of Sony and Matsushita make sense.

Two thumbs up.

People who say "It can't be done!" fall into 2 categories:
-Those that can't do it themselves.
-Those that don't want it done.

vtms: I refrained from posting the Panasonic article because:
1. It has no new OLED news
2. It is pure self-serving propaganda by Panasonic, clearly and blatantly pro-PDP and anti-OLED.Hmm, I was under impression Panasonic had big plans for OLED. The fact they are delaying their plans is certainly news, but yeah, since this thread is strategically titled "technological advancements", bad news will always be out of place here so I'll leave this thread alone.

Well since there is no OLED "discussion" thread I choose to respond to this.

The same grossly overstated OLED dreams have been in the news for 15 years with barely anything to show for it. Now someone actually steps back and starts talking 'reality' and being somewhat honest and they are the ones accused of lying???? Wow, just wow!! Whenever I read new articles like the Sony one I can't help but say to myself (yeah...right! I'll believe it when I see it). Sorry for my jaded attitude but there is a history behind it.

If you aren't familiar with my history, I worked with OLEDs for a couple years (00,01) and back then I was super excited about the technology. Watching what has happened behind the scenes over the years has really dissapointed me and opened my eyes to science versus marketing. One of the best things I learned was that forming a set of claims and promises about a technology based on some samples (devices) made in a lab is very shady. But the display industry is ripe with this practice.

I think OLEDs is the future and would love a 60" er on my wall but forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical of promises. If Sony starts to live up to some promises it could go a long way to restoring some excitement.

How much progress has been made toward solving the problem of the uneven primary color aging? That has always struck me as the Achilles's heel of OLED, other than the high cost. If that problem can't really be solved, I just don't see OLED ever being successful.

How much progress has been made toward solving the problem of the uneven primary color aging? That has always struck me as the Achilles's heel of OLED, other than the high cost. If that problem can't really be solved, I just don't see OLED ever being successful.

It will be always uneven. But as long the weakest link is strong enough (last at least 60K hours), it will be no big deal at all.

The same grossly overstated OLED dreams have been in the news for 15 years with barely anything to show for it.Considering millions of OLED displays in small devices to be "barely anything" seems a bit harsh considering that the vast majority of display technologies never get to mass production.


If you aren't familiar with my history, I worked with OLEDs for a couple years (00,01) and back then I was super excited about the technology.Just curious but which company did you work for and what did you do?

Considering millions of OLED displays in small devices to be "barely anything" seems a bit harsh considering that the vast majority of display technologies never get to mass production.


Just curious but which company did you work for and what did you do?Barely anything relative to the promises that have been continually overstated. In fact, many of the promises have turned out to be false. It is fresh to see some more realistic statements about OLEDs.


And I worked briefly with OLED SM materials development (long life blue).

The current economic crisis does not bode well for OLED.

Research dollars (pardon me, yens) will be scarce.

Samsung previews OLED TV screens (http://hdtvorg.co.uk/news/articles/2008100402.htm)
4 October 2008


http://hdtvorg.co.uk/news/imgs/Samsung_OLEDtv.jpg


Samsung have shaken up the world of OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology by previewing 14.1in and 31in panels. Previously, Sony had been capturing all of the OLED headlines with the introduction of a commercially available screen.

While Sony have stolen a march on the industry, their OLED screen is only 10.6in while the 31in Samsung brings with it the tantalizing possibility that OLED could soon become the technology of choice, eventually replacing LCD and Plasma.

The exciting thing for followers of OLED technology is that Samsung are talking about a launch date sometime in 2010.

OLED pixels generate their own light which brings a whole host of technological advantages. Every OLED prototype we have seen produces brighter, sharper images while using less power than any plasma or LCD TV. Samsung's 31in prototype uses less than half the power of a standard 32in TV, with the Full HD panel just a shade over 4.3mm thick.

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Sony's Latest OLED TV Prototype Is 1 Millimeter Thin (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/151894/sonys_latest_oled_tv_prototype_is_1_millimeter_thin.html)
5 October 2008

Sony has unveiled a prototype OLED (organic light emitting diode) television that's less than a millimeter thin -- that's one third the thickness of its current OLED television and a tenth that of its thinnest LCD (liquid crystal display) set.

The TV measures just 0.9mm and is based on a prototype 0.3mm screen that Sony first showed earlier this year. The prototype set was on show at the Ceatec 2008 electronics expo in Japan and attracted a steady stream of curious attendees, with many of them snapping pictures of it.

OLED is an emerging flat-panel display technology that uses an organic material that emits its own light, so no backlight is needed and that means displays are much thinner. The screens also consume less power than competing technologies, handle fast-moving images better and offer good color reproduction.

Sony's first OLED TV, the XEL-1, was launched at Ceatec 2007 and instantly became one of the most talked-about products at the show thanks to its bright and vibrant picture and thinness of just 3mm. The 11-inch set, which was also the first commercial OLED TV from any manufacturer, was accompanied on Sony's Ceatec 2007 stand by a prototype 27-inch screen that was back again at Ceatec 2008.

Sony still faces production problems in making larger screens, so there's no word on when the larger TV set will be launched.

The 0.3mm panel is based on the same screen that's used in the XEL-1. By carefully grinding down the glass substrate the panel is made thinner but also much more brittle. There were also no details of when the even-thinner 11-inch set might hit the market.

The current economic crisis does not bode well for OLED.

Research dollars (pardon me, yens) will be scarce.

Does it bode well for 7-8k plasmas and LCD's?

...Samsung have shaken up the world of OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology by previewing 14.1in and 31in panels....
The perfect size for a laptop, and a useful size for a desktop monitor. Samsung manufacturers most of the better LCD monitors, so I would expect to see this for lighter laptops and for higher res, more detailed screens in the imaging fields before it would happen as a competitive TV.

Just as LCDs progressed thru laptops & desktop PC displays on their way to TV land.

Agreed, but waiting for 8-10 years for a "useful" high def screen size is not what we really wanted to hear. Our present stuff is now very affordable across the board, so take that into account also. I look forward to the Samsung introduction though...it will be interesting to see this type panel in a larger size, even if that only mimics an early '90s screen size!

"mimics an early '90s screen size"?

The vast majority of the FPD display market is at 32", and will always be there for various reasons, so they may end up not going to any larger sizes than the proposed 31". In economic terms such a move would be well-justified.

I got to see the XEL-1 at BB this past weekend and it was amazing. I have never seen such color, deep blacks, and just amazing overall PQ from a set. I wish it was 100" already and less than 5k :P.

less than 5k? xel-1 so small its already $2499.99 how u want the 100" to be 5k? lolzz.. since those organics in the tv might rot and its sensitive to water, by mean we cannot place it in an aircond room or what?? too bad..

You can place it in an air conditioned room just fine. How are you supposed to have electricity if you don't put the TV in your house unless you want burglars to steal your $2500 tv sitting on your back porch? lol!

...The vast majority of the FPD display market is at 32"....
But, until recently, flat panels have been relatively expensive, so the smaller sizes were first to come down in price. That, and so many people, myself included, had furniture or cabinetry geared to old CRT sizes, and the most that would fit would be the smaller panels. I think that's all changing now, and in another 5 years, a 32" for a small bedroom will seem skimpy!

"...The vast majority of the FPD display market is at 32...


Wow...that's a depressing note, given the late CRT's overwhelming superior at that size...

(Agree with Jim though on the future...)

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Printing Tech Could Bring Down The Price of OLED TVs (http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/innovation/printing-tech-bring-price-oled-tvs/)
9 October 2008

Those super thin, but still futuristic, OLED TVs may get a lot cheaper thanks to manufacturing technology from a team of MIT grads.

Called organic light-emitting-diode displays, the thin, extremely clear displays made a big splash last year at the Consumer Electronics Show, but price has been a major obstacle to consumer adoption. For example Sony Corp. showed off an 11-inch OLED TV that sells for $2,500. A 15-inch LCD display can cost under $200.

But TJet Technologies, the Menlo Park, Calif., start-up thinks its technology could bring the price of OLED TVs down, in line with LCD panels, by using ink jet type printers to manufacture the screens. The company is betting its equipment will enable OLEDs to be made at half the cost of LCDs.

“The biggest problem for OLEDs is manufacturing,” said Conor Madigan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of TJet. “Even though OLEDs look better and have better performance consumers aren’t going to pay a lot more.”

OLED TVs burst on the scene around 2000, but weren’t able to gain traction until a couple of years ago. Before the technology could get the backing of major corporations like Sony, Toshiba and Samsung, technical glitches such as display life had to be overcome.

With the technical problems addressed, the last barrier to a mass market roll out and adoption, said Madigan is manufacturing. The current manufacturing process is complicated and costly, which has resulted in premium prices for the few TVs on the market, he said. Sony is selling its 11 inch display while other manufactures are gearing up to launch their products next year. There are companies making OLED displays for Mp3 players and cell phones but the biggest market is expected to be in TVs.

Madigan and a team of engineers who have been working on printer technology for OLEDs at MIT said being able to use printers to put the material on the glass is “very” inexpensive and is a big driver for the printed electronics market. About a year ago, Madigan and the team decided to take their work at M.I.T and create TJet. The goal is to make the production equipment for companies like Sony and Samsung.

Basically the printer splits down the material on a thin film glass sheet which can be the size of a king-sized bed. While many companies had looked at this way of manufacturing before, TJet discovered that ink jet printing isn’t ideal because when the ink jet printer spits out the material it’s a wet liquid that damages the underlying layers. What TJet came up with is a trick to spit the ink on a device that sits between the jet head and the glass. The device takes the ink, dries it and heats up the material until it’s hot enough to turn to gas. The gas flows evenly on the glass.

Currently the company is working on feasibility machines and at the same time is building a larger system to do pilot production. The feasibility machines will print in areas the size of a piece of paper, while the pilot systems will print on areas that is roughly 1m by 1m.

TJet is already working with a couple of Japanese companies to demonstrate the technology and is getting feedback on how they would use the technology in their next manufacturing lines.

Today OLED TVs are too pricey for the average consumer, but the industry is putting a lot of money behind it. According to DisplaySearch, the Austin, Texas market research company, shipments of OLED displays will see compounded annual growth of 167% from 2007 to 2015.

Cool new article (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/10/10/sheets.of.light.oleds.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview)

Visionox and Tsinghua University starts OLED production (http://www.oled-display.net/visionox-and-tsinghua-university-starts-oled-production)
10 October 2008

Visionox and Tsinghua University began manufacturing screens on China's first organic light emitting diode (OLED) production line in Kunshan, Jiangsu province on Wednesday, reports Cena.com.cn. The partners spent RMB 500 million on the line and plan to make 12 million small screens annually. Visionox expects to begin construction on its next OLED line in the second half of 2009. Visionox was founded by Tsinghua University and other investors in 2001.

Samsung Shows Off 7.9mm-thick 40-inch LCD TV (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081015/159583/)
15 October 2008


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081015/159583/IMG_2_9.JPG

A 19-inch OLED panel exhibited by LG Display

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081015/159583/IMG_2_8.JPG

A 14-inch HD OLED panel exhibited by Samsung Electronics

...[CUT]...

As for OLED panels, Samsung Electronics displayed a 14-inch HD panel, a 31-inch full-HD panel and a 5-inch Wide VGA panel. And LG Display showcased a 19-inch OLED panel driven by amorphous Si TFT.

The same grossly overstated OLED dreams have been in the news for 15 years with barely anything to show for it. Now someone actually steps back and starts talking 'reality' and being somewhat honest and they are the ones accused of lying???? Wow, just wow!!

It's not like they are "lying". They are just controlling the damage. Those overstated OLED dreams are about to be ready to be mass produced, yes, at last, and they have no fork to take their piece of cake. So they just control the damage.

Companies don't lie. Ever. All the press releases and statements are fine tuned and expected to have a consequence. Talking about oled 15 years ago was intented to say "hey we are the best at R&D", launching the first oled mass-produced TV has the same meaning, and saying "oled is just a promise and won't deliver in the short-medium term" is just damage controlling and a way to advertise a product (Be it LCD or Plasma)

Of course saying "Next year we will deliver the perfect OLED TV at 46 inches" is vaporware.

It's just up to everyone as an individual to think twice which statement is reliable and which one has an obscure intention. But things are not white nor black. OLED is not a wonderful present technology, but plasma and LCDs are doomed in the mid term.

At least some serious OLED cell phones are now showing up: the Nokia N85 (http://thenokiablog.com/2008/10/12/nokia-n85-now-available/) and the Samsung I7110 (http://press.samsungmobile.com/press.view.do?messageId=485). Both feature a 2.6" OLED display. Granted, it's not TV-size yet, but at least we are getting somewhere with OLED.

Samsung Electronics unveils TVs of the future at GITEX Technology Week 2008 (http://www.arabianbusiness.com/press_releases/detail/29762)
20 October 2008

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd is offering visitors to this year’s GITEX Technology Week 2008 in Dubai a glimpse at where the TV is headed.

The lineup at the Samsung booth will include two (14.1” and 31”) organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, slimmest 52” LCD TV, quadruple full-HD LCD TV and a 200 Hz LCD TV.

The OLED is seen as a powerful contender for the future display market mainstream, given its very high resolution, svelte profile and extremely lightweight.

“Electronics manufacturers have already begun exhibiting these next-generation displays at major trade shows. However, Samsung is going a step further at Gitex, presenting the OLED as a finished TV product that features an elegant, optimized design”, said Bo Joong Kim, General Manager, AV division, Samsung Gulf Electronics. “Samsung’s OLED TVs represent greater technology innovation and set a new standard for TV sophistication”, added Kim.

These chic, ultra-slim OLED TVs employ OLED panels developed by Samsung SDI (the affiliate dedicated to display production). The finished products weigh forty percent less than other LCD TVs of the same size while boasting a contrast ratio of 1 million to one, color gamut of 107% and brightness of 550 cd/m2. Samsung will begin commercial production of mid-/large- sized OLED TVs around 2010.

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New Kodak Material Boosts OLED Performance and Energy Efficiency
Green Dopant Material Enables Low-Power, Full-Color, Long-Life OLED Displays (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&gpcid=0900688a809d05f8&pq-locale=en_US&CID=pressreleases)
Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK), a pioneer in organic light emitting diode technology (OLED), today announced the introduction of a highly efficient OLED material that will enable low-power, full-color displays with outstanding lifetimes. The new material, trademarked KODAK OLED Material EK-GD403, utilizes green dopant technology to deliver a new level of OLED display performance and reliability.

Green dopants are materials that control color output and boost efficiency.
...
“Kodak has continued to make greater than 50 percent year-over-year improvements in OLED luminance efficiencies over the past few years, and we will continue to fill the pipeline with new innovation to ensure that Kodak OLED materials are ready for use in emerging large-market applications,” said Corey Hewitt, Operations Manager and Vice President, Kodak OLED Systems.
...
KODAK OLED Material EK-GD403, used in combination with Kodak OLED Material EK-BH109, provides low-voltage green OLEDs with luminous efficiencies greater than 31 cd/A and lifetimes in excess of 65,000 hours (from an initial luminance of 1,000 cd/m2) and results in an external quantum efficiency of 8.7%.

the 60K barrie was broken!! yay! :)

So they, maybe, fixed green. What about the other colors?

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&gpcid=0900688a809d05f8&pq-locale=en_US&CID=pressreleases

When Kodak says they have "green dopant technology", I assume their use of the word "GREEN" refers to the environmental definition. If they have RED, BLUE, and GREEN OLED chemicals that can last over 65,000 hours to half life, from an initial luminance of 1,000 cd/m2, then OLED will be a major hit. They will still have a burn-in issue, however, which must be addressed. I for one would like a Federal law prohibiting those obnoxious network insignias pasted on TV shows. I would also like stations to use a high tech method to stretch all 3 by 4 TV shows to 9 by 16 for replay.

IB

I would also like stations to use a high tech method to stretch all 3 by 4 TV shows to 9 by 16 for replay.
IB
?why would anybody with a high PQ unit want to watch anything that's stretched?

Some sat channels stretch 3 by 4 material with expensive, hi tech methods that are much better than the stretch modes built into televisions.

IB

So they, maybe, fixed green. What about the other colors?

This is all positive news

However

I hope they're also doing something about BLUE materials and chemicals (because these are the worst performers))

Is this burn in OLED problem something people have dreamt up because OLED material burns up, though very slowly, or is it an actual concern?

If OLED has a half life of 60000 hours then burn in should be just as much a problem as it was in high quality CRT televisions, in other words no problem what so ever.

Is this burn in OLED problem something people have dreamt up because OLED material burns up, though very slowly, or is it an actual concern?

If OLED has a half life of 60000 hours then burn in should be just as much a problem as it was in high quality CRT televisions, in other words no problem what so ever.OR the same (or less) as plasmas nowadays with 100,000 hours (half-life). People still believe that burn-in is a big problem, when it really isn't. There was an article published about 2 years ago that said that burn-in on plasmas was reduced to the level of a CRT.

So they, maybe, fixed green. What about the other colors?It sounds like the improvement is for all colors and the reason they mentioned green OLEDs is probably due to it having the longest lifespan.

I wish someone would partner with someone (i.e. I don't care who it is) and produce either a 14.1" or 15.4" notebook using an OLED display. Coupled with a Blu-ray drive and a GM45, 780M, or the new 9x00 series from nVidia, that'd be one nice media notebook (not to mention all around notebook).

Seems like a perfect way to start making revenue on the OLED investment if you're an OLED manufacturer, and a perfect way to offer something the competition doesn't have if you're a notebook manufacturer...

Chuck

Sounds good to me.

TU Dresden research group raises OLED efficiency (http://www.oled-display.net/tu-dresden-research-group-raises-oled-efficiency)
28 October 2008

A research group of the Dresden Technical University has achieved record energy efficiencies for OLEDs. The achievement brings the organic LED technology closer to industrial volume production.

The research team achieved an efficiency of 26, 22 and 3.1 percent for red, green and blue organic LEDs which combined form a white light source. The low efficiency for blue results of physical differences — while red and green OELDs are phosphorescent light sources, their blue counterpart is a fluorescent one, resulting in lower light emission. The difference, however, can be compensated for by increasing the active size of the blue light emitter as well as sending a higher current through it, explained research group member Rico Meerheim.

In any case, the efficiency achieved is significantly higher than what was hitherto possible, in particular for the red light source. The OLED created by the Dresden team achieved a light intensity of 81, 101 and 4 lumen per watt.

The research was conducted in cooperation with Dresden-based OLED technology provider Novaled AG. A company spokesperson said the research results advances the OLED technology significantly. In comparison with silicon-based LEDs, Novaled claims OLEDs offer better displays with higher contrast, better color intensity, lower energy consumption, and an extreme viewing angle. In addition, OLEDs allow designers to build ultra-thin displays. Currently, only Japanese consumer electronics vendor Sony Corp. commercializes large OLED displays in a TV screen.

Looks like Samsung is showing off some new OLED devices of their own. First, they are trumping Sony's 0.3mm unit with a 0.05mm unit (impressive). Second, they are showing a semi-transparent display (nice!).

Pictures and details: http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/samsung-titillates-with-transparent-and-0-05mm-flapping-oled-p/

Wow the FPD international bring some major OLED news!

Samsung shows alongside the 14-inch and 31 inch OLED Panels a new OLED TV prototype a 40 inch FULL HD OLED Television.

Samsung SDI has been working on its prototype 40-inch OLED screen, already the largest OLED screen yet seen, and the latest model now offers full high definition.

http://www.oled-display.net/samsung-shows-40-inch-full-hd-oled-tv


CMEL aTaiwanese display maker has developed a 25-inch screen that's less than a millimeter thick at the FPD INternational.
The screen has a resolution of 1,366 pixels by 768 pixels (WXGA) and can display 16.7 million colors.


http://www.oled-display.net/cmel-shows-25-inch-oled-display-thats-less-than-a-millimeter-thick

Looks like Samsung is showing off some new OLED devices of their own. First, they are trumping Sony's 0.3mm unit with a 0.05mm unit (impressive). Second, they are showing a semi-transparent display (nice!).

Pictures and details: http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/samsung-titillates-with-transparent-and-0-05mm-flapping-oled-p/That is some crazy cool s$@t!!

LG Display showcases new AMOLED prototypes (http://www.oled-display.net/lg-display-showcases-new-amoled-prototypes)
29 October 2008


http://i41.tinypic.com/14jszs5.jpg


LG Display Showcases also new OLED Prototypes at FPD International 2008
LG Display will reveal its differentiated technology centering on the themes of ‘environment friendly’, ‘distinctive design’ and ‘AMOLED’.

LG Display announce some new AMOLED products which are receiving the spotlight as the next-generation display.


4-inch flexible AMOLED with qVGA resolution
Small- and mid-size AMOLED products in the 3-inch to 4.3-inch range
15-inch and 19-inch AMOLED products

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Samsung shows 40 inch FULL HD OLED TV (http://www.oled-display.net/samsung-shows-40-inch-full-hd-oled-tv)
29 October 2008


http://www.oled-display.net/images/samsung-shows-31-inch-oled-ces-2008.jpg


Samsung shows alongside the 14-inch and 31 inch OLED Panels a new OLED TV prototype a 40 inch FULL HD OLED Television.

Samsung SDI has been working on its prototype 40-inch OLED screen, already the largest OLED screen yet seen, and the latest model now offers full high definition.

Sporting a sign proclaiming "The world's 1st, world's largest," the display caught the eye of many show attendees and there was often a small crowd gathered around the family of prototypes.

Samsung first announced development of a 40-inch OLED panel in 2005. At that time the screen had a 1,280 pixel by 800 pixel resolution but the new panel has full high-def 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, which in addition to being higher resolution than the previous model is also a TV panel resolution while the previous screen was a computer panel resolution.

Another change between the two models is a big jump in contrast ratio, from 5,000:1 on the previous prototype to 1 million:1 on the new screen.

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Samsung SDI VP Indicates OLED Panel Roadmap in Keynote Session (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071029/141477/)
29 October 2008


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071029/141477/vB.jpg


"It is Samsung SDI that is supplying OLED panel products now," said Ho Kyoon Chung, executive vice president and CTO, Corporate R&D Center, Samsung SDI Co Ltd of Korea, in the FPD Summit (keynote session) at the "FPD International 2007 Forum" October 24.

He presented the company's OLED panel roadmap and said, "OLED panels have opened the new era of organic optoelectronics. Not only displays but also new applications such as OLED lighting systems, organic electro-luminescent power generators and organic sensors will emerge in the near future."

"In the mobile display industry, the shift from monochrome to color displays formed the first wave, the realization of high-resolution TFT panels made the second wave and active matrix OLED panels will be the third wave," Chung said. "The OLED panel market will grow to US$3.7 billion in 2010."

Regarding the company's production scale, "We initiated OLED panel volume production in September 2007 and our current output is 1.5 million units per month on a 2-inch panel basis," he said. "The output will reach 3 million units per month in 2008.".

Explaining the company's product development roadmap, Chung said, "Following small panels used in 2007, 3.5- to 7-inch panels including 4.1-inch panels will be applied to ultra mobile PCs, for example, in 2008. Then we will realize 14-, 15- and 21-inch panels in 2009 and large 40- to 42-inch full HD (high definition) OLED TVs in 2010."

"We will provide a flexible OLED display by 2012 at the latest," he added.

As for OLED lighting systems, Chung said, "It won't be long before we commercialize them," because the OLED's light emitting efficiency is currently doubling every year. The company currently achieves 50lm/W luminance, a life of 20,000 hours till the initial luminance halves and a color rendering property of more than 80 colors.

"Our cost goal is 1 euro cent per lumen," said Chung.

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CMEL shows 25-inch OLED Display that's less than a millimeter thick (http://www.oled-display.net/cmel-shows-25-inch-oled-display-thats-less-than-a-millimeter-thick)
29 October 2008


http://www.oled-display.net/images/25-inch-wxga-amoled-cmel.jpg


CMEL, a Taiwanese display maker has developed a 25-inch screen that's less than a millimeter thick at the FPD International.

The screen has a resolution of 1,366 pixels by 768 pixels (WXGA) and can display 16.7 million colors.

Chi Mei EL's previous thinnest prototype was 3 mm thick but the company managed to slim this down by adopting a new production method, said Leonard Fu, a product manager with the company.

Chi Mei EL is a display off-shoot from Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics. It was formed in 2004 to develop OLED displays and the company already sells a number of small-size panels for use in portable electronics devices.

Dainippon Screen MFG Co Ltd developed an integrated manufacturing system to produce large OLED panels through coating processes.

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Dainippon Screen Employs Coating Process to Roll Large OLED Panels (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081029/160314/)
29 October 2008


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081029/160314/2A.JPG


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081029/160314/2BB.jpg


Dainippon Screen MFG Co Ltd developed an integrated manufacturing system to produce large OLED panels through coating processes.

Dainippon Screen and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co (DuPont) jointly established a new OLED manufacturing process based on the "multi-nozzle printing method," which uses DuPont's soluble low-molecular-weight organic EL material. And the companies employed this process for the new manufacturing system.

The system is applicable to the sizes of the fourth generation and later substrates. It is equipped with functions to feed and clean substrate, form a multilayer film with a linear coater, selectively coat portions of a substrate by nozzle-printing to form a light emitting layer and dry the resultant substrate.

The system has a monthly throughput of 10,000 panels per line. Dainippon Screen plans to put the system on the market by the end of fiscal 2009.

In May 2008, Dainippon Screen and DuPont signed an agreement to jointly develop a technology to manufacture large OLED panels at a low cost. And, since then, they have adavnced the joint development of a coating process for low-molecular-weight organic materials. The latest integrated manufacturing system features a high material utilization efficiency and is capable of mass-producing large OLED panels at a low cost.

In the coating processing according to the nozzle printing method, the nozzle is brought closer to a substrate and moved at a high speed while continuously ejecting a solution; as a result, linear patterns of the light emitting layer are formed on the substrate.

The system is designed to achieve a uniform film thickness and effectively use materials. It allows high-speed coating at a takt time of three minutes per fourth-generation substrate.

Dainippon Screen will present the outline of the system and exhibit a 4.3-inch (480 x 272) OLED panel manufactured by the related technology at FPD International 2008, which runs from Oct 29 to 31, 2008 in Yokohama, Japan.

Meanwhile, the backplane was manufactured by Chi Mei EL Corp of Taiwan.

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1.htm

All the OLED displays are showing lots of red and a little blue. Why no green?

“FPD International 2008” commencement − Samsung SDI exhibiting 40" type organic EL and 4K PDP etc (http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fav.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2F20081029% 2Ffpd1.htm&lp=ja_en&btnTrUrl=Translate)
29 October 2008


http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_02.jpg

Samsung 40" OLED

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_09.jpg

1,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_03.jpg

8.9mm Depth

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_04.jpg

Super Grain Silicon

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_05.jpg

Super MicroCavity Bottom Emission structure

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_06.jpg

FMM evaporation technology

Samsung SDI exhibiting 40 type full HD organic EL displays. 40 types become world's largest as organic EL. As for resolution 1,920x1,080 dot. As for contrast ratio 1,000,000:1, as for brightness 200 cd/m2. As for depth 8.9mm.

Without using the laser, actualizing enlargement SGS which does crystallization (Super Grain Silicon) making use of technology. In addition, the bottom emission structure that was improved, improvement of brightness and color reappearance is difficult, to adopt Super MicroCavity Bottom Emission structure, with improvement of luminous efficiency improvement color reproducibility. You say that 107% color reappearance was made possible at NTSC ratio.

In addition, low also with the adoption and the like of resistant wiring process electric power consumption conversion actualizes low. It installs also the pixel control technology which controls unevenness. FMM (Fine Metal Mask) you adopt evaporation technology to film manufacture, correspond to large picture conversion.

It exhibits also the full HD panel of 31" types and the organic EL panel of 14" type 1,366x768 dots in addition to 40" types/full HD as organic EL for the television. As for 31" types as for Super MicroCavity Bottom Emission structure and 14" types with top emission structure, together as for contrast ratio 1,000,000:1, as for brightness 200 cd/m2. But as for mass production schedule undecided, as for development we assume that consecutively it keeps advancing.

In addition, for portable equipment such as 5" type 800x480 dots and 3.7" type 800x480 dots large number it exhibits also the organic EL panel.

Furthermore, the super thin-shaped organic EL display, “Flapping Display” 0.05mm the reference exhibition. The kind of scantness which flutters in the wind with is a special feature, as for size 4" types. As for resolution 480x272 dot, as for contrast 100,000:1, as for brightness 200 cd/m2. It displays bending possible organic EL “Foldable Display”. You say that from the fact that it is bent to half utilization by portable telephone and the like is developed in consideration.

The object of the display rear being transparent, it is visible, it displays also “Transparent AMOLED”. By the adoption and the like of top emission structure, being able to guarantee the transmissivity of 30%, or more being able to verify also “the far side” of display is a special feature. Application with the car and the interior and military use is supposed. As for resolution 320×240 dot.

Displaying also LG and CHE MEI organic EL. PDP road map


http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_36.jpg


http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_37.jpg


http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081029/fpd1_41.jpg

LG 19" OLED

With the booth of CHE MEI, displaying organic EL of thickness 0.9mm with 25" types. As for resolution 1,366x768 dot, as for contrast ratio 10,000:1 or more, by comparison with the existing liquid crystal television, scantness is appealed on the front.

With the booth of LG DISPLAY, the technical exhibition of the full HD liquid crystal television, thickness 11.8mm with 47 types is done. Is actualized super thin-shaped conversion with such as the side LED and device of LED arrangement. Furthermore, it displays also organic EL display in addition to the demonstration of 240Hz drive and LED back light.

As for the maximum size of organic EL of the same company with 19" types, as for resolution 1,024x768 dot. As for contrast 100,000:1 or more, as for brightness 200 cd/m2. In addition, you line up also 4.3" type / 3.7" type wide QVGA and the like for the portable player.

I'll take one of each please. :D

I'm curious what the prices on these would be. Probably back to the $8k level for a 40"? Assuming the technology sticks it will probably be 4-5 years before the pricing comes down to todays levels for comprable sized sets.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20071029/141477/vB.jpg

The 31" OLED TV that they have been showing off does not appear on their products roadmap. Apparently we are headed directly toward 40"/42".

Briefly scanned the Engadget entry about the 40-inch Samsung.

Said something like the PQ wasn't that great (despite 1,000,000:1 CR and 107% NTSC color gamut), but made it sound like it's to be expected at this stage.

Briefly scanned the Engadget entry about the 40-inch Samsung.

Said something like the PQ wasn't that great (despite 1,000,000:1 CR and 107% NTSC color gamut), but made it sound like it's to be expected at this stage.

Well... from the road map, a 40" model won't be shipping for another 2 years, so I'm sure there is time to make improvements. :D Not sure if I want to wait that long to buy one though. :o Only one more year till I can replace my CRT computer monitor with an OLED! :p

'40-inch OLED Panel Is Largest Size Possible,' Samsung Says (http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081030/160448/)
30 October 2008


http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081030/160448/5A.JPG

Samsung SDI's 40-inch OLED panel

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081030/160448/5B.JPG

It is 8.9mm thick.

Samsung SDI Co Ltd exhibited a 40-inch OLED panel that features a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080, a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a color gamut of 107% NTSC and a luminance of 200 cd/m2 (peak luminance of 600 cd/m2) at FPD International 2008.

Though there were some vertical line defects, the panel appeared to have a luminance peculiar to OLED displays.

The driver board is a low-temperature poly-Si TFT, and it is made by the super grain silicon (SGS) technology to grow crystals without using a laser.

"Our low temperature poly-Si TFT mass-production line cannot make panels larger than 31 inches," a Samsung staffer said. "This 40-inch TFT panel is the largest size that can be made on our pilot line, and it cannot be mass-produced right away."

The RGB organic light emitting materials were formed by vapor deposition. The company used a fine metal mask (FMM). Fluorescent materials are used for red and green, while a phosphorescent material is used for blue, the staffer said.

"In order to reduce variations in luminance, the panel incorporates a circuit that equalizes the current in the screen," the staffer said.

It is a bottom emission type display with a microcavity structure employed to improve the color gamut.

So my guess is it will be some time before a 50-60 inch OLED will hit the shelves huh?

So my guess is it will be some time before a 50-60 inch OLED will hit the shelves huh?

If we extrapolate the roadmap (sizes double each year between 2007 and 2010), I would say 2011 ;).

So my guess is it will be some time before a 50-60 inch OLED will hit the shelves huh?

It will be much longer time before a 50-60 inch TV is a mainstream product. Take that into account ;) In the same way, OLED market will begin on the small gadgets, then will move to laptops and then to desktop monitors, before it even hits the mass produced televisions. Later big televisions will be developed once the mass production of such panels is profitable. An identical roadmap to the LCD one.

So... yes, youre right. But I felt obligated to take the sarcasm away.

Samsung 40-inch Full-HD OLED display unveiled (http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-40-inch-full-hd-oled-display-unveiled-2920737/#entrycontent)
29 October 2008


http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/pressreleases/samsung/10mm_lcd_large_1.jpg


http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/pressreleases/samsung/10mm_lcd_large_2.jpg


Samsung’s flexible OLED panel isn’t the only display the company has been showing off this week; they’ve also wheeled out a 40-inch OLED screen capable of full 1920 x 1080 high-definition resolution. The new panel also has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

The prototype is an update of a previous 40-inch OLED display, which Samsung first began developing in 2005. That first screen, while the same size, had a resolution of just 1,280 x 800 and a 5,000:1 contrast ratio. Samsung demonstrated the latest model alongside the 14-inch and 31-inch prototypes (http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-lg-display-showcase-oled-amoled-panels-1519304/) it recently unveiled at IMID in Korea.

At 40-inches full-HD, the panel is a world-first. Samsung has given no indication of if or when this specific display will be commercialized, but the company has previously claimed (http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-amoled-displays-to-be-economically-feasible-in-2009-2211293/) that AMOLED screens will become economically feasible in 2009.

Samsung 40-inch Full-HD OLED display unveiled (http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-40-inch-full-hd-oled-display-unveiled-2920737/#entrycontent)
29 October 2008
http://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=10175

Year ago, Samsung was advertising their new thin LCD prototype WITH THE SAME PICTURES. Now they are recycling the same images to demonstrate new OLEDs.

An identical roadmap to the LCD one.

Computer monitors and laptop screens are a given IMO. The roadmap shows the 40"-42" size range because that is where the largest volume of sales are at the moment. If that size moves to 50", I am sure they will change along with it.

Note that the article said the "pilot line" was maxed out at 40", which means that after the proof of production and development is done on that line, they will still have to set up other production lines for anything bigger. That next line could just as easily be running 46", 50" or 55".

When 2010 finally gets here (just 2 short years before the doom of 2012, ha) who knows what the biggest selling size will be for FPD's, that will determine the size that Samsung will ultimately produce.

I have a comment to make or rather an observation about the quest for a thin (in mm) OLED tv. While thin is nice, there is a limit to the true functionality of thin. Aren't these TVs going to require cable inputs (HDMI or component) which will more than likely make them fatter? I can see a thin 1 mm tv on the wall with some external wired device (hub) for the inputs, but what good is that?

Unless they can truely integrate inputs and make them wireless (not even close for prime time) then the fact that the TV is 1 mm thick does make much difference to me if it is fat in other areas that are designed to allow for inputs.

Give me a color accurate, bright, incredible contrast, large (60 + incheds) AFFORABLE OLED (in 4 K range) this is 1 inch think and I am sold. I could care less if it is .5 inches thick or 1 mm thick.

I have a comment to make or rather an observation about the quest for a thin (in mm) OLED tv. While thin is nice, there is a limit to the true functionality of thin. Aren't these TVs going to require cable inputs (HDMI or component) which will more than likely make them fatter? I can see a thin 1 mm tv on the wall with some external wired device (hub) for the inputs, but what good is that?

Unless they can truely integrate inputs and make them wireless (not even close for prime time) then the fact that the TV is 1 mm thick does make much difference to me if it is fat in other areas that are designed to allow for inputs.

Give me a color accurate, bright, incredible contrast, large (60 + incheds) AFFORABLE OLED (in 4 K range) this is 1 inch think and I am sold. I could care less if it is .5 inches thick or 1 mm thick.
This has been brought up before and it is a valid question.

The ability to hook up cables and at least power is one thing, but what would provide the structural stiffness the panel would require at 1mm, 3mm, or even 6mm thick? Something has to keep the panel itself from flexing and causing damage.

This has been brought up before and it is a valid question.

The ability to hook up cables and at least power is one thing, but what would provide the structural stiffness the panel would require at 1mm, 3mm, or even 6mm thick? Something has to keep the panel itself from flexing and causing damage.


I have been wondering about this also.
IMO once you get to a certain point with thin-ness (1-2 inches), the rest is kinda pointless.
Whats the point of having a paper thin display?
Sure its cool but thats about it.
And how does a regular monitor power cord plug into a 1mm display??
Maybe it as a special type of cord?