OLED has had issues gaining traction mainly because of the cost of manufacturing large screens. People like large screens. That’s the fact, jack. Anyway, Mitsubishi has developed a system that seems like it would help. It uses small, modular panels that can be combined to make a screen of nearly any size or shape. The system is intended for outdoor advertising, but if it matures enough, I don’t see why it couldn’t find a home in the home entertainment market either.
You would be hard pressed to find an OLED TV in any brick and mortar retailer besides the Sony Store right now. The technology is amazing, but they just aren’t available yet and that might not change soon according to a iSuppli report. The TVs are too small and the prices are too high to gain any real traction. But, as we all know, that will change as the display tech evolves. However, don’t expect to see a wall full of OLED because the LCD market isn’t slowing down.
Sony, and just about everyone else, has been fooling around with OLEDs for quite some time, and they’re starting to come up with some pretty clever applications of the technology. Flexible OLEDs have been in the news this year, and Sony’s getting into that game, too. In this short video we see a 0.2mm thin OLED display being gently bent back and forth, while actively showing content on its surface.
Hyundai? Pretty please bring OLED screens to the automotive world. It doesn’t have to be as futuristic as the dashboard in the Blue-Will concept car, but OLEDs are just so nice. Ford is already using LCD screens in its latest hybrids, but why not up the game a bit, and do something radical? Please?
OLED TVs were in major attendance at this year’s CES. Afterall, Sony declared that 2009 was going to be their year. But apparently the marketing flacks and bean counters are on difference softball teams because the thin TVs have been delayed because of Sony’s huge profit loses.
Thank god they’re finally making some strong screens. I have to replace my display every single time I hit it with a hammer — that’s unacceptable! LG’s display, shown here, was being hit repeatedly by a mallet during a demo at Computex. The simpler construction of an OLED display means it can be more robust to physical abuse. Now you can throw that Wiimote all you want!
This is a great idea: fit tiny photodiodes between the pixels of an OLED display. We know OLEDs can get very transparent, so these could be used in something like an head-mounted display that tracks the position of your eyes. There’s still a lot of engineering and imagineering to be done, but it does seem like a really great way to take advantage of the microscopic gaps in a display. Read More
New Jersey-based Universal Display and LG are showcasing a futuristic OLED display that can be worn like a wrist watch at the SID Display Week 2009. The bendable color display has been jointly developed by the two companies.
Yay for Seiko Epson! The corporation just announced a breakthrough in the layering of organic material that should allow for larger OLED screens eventually. The current method, called Vacuum Thermal Evaporation (VTE), has problems producing uniform layers for large screens. This new method however overcomes the problems by using inkjet techniques, which should allow for larger screens.
OLED TVs sure offer phenomenal picture quality, but even now, 2 years after Sony launched its XEL-1, we still wait for large-screen versions. Samsung showcased a 40-inch OLED display last year (pictured). Now Panasonic might be onto something bigger. The company is planning to develop the world’s first OEL panel that’s sized at “40 inches or larger” by fiscal 2010.
A layer of carbon nanotubes, some flouro-rubber, and some electricity are all you need to make a wacky little OLED that can conform to almost any surface. Tokyo researchers have created 100 square centimeters of this material to create at total of 256 monochrome pixels but better versions are on the way.
Sony gave up on FED displays a few weeks ago, practically burying the technology that was supposed to become a competitor for the OLED standard. But there is also SED, surface-conduction electron-emitter displays, which has been around for a while and mostly flew under the radar since. But now Canon seems to step up research efforts to further develop SED technology.
Sony took part at the 5th International FPD Expo that ended today in Tokyo, showcasing for the first time in their home market of Japan a 21-inch OLED that almost doubles the size of the XEL-1 (11 inches). Unlike the XEL-1, however, the 21-incher is still in prototype stage.
Who wouldn’t want an OLED screen in their digicam? Seriously, it would be like turning down a free hot dog from a dented, stainless steel cart on a NYC street corner; everyone wants a free tube steak and no one would turn it down. It’s because OLED screens offer better picture quality at a lower power consumption rate, which make them perfect for DSLRs. CNET nailed down Canon’s Chuck Westfall who revealed a bunch about the companies intentions to use the high quality screens sometime soon in its cameras.
Toshiba Corp. (6502) announced yesterday it plans to convert Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology (TMD) into a wholly owned subsidiary. TMD is an LCD manufacturing joint venture formed by Toshiba and Matsushita (now Panasonic). The joint venture produces around 10% of small LCD panels. It’s second only to Sharp in this market segment.
MIT graduate student David Merrill was inspired by building blocks to design computerized blocks called Siftables. They are interactive computers each the size of a cookie and can sense each other and their motion. Make sure to check out the video after the jump.
Philips has created a totally transparent OLED display that essentially becomes opaque when it’s powered. I don’t think I need to tell you the implications of a material which can have its transparency level changed dynamically like this. In the home, in the workplace, just about everywhere could use something like this. Imagine replacing your windows with these, or having a layer over your mirror which you can control by touch. Other solutions are out there, but this one appears to be more transparent than those.
Last year in August, Sony promised Europeans will get the world’s first commercialized OLED TV, the XEL-1, “sometime next year”. Now the 11-inch screen is available in the UK, which is probably a good thing. But the problem is the price.
We all know the benefits of OLED and seen the figures on how much energy it saves and all that jazz, but do you know how it actually works? Well, you’re in for a treat, friend. Sit back, relax and enjoy this 4.5 minute video. The next time anyone asks what OLED is just direct them to this video. It breaks it down pretty well. It’s a shame they aren’t ready for the masses, though.
