Breakthrough Yields Brighter OLEDs, Could Be Used For Lighting

New competitor may enter the lighting fray thanks to new research

The future of LED lighting is looking bright. Endorsed by a $20M USD U.S. Department of Energy "L Prize", commercial powers and startups alike are eying LED lighting as a replacement for the decrepit incandescent light bulb technology, which is only 10 percent efficient and has remained almost unchanged for over half a century. Recent breakthroughs, which may allow LEDs of all kinds to be processed on silicon wafers, may help to bring down costs.

One player that remained largely unconsidered in the LED v. fluorescent/incandescent battle was LED's organic brethren: OLEDs. OLEDs have many advantages over LEDs -- the ability to flex, improved color, and the potential to be manufactured by cheaper organic ink printing processes. However, they also have a couple key disadvantages. One, lifetime, has been steadily chipped away, and with the first generation of OLED TV displays, the problem has become almost a nonissue. However, one key obstacle to OLED lighting remained -- brightness.

Typically with OLEDs, only 20 percent of the light generated by the device is emitted. This makes there brightness inferior to LEDs, making them a poor choice for lighting. However, in a significant breakthrough, researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University have developed an OLED/microlense combination material that boosts illumination by over 60 percent, bringing it into the realm of respectability.

The research was led by Stephen Forrest, a professor of electrical engineering and physics at Michigan, and Yuri Sun, from Princeton University. The pair observed that in OLEDs light is generated by applying electricity to a thin organic layer, analogous to the semiconductor in an LED. However in OLEDs the material character internally reflects the light, forcing it to run parallel, instead of perpendicularly out of the bulb.

To get the light to come out, researchers first use an organic grid meshed into the material. The light is guided by this grid to 5 micrometer domed microlenses, which focus it and project it out as rays.

The results are respectable. The researchers reported that the device produced 70 lumens per watt, compared with 15 lumens per watt for incandescent lighting, and 90 lumens per watt for fluorescent lighting. While it might seem that fluorescent beats the new OLEDs, fluorescent has other problems -- harsh light, less longevity, and the use of environment-damaging substances like mercury.

The team plans to next scale the technology to more efficient OLED designs. They are confident the process can be affordably adopted for mass commercial production.

The DOE is curious about the new technology, seeing as a way to possibly more affordably reach its LED adoption goals. If LEDs are widely adopted, according to the DOE, U.S. energy consumption for lighting could be cut to a third of current levels, resulting in a 10 percent total reduction in power use and a 258 million metric ton reduction in carbon emissions.

As both LED and OLED technologies are rapidly advancing in terms of production and efficiencies, it remains to be seen which will ultimately prove themselves the eventual victor via performance and cost. However, in Professor Forrest's eyes, the future of OLEDs has never looked better. He is confident that OLEDs will thrive, and that his team's breakthrough will aid in that success. He states optimistically, "Luckily, OLEDs are the light that just keeps giving. There is so much to be done and so much that's been done, but this is nonetheless a quite exciting advancement."

OLED-based Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Despite its innovative approach to keyboard design, the OLED-based Optimus Maximus keyboard is best considered an expensive novelty. Its $1,600 price tag keeps it out of the hands of the average consumer, and we also question the practical benefit of using 113 customizable OLED screens as an input device. There is something undoubtedly unique and appealing about the degree to which the Optimus Maximus gives you complete control over its keys' appearance. But even for gamers, designers, and others who tend to demand more from their input hardware, the Optimus Maximus offers insufficient utility to justify its high price.

The Optimus Maximus is a product of the Art. Lebedev Studio, a design firm in Russia. To purchase a board you can order directly from the Art. Lebedev store, or you can refer to one of five U.S.-based retailers listed on the Art. Lebedev Web site, of which ThinkGeek is perhaps the best known. Ordering from the Art. Lebedev Studio appears to be the most expensive option, presumably because your order will come from Russia directly, rather than through a U.S. distributor.

Physically, the Optimus Maximus is a bit clunkier than a standard keyboard. Its 6.75-inch depth and 1.25-inch height isn't that extraordinary, but at 21.25 inches wide, the Optimus Maximus is only one quarter of an inch less broad than Logitech's older G15 gaming keyboard, which is the widest modern keyboard we're aware of.

The Logitech board crams in 125 keys compared with the Optimus Maximus and its 113 keys. Considering that each key is in fact a small OLED display wrapped in a transparent plastic enclosure, it's perhaps easy to understand why the Optimus Maximus has a less efficient key density-to-width ratio. If the tiny screens were any smaller you'd lose visibility, and the plastic surrounding each display must be thick and durable enough to offer adequate protection. The keys are also removable, which makes for easy cleaning and replacement, but which also requires sturdy construction so that the connective parts hold up. The unfortunate side effect of such bulky keys is that the Optimus Maximus is terrible for touch-typing. The tightly packed keys make for lots of mistaken presses, and the mushy responsiveness slows down your words per minute.


Clunky plastic keys impede fast typing.

The hallmark of the Optimus Maximus is that its software lets you customize the image on each tiny display. The default layout provides a standard alphanumeric layout, but through the downloadable configuration software you can change the color, font, and size of the letters. You can alter the background color, you can type words, reassign commands, and even tie image and video files to display on individual keys, or across multiple keys.

Open up an image-editing program through the configurator and you can draw freehand over an image of the keyboard layout. Whatever you care to draw on top of that layout will appear on the keyboard as soon as you save your new file. You can assign different layouts to appear on the keyboard when you open a specific application or with a certain key command. The software also comes with media controls, Gmail notification, and CPU performance presets to assign out, among others.

As the Optimus Maximus works with both Windows PCs and Macs, it will recognize each operating system automatically and load up the familiar Windows icon and Apple command keys by default, depending on the system. The default settings reside on an included 512MB SD Card, and you'll find an SD Card slot on the back of the keyboard. This lets you save custom layouts and bring them with you if you move the Optimus Maximus between different computers.


The SD Card slot on the back lets you take your custom layouts on the road.

As technically impressive as these capabilities might be, it's hard for us to imagine who might truly need them. Gamers, Web developers, and professional digital image or video editors might seem like natural customers. However, given the level of familiarity most of those kinds of users tend to have with their computing hardware, it's the configurability rather than the visual reminder afforded by the Optimus Maximus's OLED keys that's most important. Much more affordable, mechanical keyboards from Logitech, Razer, and others offer similar customization flexibility through dedicated hot keys, macro programming, and even keys you can physically remove and rearrange in the case of the Razer Tarantula.

We can't say that the capability to alter your keys' appearance is a negative, and it's hard to deny that the Optimus Maximus has a very high novelty factor. Custom visuals on a keyboard are at worst harmless, and we can picture plenty of scenarios where they might be relatively useful, from teaching someone how to use a program, to switching between control schemes for different applications, to driving a home theater PC. The problem is that its $1,600 price tag is so far out of whack with the other keyboards on the market, that we simply don't find what the Optimus Maximus has to offer enough of a benefit to offset its cost.


Reviewed by: Rich Brown

Institutes join forces for oled production

organic led, oled, roll to roll production The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP) have joined forces to develop process technology for roll to roll production of organic devices.
Fraunhofer has already established the Centre for Organic Materials and Electronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD) and the cooperation of the two Fraunhofer institutes is said to be a ‘significant milestone’ for COMEDD. The roll to roll equipment is located at the Fraunhofer FEP and used by both institutes.




“This plant is among the first types worldwide to develop and produce OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) lighting modules and organic solar cells,” said FEP director Professor Volker Kirchhoff. “This is an important step in the development of industrial scale manufacturing processes and the strategic cooperation enables a perfect combination of the competencies in the field of coating and device technology.”
Professor Karl Leo, director of Fraunhofer IPMS, added: “The new coating plant will enhance Dresden's standing as a cluster location for organic semiconductors and we should see the first oled demonstrators in early 2009.”

Sony ''awfully close'' to selling a 27-inch OLED TV

Sony is currently selling an 11 inch OLED TV (XEL-1) for about $2,500. This TV is more like an expensive executive desk decoration than a home entertainment product. Sony's COO Stan Glasgow said this week at a dinner event in San Francisco that Sony is "awfully close" to selling a 27" OLED TV.

What "awfully close" means in terms of time frames can only be guessed. I assume though that Sony will try to sell a 27 inch OLED TV this holiday shopping season, at least in Japan.

The biggest problem in producing OLED TVs lies in the amount of manual labor needed according to Sony. After the 27 inch OLED Sony plans to offer a 40 inch OLED TV.

read here

E-paper and OLEDs

LG e-paper



E-paper can also bend like the newest OLED and LCD displays, but is much more energy efficient as it is a bistable (only uses power when changing the image) system that does not require a backlight. Readable in any light regular paper is, e-paper promises to create a new means of accessing information that will challenge traditional paper media. This e-paper display (EPD) from LG Display uses e-ink core tech and LG driver and backplane technology.

e-ink tablet development kit



Here's an e-paper electronic notepad development kit from E-Ink. That means there will be a bunch of devices with e-paper pads just around the corner. This kit contains everything an engineer needs to integrate a daylight-visible bistable rewritable electronic sketch pad into their designs.

UDC OLED




There must have been a rule at the show for every vendor to have at least one flexible (or at least bendy) display at their booth. This prototype media player with curved OLED display was a joint venture between Universal Display and LG Display. Due to their high brightness and contrast, OLED displays will dominate high-performance portable device applications. (That market niche is also very forgiving of OLED's aging issues, as a portable device's lifetime is significantly shorter than a traditional home display product.

samsung pad

As we pointed out, OLED's thin profile, high brightness, color saturation, and contrast make it a very good display for small-form-factor devices and interesting configurations. This OLED notepad concept piece from Samsung SDI had a lot of people drooling.

kodak OLED

One of the issues of OLEDs is their sensitivity to oxygen and moisture, resulting in color shift as the phosphor degrades over time. One way to get around that is to use the OLED as backlight. A white OLED BLU-driven display will not have the color-shift issues of an RGB OLED, but still be extremely thin with excellent color saturation due to the higher quality of white light provided by the OLED. This prototype from Kodak uses an OLED BLU with advanced color filter technology.

samsung OLED



Even though aging issues make larger OLED displays problematic, that doesn't mean that there aren't any large OLEDs around. This collection of 32-inch OLED displays from Samsung SDI shows that large OLEDs are not just one-off samples, but are truly on a commercialization process that will result in a finished product.


-Alix Paultre
Ecnmag.com

Sony CEO Stringer promises 27-inch OLED TV within the next year

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

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.

The set would no doubt be released in Japan first, and be released much later in North America like it's younger brother, the 11-inch model.

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.

Samsung's new OLED laptop

Samsung's new OLED laptop shows a thin body and odd, buttonless half-sized keyboard.

The picture of the newest Samsung OLED laptop concept suggests Samsung may actually be prepared to fight for a triple-spike in sales.

The 12.1" laptop is an ultra-thin AMOLED from Samsung's display devision. The 12.1" screen measures in at 1280 x 768 with infinite contrast.

While the display is definately on the mark, the keyboard may not be. A touch-sensitive keyboard seems less than ideal, not to mention only being half size. Notice the flap on the back? My guess is you fold that over the monitor to protect the screen where the halfling keyboard cannot.

Samsung OLED Laptop Coming in 2009?

It looks like Samsung might be bringing OLED to laptops, and they look pretty darn cool. Engadget is reporting that consumers could see the AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) concept as soon as 2009. Which consumers, is always a question—Japan? U.S.? Anyone? The 12.1-inch prototype offers a 1280 x 768 resolution and self-illuminating screen. Plans for the super-thin package include 14- and 15.4-inch models. Aside from an improved picture quality, it has a mystery panel around the back that’s quite the buzz on the web.



-electronichouse

Sumitomo set to produce 40-inch OLED panels in 2009

Not that there was any doubt that OLED is on its way to larger sizes (hasn't it been since like 2005?), but Japanese firm Sumitomo Chemical announced its plans to produce 40-inch OLED panels for HDTVs some time in 2009, meaning Sumitomo-based TVs could hit the market in 2009 or 2010. Samsung's old-skool 40-inch OLED HDTV prototype shown above for scale.



-engadget

AM OLED Panel market in the first quarter is dominated by Korea

Korean companies are dominating AM OLED market that has just been growing. It's because Samsung SDI began mass-producing 4G AM OLED for the first time , preoccupying world market in the second half of last year.

Display Bank (CEO Kwon, Sang-se), a market research company for display, surveyed shipments of AM OLED in the first quarter. The result showed that SDI shipped about 2.56million units, accounting for over 90% of entire market. LG Display produced about 120,000 units. If combining two companies, they accounted for 95% of world AM OLED market in the first quarter.

Especially, the shipment of AM OLED panel for the first quarter already surpassed 2.2million units of total shipment in the last year to reach 2.7million units. That demonstrates AM OLED market has started to mature this year. Among AM OLED set products, mobile phone took 90% of total shipment. In the first quarter, shipment of AM OLED panel for mobile phone recorded 2.4million units. Display Bank predicted that the number will grow to over 3million units in the second quarter.

Samsung SDI supplied AM OLED panel for mobile phone and MP3 player to Samsung Electronics, Kyocera, Iriver, Nokia, Toshiba, Hitachi and Sony Ericson. From this year, it has started to supply panels for digital camera to Samsung Techwin. Among AM OLED panel companies, the company has most corporate clients. LG Display supplied the whole quantity of AM OLED panel for mobile phone to LG Electronics. It is expected that shipment will be monthly average 100,000 units from the second quarter.

Sony that produced AM OLED panel for 11 inch TV from last November remained about 1000 units of shipment. It will focus on panel for TV for the time being.

AM OLED panel for 2 inch mobile phone has been supplied at twice higher price than LCD panel due to low demand but the demand will grow steadily with high quality mobile phone leading the growth. Display Bank predicted that AM OLED panel shipment will reach as many as 4million units in the second quarter.

-korea IT news

Nokia 6600 Fold: Elegant and Functional

Nokia want to make a new trend well known – mobile phones which combine elegant shapes with modern technology. This trend has actually been around for a few years, but Nokia are coming up with new examples of how to develop it. With the 6600 they have designed a chic folder phone, which although it may not have the most features, looks good and can be used with UMTS.

The inside display is 5.4cm and has a 320 x 240 pixel resolution. OLED technology on the monochrome outer display is invisible until the user taps the outside of the phone. The alarm and incoming calls can be silenced in the same way. The 2 megapixel digicam with its double LED flash is also worth mentioning. The radio, stereo-Bluetooth, and an optional GPS adapter complete the package.

Although it all sounds good, features-wise it is nothing special. The main attraction of this phone is the design: the high quality display, the smooth back casing and the shiny front case were all made to impress. The planned launch is in the last quarter of the year, and Nokia expect it to cost around 327 euros.

-idealo.co.uk

Sony's New 2mm OLED Display

Sony is really pursuing this OLED thing to its biggest potential and put out a new display this week that measures just 2mm thick. We thought the original 3mm model was thin, but it seems Sony is still working on making the process even better.

The new display was recently shown off at the Display 2008 expo trade show in Japan, where Sony also debuted a new version of its $2500 11-inch XEL-1, the world's first mass-produced OLED TV. In this unit, the display panel "glass" measures just 0.3mm thick, about 1/4 the thickness of the prior model. We'll be terribly impressed when the pricing drops by about 1000% and sizes go up to 42-inches or more. Until then, it's fun to watch and wait.

A lot of Sony's technology is proof-of-concept and not slated for commercial release anytime soon - such as a thinner 3.5-inch prototype display which was shown off that measured a mere 0.2mm (0.008in) and featured a 320 x 220 pixel resolution. MP3 players and cell phones might be getting even thinner soon!

-audioholics

Sony Shows Razor-thin Prototype OLED Screen

Sony has managed to make an OLED (organic light emitting diode) screen that's just one-fifth of a millimeter thick. The prototype screen was on show at last week's Display 2008 exhibition in Tokyo and ranks as the thinnest yet developed.

The prototype 3.5-inch panel, which has QVGA resolution (320 pixels by 240 pixels), started out as a normal OLED screen, but Sony ground down the glass substrate on which it was made to reduce the thickness to just 0.2 millimeters.

Typically OLED screens are pretty thin -- about a millimeter or two thick. That's because OLED pixels emit their own light and so don't require additional illumination. It's this additional illumination, usually in the form of a backlight, that adds to the thickness of LCD (liquid crystal display) panels and means they can't compete with OLED on thickness, at least using current technology.

Due to their thinness, OLED panels consume less power than LCDs, handle fast-moving images better and offer good color reproduction. For these reasons many display makers are developing OLED technology with an eye to it replacing LCD in the future.

At the end of last year Sony began sales of the world's first OLED television. The XEL-1 is based on an 11-inch panel that's 1.4 millimeters thick. Sony has stashed most of the TV's electronics in its base, so the set thickens to only 3 millimeters with a plastic case around the screen.

Using the same glass-grinding trick it could be made even thinner. Sony also showed an 11-inch panel that was 0.3 millimeters thick -- more than a millimeter thinner than the commercial panel it's using in the XEL-1.

The panels aren't Sony's first thin OLED screens. Last year it developed a prototype OLED built onto a plastic substrate, which has the benefit of allowing the screen to be flexible. The screens shown in Tokyo last week, while thin, were brittle because they are glass-based.

There was no word on when or if the thin OLED screens on show might be commercially available.

OLED and 3D Holographic Display Technology to Revolutionize the Display Arena

With liquid crystal display (LCD) technology having reached a point of maturity from where there can only be evolutionary changes rather than revolutionary, the field is open to disruptive, cost-effective technologies. Some of these include organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), 3D and holographic displays, as well as multi-touch interfaces.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Innovations in Display Technologies, finds that OLED and 3D holographic display technology likely to revolutionize the display arena in the coming years.

3D holography is a much-vaunted technology, since scalability issues do not limit it. Once perfected, it could be the most viable solution for terrain mapping, civil planning applications, and entertainment applications such as game consoles, cinema, and billboards. The medical industry can also benefit from 3D displays in surgical guidance equipment and areas such as radiation oncology.

Of all display technologies, OLED expects to find extensive adoption in a variety of portable consumer electronics, home entertainment, and automotive applications. However, for all its advantages, OLEDs might find the going tough in the large-screen displays. Even in the small- and medium-sized displays, LCD still dominates. "To pose a serious threat to LCDs, the technologically superior OLEDs will have to resolve certain issues such as its color element lifetimes and manufacturing techniques," says Technical Insights Research Analyst Prithvi Raj.

"OLED displays are limited by the relatively short lifetimes of blue OLED and this makes such displays currently unsuitable in a primary television unit," notes Technical Insights Research Analyst Sharmishta S. "However, it should be noted that the half-life of the color elements (including blue) have vastly improved over the past few years and it is likely that it will soon achieve acceptable standards."

-optics
OLEDs are ideal for smaller displays on space/power-critical portable applications such as mobile phones and mp3 players. This is because OLEDs draw far lesser power than LCDs and as they do not require backlighting, these displays can be made extremely thin.

Once OLEDs replace LCDs in the portable consumer electronic displays sector, they can try to forge a path in the larger display segment, provided they employ scalable manufacturing methods. Although OLED technology prices are not likely to drop anytime soon to match LCD displays, its advantages of higher viewing angles, thinner displays, and increased contrast, offers OLED the upper hand.

"OLEDs with their wide viewing angle, high contrast ratio, and absence of backlighting allow for the realization of ultra-slim displays," says Sharmishta S. "3D holography also has tremendous potential and along with OLEDs, is likely to revolutionize the display landscapes in the coming years."

Meanwhile, multitouch display interfaces offer multi-user, multi-input functionality and have been making waves for its simple interface. Applications for this technology range form infrastructure planning to navigation and mapping. This technology could also find applications as a table-top interface in a variety of locations like hotels, clubs, offices, and homes.

"Projection technology has also progressed a great deal with MEMS-based micro-mirrors," says Raj. "Developments are underway to miniaturize current projectors down to levels where they can be housed within mobile devices, thereby opening up new avenues in portable entertainment."

Innovations in Display Technologies, a part of the Technical Insights subscription, provides a technology overview and outlook for display technologies. The study covers OLEDs, 3D display technology, carbon-nanotube-based FED, and MEMS-based displays. Furthermore, this research service includes detailed technology analysis and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Osram and lighting designer Ingo Maurer unveil OLED table lamp

The limited-edition table lamp shows the potential of using OLEDs as flexible or transparent light sources with a uniform light-generating surface.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and lighting designer Ingo Maurer have unveiled a revolutionary lighting application based on organic LEDs (OLEDs) at the Light+Building Fair in Frankfurt, Germany. Ingo Maurer is the first to use OLEDs from OSRAM in a functioning table light.

The limited-edition light, known as "Early Future," shines with tiles directly from the OSRAM laboratory and demonstrates the enormous potential of using OLEDs to create future applications with eye-catching illumination and design elements.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors made prototypes of OLEDs available to the designer for his exclusive creation.

"We are proud that our OLEDs have inspired such a renowned artist as Ingo Maurer to create such an exciting work of art. Early Future is a vision that has become reality. It gives us a glimpse of just how versatile organic OLEDs can be in terms of their design options and applications," said Martin Goetzeler, CEO of OSRAM.

Ingo Maurer used OLED tiles with an area of 132 x 33mm for his creation. For Maurer, unusual design is not an end in itself. "Early Future represents an important stage in the transition from abstract object to functional designer lighting," he said. Maurer has been shaping developments in light-as-art and lighting design for many years. In 1966 he exhibited the designer luminaire Bulb which has been on exhibit in the New York Museum of Modern Art since 1969 along with other works of his. Through the years, Ingo Maurer has received numerous awards for his avant-garde work with light.

Organic LEDs offer all the familiar benefits of LEDs such as high energy efficiency, low operating voltage and mercury-free design, and also have some impressive properties of their own. The light source is not a collection of individual light points but a uniform light-generating surface. Initial laboratory prototypes from OSRAM showed last year the property of transparent light in a usable tile size. Thanks to the layer structure, it is possible to produce not only very thin OLEDs but also scalable ones.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has a team of ~50 research engineers working on the development of OLEDs, turning what may seem like science fiction applications into reality. "In the future it will be possible to use OLEDs as flexible or transparent light sources. A transparent OLED over a window in a roof would allow natural light in during the day and provide fascinating illumination for the room at night," said Dr. Bernhard Stapp, head of Solid State Lighting at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.

There are possible applications for these new light sources in the automotive industry as well. Rear lighting elements could someday be integrated entirely within the rear windshield.

-Leds magazine

Apple looking to 3G and OLED for iPhone

Apple may be ready to move its mobile phone offering, the iPhone, over to 3G, according to analysts at Gartner.

The consumer electronics giant, whose new phone has a touch screen interface, has been planning a 3G version of the phone, according to Ken Dulaney at Gartner.

He told the iPod Observer that 3Gs HSDPA protocol, which offers download speeds faster than EDGE and GPRS technology which the iPhone currently supports, will be used in future.

The iPhone has not been as successful in Europe, with analysts suspecting that the slower download speeds have put business users off.

Gartner expert Bob Hafner said: "We absolutely believe that in the next-generation iPhone 3G will be there."

Another improvement which is being predicted for the next handset is the inclusion of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen.

The OLED screen, which would be of a higher resolution than the current LCD screen would cut down on power consumption, allowing longer talk time.

OLEDs are also thinner, so the manufacturer could decide between reducing thickness of the phone or adding a larger battery.

Rapid Electronics are one of the UKs leading suppliers of electronic components, electrical products, and industrial supplies to the Consumer Electronics sector.

Motorola U9

Motorola's mobile phones division is in a bit of trouble at the moment having been hived off as a separate business and suffered the indignity of a very public lambasting. The company can only remain a serious player if it produces handsets that people want to buy. With that in mind, what do we make of the U9?

This is a quad-band clamshell phone and it comes in pink and purple. I feel duty bound to explain that Moto suggests this is a handset for the ladies and offers an inane quiz to help you decide which colour suits you.



The phone is Christmas-decoration shiny all over the front and rubbery on the back. The visual design is distinctly PEBL making it two years old in concept.

Despite the design's age I can't really fault Motorola on the rounded ‘bar of soap' style shape. It means the U9 feels as comfy in the hand as the PEBL ever did. And dimensions-wise you are looking at a pocket-friendly 90mm x 49mm x 16mm that weighs a reasonable 87g.


And there is something very new to this mobile - its outer OLED display. Now, OLED displays should not be new to regular readers, but Motorola has done something rather clever with its implementation. The front OLED sits under the outer shell and you'd never know there was a front screen at all when it's not active. When it is, its 128 x 160 pixels provide information in a way that dominates the front of the phone. Moreover there is a touch-responsive element.

When playing music, for example, the screen displays track info for a few seconds and then turns itself off. You can reactivate it by touching the front screen, and this could be handy because there are touch controls for forward, back and pause/play.

When a call comes in the OLED pops up and tells you who is making contact. When nothing much is going on you can tap the volume rocker and change profiles.

When someone sends you an SMS the OLED alerts you. It can display the message and you can send a quick reply using a combination of the left side volume rocker and select key. There are various predefined texts and you can add more. It is a bit of a fiddly system, especially as you need to unlock the side keys before using them, but it could come in handy.

 -trustedreview, Sandra Vogel

Panasonic plasma screen cellphones ‘pre-emptive�� strike against OLED

Panasonic AbleComm plasma screen cellphones




In the regular world, plasma TVs are large and cellphones are small; in Panasonic’s world, however, a cellphone is just another opportunity to squeeze in a tiny, plasma-based display.  The new, low-voltage screens - developed with AbleComm, Inc. - have apparently been a decade in the making, and rival OLED displays for brightness, contrast, thinness and, most importantly of all, cost less to produce.  They’ve already found interest from AT&T, using the screens with the carrier’s new Mobile TV service.

Cellphones aren’t the only devices Panasonic envisages getting a tiny plasma injection:

    “Our plasma expertise and our large-scale, efficient manufacturing will allow these new small Panasonic plasma screens to replace LCDs in many applications — gasoline pumps, automated teller machines, camera viewfinders, MP3 players, vending machines, automotive displays, digital photo frames, appliance touch screens and even the little pop-up screens on printers. In fact, I am pleased to announce that we will be supplying mini plasma screens to HP for an exclusive two-year period for use in their printers. We view our thin low-voltage PDP technology as a pre-emptive strike against OLED technology” Robert A. Perry, Senior Vice President of Panasonic Consumer Electronics

-phonemag

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the new XPERIA X1 at the Mobile Asia 2008, India's largest consumer exhibition on mobile phones and accessories. The XPERIA X1 will address the growing needs of consumers demand for mobile web communication and multimedia entertainment and also position the company at the forefront of mobile convergence.

The XPERIA X1 combines a 3-inch clear wide VGA display and a full QWERTY keyboard within a quality metal-finish body. Powered by Windows Mobile 6, the new Windows Mobile software from Microsoft, the XPERIA X1 allows users to choose from a dynamic range of activities such as enjoying their favourite entertainment content or working efficiently on the move, anytime and anywhere.

The OLED optical touch screen allows users to access a world of experiences simply by touching the XPERIA� panel on the screen. Other features include a unique arc slider, a wide pitch easy-to-use QWERTY keyboard, 3.2 megapixel camera (with photo light), A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, and WiFi support.

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LG unveils first AMOLED display device

LG has launched its first active matrix OLED handset in its native Korea, the Cyon SH150A.

AMOLED display technology is a hybrid between the new organic LED display type and TFT LCD, which has been common on phones for years. Manufacturers like OLED, which does not require a backlight to operate (each pixel generates its own light), because of its power efficiency.

However, OLED displays often suffer from ghosting and similar effects when fast moving animations are displayed.

LG says the display in its SH150A handset is 1000 times faster than conventional OLED displays when it comes to response time.

LG’s close competitor Samsung will follow soon with its own AMOLED phone, the SPH-W2400.

-Mobile Entertainment

65 Inches of OLED Killer from Mitsubishi

Laser TV will kill OLED before it ever really takes off. Mitsubishi has a working experimental 65-inch model. At ten inches thick, it is a fatty compared to the ultra slim OLED monitors that are starting to hit the market, but it is 65-inches, which puts their puny size to shame. New technology in the pipeline, namely the "super wide angular optical engine" promises to get the thickness down to acceptable levels by the time the first commercial models roll out.

With twice the color spectrum, twice the contrast ratio and the capability of displaying three-dimensional images, Mitsubishi looks to have a real winner on its hands. It is possible that we will start seeing the first commercial models as early as this year. If that is the case, OLED might never make it out of smaller screens.

Is OLED the hottest thing in TV tech?

Article from Techradar

Sony leads the way with the world's first commercial OLED TV, the XEL-1. It's received a chorus of critical acclaim since CES, praised for its brightness, colour saturation, lightning fast response time and its amazingly slim profile. It’s just 3mm deep.

There's no denying that the XEL-1 represents the first step towards more responsive (and more efficient) living room TVs. But let's not forget that Sony's debut OLED model is only 11-inches across, only has a 960 x 540 resolution, and costs more than many 42-inch plasmas do.

Of course, Sony has bigger, bolder OLED plans. It's already been showing off an impressive looking 27-inch OLED TV prototype at trade shows. Prices of OLED panels are sure to drop once production lines hit their stride - just as they have with other flatscreen technology.

Toshiba is also involved with OLED - it plans to sell a 30-inch OLED set in 2009. But after missing the boat with plasma and LCD, we’re pretty sure Sony’s desperation to get back ahead of the flat TV curve will force it to push OLED hard, leading to rapid innovation and a glut of screens. Having just won the HD disc war, Sony might feel that it's on a roll...

More LED backlighting

We also expect to see a big increase in the number of LCD TVs that use LED backlight arrays rather than the customary single lamp. Samsung has already released one LCD TV using LED technology, the LE52F96BD. Its outstanding picture quality should mean we see the technology reused many times â€" hopefully with ever-reducing prices â€" in the course of 2008.

In the plasma world, we also anticipate that the number of full HD sets will grow considerably, with Pioneer, Samsung and probably LG and Fujitsu all following Panasonic’s lead by managing to squeeze 1920 x 1080 pixels into a 42-inch screen as well as the larger sizes.

We also have to say, though, that 2008 could be a tough year for plasma. At the moment plasma can still play the quality card, with good PDP TVs still very much the screen technology of choice for discerning cinephiles.

But if LCDs improve as fast in 2008 as they have in 2007, the yawning sales lead that LCD currently enjoys over plasma could, sadly, reach a point of no return.

OLEDs will be used in more electronics equipment

Here another article...

The use of organic light emitting diodes will grow steadily in electronics equipment
By James Carbone
The organic light emitting diode (OLED) market will grow from about $475 million in 2006 to $1.4 billion in 2013 as OLED technology competes with liquid crystal displays (LCDs) for use in electronics equipment, according to researcher Frost and Sullivan.

"OLEDs promise to be one of the key technologies of the future, especially with

respect to display and lighting applications," says Abhigyan Sengupta, an analyst for Frost & Sullivan.

"The key advantage of OLED displays is that they are based on an emissive technology, besides which the absence of back light units gives OLEDs certain advantages over LCDs," he says.

The absence of the backlight in OLEDs makes them much more energy efficient, lighter and thin compared to LCDs, which tend to be large due to the presence of backlights. OLEDs are commonly used in MP3 players and mobile phones. They will have “tremendous potential in a range of applications including thin TVs, flexible displays, transparent monitors and white-bulb replacement," says Sengupta.

Constant price reductions in LCD technology will make the OLED market a niche for a number of years. Although the performance benefits of OLEDs surpass LCDs, the decreasing cost of LCDs remains a key factor constraining the OLED industry.

"With declining prices, OLEDs might compete strongly with LCD technology in the future, but at present, LCDs have better market presence and penetration rate even though OLEDs offer superior technology."

To establish a significant market presence, OLED manufacturers should build on energy efficiency, improve resolutions and boost OLED lifecycles.

Current and Future OLED Applications

Currently, OLEDs are used in small-screen devices such as cell phones, PDAs and digital cameras. In September 2004, Sony Corporation announced that it was beginning mass production of OLED screens for its CLIE PEG-VZ90 model of personal-entertainment handhelds.

Kodak was the first to release a digital camera with an OLED display in March 2003, the EasyShare LS633

Several companies have already built prototype computer monitors and large-screen TVs that use OLED technology. In May 2005, Samsung Electronics announced that it had developed a prototype 40-inch, OLED-based, ultra-slim TV, the first of its size [source: Kanellos]. And in October 2007, Sony announced that it would be the first to market with an OLED television. The XEL-1 will be available in December 2007 for customers in Japan. It lists for 200,000 Yen -- or about $1,700 U.S.

Sony to invest $200 million in OLED TVs

Sony has announced plans to pump 22 billion yen, which is around $203.5 million, into developing new technology for making medium to large organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels.

Sony unveiled its first OLED TV, the XEL-1, at CES earlier this year.

Samsung also brought out OLED models, and continues to be Sony's main rival in this area.

Reuters explains: "OLED displays use organic, or carbon-containing, compounds that emit light when electricity is applied. Unlike liquid crystal display panels they do not need backlighting, making OLED TVs slimmer and more energy-efficient".

However, Sony and Samsung alike have to crack the problems of creating large OLED panels.

Sony's existing OLED TV has an 11-inch screen.

OLED Advantages and Disadvantages

The LCD is currently the display of choice in small devices and is also popular in large-screen TVs. Regular LEDs often form the digits on digital clocks and other electronic devices. OLEDs offer many advantages over both LCDs and LEDs:
The plastic, organic layers of an OLED are thinner, lighter and more flexible than the crystalline layers in an LED or LCD.
Because the light-emitting layers of an OLED are lighter, the substrate of an OLED can be flexible instead of rigid. OLED substrates can be plastic rather than the glass used for LEDs and LCDs.
OLEDs are brighter than LEDs. Because the organic layers of an OLED are much thinner than the corresponding inorganic crystal layers of an LED, the conductive and emissive layers of an OLED can be multi-layered. Also, LEDs and LCDs require glass for support, and glass absorbs some light. OLEDs do not require glass.
OLEDs do not require backlighting like LCDs (see How LCDs Work). LCDs work by selectively blocking areas of the backlight to make the images that you see, while OLEDs generate light themselves. Because OLEDs do not require backlighting, they consume much less power than LCDs (most of the LCD power goes to the backlighting). This is especially important for battery-operated devices such as cell phones.
OLEDs are easier to produce and can be made to larger sizes. Because OLEDs are essentially plastics, they can be made into large, thin sheets. It is much more difficult to grow and lay down so many liquid crystals.
OLEDs have large fields of view, about 170 degrees. Because LCDs work by blocking light, they have an inherent viewing obstacle from certain angles. OLEDs produce their own light, so they have a much wider viewing range.

Types of OLEDs: Passive and Active Matrix

There are several types of OLEDs:
Passive-matrix OLED
Active-matrix OLED
Transparent OLED
Top-emitting OLED
Foldable OLED
White OLED
Each type has different uses. In the following sections, we'll discuss each type of OLED. Let's start with passive-matrix and active-matrix OLEDs.
Passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED)
PMOLEDs have strips of cathode, organic layers and strips of anode. The anode strips are arranged perpendicular to the cathode strips. The intersections of the cathode and anode make up the pixels where light is emitted. External circuitry applies current to selected strips of anode and cathode, determining which pixels get turned on and which pixels remain off. Again, the brightness of each pixel is proportional to the amount of applied current.

How do OLEDs Emit Light?

OLEDs emit light in a similar manner to LEDs, through a process called electrophosphorescence.

The process is as follows:

The battery or power supply of the device containing the OLED applies a voltage across the OLED.
An electrical current flows from the cathode to the anode through the organic layers (an electrical current is a flow of electrons).
The cathode gives electrons to the emissive layer of organic molecules.
The anode removes electrons from the conductive layer of organic molecules. (This is the equivalent to giving electron holes to the conductive layer.)
At the boundary between the emissive and the conductive layers, electrons find electron holes.
When an electron finds an electron hole, the electron fills the hole (it falls into an energy level of the atom that's missing an electron).
When this happens, the electron gives up energy in the form of a photon of light (see How Light Works).
The OLED emits light.
The color of the light depends on the type of organic molecule in the emissive layer. Manufacturers place several types of organic films on the same OLED to make color displays.
The intensity or brightness of the light depends on the amount of electrical current applied: the more current, the brighter the light.

What is OLED, LCD, and Plasma?

OLED - Organic light-emitting diode
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also Light Emitting Polymer (LEP) and Organic Electro-Luminescence (OEL), is any light-emitting diode (LED) whose emissive electroluminescent layer is composed of a film of organic compounds. The layer usually contains a polymer substance that allows suitable organic compounds to be deposited. They are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple "printing" process. The resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colors.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
liquid crystal display (LCD) is a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It is often utilized in battery-powered electronic devices because it uses very small amounts of electric power.

Plasma
a plasma is typically an ionized gas. Plasma is considered to be a distinct state of matter, apart from gases, because of its unique properties. Ionized refers to presence of one or more free electrons, which are not bound to an atom or molecule. The free electric charges make the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields.
Plasma typically takes the form of neutral gas-like clouds (e.g. stars) or charged ion beams, but may also include dust and grains (called dusty plasmas).They are typically formed by heating and ionizing a gas, stripping electrons away from atoms, thereby enabling the positive and negative charges to move more freely.