Competing technologies

Researchers from Sweden and the US have produced a new transparent lighting component that is made from Graphene. They say it is cheap to make and fully recyclable, and might be an alternative to OLED Lighting. The new device is called an Organic Light-emitting Electrochemical Cell, or LEC. The Graphene is used for an electrode. LECs can be made using a roll-to-roll process, because all of its parts can be made from liquid solutions.

There's very little info on that new device (such as what is the actual light-emitting material, what's the efficiency of it, etc.).

Via Graphene-Info

Engadget has posted an interesting comparison between 6 different Android phones: MyTouch 3G, HTC Hero, Motorola Milestone / Droid, Acer Liquid, Google Nexus One, and Samsung Galaxy (laid out clockwise in the image below). Two of these have OLED displays, the Samsung Galaxy and the Nexus One. Engadget say that the best one is the Nexus One's 3.7" AMOLED. You can see for yourself in the following photo and video:

A Japanese consortium of 13 companies (including Sharp and Hitachi) claims that they found a way to make LCDs using plastic film instead of a glass substrate. This means that those displays can be very thin and flexible. They do admit however that this is a very complicated process. They have shown a 3.5" bendable color LCD that just 0.49mm thick and weights 7 grams. They hope to make a better display by 2012, and use this technology to mass produce thin, curved LCD displays.

The companies say that the new manufacturing process is simpler than the one used in current LCDs, and also the new displays will consumer 70% less energy!

More information over at CrunchGear.

Tech-On has posted an interesting article about OLED TV status. They discuss the situation of the technology, why is it so difficult to make a large OLED panel, and how are the various TV makers trying to solve the issues.

I think the two most interesting points are: 

• They suggest that because LCDs have got so good in terms of efficiency,thinness and quality, it'll be hard for OLEDs to compete. Instead companies try to open new markets with transparent or flexible OLEDs, things that cannot be done with LCDs. Indeed we can see Samsung, Sony and LG all showing these kinds of displays. I think we may also add 3D OLED TVs to the mix here.
• They say that LG plans to volume produce 20" OLED panels in 2010. This is the first time we hear of such plans (beside a promise for 'larger panels' a few weeks ago). LG also plans 30" OLED TVs in 2011, and 40" in 2012.

Here's the link to Tech-On's article.

So, yesterday Apple finally unveiled their new device, the iPad tablet, which basically seems to be an oversized iPhone. And it hasn't got an OLED display, but rather an LCD (an IPS LCD to be exact - which has a better image quality and viewing angle than normal LCDs, but requires more power).

Apple iPad

So it hasn't got an OLED - this was rather expected. It seems that we'll have to keep waiting for Apple's first OLED gadget.

AU Optronics announced today that they have purchased certain FED-displays-related assets and technologies from Field Emission Technologies (FET). In the transaction, AUO will acquire certain assets that include patents, know-how, inventions, and relevant equipment related to FED technology and materials. AUO wants to become one of the few companies in the world that will be able to offer commercialized FED products.

FED displays feature fast response time and high efficiency, brightness, and contrast. AUO says that FED and OLED will both be used in future high-end displays. AUO has recently shown a new 14" OLED prototype.

Just a week after telling us that the 3.7" AMOLED as used in Google's Nexus One costs $23.5, iSupply now says that the 3.7" TFT-LCD used in Motorola's Droid costs $17.75. That means that the AMOLED costs 32% more. The touchscreen overlay costs $17.75 in both the Nexus One and the Droid. This means that totally, the AMOLED touch display is only 16% more expensive than the touch TFT-LCD.

Interestingly, the iPhone 3GS' LCD is smaller than the Droid's (at 3.5") but costs more - $19.25. That means that Google's 3.7" AMOLED costs only 22% more than the smaller iPhone display.

Obviously these are just iSupply's estimates, but it's interesting anyway. 

Via Engadget