Flexible OLEDs

At their yearly share holder meeting, UDC reviewed their company's and the OLED industry's progress. UDC also highlights continued adoption of its energy-efficient PHOLED technology in commercial displays and advances in its flexible OLED, white OLED lighting, and printable, phosphorescent P(2)OLED(TM) technologies.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) reports that it got authorization from ITRI (Taiwan's Research Institute) to use their organic TFT (OTFT) tech. CPT will be developing active-matrix flexible displays.

Universal Display Corporation today announced the development of the world’s thinnest flexible, active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display prototype built to date. Resulting from Universal Display’s collaboration with Professor Jin Jang of Kyung Hee University, the Company’s research demonstrates significant flexibility enhancements and AMOLED robustness when built on ultra-thin metallic foil substrates. This work will be reported in a joint paper at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 International Symposium, Seminar and Exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.

LG Display showed a 15" XGA a-Si AMOLED for OLED TVs. The TV claims a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. This is very low compared to the Sony XEL-1 which boasts a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, although usually contrast measurements are rather sketchy.

Universal Display Corporation and LG Display announced today the joint development of a flexible, full-color, active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) display prototype. Built on thin metallic foil, these prototypes are being showcased at each company’s booth during the 2008 Society for Information Display Conference.

Universal Display Corporation announced today that the Company has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant for $99,978 from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop its flexible OLED display technology for “rollable” applications. The ultimate goal of this U.S. Air Force program is to develop lightweight, rugged, low power displays that can replace printed paper maps on pilots’ knees and be rolled up for stowage when not in use. Rollability is also important for a variety of novel commercial applications, including the Company’s concept Universal Communication Device.

A breakthrough barrier technology from Singapore A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) protects sensitive devices like organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and solar cells from moisture 1000 times more effectively than any other technology available in the market, opening up new opportunities for the up-and-coming plastic electronics sector.

Universal Display Corporation today announced the successful development and delivery of a novel OLED display prototype to the U.S. Army. The prototype demonstrates the world’s first flexible OLED display that incorporates both visible green emission for daytime operation and infrared (IR) emission for use in dark environments.

Samsung SDI says that large-size applications (OLED TVs, monitors, etc.) will adopt AMOLEDs in 2009, and flexible OLEDs will arrive in 2010. Samsung SDI is currently producing 1.5 million panels, and they will double that in 2009, and in 2010 double again to 6 million.