Texas Instruments introduced today an organic light emitting diode (OLED) power driver designed to enhance image quality for small form factor displays up to 2.5 inches. The TPS65136 power integrated circuit supports active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays used in mobile phones, digital cameras and portable media players.

With just one 2.2-uH inductor to generate both outputs on the single- inductor, multiple-output converter technology, the TPS65136 provides high picture quality and achieves a smaller solution size with a reduced component count. A buck-boost topology allows the device to generate a positive voltage up to 4.6 V and adjustable negative output voltag  down to -7 V. In addition, the TPS65136 input voltage can be above or below the positive output voltage, allowing it to support new batteries with a starting voltage up to 4.8 V.

The unique converter technology results in excellent line and load regulation, which is required to avoid potential display disturbances in mobile devices during transmit periods.  The converter also lowers the switching frequency as the load current decreases to maintain high efficiency over the entire load current range. The TPS65136 maintains the switching frequency above the audible range with a voltage-controlled oscillator to avoid causing audible noise from the vibration of the ceramic output capacitors.

The TPS65136 is offered in a 16-pin QFN package, and the suggested resale  price is $1.20 in 1,000-unit quantities.

Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei have demonstrated a passport that features a slim and bendable OLED colour display within a polycarbonate data page. The display can be used to provide a raft of information including a video of the document holder.

According to the suppliers, tommorow’s ID documents will work without contact and without internal batteries. The integration of a display makes electronic ID documents even more difficult to forge and opens up the way for new security applications, they claim.

Samsung SDI developed the display to be just 300µm thick. However, even with the integrated colour display, the data page of the ePassport is still only 700µm thick, the companies claim.

The display comprises an active matrix display with organic light emitting diodes (AMOLED). This means that located behind every pixel of the display is an active electronic circuit with low power consumption. AMOLED displays are said to provide excellent colour images and can be produced in much thinner formats that conventional LCDs.

The materials used for the display are heat-resistant, so that the passport card can be laminated and hence protected against manipulation.

The display is activated via the power provided by a contactless reader, so that the document itself does not require any batteries. The suppliers say that it will be possible to retrieve all kinds of information via the display, for instance, a moving passport image of the document holder, as well as text-based information, such as the passport holder’s address.

OLED-T announced a new electron injector material together with third party verified performance results.

The new electron injector material named E225 had a 66 per cent performance improvement in brightness and 30 per cent reduction in driving voltage. These results are based of test displays where E255 was used in combination with OLED-T’s electron injector EI-101 and compared with standard configurations of electron injector and transport materials typically used as the industry benchmarks.

A phosphorescent red display device using a combination Aluminium Quinolate (Alq3) as the electron injector and Lithium Floride (LiF), as the electron transport had a brightness of 9.8 lumens per Watt, whereas by replacing the injector and transport layers for a combination of OLED-T’s E225 and EI-101 respectively, the brightness improved to 16.3 lumens per Watt. Display devices were driven for more than 520 hours at a current of 40mAcm-2.

The voltage required to drive the devices at 1,000cdm-2 was cut by 30 per cent. The industry benchmark materials of Alq3 and LiF required a driving voltage of 7.7V. Using a combination of OLED-T’s E225 and EI-101 reduced this to 5.4V.

OLED-T is delighted with the third party results for this new electron transport and injector material set. The results show a step improvement on existing industry standard materials, said Myrddin Jones, CEO, OLED-T.

Details of the third party characterisation results for E225 are available from OLED-T but an industry standard confidentiality agreement prevents OLED-T from naming the third party.

Idemitsu Kosan and Sony announced the achievement of 28.5% internal quantum efficiency (IQE) in deep blue fluorescent OLED devices, the world's highest level of luminous efficiency for this technology.

This ground-breaking development is a result of Idemitsu's advanced OLED material technologies and Sony' OLED device expertise, brought together by the two companies' joint development agreement (established in November 29th, 2005). This joint agreement has led to the development of a wide range of high-performance OLED materials that have been incorporated in Sony products, and going forward both Idemitsu and Sony will also consider various practical applications for this newly developed, world-leading blue OLED technology. 
 
Previous fluorescent OLED devices were limited to a maximum 25% IQE, however the implementation of new carrier transport materials and optimized device structure has led to the achievement of 28.5% IQE. Furthermore, the use of Sony's proprietary "Super Top Emission" OLED device technology has enabled blue color deepness (CIE chromaticity: 0.137, 0.065) exceeding NTSC standards to be achieved. 
 
With this technology significantly reducing the driving current of blue OLEDs, the most energy-intensive of the three primary RGB colors, it is expected to significantly reduce the power consumption of OLED panels, contributing to the future development of large-size OLED TVs.

Samsung SDI, the first mass producer of OLED panels using an advanced active-matrix method, will release 15 such panels ranging from 2-inch to 31-inch.

The company is planning to introduce an e-business card equipped with a 3.0-inch WVGA AM OLED panel and is also set to show off an e-passport adopting a 2-inch QVGA AM OLED panel.

Read more here (Korea times)

Samsung SDI is showing a 12.1" (WXGA, 1280x768) AMOLED laptop prototype. Samsung is using a-si for the prototype's backplane.

They are still on track to deliver 14" laptop displays in 2009.

Revenue for the three months ending March 31, 2008, of $2.7 million represent a decrease of 26% compared to the same period of 2007. Revenue for the first quarter was affected by a temporary production issue that occurred at the end of 2007 and certain government billings that were expected in the first quarter were not invoiced until the second quarter. Revenue for the second quarter is expected to approximate $4 to $5 million.

• eMagin now has over 100 customers who have commercialized eMagin-equipped products, and more than 100 additional customers who are at various stages of evaluation, product development or conducting field trials prior to commercialization across a diverse variety of industrial, medical, military and consumer applications.
• eMagin has booked or has commitments for over $8 million for government R&D contracts over the next 2 years which are developing technology and display products important to the Department of Defense.

Sumitomo now says they have been "misquoted" - they will not be able to make large OLED TVs in 2009. They are still working on the tech (with several partners), and a source at CDT (who was acquired by Sumitomo a year ago) says the displays might indeed be ink-jet "printed"

Researchers at Sumitomo Chemical and Mitsubishi Chemical are working on "spreadable" OLED displays, that will also double as solar-panels - they might be self powered in this way. The displays can be "painted" on any material, creating a 100nm thin display.

The companies actually claim to work towards prototypes in 2 years.

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.

Under the terms of this nine-month Phase I grant, Universal Display and its partner, L-3 Display Systems, will provide the U.S. Air Force with an initial design and mock-up of a low-power consumption, full-color, video-rate OLED display that can be rolled around a cylinder for stowage. If successful, Universal Display would then propose a follow-on Phase II program to deliver six-inch diagonal, 480 x 480 full-color, active matrix PHOLED display prototypes that would be built on metallic foil to be flexible enough to wrap around a 2.5 inch diameter cylinder containing the power supplies and wireless communication electronics.

We are excited to continue the research and development of flexible and rollable OLED technology an idea that is moving quickly from being a vision to becoming a reality,The U.S. Air Force as well as other branches of the U.S. Department of Defense have been strong supporters of our flexible OLED technology. Also offering thinness, light weight and ruggedness, rollable displays may revolutionize the way soldiers view information on the battlefield and in the cockpit. This program should also support our efforts to commercialize FOLED technology for a variety of novel consumer applications. said Steven V. Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Display.