Taiwan's PMOLED maker WiseChip Semiconductors licensed National Tsing-Hua University's blue-light free OLED lighting technology, with an aim to mass produce panels. Supported by the Taiwanese government, Wisechip aims to start mass producing those 1900K OLEDs within two years.

Today we have some more information on this interesting project. National Tsing Hua updates that they have now developed (together with Wisechip) a 2nd-gen lighting panel that features an efficiency of 70 lm/W and is 5x15 cm in size. The University has been awarded two OLED lighting awards (a Taiwanese golden-award and the IDA Lighting Design Award).

Taiwan's ITRI research institute developed a long-lasting OLED blue emitter. The researchers used a green phosphorescent emitter with a new double metal structure - that emits a blue light. The so-called Plasmon-Coupled Organic Light Emitting Diode (PCOLED) structure's lasts 27 times as long as a blue fluorescent emitter.

The researchers explain that a regular green phosphorescent emitter always emits a very weak emission. By using the double-metal structure, more plasmons are generated which means a larger blue emission. This is not an up-conversion process - but merely a change in conditions within the green material. This condition was actually discovered by accident.

Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University has been pursuing blue-light free OLED panels for a long time, developing orange-colored (1,914K) OLED panels which they claim is much healthier than regular OLEDs or LED devices.

In November 2014, we reported that Taiwan's PMOLED maker WiseChip Semiconductors licensed technology Tsing-Hua's technology, with an aim to produce such panels by early 2015. This did not happen, but today we hear that the Taiwanese government decided to fund WiseChip development - awarding the company with 10 million NTD (about $300,000 USD) each year for two years - and the Wisechip will be able to start mass producing those 1900K OLEDs.

Taiwan-based PMOLED maker Wisechip says that the company is the world's second largest PMOLED maker, and is now enjoying the surge in the PMOLED wearable market - due to its three-year long focus on that market.

Wisechip quotes IHS DisplaySearch that sees the PMOLED market growing from 53.5 million units ($368 million in sales) to over 70 million units (and almost $450 million in sales) in 2015. The volume growth will continue until 2018, while revenues will reach a peak in 2016 and then decline (due to lower average panel costs, evidently). Most of the growth will come from wearable devices and smart home applications.

Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University is continuing its fight against the hazards of LEDs and white light - a research team from NTHU published a call to the public to think carefully about television, computer, phone, tablet and other LED-based display usage as the white light produced by LEDs can be hazardous.

The researchers say that people should consider new candle-light style lighting sources for reading, residence and street light. They also urge governments and legislators to enact new rules that will force light-based products to show the light spectrum emitted by the product.

Earlier this month, we reported that Taiwan's WiseChip is entering the OLED lighting market with plans to produce candle-light emitting OLEDs using technology developed at Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University.

Wisechip already started to produce sample panels, and the first ones were setup in an aboriginal village as street lights - embedded inside a bee-hive like mask taken from rotten wood. This tribe, Tai-Yah (also called Atayal), has been without electricty until 1979 (they were known as the "dark tribe"), and currently the use CFL street lights, but rejected a suggestion by the government to install LED lights.

Taiwan's PMOLED maker WiseChip Semiconductors is entering the OLED lighting market. The company licensed technology developed at Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University. WiseChip's new technology enables OLED lighting panels that emit light akin to candle light - with a high CRI (93) and a vision-friendly 1,914K.

WiseChip aims to start OLED lighting mass production towards the end of 2014 or in early 2015. They say that these OLEDs do not emit high Kelvin blue light which is hazardous to eyes and also carcinogenic.

The OLED Lighting Commercialization Alliance (OLCA) was formed a few days ago in Taiwan, with an aim to make Taiwan an important OLED lighting player. The alliance will promote OLED technologies and will include members from materials suppliers to product makers.

The OLCA seems to be led by Taiwan's ITRI. Other members include Merck, RiT Display, WiseChip, Corning, Tongtai Machine & Tool and the TLFEA (Taiwan Lighting Fixture Export Association). ITRI says that more than 60 companies have shown interest in collaborating with OLCA members.

GPEG (a UK based display reseller) has released a new green-monochrome 5.5" (ultra-wide) PMOLED module, the FD025664. The display features 256x64 resolution, 2000:1 contrast, 160 degrees viewing angle and 120 cd/m2 brightness.

The display is aimed towards DAB radios, and GPEG says they can change the color to yellow or white for high volume applications.

DisplaySearch revealed in its latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report that Q1'07 OLED shipments were 19.1M, up 71%Y/Y and revenues were $121M, up 56% Y/Y. Shipments and revenue were down Q/Q, 14% and 13%, respectively, due to seasonality. OLED displays compete with LCDs in small/medium applications such as mobile phone main displays and sub-displays, MP3s, and automotive consoles.

Active matrix OLEDs displays continued volume shipments with Samsung SDI, Kodak, Sony and eMagin shipping 335K displays in Q1'07.  By Q2'07, the volume is expected to grow to 685K displays. Applications include MP3s, mobile phones and near eye.

Overall, RiTdisplay led in units, with 5.1M closely followed by Pioneer, also at 5.1M, Samsung SDI at 3.7M, LGE at 3.1M and TDK at 1.5M.  Univision, which had shut down due to financial problems has restarted production and shipped 900K units in Q1'07 and is expected to grow volume to 1.5M units next quarter, recovering to a leadership position.

Sub-displays and MP3 player displays combined to account for about 87% of shipments at 12.6M and 4.0M, respectively. Of the remaining applications, main displays and industrial applications showed strong growth, but volume remained low.

Sub-display volume is very strong in Japan and is the major cause of the growth in the category. Main display growth is primarily due to the Kyocera cell phone which uses the Samsung SDI 2.4" QVGA AMOLED panel.

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