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Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Dan Ochiva
Even as video slowly but steadily replaces the Thomas Edison/W.K.L. Dickson's invention of motion pictures, OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology is on the verge of replacing one of Edison's other inventions, the light bulb. ▪ Incandescent lighting is famously inefficient. At about 15 lumens per watt, the burning wire loops function more like heaters that happen to give off light. Much more efficient LEDs — now available at 80 lumens per watt — are starting to turn up as the light source in monitors and projectors, with companies such as NEC and Samsung already delivering product. ▸ But 2006 may be the year that OLED products finally come to a wider market. Large panels combining red, green, and blue elements will produce white light in power ranges suitable for general lighting. While not yet as efficient as LEDs, they still deliver on efficiency, rating around 38 lumens per watt. ▪ Last year, Canon was among the first to show specialized uses of OLEDs for its digital cameras, printers, and camcorders. However, the company plans to wait until next year to deploy this replacement for LCDs, which require a backlight. ▸ Until recently, problems included color balance, power consumption, and manufacturing costs. A recently completed 13-year research project by OLED scientists at University of Southern California and the University of Michigan solved the power problem; they replaced the bluescreen with a dyed sheet, which cuts power consumption by 20 percent, but it still allows the panel to remain clear when not supplied with current. These panels could be used as a skylight during the day and general lighting at night. However, a non-porous plastic must be created to act as backing plastic for the screens. As with other OLEDs, any moisture entering the screen layers degrades performance and product life. ▪ In April, DuPont announced that it had made an advance in commercializing OLEDs. The Delaware-based company created a printing process that allows it to scale displays up to sizes of large-screen televisions; that's much larger than OLEDs currently available. ▪ Kodak recently announced that it would license its OLED technology to Taiwan-based Univision Technology, bringing the total to 15 companies developing displays with the Rochester, N.Y.-based company's innovations. LG.Philips and Kodak will also work together to produce panels based on OLED and LCD technology. Called active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, the product is expected to ship this year. ▸ While Univision Technology will target the production of large-screen TVs and monitors, Kodak, along with joint venture partner Sanyo Electric, is producing full-color active-matrix OLED displays for digital cameras, cell phones, portable entertainment gear, and PDAs. Fitting, since Kodak takes credit for discovering OLEDs more than 20 years ago. One of its scientists, Ching Tang, discovered that sending an electrical current though a carbon compound used in a solar cell caused the compound to emit a glow.
