OLED TVs, the next big thing?

Snaques · Apr 10, 2007

Just felt like OLED deserved their own thread since they also have loads of potential of becoming "the next one".

Currently I think the front runners are Sony with their 27" OLED
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/sonys-1-000-000-1-contrast-ratio-27-inch-oled-hdtv/

and Toshiba/Matshushita with their 21" LTPS OLED:
http://www.tmdisplay.com/tm_dsp/press/2007/07-04-09.html

In addition to these prototypes the OLEDs have already been used in mobile devices. The specs are very nice with huge contrast, wide gamut, great viewing angles and CRT-like response times. The panel is also very thin and it has potentially low power consumption. So it shines in practically every aspect.

For these reasons I feel that, out of the novel new technologies, the OLED is most mature technology at the moment and could therefore very well take the crown in few years. Of course, this has been said about them for years now, so nothing is definite. Still, this is the one I'M waiting for

Naturally the technology isn't quite ready yet. Otherwise we would've seen 'em already. The issues are mainly concerned with blue color, lifetime and most of all manufacturing. Once these problems get solved we'll have one helluva TV out there

andyr300 · Apr 10, 2007

http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/09/toshiba-matsushita-announces-20-8-inch-oled-display/

Snaques · Apr 11, 2007

I would like to highlight the fact that the 21" Toshiba prototype is a polymer OLED. The thing is that until now, most OLEDs have been based on small molecule technology. This is important because polymer OLEDs have properties that are very important for OLEDs to compete with LCDs and PDPs.

Polymer OLEDs can be manufactured with ink-jet printing, which is faster, cheaper and more stable method than the high temperature vacuum deposition needed with small molecule OLEDs. Polymer approach also makes it easier to manufacture bigger panels that consume way less power and is therefore more suitable for TV-panels.

Traditionally OLEDs have been based on small molecules and they have a head start compared to polymers. For this reason there still are more small molecule manufacturers and the proces is better known. I'm just hoping that this Toshiba display is a turning point for OLEDs to go for polymers and bigger and cheaper panels. :clap: