Samsung OLED Displays in 2003

Samsung SDI said this week that it expects to begin selling handheld-sized OLED screens by late 2003. They won't be selling them in notebook sizes until 2005.

The main advantages of OLED over current ones is the screen itself glows so there is no need for a back- or side-light. This means they require less power and take up less space, two important factors in a handheld. They also cost less to make.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are made up of thin films of organic materials that give off light of various colors when voltage is applied to them.

They have many other advantages over LCDs, too. OLEDs have a faster response time so they are better able to show video. They can be seen from wider viewing angles. They are less susceptible to heat and cold. OLEDs have fewer manufacturing steps and use both fewer and cheaper materials than LCDs do.

Like LCDs, OLEDs have both active matrix and passive matrix forms. The first to be released are likely to be passive matrix, in which each pixel is an OLED and to make a particular pixel glow, current is applied to its row and column. In the active matrix version, each pixel is made of on OLED and a thin-film transistor. The TFT acts as a switch that controls how much power goes to the OLED.

OLED is a term for a whole group of possible screen types. FOLEDs are flexible and can be applied to curved surfaces like the insides of helmets. TOLEDs are 70% transparent when turned off and can be used on car windshields.

Research scientists at Kodak invented the OLED in the early 80s.

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Flexible PDA

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 10:51:20 AM #
Well, I can't wait to get one FPDA (Flexible PDA), one that I can roll and keep in my pocket in the size of a cigarrette lighter!
Question is, where does de digitizer go? If it still has to be a rigid plastic, then we can forget flexibleness... though styli could be bluetooth enabled and transmit their coordinates to the bluetooth enabled pda...



Palm should invest in technologies like this.

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 10:57:09 AM #
Palm ought to invest in OLED or electronic ink and innovate with new technology rather than sitting on old technology.

3Com flushed away 80 million on their (now defunct) Kerbango internet radio and yet they miss out on OLED (of which Samsung has spent only about 20 million)

RE: Palm should invest in technologies like this.
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 11:35:09 AM #
No they shouldn't for the same reason Palm shouldn't make its own processors. Palm should buy OLED displays from Samsung or whoever is selling them cheapest.

Disadvantage?

Hed @ 10/28/2001 11:23:35 AM #
I thought that I remembered reading somewhere about OLEDs that after awhile they "fatigue" and aren't able to glow as bright, or just stop altogether. Have they found a way around this, or am I thinking of something else?

RE: Disadvantage?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 11:33:46 AM #
I'd guess they are still working the bugs out of it. That's why they won't be out for 2 years.

RE: Disadvantage?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 12:12:51 PM #
You are correct. The service life of an OLED is about a third as long as a conventional LCD display. This is a problem for desktop monitors.

However, for PDAs, phones, etc, the display isn't running 24x7 so the lifespan is really irrelevant. The average PDA screen isn't even on for an hour per day.

OLED is *perfect* for Palms. Brighter screens, low power, super thin.

RE: Disadvantage?
n0ukf @ 3/11/2005 5:10:15 PM #
"The average PDA screen isn't even on for an hour per day."

That depends on whether you're reading e-books on it or just using it as an organizer.

This could be the end of laundry as we know it!

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 12:03:38 PM #
Imagine, an OLED shirt. Could be any color, have any pattern, could be used as a TV. You would only need one shirt for warm weather, and one for cooler weather. Using protein chains in the fabric there would never be a smell and stains could just be adjusted out of sight by the OLED.

This could be the end of paint as we know it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 1:44:20 PM #
Someday, instead of painting walls we'll just cover them, floor to ceiling, with something like an OLED screen. When you go to bed, your bedroom can be a soothing blue. When you wake up, it can be a cheery yellow.

You won't need pictures on the walls, they can show any piece of art or photo you want and you can change them every day. Or every hour.

Go even farther and you don't need windows. Your bedroom can look out over the ocean and your living room over the Grand Canyon.

Maybe not soon but someday.

RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 2:50:05 PM #
OMG !!! that is some scary scenario
I don't want that to happen anytime soon, that's just too scary ~~ Imagine there's some virus that could cover your walls with animated blood (like) thingy ................ Or show zombies walking around in the walls.............

O no ..... don't do that ......

RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
alchemist @ 10/28/2001 9:11:56 PM #
No matter how cool it may sound, I don't think it will be viable... Even if you can hide the stains and smells, there could be dangerous bacterial contamination... unless you wash it.

_________
alchemist
RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/29/2001 9:43:21 AM #
This shirts will contain thousands of nanobots that track down and eat bacteria and dirt. This will work fine until a nanobot computer virus causes them to develop a taste... FOR HUMAN FLESH!

RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
Mojo @ 10/29/2001 1:19:37 PM #
Why do I hear the simpson music queuing up for another halloween special?

RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2002 8:35:53 PM #
This is becoming way to sick and twisted....I LOVE IT! =)

RE: This could be the end of laundry as we know it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/30/2002 8:18:04 AM #
Think... of the money that a company would make if you could have a set of shoes and a handbag covered in Oleds, synced over short-range wireless network, and give any woman the ability to have one pair of shoes that go with any outfit!!!

Guys! Think of the time you could save! Women! Now you can concentrate on different -styles- of shoes, instead of just damn color.

.o0{}(Heee!){}0o.

Visible in daylight?

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 5:26:15 PM #
Assuming it's and array of organic LEDs, then that means you cant do the reflective LCD technology on it right? We need PDAs that have screens that are visible outside.

RE: Visible in daylight?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/28/2001 8:28:09 PM #
I have a Motorola TimePort 8767 Cell Phone. It uses a three color OLED. It is very bright indoors and in the shade. In full sunshine it is barely readable. No big deal, I cover it with my hand and I can then read it clearly.

RE: Visible in daylight?
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2002 8:37:01 PM #
>"No big deal, I cover it with my hand and I can then >read it clearly."

Since one hand holds the PDA, and the other the stylus, that isn't viable with a PDA.

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