You've seen the prototypes tucked away in trade show corners, and you've seen the demise of existing generation technologies -- it doesn't take an industry expert to realize that the door is wide open for OLED to walk through. According to a new report from -- who else? -- industry experts, the OLED lighting market is set to boom in 2011, with OLED revenues expected to surpass PMOLED displays in the 2013 / 2014 time frame. Specifically in the OLED TV market, manufacturers are scrambling to assemble large-screen OLED TVs that are even close to affordable, and estimates we've personally heard put those on the market just after the next decade begins. Clearly, the biggest hindrance from OLED domination right now is the prohibitive pricing, but once those XEL-1s are given away inside King Size cereal boxes, we'll really be onto something.
Toshiba lab-rats using diffraction gratings to increase OLED light output
The odds-on favorite for the display technology to supplant LCD dominance is, of course, OLED. Based on the current woes in the plasma display space, color accuracy and black levels (which OLEDs have in spades) might not be enough to upset the LCD applecart, so it's no surprise to see so much research aimed at bringing up the output efficiency of OLEDs. For its part, Toshiba is playing around with diffraction gratings to increase the brightness (specifically, the coherency) of OLED displays. The silica nano-gratings have yielded a 60-percent increase in light extraction efficiency, no small potatoes. File this one under "research," as Toshiba itself says this tech is years away from commercial reality; of course, Toshiba's been saying that about OLED for a long time now.
Nanoco shows off quantum dot displays, no flux capacitors needed
The first question thrown at any new technological development around Engadget HD is, "can it be used to make better HDTVs?" Nanomaterial producer Nanoco Technologies is answering "hopefully soon," by putting its quantum dots to use in OLED displays going under the "QD Technocolour" name. Using the teensy-tiny crystals in displays has been a longtime promise for quantum dots, where the high color purity holds great promise. Like so many nanomaterials, though, the challenge will be scaling up to production (especially to the 50-inch range); hopefully the ability to use inorganic solvents will come in handy for production engineers, because we like the promise of pure colors with long lifetimes. We'll file this under "speculative" for now and look forward to seeing pictures of the prototypes emerge.
LG to produce 15-inch OLED panel this summer
![LG to produce 15-inch OLED panel this summer](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/lg-logo-20090107.jpg)
Samsung's Amorphous Oxide TFT should make OLED production cheaper
Samsung's charging ahead in the wide open world of OLEDs, and its latest development could make things better for everyone. Reportedly, the outfit has conjured up a so-called Amorphous Oxide TFT, which is the proper successor of the Amorphous Silicon TFT that's currently used to tell pixels in OLED displays which colors to switch in order to create images. There are two big boons to all of this -- first off, the newfangled tech is cheaper to mass produce, and secondly, it can be retrofitted into current production lines. No telling when Sammy will be able to get this stuff into shipping products, but we're cautiously crossing our fingers for some positive updates in Vegas.
[Via TechRadar]
[Via TechRadar]
Researchers achieve new efficiency record of blue OLEDs
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/12/12-23-08-franky_so.jpg)
[Via Physorg]
Eco-friendly, well-connected HDTVs to be all the rage at CES 2009
The writing has definitely been on the wall, but CES 2009 is poised to be the showcase for energy-efficient HDTVs. With manufacturers jumping out of the woodwork to trumpet their compliance with Energy Star 3.0, TWICE expects a slew of top-tier TV manufacturers to boast about low power consumption numbers, and considering that a bunch of 'em will be demonstrating LED or OLED-based sets, we aren't surprised to hear it. Potentially more interesting, however, is the notion that "a number of plasma makers are expected to get into the power-savings act with models that significantly reduce draw levels in big-screen displays, taking away another advantage often cited by LCD TV competitors." In related news, we're expecting a record number of internet-connected sets, as TV manufacturers look to steal away market share currently held by STB makers. Sure, we won't see any panel size records shattered, but we're already giddy at what Vegas will hold in just under a month.
Samsung SDI to back away from PMOLED, focus efforts on AMOLED
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/12/12-14-08-samsung-pmoled_2.jpg)
Universal Display, SFC partner up to develop PHOLED tech
![Universal Display and SFC logos](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2008/12/20081205-universaldisplay-sfc.jpg)
Samsung teases with 50-inch OLED TV for CES, scolds us for caring
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/sony-drive-xel-1_001.jpg)
"I'm sure that if we marketed such a set at ten times the price of current LCD TVs, which is what it would be now, no-one would buy it."Kim then shifts into sales-mode by pointing out that Samsung's more power-efficient 240
[Via OLED-Display]
Sony execs talk up Blu-ray, digital downloads and OLED
Both Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow and consumer sales president Jay Vandenbree were caught opening their mouths lately, with one uttering somewhat more respectable statements than the other. Put the two of 'em in a room together, and this is what you get. At a recent media roundtable at the Sony Building, Glasgow confessed that Blu-ray had not met sales expectations, but he still felt confident that there "would be growth this holiday season." Interestingly, he also noted that Sony's low-end price on a Blu-ray deck would remain "stable" at $299 (for now, we presume), though "it might be less in promotional bundling of HD products at retail." The two also felt that Blu-ray Discs and digital downloads could live happily together, pointing out that bandwidth restrictions / caps / etc. would hurt the latter's chances at existing exclusively. Finally, we're told that Sony is toiling away in an attempt to deliver big screen OLED TVs, though (sadly) no time frames were mentioned. Check the read link for the full interview, but don't expect any big surprises.
German labs set new mark for energy efficient white OLEDs
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/11/oled_lab_basf_11-25-08.jpg)
[Via OLED-Info]
South Korean scientists claim development of "true blue" for OLED displays
It's no secret that OLED gurus have had the toughest time improving the life of blue luminance to match the lifespans of its red and green counterparts, but a team of South Korean scientists have purportedly stumbled upon (or developed, as it were) a breakthrough "true blue" material that can "accelerate the development of next-generation organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays." Up until now, scientists have been able to create highly efficient green and red OLED materials, but the inability to make a true blue OLED material was really holding things back. So, now that this little hurdle has been hopped, how's about we get some big screen OLED HDTVs out to the people?
[Via OLED-Info, image courtesy of Universal Display]
[Via OLED-Info, image courtesy of Universal Display]
Samsung drops jaws with 40-inch 1080p OLED display
Anyone who figured OLED would go the way of SED has another thing comin', and Samsung's got the prototype to prove it. Over at the OLED-heavy FPD International 2008 show, Samsung is showcasing the biggest panel (of this nature) that its pilot line can even create: a 40-inch Full HD OLED display. 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of delicious OLED goodness, mixed with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a color gamut of 107% NTSC, a luminance of 200cd/m2 and a thickness of just 8.9-millimeters. Judging by first hand reports, the actual quality wasn't top-notch, but we're willing to forgive the early glitches in hopes of a better tomorrow. Hit the read link for one more look.
[Via OLED-Display]
[Via OLED-Display]
CMEL shows off 1mm-thick 25-inch HD OLED panel
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20090315200820im_/http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/10/10-29-08-cmel-oled-tv.jpg)
[Via OLED-Display]