LG fully focussed on OLEDs for the future

LG has decided that the credit crunch isn't a bad thing - it's a golden opportunity. It has vowed to increase spending on 'future growth engines', including a big look at OLEDs and solar cells. After being one of the earliest researchers of OLED tech, LG has seemingly scaled back its efforts in the burgeoning tech category, despite the arrival of an LG OLED TV being apparently imminent. But the company will commit more money into these future technologies, which also includes more efficient solar cells and batteries for electric cars. As you can see... futuristic. The main aim will be to improve the efficiency and yield rates of OLED tech, i.e. losing less panels during the manufacturing process, as this is currently one of the main reasons why OLED costs so much more than LCD on the market.

OLEDs ready for the mainstream

A new display technology that is now starting to receive wide acceptance in the market is Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) displays with sizes ranging from 0.66-in thumbnails to 40-in OLED TV screen now available from Samsung. There were even rumours floating around prior to the US CES 2009 show that Samsung would be launching a 50-in OLED TV screen there. Source: Electronics News

Worldwide OLED revenues up 60% year-to-year in third quarter 2008, report says

DisokaySearch report reveals OLEDs still facing strong competition from LCDs. The worldwide OLED display revenue in 3Q08 was US$141M, down 11% Q/Q but up 60% Y/Y, according to a new report by DisplaySearch.

"OLED displays have very attractive performance: wide viewing angle, wide color gamut at all gray scales, fast response time, low power consumption, thin/light weight and wide operating temperature. Lifetime has improved dramatically in recent years, and red and green lifetimes are long enough for many consumer electronic applications. Despite this, OLEDs still face strong price competition from TFT LCDs and PM LCDs," said Jennifer Colegrove, director of display technologies at DisplaySearch.

"The OLED display industry is changing rapidly, with new companies entering the business, existing companies expanding capacity or exiting the market, and other companies changing their application focus," added Colegrove.

TV forecast for 2009

No surprises here, but the analysts at DisplaySearch have evidently been working overtime in order to revise the 2009 forecast for LCD TV shipments. We're not particularly sure where the originals sat, but if these new numbers prove true, we'll see LCD TV revenue fall year-over-year for the first time in the history of LCD TV shipments. The updated report notes that key factors in the downturn are "reductions in forecast TV prices and revised forecasts for year-over-year shipment growth for LCD and PDP TVs in 2009, down by 7 and 6 points from previous, respectively." As of now, LCD TV revenues are slated to drop 16% year-over-year, with total TV revenues falling 18%. Get a few big-screen OLED TVs out for under two large, and we bet all that changes -- don't mind that we're asking for the impossible or anything.

Kodak increases the lifespan of an OLED TV

Kodak has developed a new type of OLED TV that has a life span of more than 65,000 viewing hours, Kodak claims. The claim would boost the lifespan of emerging OLED TVs, which have been reported to suffer from limited screen lifespans.

OLED TV, or Light Emitting Diode television, is popularly tipped as being set to replace LCD and Plasma TVs over the coming years. Market researchers, DisplaySearch, believe that the global OLED TV market will grow to £10.8 billion by 2015.

Until now there have been concerns over the life span of OLED TVs, and it has been reported that the picture fades severely after only a few thousand hours of watching. Kodak's OLED Material EK-GD403 technology, is said to bring the life span up to around 65,000 hours, which is comparable to the life span of a plasma model.

When Will Large OLED TVs Come Out?

"CEATEC JAPAN 2008," a general exhibition of the latest IT and electronics technologies, took place from Sept 30 to Oct 4, 2008. Among TV-related exhibits, which can be described as the "face" of electronics manufacturers, exhibitors presented a variety of display technologies, including a slim TV with the thinnest part measuring less than one inch (25.4mm), 3D video devices and higher image quality based on a super resolution technology.

Sony Corp attracted many visitors to its booth last year because it announced the world's first 11-inch OLED TV on the day before CEATEC. I remember thinking to myself, "The future of OLED TVs is bright." Sony, of course, presented OLED TVs at this year's CEATEC as well. The company exhibited a new 0.3mm slim OLED panel and an OLED TV that only measures 0.9mm at its slimmest part.

In spite of all this, Panasonic and other manufacturers aiming to commercialize OLED TVs did not have any OELD-related exhibits. And I heard many of the display engineers I met at the show say, "I don't feel the same impact that I felt last year." I suppose such an impression stemmed from their disappointment that they could not see any progress toward larger OLED TV products this year. Read full column at Tech-On.

Sony Shows Wireless OLED TV

Sony Japan has shown off another OLED TV model, it sees Sony taking the XEL-1 concept, removing the power cable and adding a battery to create a wireless OLED TV. Aside from the newly added, and unquoted, battery life stat, specs elsewhere should be exactly the same as the XEL-1. That means a 960 x 540 resolution, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (a believable claim when actually seen) and an 11in diagonal size. The design is a little different from the XEL-1, as the tuner has been moved from below to behind the screen, resulting in a slightly less stylish design, but one that seems more practical. Sony haven't confirmed the release date, and they haven't mentioned the price. 

Sony to Sell OLED TV in Europe in 2009

Sony will expand sales of its 11-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) television to Europe in 2009. According to Japan's influential Nikkei business newspaper, Sony will indeed by selling an OLED TV – most likely an updated version of the XEL-1 – in Europe some time next year. Sony didn't confirm the report but said the XEL-1 television has received a positive reception from consumers in Japan and so an expansion of sales into other markets is being considered.Should Sony decide to launch the set in Europe the announcement could come as soon as the IFA trade show, which begins on Aug. 29 in Berlin and is Europe's largest consumer electronics show.

Sony's XEL-1 has won broad praise for its thinness and bright, vivid images. But at around ¥200,000 (US$1,829) in Japan and around US$2,500 in the U.S. the TV set remains too pricey for most consumers. For Sony to significantly expand sales it will need to increase production from the current 2,000 sets it manufactures per month but technical hurdles remain as OLED is a new technology and production processes are still being refined. The company is planning to invest over $200 million in the mass production of larger OEL screens by the end of this fiscal year. Sony is not alone: Matsushita (Panasonic) is expected to build prototype 40-inch OLED displays in early 2009, with plans of offering them to Japanese customers in 2011. Samsung plans to roll out 14-inch OLED TVs in 2010.

Projected growth of OLED TV

DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, has released the Q2'08 Worldwide Flat Panel Forecast Report showing what applications will grow the fastest over the next eight years. The report forecasts a 167% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for shipments of OLED panels from 2007 to 2015. The CAGR of shipments for mini-note PC applications may be 74% over the coming eight years.

"OLED TV and mini-note PC applications are the next big opportunity for flat panel suppliers," explained David Barnes, VP of Strategic Analysis for DisplaySearch. He added, "Last year, we identified the potential for digital picture frame demand to lead unit growth. That application is still growing strong but these two applications will be even stronger."

Shipments of flat panels for all applications decreased 12% from Q4'07 to 881.7 million units on normal seasonal weakness in Q1'08. Compared to Q1'07, shipments increased 15%, led by demand for mini-note PC, digital picture frames and portable navigation devices. On a unit share basis, mobile phone applications consumed 45.8% of all flat panels in Q1'08. By comparison, the next largest consumption came from conventional PC applications for desktop and laptop displays, which used 9.1% of the flat panels shipped. Panels for LCD TV and Plasma TV sets comprised 3.5% of shipments. On a display area basis, TFT LCD technology provided 88.6% of total FPD area in Q1'08. PDP technology delivered 9.4% and OLED delivered 0.1% of the total.

The Quarterly Worldwide Flat Panel Forecast Report covers all flat panel and CRT technologies in 40 categories of applications. The report provides historical data from 2006 through 2008 and forecasts demand through 2015. Clients obtain detailed data in spreadsheet formats that allow them to create custom studies or create presentations using formatted tables and charts provided.

A glimpse into the future of lighting (OLED technology)

Even though this post refers to OLED technology and its potential as a light source, applied to various situations and environments, and not specifically to TV, it is a very interesting peice of video to watch. I recommend to take 3 minutes to find out what we can expect from OLED technology. The video is found here: ecomagination