OLED-T, a developer and manufacturer of world-class organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials and device structures, and Microsharp, a specialist novel optical films company, have today announced a two year DTI funded project to develop a concept product that combines optical films with OLED materials for backlighting. The total grant for the venture is £225,000.

The aim of the project is to develop a high efficiency white-light, thin, flexible, on-plastic OLED solid state lighting system that will initially be geared towards the flat panel display market, in particular micro and flexible displays.

2007 will be an important year for OLED technology everyone who saw Sony showcasing its OLED TV at the CES show last week could be in no doubt about how superb the technology is for display use.  In addition, OLED technology can also be used for lighting applications including backlighting of LCD’s.  Despite our partnership with Microsharp being the first of its kind, we feel that the commercial benefits of the project are immediately obvious.  Our close relationships with backlight suppliers in the Far East mean that we are well placed to promote and leverage the benefits of this joint venture.  We are looking forward to working on this project and are extremely positive about its possibilities, said Myrddin Jones, Chief Executive, OLED-T, to OLED-Info.

So, CES 2007 is over. Here's a short summary of all OLED news from the trade show.

The big story was Sony's new OLED screens. Sony displayed two OLEDs - 27" and 11". While we have seen larger displays (Samsung had 40" AMOLEDs about 2 years ago), it seems like this time people got excited. There were two reasons for that. First of all, the displays simply looked great. There were tons of visitors that said that these displays are amazing. The second reason is that Sony's CEO said that Sony is 'close' to mass produce these devices, and said that it might even be possible to have small OLED TVs as soon as 2008.

On view were prototypes of a wall-sized, 82-inch BRAVIA flat-panel LCD and a 27-inch Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display capable of full HD performance (1920x1080) in a razor-thin form factor. Sony also showcased 11" OLED TVs.

"The prospect of mass production of the panels for smaller size OLED TVs is close to be cleared, and development on the panels for middle / larger-sized is currently under development. "

Canon and Toshiba today announced an agreement by which Canon will purchase from Toshiba all of Toshiba's outstanding shares of SED Inc., which was jointly established by both companies. On completion of the purchase, SED Inc. will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon, effective January 29, 2007.

The decision was reached following discussions between Canon and Toshiba based on the assumption of prolonged litigation pending against Canon in the United States with respect to SED technology. As a result of the discussions, it was decided that Canon will carry out the SED panel business independently in order to facilitate the earliest possible launch of a commercial SED television business.

SED television sets are to be introduced in Japan in the fourth quarter of this year as originally scheduled, although Canon will reassess its future mass-production plans for SED panels.

Arrowhead Research Corporation announced today that its 5majority-owned subsidiary, Unidym, has entered into a collaborative agreement with the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in Singapore to develop OLEDs incorporating transparent electrodes made of carbon nanotubes. Under the terms of the agreement, Unidym will provide IMRE researchers with access to its proprietary, carbon nanotube-based, transparent electrodes which IMRE will incorporate into its OLED devices.

Carbon nanotube-based transparent electrodes have the potential to improve the performance of OLEDs while also reducing their production costs.

The 2.2-inch A220A screens boast QVGA resolution (240 x 320) and 262,000 colors.

Our pictures of these OLEDs do not do these little screens justice -- they are amazing, and we want them in our handsets (or portable gaming devices) now.

Sony Electronics is looking at ways to bring flat-panel TVs based around organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer and Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said in an interview to C|Net. It is not as far off as you might think," Glasgow said. "Perhaps next year."

The company, for instance, has to figure out how to mass-manufacture them at a price consumers are willing to pay.

Sitting on the front edge of the system is a small OLED readout, called the Toshiba Edge Display. This, by default, shows you the time, the battery level, and the wireless signal strength, but it can also be used with a new Windows Vista feature called Active Notification. If you set up a POP3 e-mail account with Outlook 2007, Active Notifications allows the system's wireless connection to stay active (or cycle on and off periodically) even when the laptop is closed and in sleep mode. If a new e-mail message comes in, the Edge Display can display an appropriate icon.

Read more here (C|Net)

Makoto Kawamura, president of Kyocera Corp, says - "Kyocera will start mass-producing organic electroluminescence (OLED) displays this spring. Currently, the displays in many cell phones and home electronic products are liquid crystal. But organic EL consumes less electricity and can be made thinner."

The 'homemade' pong watch is almost done.

It features a 96x64, green color OLED display. The display is always on, and battery lasts 25 hours.