Video review of the Kodak Wireless OLED Digital Photo Frame
CNet has posted a video interview of Kodak's OLED Wireless Digital Photo Frame, saying that the OLED display offers brilliant color and a sharp image. Update: The video is no longer available.
The 7.6" AMOLED panel offers 800x480 resolution, white to black contrast ratio of 30,000:1. It is made by CMEL.
New Kodak Green Boosts OLED Performance and Energy Efficiency
Eastman Kodak today announced the introduction of a highly efficient OLED material that will enable low-power, full-color displays
with outstanding lifetimes. The new material, trademarked KODAK OLED
Material EK-GD403, utilizes green dopant technology to deliver a new
level of OLED display performance and reliability.
Green dopants are materials that control color output and boost
efficiency.
"Kodak has continued to make greater than 50
percent year-over-year improvements in OLED luminance efficiencies over
the past few years, and we will continue to fill the pipeline with new
innovation to ensure that Kodak OLED materials are ready for use in
emerging large-market applications," said
Corey Hewitt, Operations Manager and Vice President, Kodak OLED Systems (we had an interview with Corey a few months ago).
KODAK OLED Material EK-GD403, used in combination with Kodak OLED
Material EK-BH109, provides low-voltage green OLEDs with luminous
efficiencies greater than 31 cd/A and lifetimes in excess of 65,000
hours (from an initial luminance of 1,000 cd/m(2)
and results in an external quantum efficiency of 8.7%.
CMEL focusing on medium-large (10"+) AMOLED panels
CMEL is adjusting its AMOLED focus to medium- and
large-size panels as result of pricing pressure from TFT LCD in the
small- to medium-size segment, according to company chairman Jau-Yang
Ho.
They say that while AMOLEDs have better quality and colors, it's hard to compete on price against TFT LCDs. It will take time for lower the prices of AMOLEDs.
Apart from developing 7.6-inch AMOLED panel fro Kodak, CMEL will head
for the 10-inch and larger segment. CMEL expects to volume produce
AMOLED TV panels in 2010 or 2011.
CMEL receives 7.6-inch OLED panel orders from Kodak
Digitimes reports that CMEL has landed 7.6" AMOLD panel orders from Kodak. The panels will be used in digital photo frames.
CMEL will start shipping those in September - just in time for Kodak to sell the photo frames in the holiday season.
CMEL has a capacity of 100,000 monthly panels, and is installing a 2nd line (will come online in early 2009)
Kodak OLED Systems Information and Interview
I recently had the chance to interview Mr. Corey Hewitt and Dr. James Buntaine from Kodak OLED Systems. Kodak is where OLEDs were first discovered, and they are still in the fore-front of the technology. This is going to be a long article - these guys have given me a lot of background info, even before answering my questions. But first let's introduce Corey and James:
Mr. Corey Hewitt, Operations Manager & Vice President, Kodak OLED Systems
Mr. Hewitt's responsibilities include worldwide operations, finance, marketing and business development. Corey has traveled and worked closely on a worldwide basis with Dr. Buntaine in determining the future strategy for OLED technology and how it relates to Eastman Kodak Company. Corey received his Business Administration/Finance degree from the University at Buffalo and subsequently completed his Masters of Business Administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Corey has joined Kodak in 1999, and held several positions before becoming the Operations Manager and VP of Kodak OLED Systems.
CMEL expects to volume produce AMOLED TV panels in next two to three years
Digitimes reports that Chi Mei EL (CMEL) expects that its AMOLED TV panel technologies, which are being developed with help from Kodak and DuPont, will see a breakthrough next year, and volume production may start in 2010 or 2011, according to company vice chairman Peter Chen.
CMEL's yield for AMOLED panels has reached 70%, and is expected go up to 85% by the end of 2008, Chen said.
The company's second production line, which is under construction, will come online in October this year, and by then the company's monthly capacity will reach 800,000 units (2.8-inch equivalent), he added.
Barry Young establishes the OLED Association
There's a new OLED group that has just been formed - the OLED Association (OLED-A). The group is managed by Barry Young (Former senior VP, Display Search).
There are ten members in the group - Cambridge Display/Sumitomo, Corning, DuPont, Kodak, eMagin, Ignis, MicroEmissive Displays, Novaled, OLED-T, Samsung SDI, and Universal Display, and OLED-A are working to add more members.
Kodak Signs OLED Cross-License Agreement With LG Display
The license, which is royalty bearing to Kodak, enables LG Display to use Kodak technology, including yield-improving capabilities for Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED) modules, in a variety of small to medium size display applications such as mobile phones, portable media players, picture frames, and small TVs. The agreement also enables LG Display to purchase Kodak's patented OLED materials for use in manufacturing displays. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. We are pleased with the opportunity to expand our relationship with LG Display beyond the Joint Evaluation Agreement we announced in February 2006, said Mary Jane Hellyar, President, Kodak Display Business, and Executive Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. As we said during our recent investor meeting, OLED is an important technology that will help fuel Kodak’s future growth. Our goal is to see AMOLED panels that have been co-developed continue to appear in the industry during 2008.
AMOLED is the newest generation of display technology and will compete in the full spectrum of size ranges, said Andrew Sculley, General Manager and Vice President, Kodak’s Display Business. AMOLED technology offers superior product performance, and ultimately low-cost manufacturing advantages. We’re proud and pleased that LG Display has chosen to incorporate our OLED technology to power a variety of innovative new consumer display products.
Hyun He Ha, Executive Vice President and Head of Small & Medium Displays Business Unit at LG Display, said, The agreement will help strengthen our small and medium size OLED business, and bolster our position in the large OLED market in the long run. We expect the win-win relationship to create vast synergy for the OLED business of both companies.
The agreement with LG Display is the latest in a series of moves that Kodak has made as the company commercializes its innovative OLED technology. Recently, KAGA Electronics of Japan announced plans to introduce the world’s thinnest, lightest portable 1-Seg television featuring a full-color, 3.0-inch OLED display utilizing Kodak’s AMOLED technology, which includes Kodak’s patented Global Mura Compensation that provides overall yield improvement. The KODAK ELITE VISION AMOLED 1-Seg TV was co-developed by Kodak, LG Display, KAGA Electronics and Andes Electronics and will be available in Japan by the end of March 2008.
Digitimes: CMEL reportedly lands orders for 7.6-inch AM OLED panels from Kodak
CMEL recently was reported to have landed orders for 7.6-inch OLED panels from Kodak with shipments to kick off in the middle of this year, according to today's Chinese-language Commercial Times.
CMEL broke a record by delivering over 60,000 units of 2.4- and 2.8-inch AM OLED panels used in handsets in December, added the paper.
eMagin sells OLED patent to Kodak
eMagin assigned to Kodak all rights, title and interest to a patent entitled "Serially-connected Organic Light Emitting Diode Stack Having Conductors Sandwiching Each Light Emitting Layer" (the "Patent"). In consideration to the Company for the transfer of the rights to the Patent, Kodak agreed that:
(1) Each of the Company's quarterly royalty payments owed to Kodak under the certain Nonexclusive Field of Use License Agreement Relating to OLED Technology for Miniature, High Resolution Displays, dated March 29, 1999 between the Company and Kodak, as amended(the "License Agreement") for the second half (from July 1 through December 31) of calendar year 2007 shall be reduced by fifty percent (50%); and
(2) Each of the Company's quarterly royalty payments owed to Kodak under
Section 4.2 of the License Agreement for the calendar year 2008 shall be reduced by fifty percent (50%).
