Mitsubishi Chemical and Pioneer announced that they developed a bluelight-less OLED lighting panel. The OLE-P0909-C3S module which contains this panel is actually already shipping, and it is produced using the wet-coating process developed by the two Japanese companies.
The new panel emits a minimal portion of blue light - less than 1% of the amount emitted by Mitsubishi and Pioneer's regular 3000K OLED panel. The panel is a candle-color type - with a 1900K color temperature. The module size is 92.4x92.4 mm (active area 76x76 mm) and is 4.3 mm thick. The maximum luminance is 3,000 cd/m2.
Blue light has the highest energy among visible light, and it is widely acknowledged to bear harmful effects like discomfort to the eye and damage to the retina, as well as serve as a contributing factor to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and insomnia. Mitsubishi says that the new panels are suitable for storage lighting of light-sensitive items such as cultural heritage and paintings, as well for illumination of bedrooms and medical practices.
In 2014 we reported that Taiwan's WiseChip is entering the OLED lighting market with plans to produce candle-light emitting OLEDs using technology developed at Taiwan's National Tsing-Hua University.
Mitsubishi and Pioneer started to produce OLED panels back in 2011 - and these panels are distributed by Verbatim in Europe and MPOL in Japan. In early 2014, Pioneer and Mitsubishi Chemical announced that they began to mass produce OLED lighting modules made with a "wet coating system".
Comments
Matthew-
I will be diplomatic here- I understand your reservations on the photometrics here.
However I don't think we see this particular development in the same context, you seem to fixate on the exclusion of the blue wavelength as a flaw. I believe the firms are working on this ju jitsu approach, where an OLED product like this may be counter indicated as say museum lighting or as a general illumination product because of the blue wave length emission factor.
So the logic is- play to its' strengths.
This iteration of OLEDs will be welcome in these two up and coming applications for OLEDs In Horticultural applications (either by themselves or in OLED-ILED hybrid units) this arena is fairly advanced over in Japan. The second point of deployment is seen in their role in HC lighting. The current similar example would be OLEDWorks Healthcare specialty lighting- It too has a minimal blue output quotient.
It's how ya deploy the technology- what might seem to be a deviancy from standard chromatic traits may be an unbelievably great opportunity... it's both about a technological application and the approaches taken that matter with this product(class).
As I see it, the release seems to create an atmosphere where blue is universally unacceptable. While I agree that there are applications where the lack of blue is beneficial - especially in the areas that you cite.
At one point, there were several studies done on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the problems that it causes. In those case, "daylight" lighting has proven to be a relief to those who suffer from it.
Now, this is turned on its head, but in the reference I cited, it is only in extreme cases, i.e., night shift workers, where lighting with blue wavelengths is problematic.
I think the real problem is polarizing the debate. That is, to say blue is good or blue is bad when perhaps it should really be framed in a more general nature, that is, whether blue is helpful or harmful depends entirely on the context, and I think you and I are on the same page as this.
However, I worry when blanket statements are made, and perhaps it was those who wrote this article, since blue is good in the right context.
Matthew-
I expect that we have areas of agreement and some where we differ. Such is life!
As an aside, I am a member of the Human Centric lighting society and committee and
I am the groups' OLED guy ... So at least my thoughts on OLED integration in this fascinating subset are predicated on - and supplemented with the aggregate wisdom of that august group.
It bears mentioning because there are a plethora of proclaimed HCL specialist who would not know what an ipGRC was if it bit them.
Personally, I like blue light in my 5000 - 6000K lights, and would abhor 1900K lighting. According to this article, blue light appears harmful only to people working the night shift. While something like these panels may prevent some maladies to people working the night shift, I sure hope that they do not become ubiquitous. Like some people, I sleep during the night, and have limited exposure to any of my "daylight" lighting at night. I turn all my lighting down or off in the evening as I know doing so will minimize the effects of that lighting on my circadian rhythm.
Since blue OLED currently has the shortest lifetime, I cannot help but wonder if this is a marketing spin (or scare) designed to protect manufacturers from complaints that their lighting panels do not last very long. If so, it is a sorry excuse, IMHO.