Technical / Research - Page 115

Leadis Technology today announced production volume shipments of the LDS522, a 65K color OLED driver IC with integrated controller supporting 128 (RGB) x 68, 128 (RGB) x 36, and 96 (RGB) x 68 display resolutions. Engineered for mobile phone sub-displays and MP3 players, the device has achieved an initial design-win in the secondary display of a handset for a top-tier supplier.

The LDS522 offers multiple methods for display optimization, including gamma correction, luminance control, temperature variation compensation, and an EEPROM-based adjustment to address panel-to-panel process variation. The product provides a 65K color upgrade to the area-color capable LDS518 and a resolution upgrade to the LDS514 and LDS516, two of Leadis' other 65K color OLED offerings. Integrating 139k bits of full frame memory, an on-chip oscillator, and a DC/DC converter, the LDS522 is a highly-integrated SoC designed to provide vivid and accurate color images across a variety of operating conditions.

In addition, the LDS522 includes programmable display features such as area scrolling, partial display, and color depth selection for enhanced screen performance.

Idemitsu Kosan and Universal Display Corporation today announced that they have signed a non-exclusive collaboration agreement to accelerate the development of blue phosphorescent OLED materials. The collaboration will focus on blue phosphorescent OLED materials for use in displays fabricated through "dry" processing methods, such as vacuum thermal evaporation. The collaboration work will start between Universal Display and Idemitsu Kosan immediately after execution of their agreement.

To date, Idemitsu Kosan has been developing and commercializing mainly excellent fluorescent OLED materials (blue, green and red). Idemitsu Kosan is now supplying these materials to OLED display manufacturers throughout the world. Idemitsu Kosan is especially well-known for its blue fluorescent OLED material, which currently has the top market share in the world.

Universal Display is a leading developer of OLED technologies and materials, and holds basic patents on phosphorescent OLEDs. Many OLED display manufacturers are now evaluating Universal Display's PHOLED(TM) phosphorescent OLED technology and its red and green PHOLED materials, and Universal Display's red PHOLED material is currently being used in commercial production.

With Idemitsu Kosan's valuable experience and accomplishments in the development of blue fluorescent OLED materials, and Universal Display's leadership and pioneering efforts in phosphorescent OLED technology and materials, both companies are optimistic that they will be able to accelerate progress in the area of blue phosphorescent OLEDs through this collaboration.

Novaled and Heliatek have entered into a licensing agreement concerning the use of Novaled PIN OLED™ technology for solar cell application.

With this agreement, Heliatek will develop high performing organic solar cells using the power efficiency given by the Novaled PIN OLED™ technologies and Novaled unique molecular dopants. Both Companies in addition will cooperate on further developing the organic based photovoltaic technologies.

Press release by eMagin - Sensor Technology Systems, Inc., has selected Tek Gear’s eMagin-based (AMEX:EMA) O2 microdisplay OEM kit for their new Enhanced Heads-Up Display (E-HUD) module for the AN/PVS-21 Low Profile Night Vision Goggle. The O2 OEM Kit is a drop in module that makes it easy to integrate high resolution microdisplays into new and existing designs. The O2 Kit includes eMagin’s new SVGA+ OLED-XL microdisplays and Tek Gear’s high performance controller.

Alan Page, General Manager, STS said - The OLED-XL provides the sharpest, brightest and most vibrant image we have seen on a microdisplay.

Tek Gear originally designed, tested and delivered the O2 kit with eMagin’s color SVGA+ OLED microdisplay. According to Tony Havelka, President, Tek Gear, When we did our tests with the new color OLED-XL we were amazed that we could obtain an incredibly bright image (>300 cd/m2) at less than 900mW for the entire system at its highest luminance setting.

Digitimes has an interesting five part interview with Paul Hyland, President and CEO of Aixtron, and Dr. William (Bill) Elder, Executive Vice President at Aixtron.

From the interview -

I think the potential we’re talking about for OLED technology is still very valid...the incumbent technology getting progressively better and better and pushing new technology further out. But it will come.

The industry is still coming to terms with the chemistry of OLED and therefore the process, which means mastering the yield, the throughput, the lifetime. These are all factors that have to be addressed before OLED technology will enter the commercial market, and if the chemistry changes, then the process and the equipment have to be adjusted accordingly. I don’t think it’s open for me. I’m quite certain that OLED technology will be a player. For me, it’s a question of the timing.

Has there been any development in the last 12 months? Well, we’ve continued to work with our partners, both in terms of government and European funded programs, and commercial customers such as RitDisplay. That activity is continuing. If there is a development, then it would probably be increased interest and focus on OLED as a lighting source.

Read more here 

Ron Mertens from OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Ian Underwood, Strategic Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of MicroEmissive Display (MED). Ian is also the co-inventor of its PLED (also called P-OLED) microdisplay technology. Prior to 1999 he was at The University of Edinburgh where he carried out pioneering research and development in the field of liquid crystal microdisplays between 1983 and 1999. Ian has recently co-authored a book about microdisplays.

MicroEmissive Displays (MED) was founded in 1999 with the aim of developing and commercialising a new microdisplay technology using PLED materials. MED is a public company listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. In september 2006 MED has announced that it has raised over $9 million, and has revealed its plans for a volume manufacturing facility for its polymer light emitting diode (PLED) microdisplay products.

In an advance that could hasten the day when energy-efficient glowing plastic sheets replace traditional lightbulbs, a method for printing microscopic lenses nearly doubles the amount of photons coming out of the materials, called organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs.

Stephen Forrest, an electrical engineer and vice president of research at the University of Michigan, says his technology increases the light output of the thin, flexible OLEDs by 70 percent. "They just create local curvature that allows light to pass through," he explains.

Solid-state lighting, using either organic or inorganic based light-emitting diodes (LEDs), is revolutionising the way we generate light for everything from back-lighting on your mobile phone to traffic signals and home-lighting.

The challenge in this area is to make organic LEDs (OLEDs) that can compete with existing light sources in efficiency, stability, colour quality and operation lifetime. Ching-Fong Shu of the National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, and colleagues have now created a white light OLED that fulfils several of these prerequisites. They combined a blue-emitting polymer with a green-emitting polymer and a red emitter to produce their promising device.

In the Next Generation Computing Show 2006 in Korea, ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) showcased a flexible OLED prototype.

Just two months after announcing a significant improvement in blue polymer lifetimes, Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) and Sumation announced another lifetime milestone for blue light emitting polymers.

Data from devices produced using these latest, solution processable, fluorescent materials show lifetime of 25,000 hours from an initial luminance of 400cd/m², equivalent to 400,000 hours from 100cd/m².