new article about Sony and OLED(could they use it for PSP?)

[Panajev2001a]

Sony speeds development of next-gen mobile screens
09:46 Friday 13th June 2003
Richard Shim, CNET News.com


The electronics giant is pumping up its investment in OLED screens, which could mean longer battery life for mobile phones and other gadgets
Sony is increasing its commitment to organic light-emitting diode display technology by further investing in a joint venture to produce OLED screens and use them in mobile devices.

Sony announced on Thursday that it will invest another 9bn yen (£46.7m) in a joint venture with Toyota Industries as a way of speeding the production OLED displays. Sony said mass production of OLED panels will begin in the spring of next year. The joint venture, called ST-LCD, currently produces liquid-crystal display screens. The initial OLED panels, which will be about 2 inches diagonal, will be used in mobile devices from Sony.



OLED is viewed as the successor to liquid crystal displays in screen technology. OLED displays don't require a backlight because the materials used in the display light up when an electrical charge is applied. The light-emitting characteristic means that devices don't need as much power to run and can be thinner than LCDs, which are dependant on a backlight. Screens are the most power-consuming and expensive component in most mobile computing devices.

The market for OLED displays is projected to grow from $112m (£68m) worldwide in 2002 to $3.1bn by 2007, according to a report from research group DisplaySearch.

As a major manufacturer of mobile devices, Sony's efforts to use OLED screens will help to grow the market for the technology. The company expects video applications for portable products, such as digital cameras and mobile phones, to increase, and the ability of OLED screens to consume less power than LCD screens while still providing bright images makes the technology an attractive option.

Sony has been aggressive in backing OLED technology. In early February 2001, the company was demonstrating a large-size OLED panel, but now the company is looking at smaller sizes as well.

"This move for Sony is natural and welcome," said Kimberly Allen, an analyst with research firm iSuppli/Stanford Resources. "Large sizes are good, but there are already uses for smaller panels.

OLED technology is being used in screens for digital cameras, cell phones and electric shavers.

 

[Paul]

Maybe some version of it. Whatever they use I'm sure PSP will turn out good.

 

[Tagrineth]

Mm. But isn't the average life of an OLED display a bit... low? And I was under the impression that they're also relatively fragile, especially compared to GBA's maddeningly durable HD-TFT.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Put a protective layer over it and the life can and will be improoved ( hopefully in time with the PSP's launch )...

365 days * 10 hours ( of gaming a day ) * 4 years = 14,600 hours

 

[Brimstone]

It would be great to see this technology in the PSP. A good screen is a must.

 

[Grall]

OLED screens might NEVER reach the life expectancy of an LCD screen, the 10.000 or so hours quoted for current tech is just fine for mobile phones which even under heavy use won't be lighted for even five minutes a day unless the user really likes to play lots of worm or any of the other inane, stupid built-in games usually found in cellphones.

I'd expect PSP to use a well-known tech for the screen, it's plenty experimental as it is with its high-performance 3D hardware and disc drive in a handheld gaming device.


*G*

 

[PC-Engine]

Well if the PSP uses OLED then SONY could sell more PSPs because they'll need replacement sooner

 

[Paul]

Stop trolling..

 

[nondescript]

http://www.planetanalog.com/news/OEG20030514S0041

13 June 2003
AUO brightens prospects of OLED modules

By Mike Clendenin

EE Times
May 14, 2003 (3:29 p.m. EST)


TAIPEI, Taiwan — AU Optronics Corp. and Universal Display Corp. have marked a milestone in bringing low-power OLED technology to the masses. By integrating phosphorescent material with amorphous silicon, thin-film transistor backplane technology, the companies estimate they can triple the panel's life expectancy.

The accomplishment introduces a more energy-efficient phosphorescent material to the emerging display technology. That could help overcome two of the key obstacles for active matrix Organic Light Emitting Devices, namely life expectancy and power consumption. It could also help OLEDs become more ubiquitous in applications ranging from color cell phones to electric shavers.

AU and UDC have been working together for about two years with the primary focus of combining phosphorescent material with amorphous silicon, which is the dominant backplane technology for LCDs. his development is indeed significant,?said Kimberly Allen, an analyst at iSuppli/Stanford Resources and author of their OLED report.

It combines two technologies that are considered important for the future of OLED. a-Si is less expensive and more available than poly-Si, and can be used for very large panels—poly-Si cannot yet. The phosphorescent materials have higher efficiency than fluorescent ones, which is in fact what makes using the a-Si possible. Otherwise, the lower mobility of a-Si compared to poly-Si makes it impossible,?she said.

Both companies are trying to strengthen the prospects of AMOLEDs, which will try to replace more mature LCD technology in a handful of key markets over the next several years.

The emerging market for OLED displays took its first steps toward success in 2002, with a total of 4.9 million units racking up revenues of more than $90 million, according to iSuppli/Stanford Resources. Unit shipments are exepcted to triple to more than 15.7 million in 2003 and revenues will grow to more than $215 million.

ut this is just the precursor to a real boom. By 2009, units shipments of OLED displays will jump 30-fold to more than 458 million and revenues will amount to an impressive $3.1 billion,?according to a recent report by iSuppli/Stanford Resources.

Color mobile phones and monochrome industrial equipment will be the largest markets within six years, followed by digital cameras, camcorders, PDAs and handheld games. Total shipments will rise from nearly 5000 in 2002 to more than 450,000 in 2009. During that period, the average selling price will drop from about $18 to $7.

Though less mature, but higher performance, poly-silicon TFT technology was once thought of as the better choice for OLEDs, that has changed. AU (in March 2002) and others have shown that full-color AMOLED displays are possible using a-Si backplane technology.

Success in the lab, however, may take a while to replicate in a factory. J.J. Lih, director of AU's OLED division, said his company is still one or two years away from true mass production—in line with industry estimates.

or the active matrix, you not only have to develop the OLED but also the TFT specifically for the OLED application. So you will need time to do that,?Lih said. lso, the integration between the OLED and the TFT is very important and the industry doesn't have the experience in that integration.?

Besides that, production tools in this part of the display industry aren't nearly as standardized as in the mainstream LCD industry, which leads to delays as companies tinker with customization.

Still, Lih said early data show that active matrix OLEDs are ready to compete with LCDs, at least in small-screen size applications. In the case of red phosphorescent materials, only 1.36uA is needed for one single pixel; for fluorescent materials, 5.12uA is needed, according to AU. rom a conservative estimation, we would expect life can be at least extended by a factor of three,?Lih said.

For the green phosphorescent color, the average efficiency is about two times higher. UDC is still working on a reliable blue material, which Lih expects in six months to a year.

The added efficiency—if achieved in volume manufacturing—combined with the lower cost structure of TFT OLEDs (no color filter or backlight), should increase the allure of OLEDs, which still battle TFT LCDs for design wins.

In theory, TFT OLEDs should be more power efficient than TFT LCDs. In practice, they haven't been. But that is changing, Lih said. If you compare the OLED to the reflective LCD, the OLED consumes more power. If you compare the transflective, I think OLED is close but not quite at the same stage yet,?he said. owever, if you are using the higher efficiency material, such as phosphorescence, I believe the OLED will consume less power than transflective.

The companies will detail the advancement next Tuesday (May 20)in a paper to be delivered during the Society for Information Display International Symposium in Baltimore, Md. A prototype will also be on display at the gathering, which runs through May 23.

How strange that I would just happen to see this today....(My cut-and-paste occasionally screws up because I have Chinese XP.)

Anyways, it looks like OLED isn't ready for prime time yet.

2002 -> 90 mil
2003 -> 215 mil
2009 -> 3100 mil

Mass manufacturing in one or two years.

The main point here is power effciency - LEDs are already spectacular - STMicro makes 30% quantum efficiency LEDs (TFT's are a bit lower) OLEM would be double that. Ridiculous. This would definitely help solve the battery life problem...

Life expectancy isn't really a problem...from what I've read, opto-electronics firms aren't really worried about that. They just need the volume to beat TFT.

 

[PC-Engine]

In theory, TFT OLEDs should be more power efficient than TFT LCDs. In practice, they haven't been. But that is changing, Lih said. If you compare the OLED to the reflective LCD, the OLED consumes more power. If you compare the transflective, I think OLED is close but not quite at the same stage yet,?he said. owever, if you are using the higher efficiency material, such as phosphorescence, I believe the OLED will consume less power than transflective.

In other words, you won't benefit from OLEDs during the day. On GBA you can just turn off the light to save power

 

[nondescript]

In theory, TFT OLEDs should be more power efficient than TFT LCDs. In practice, they haven't been. But that is changing, Lih said. If you compare the OLED to the reflective LCD, the OLED consumes more power. If you compare the transflective, I think OLED is close but not quite at the same stage yet,?he said. owever, if you are using the higher efficiency material, such as phosphorescence, I believe the OLED will consume less power than transflective.

In other words, you won't benefit from OLEDs during the day. On GBA you can just turn off the light to save power

Well, of course...OLEDs emit light, LCDs block light. It's like saying paint is more efficient at making a wall a certain color than christmas lights. But you won't see the paint in the dark. The problem is illuminating the LCDs - that's where the power consumption is. Now, if you are only going to use your handheld in sunlight, fine then...but I'd wager under real-world operation, the OLED will get a lot more mileage.

The main point here is power effciency - LEDs are already spectacular - STMicro makes 30% quantum efficiency LEDs (TFT's are a bit lower) OLEM would be double that. Ridiculous. This would definitely help solve the battery life problem...

Quoting myself - I realized I had mixed up LED and LCD, haha... *removes foot from mouth*

OLED's have a quantum efficiency of about 50%, and excitation efficiency of about 35%. By contrast, cutting edge AlInGaP LEDs have 100% quantum efficiency. In any case, OLEDs will give better battery life than LCDs overall.

 

[PC-Engine]

Ever heard of LCDs being lit by white LEDs?

oh and that is also in addition to being able to turn off the LEDs during the day

LCD technology doesn't just automaticallly stop evolving...

 

[nondescript]

Ever heard of LCDs being lit by white LEDs?

That's what many cell phones do now...but to get the efficiencies I stated earlier, you're talking very large LEDs (comparatively speaking). The AlInGaP only emits red light. Also they are quite expensive. A run-of-the-mill white illumination LED is about $1-2. Now, manufacturing efficiences will bring this down quickly, but the same trend will make OLED technology cheaper and better too.

LCD w/ LED backlight is very feasible, and people use it now. But these firms are pouring hundreds of millions dollars into OLED, for the very reason I stated above (and in the article). Power efficiency. (OLEDs also give better contrast and signal response times - but personally, I don't care too much about that - LCD's are good enough for me in that regard)