Browse by topic

News

LG.Philips patents new flexible OLED display

30 July 2007 16:41 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 14 comments

LG.Philips LCD has patented a flexible OLED screen technology that would use oil and water to produce images. This should help to produce OLED displays at a much lower cost.

One of the current problems with OLED flexible technology is the fact that it must be produced first on glass due to the fact that it is made at a higher temperature than the melting point of its plastic substrate. The extra glass step increases production costs as well as time spent.

LG. Philips LCD says the "new displays are designed by placing oil and water contained in tiny plastic cells connected to plastic electrodes."

The patent itself says the display uses reflective electrodes formed on the first substrate alongside a transparent insulation layer. The second substrate consists of an electrode and in between two is an electrode layer formed by water and a non electrolytic layer formed by oil.

According to Dailytech, "the oil, which is opaque, sits on the water and covers the colored surface beneath. By applying an electric field, the oil is forced away from the water, making the colored surface visible and changing the pixel color."

As usual, there are no details on manufacturing date or release date and it has so far only patented the technology.

Source:
DailyTech

Permalink to this article

EFF worried patent reform will halt watchdog project (6 February 2008)

Toshiba drops plans for OLED televisions (16 December 2007)

LG.Philips develops dirt resistant LCD prototype (17 November 2007)

Philips demos 3D VOD at IBC (8 September 2007)

Philips developing smart PVR system (4 September 2007)

LG and DisplayLink show off USB-connected widescreen monitor at IFA (1 September 2007)

BenQ introduces new E-series LCD monitors (10 August 2007)

Sharp sues Samsung over LCD patents (6 August 2007)

« Previous news article
RIAA retracts "evidence" not related to their case

Next news article »
Fall television pilots reach P2P early

Post your comment

Discuss this article!
OzMick (Inactive) 30 July 2007 17:16
Sounds blurry, I can't imagine getting an awfully high refresh rate. LCD crystals only need to make fairly short range local movements to form a helix sort of pattern, but even they suffer quite a bit from slow refresh, and this is relying upon bulk mass transfer. And what about orientation? How is this going to work horizontally as opposed to vertically? Sounds like an almost useless technology to me. [ + quote]
jemaric (Junior Member) 30 July 2007 17:54
glass displays are safer to clean [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30 July 2007 17:59
jemaric (Junior Member) 30 July 2007 17:56
*Originally posted by jemaric:* glass displays are safer to clean [ + quote]
Drango (Inactive) 31 July 2007 2:08
*Quote:* And what about orientation? How is this going to work horizontally as opposed to vertically? Sounds like an almost useless technology to me. Thats why they are creating amazing devices and you are chipping in your two cents on something i'm sure you have no real clue about(not that i do either)or else you would be patenting technology which is useful. [ + quote]
Drango (Inactive) 31 July 2007 2:08
*Quote:* And what about orientation? How is this going to work horizontally as opposed to vertically? Sounds like an almost useless technology to me. Thats why they are creating amazing devices and you are chipping in your two cents on something i'm sure you have no real clue about(not that i do either)or else you would be patenting technology which is useful. [ + quote]
thecraigc (Senior Member) 31 July 2007 6:11
there was a video of this on youtube a while ago... they were bending it - was so cool! here it is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1buy3N_Fvsg [ + quote]
OzMick (Inactive) 31 July 2007 15:00
*Quote:* Thats why they are creating amazing devices and you are chipping in your two cents on something i'm sure you have no real clue about(not that i do either)or else you would be patenting technology which is useful. I've actually got a degree in Chemical Engineering with a Material Processing minor, and I had to do a report on LCD principles in my final year. The technology doesn't sound too dissimilar, and the description talks about oil and water, where the oil is behaving just like the liquid crystals. The orientation thing is going to mean that the display constantly requires power draw, as you're going to be permanently fighting physics. At least LCD displays have a default off state (and technologies also exist that can lock an LCD on with no power once set). This display is almost by definition indeterminate in state when no power is applied, so is not good for portability. That is all I was trying to say. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 1 August 2007 18:48
This is a bit blurry and confusing to understand i guess we will have to wait for an updated article to see what this is going to actually mean. [ + quote]
pk5353 (Newbie) 4 August 2007 17:21
Ozmick....thanks for the comments, it reads like you were thinking out loud. Been looking forward to flexible screens for some time, interesting to see them finally making some advances....no matter how strange it may seem. Appreciate your insight. [ + quote]
pmshah (Newbie) 5 August 2007 19:03
*Quote:* *Quote:* Thats why they are creating amazing devices and you are chipping in your two cents on something i'm sure you have no real clue about(not that i do either)or else you would be patenting technology which is useful. I've actually got a degree in Chemical Engineering with a Material Processing minor, and I had to do a report on LCD principles in my final year. The technology doesn't sound too dissimilar, and the description talks about oil and water, where the oil is behaving just like the liquid crystals. The orientation thing is going to mean that the display constantly requires power draw, as you're going to be permanently fighting physics. At least LCD displays have a default off state (and technologies also exist that can lock an LCD on with no power once set). This display is almost by definition indeterminate in state when no power is applied, so is not good for portability. That is all I was trying to say. You are contradicting your self. If the the OLED display requires power continuously it means that it is monostable display in which case it would be defaulting to off state when the power is removed. It it DOES NOT require power to maintain its state - it means it is a bistable display - meaning power required would be much lower compared to currently available LCD displays not utilising the lockable on state technology. In any case when the display id off there is no back light - so it should remain dark I suppose. To jemaric. Almost all touch screens on PDAs get scratched on usage with time. However I have also seen early models of Palm which were absolutely unscratched even after extended heavy use. The material used would be the determining factor. To ozmick : From the description of the device - as I understood it - there would be no real world liquid crystals in the display. So question of orientation + polarising screen - to achieve transparency/opacity should not arise. It seems more like a take off from the Texas Instruments LDAP technology of reflective mirrors & LCOS. Except for the fact that they are using controlled transmissive rather than reflective properties. [ + quote]
Unfocused (Member) 14 August 2007 17:06
So,what happens if something else in your house creates an electric field? Will this interferance affect the display? [ + quote]
zorb43 (Newbie) 15 September 2007 11:04
*Quote:* *Originally posted by jemaric:* glass displays are safer to clean [ + quote]
zorb43 (Newbie) 15 September 2007 12:32
*Quote:* *Originally posted by jemaric:* glass displays are safer to clean Yes they most certianly R ... And if you have ever dropped one and it shattered into a million pieces you will know that they R NOT easier to clean up from all over the floor ! [ + quote]
pmshah (Newbie) 16 September 2007 4:12
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by jemaric:* glass displays are safer to clean Yes they most certianly R ... And if you have ever dropped one and it shattered into a million pieces you will know that they R NOT easier to clean up from all over the floor ! If you gently touch any LCD display (I mean as used for the PC/Laptop use) you will feel a soft cushioning & translucent layer which should prevent shattering & covering your floor in the event of breakage. So one need not worry about that aspect. [ + quote]