OLED displays? Screw it: OLED backlights instead.

splinemodelsplinemodel
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Researchers focus on efficient flat light source



Quote:

Researchers at Princeton University and The University of Southern California are claiming a major breakthrough in organic light emitting diodes (OLED) for use as a flat, energy efficient natural light source. . .



. . . "This process will enable us to get 100 percent efficiency out of a single, broad spectrum light source," Thompson said. . .



The difficulty in developing long-lasting, high resolution OLED displays themselves has manifested itself in the fact that there aren't any good OLED displays on the market yet, while LCD technology continues to get better and better. Most people don't realize that 90% of the power used by an LCD goes into the relatively inefficient CCD backlight. An LCD with an OLED backlight as described should be able to offer energy efficiency better than that promised by conventional OLED displays, as well as image quality consistent with modern LCD technology.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Good call



    I think it may make the displays thicker though.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    Why would it make them thicker? An OLED sheet can be much thinner than current backlighting. LEDs are already used for backlighting in some screens though.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    Well this is only good news. It's allowing the technology to get a foot hold in the industry, and when it's mature enough it will be able to replace LCD technology.





    Can't wait until this is mated with transparent wire technology to provide screens on your walls... Maybe that's a few decades away though lol.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Sounds like there might be real promise for general interior illumination, not just display backlights.



    Imagine 1/8" thin panels that could be stuck up like so many pieces of paper and which emitted a soft, shadowless light.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    There's a lot of talk but no play in this field. Wake me up in 2012 when something may actually happen...like more talk.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kim kap sol

    There's a lot of talk but no play in this field. Wake me up in 2012 when something may actually happen...like more talk.



    Umm, the lab has been going for 13 years. Now there's a result. That's not talk, that's a result.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    gee4orcegee4orce Posts: 165member
    Give me a display you can actually read in sunlight and I"ll be happy....
  • Reply 8 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    Umm, the lab has been going for 13 years. Now there's a result. That's not talk, that's a result.



    A result is something I can hold in my hands. Does the iPod have OLED? No. The MacBook Pro? No. The 30-inch Apple Cinema Display? No. The Canon S3 IS? No. How about a $5,000 big HDTV? No.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,823member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by addabox

    Sounds like there might be real promise for general interior illumination, not just display backlights.



    Imagine 1/8" thin panels that could be stuck up like so many pieces of paper and which emitted a soft, shadowless light.



    '1/8" thin' - Now we know who you really are addabox, SJ himself - yourself!
  • Reply 10 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gee4orce

    Give me a display you can actually read in sunlight and I"ll be happy....



    The problem with sunlight readability is that ambient, outdoor light tends to have different tones based on the environment. So you can't get true color. The other issue is that aside from some very new displays from Samsung (which are small), transflective displays require a rear one-way mirror that greatly increases that thickness of the display module, as well as limits indoor brightness.



    So, for the time being and the foreseeable future, laptops will not be very useable in direct sunlight. There's not much anyone can do about this.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    A result is something I can hold in my hands. Does the iPod have OLED? No. The MacBook Pro? No. The 30-inch Apple Cinema Display? No. The Canon S3 IS? No. How about a $5,000 big HDTV? No.



    There are several on the market today. Some cell phones have OLED displays.
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