OLED Rising
Over the past decade, the television industry has been
dominated by two technologies: Liquid crystal displays and plasma panels.
Global sales figures for LCDs have superseded plasma in recent times, but both
technologies are still the reigning king and queen of consumer displays as a
whole.
Both camps have experienced advancements of their own,
such as the arrival of LED-backlights, 3D, Smart TV, and so forth. However,
there’s a new player waiting by the sidelines to heat up the competition. Meet
OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode), which aims to power the next generation of
displays.
OLED Me Be the One!
Forget
3D HDTVs; this year, thin is most definitely in.
Physical
structure of an active-matrix OLED cell
If you wield a Samsung or Huawei mobile phone, it’s
likely you’re already acquainted with active-matrix OLED screens. OLED is an
organic (carbon and hydrogen) semiconductor which emits light when electricity
is applied. Integrated with televisions, they’re noticeably less power-hungry
than plasma and liquid crystal displays, plus they also offer faster fast
response times and brighter luminance. Unlike transmissive LCD panels, OLED screens
don’t require backlights due to their self-illuminating qualities.
OLED televisions aren’t entirely a new fad. They’ve been
around for some time; the Sony XEL-1 OLED TV was introduced in late 2007 and LG
released a 15-inch model in 2009. however, OLED displays never quite achieved
mainstream status due to their sleep prices and limited screen estate. For
instance, the XEL-1 cost a princely US $2,500 when it was first introduced. Not
bad, until you realize it’s an 11-inch sceen. As expected, Sony has since
stopped production of the short – lived contender. But fast forward to 2012,
and things are noticeably different.
LG and Samsung announced a 55-inch OLED HDTV each during
the recent CES tradeshow. According to LG, the EM9600’s ultra-slim screen is incredibly
light at 7.5kg and measures only 4mm deep. Instead of using regular RGB
sub-pixels, the EM9600 features and additional white component (RGBW) coupled
with Kodak’s filters to recreate ‘more natural colors’. Ironically, Kodak
themselves were one of the original founders of OLED, but they’ve since sold
off their OLED business arm to LG.
Although prices and availability were unconfirmed at the
time of writing, DisplaySearch estimates the LG 55-inch OLED HDTV to cost
approximately US $8,000 at launch. It’s not cheap, but the market research firm
predicts that prices will dip below US $4,000 by end 2013, due to increases in
sales volume and reduced manufacturing costs.
According to Jennifer Colegrove, Vice President of
Emerging Display Technologies for NPD DisplaySearch, OLED technology is ready
to enter large-size applications, but low-cost manufacturing for large panel
sizes will still nose a challenge.
How
OLED cells create light
1. Electrical current flows from the cathode to the anode
through the organic layers, give electrons to the emissive layer and remove
electrons from the conductive layer.
2. Removing electrons from the conductive layer leaves
holes that need to be filled with the electrons in the emissive layer.
3. The holes jump to the emissive layer and recombine
with the electrons. As the electrons drop into the holes, they release their
extra energy as light.
One
screen to rule them all
Naysayers have brushed off the possibility of OLED
televisions, but it’s apparent that recent events forecast otherwise. Samsung
and LG have already made plans for Gen 8 AMOLED factories to produce larger
panels as opposed to smaller panels tailored for smartphones. Prominent panel
makers like AUO and China-based BOE have also entered the OLED market.
More importantly, according to their president Fumio
Ohtsubo, even Panasonic is joining the OLED crusade, hoping to release their
OLED TV this year. Sharp Corporation, on the other hand, would rather improve
on existing panel technologies rather than adopt OLED.
It’s too early to tell if the AQUOS maker will eventually
regret their decision. But given OLED’s svelte dimensions and superior picture
quality, it’s likely these organic emitters will dominate the flat-panel
landscape down the road. They are superior to LCDs and plasmas in almost every
aspect, from clocking response times in mere microseconds to comparatively
lower power requirements. Plasma panels might be able to produce deep black
depths, but they can’t prevail over OLED’s absolute black levels.
Unlike LG, Samsung’s OLED screens will tout a regular RGB
matrix. And although blue phosphor was once the culprit for OLED’s shorter
lifespan, Samsung has apparently made tangible advancement in this area to
lengthen their OLED’s longevity.
The most pressing hurdle OLED campaigners will have to
overcome at the moment, however, is the overwhelming cost associated with its
manufacturing process. Solve this predicament, and OLED displays will
undeniably become a significant force to be reckoned with. Who knows? OLEDs
might even push PDPs into irrelevance one day.
How
they stack up
Graphical representation of the different panel types and
their characteristics.
Why
OLEDs will reign
Here’s why OLED displays might kill the competition, if
and when, they become affordable to the masses. It might take years for prices
to plummet, but you can be sure that OLED televisions will be here to stay.
Lower power requirements compared to plasma and LCD
panels.
True blacks – no power is consumed when the OLED pixel is
in its ‘off’ state. And no light is emitted either.
Like plasma displays, OLED screens do not require
backlights.
Slimmest profile yet.
OLED pixels retain their color accuracy with minimal
contrast shifts even at extreme viewing angles.
Slender Art – the arrival of OLED
now enables TV makers like LG to create incredibly slim HDTV depths like the
EM9600 depicted here.
