OLED

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are a technology that shows great promise, as they are thinner, lighter, and less expensive to manufacture than their non-organic LED counterparts. Despite their name, however, they are not fully organic, as small amounts of precious metals are required to make them glow. A completely organic and even cheaper alternative could be on its way, though ... researchers from the University of Michigan have created metal-free organic crystals that shine with phosphorescence – until now, only non- or semi-organic compounds have displayed this property. Read More

Sony unveiled the successor to the PSP at its PlayStation Meeting in Tokyo today. While Sony spokespeople continually referred to the device by its codename of Next Generation Portable (NGP), it's not yet clear whether this will be the name of the device when it is brought to market. Read More

For the past few years OLED has stolen most of the spotlight as the next generation technology set to outperform current plasma and LCD displays in terms of both energy efficiency and picture quality. Although OLED is barely out of the blocks, QD Vision and LG Display have just announced a joint development agreement focusing on electroluminescent quantum dot LED (QLED) nanotechnology, which promises to sweep all display technologies before it, including OLED. QLED promises energy efficient displays that offer brighter, richer colors, can be printed on ultra-thin, transparent or flexible substrates and manufactured cheaply. Read More

TDK has been showing off its new OLED film at the CEATEC conference in Chiba, Japan. This flexible film surface can even show images while bending, giving it an immediate advantage over glass displays. TDK hopes to begin production of the film displays within one year, so it might not be such a long time before we see them popping up in our mobile devices. Read More

For people who absolutely, positively have to have Facbook updates and tweets now and can’t even spare the time it takes to pull their mobile phone from their pocket or handbag, Sony Ericsson has unveiled its LiveView Android accessory. The compact device sports a form factor similar to the latest iPod nano and can be clipped to clothing or worn like a wristwatch just like Apple’s device. But LiveView offers extra functionality that effectively makes it a remote micro display and controller for a mobile phone. Read More

As well as the super-thin, next-generation TV’s we’re all looking forward to, organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs, also hold great potential as a light source. They are extremely energy efficient, dimmable, can produce many different colors, emit light over an extended area and the light they produce is diffuse and non-glaring. The thin, flat nature of OLEDs also makes it possible to create light sources in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. However, until now, the physical characteristics of OLEDs have meant they have had to be powered from low-voltage direct current (DC) sources. Philips Research has now developed the first ever OLED module that can be powered directly from a mains electricity supply. Read More

LG is expanding its OLED TV line-up with a 31-inch, 3D capable model on show at IFA 2010. The new, super-slim 3D TV will join the company's existing 15-inch model on the market next year and LG says it plans to extend the range even further during 2011. Read More

Watermarks, bar codes, RFID tags and holograms are all used on various products to make them harder to copy. One limitation that these things have in common, however, is that they are all added to just part of the product. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research have now developed an anti-counterfeiting measure that is applied to the entire product - fluorescing dyes. Needless to say, counterfeiters will have a much more daunting task when a whole product serves as its own authenticity label, as opposed to one small part of it. Read More

The miniaturization of electronic components has seen mobile devices shrink to the point where screen size is a major limiting factor. That could be set to change with Sony announcing it has developed a super-flexible full color OLED display which can be repeatedly wrapped around a thin cylinder while still producing moving images. Could we soon see mobile phones with pencil form factors and roll out displays? Read More