A partnership with ECD (Energy Conversion Devices) and a government grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, General Electric has produced the first OLED roll-to-roll manufacturing technology.
One of the drawbacks for existing OLED screens are production costs, by putting them through what GE refers to as "conventional batch processes". This new roll-to-roll manufacturing technology would enable them to produce OLED panels much like a newspaper prints circulars.
"Researchers have long dreamed of making OLEDs using a newspaper-printing like roll-to-roll process," said Anil Duggal, manager of GE’s Advanced Technology Program in Organic Electronics. "Now we’ve shown that it is possible. Commercial applications in lighting require low manufacturing costs, and this demonstration is a major milestone on our way to developing low cost OLED lighting devices."
Although its still a few years away from Widescreen deployment like current generation plasma and LCD displays, this type of advancement in production spells great things for supporters of OLED. Recent developments have pushed several manufacturers away from OLED in favor of LCD, but this new development could bring some life back into the development cycle.
Written by: Dave Horvath @ 12 Mar 2008 16:38
