European ROLLED project promises to print OLEDs on the cheap

Printed and flexible OLEDs aren't exactly uncharted territory, but a group of European organizations led by Finland's VTT Technical Research Center look to be taking things a bit further than most, and they're saying their material could eventually be cheap enough to be used in everything from product packaging to business cards. Helping things on that front is the use of regular roll-to-roll printing technology, which both lowers the cost of manufacturing the material and speeds up the production. The resulting material, which is still a tad mysterious, is apparently about as thick as three of four sheets of paper, and consists of organic sensors encapsulated in a moisture barrier film. According to the researchers, it could also be attached to sensors to measure the freshness of food contained in the packaging, or even be used as a copy protection measure. If all goes as planned, the researchers say the material could be put to commercial use in a "couple of years," and cost just a few cents for some applications.

[Via OLED-Display.net]

[Platinum_Skeet @ Oct 31st 2008 11:34AM]

Good to see someone is making the leap. Can't wait until this hits stateside...

[StalematE @ Oct 31st 2008 11:36AM]

this reminds me of that technology developed for printing solar cells... combining the two would be pretty interesting.

[SumoBackup @ Oct 31st 2008 11:36AM]

This is really starting to get exciting.

With the rapid growth of emerging markets in asia and south america, this could finally bridge the technology accessibility gap, allowing for a truly global technology market. I'm really excited about this.

[nathan.wong @ Oct 31st 2008 11:37AM]

I guess soon enough we'll be seeing stickers and bumper stickers with OLED's on it making us sick of seeing those things. Ah, the days when there was no annoying OLED stickers anywhere...oh, wait, we're living it now!

[iEye @ Oct 31st 2008 11:41AM]

I expect in the future when I go to the local store, the Japanese noodle packaging will cause to have epileptic seizures...

[NEUR0M4NCER @ Oct 31st 2008 11:45AM]

... and imagine the day when you go to the supermarket and some smart-ass hacker changes all of the packaging, "They Live" style to simply say 'Food' or 'Drink'.

[NEUR0M4NCER @ Oct 31st 2008 11:43AM]

Soooooo damn exciting. The future's nearly here!

[rony @ Oct 31st 2008 11:46AM]

I'm not drunk....I swear honey.....that can of sausages just winked at me!!!

[iEye @ Oct 31st 2008 11:53AM]

+1

[Alexandre Emond @ Oct 31st 2008 11:46AM]

After the increase of noise pollution, please welcome another increase in cheap visual pollution.

[Tom G @ Oct 31st 2008 11:54AM]

The application of this that i am most optimistic about is in lighting, because it is so thin and the light is emitted from the entire surface it would make conventional lights seem prehistoric, you could cover your ceiling with one sheet of OLED and the entire room would have the clean, fully lit appearance you always see in futuristic films. And no more ugly light fittings!

[Sasquatch @ Oct 31st 2008 12:10PM]

we could have oled cows soon aswell.

[Joseph @ Oct 31st 2008 12:52PM]

you could also install large sheets of 1/4" plexi covered in diffusers(and light them from the side), similar to what they use in LCD displays, and have your home of the future today, for a reasonable price.

[Mario @ Oct 31st 2008 1:42PM]

Great Idea, Tom.

And you could also connect it to a computer and use it to project a real-time map of the stars, sans light pollution.

And OLED wallpaper which can be changed at will, and can be used to play films on, or play games in 360 degrees.

[Mr.Ironic @ Oct 31st 2008 12:33PM]

We need laws banning advertising. period.

I just seem them as another form of vandalism, an eye sore and a mind infection. Only done by those in charge, they stop you thinking, maybe that's the idea.

Real art would be better.

When is the day when we can see an image somewhere with out it being linked to selling something?

[rob @ Oct 31st 2008 12:56PM]

Yeah, we need more laws controlling what can be seen and expressed. Maybe they should create laws on thought and have police to enforce that too.

[brak @ Oct 31st 2008 1:16PM]

agreed... marketing and media has such a hold on American minds its ridiculous...

as i type this on my Lenovo T61 Widescreen laptop with Intel Centrino Processor with Windows XP connected to a-- j/k

[Mr.Ironic @ Oct 31st 2008 4:14PM]

@rob

"Maybe they should create laws on thought and have police to enforce that too."
No need, that's what the adverts are for.

"Yeah, we need more laws controlling what can be seen and expressed. "
ha we already do, as long as what's expressed is what they want to express. When it comes to adverts perhaps we do but for our (the viewers) benefit. Also seeing something and expressing it are two different things. I'd like to express all over that advert I see with my felt pen, oh wait I can't why's that...

[Mark L @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:13AM]

There should be a law to ban Mr Ironics posts. The posts are not ironic and they are an eye cancer.

[Mr.Ironic @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:29AM]

@Mark

Work in advertising then do we? :)

[patsy @ Oct 31st 2008 1:38PM]

> the researchers say the material could be put to commercial use in a "couple of years"

Hang on, I thought that was supposed to be "five to ten years." Must be a typo.

[Finn @ Oct 31st 2008 1:54PM]

It's not a typo. It will be out within couple of years.

Engadget didn't mentioned that mobile phone with NFC can be used to illuminated OLED. It doesn't require external power source.

[James Scott @ Oct 31st 2008 2:14PM]

Imagine OLED Currency, counterfeiting would be that much harder and the currency be that much more awesome.

[Patriks7 @ Oct 31st 2008 3:52PM]

Unless hackers find a way to make it change its appearance and suddenly from a 5 euro you have a 100 euro bill :p

[hustler @ Nov 1st 2008 3:23AM]

Why not put it on condom !!