Video: OLED technology explained using a pickle and an Igor

Say bub, do you care to know what all that OLED jazz is about? We'll bet you do, but you don't wanna read some dry polysyllabic academic paper written by five guys during their time away from the lab. What you want is a sharp demonstration, preferably by an MIT professor, that goes straight to the point of what an Organic Light Emitting Diode is. Igor, roll in the pickle, please. Okay, he's not an Igor, his name is Vladimir Bulovic, but he does a terrific job of explaining how the passing of electric current excites organic molecules into creating those luscious ultra-bright colors we lust after that can fit inside ridiculously small spaces. Slide past the break to see the vid in full, and yes, it's just as weird as you think it'll be.

[Via OLED Display]

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[kris120890 Posted Oct 2nd 2009 9:57AM]

So what is the organic part made from

[kris120890 Posted Oct 2nd 2009 9:58AM]

Ignore that question

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 9:59AM]

Chinese people are very good at being pixels.

[twoboxen Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:04AM]

Those dill pickle slices laid out side-by-side. I thought the video was pretty clear about that.

[SmokemeaKipper Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:31AM]

Pixels & Pickles

They don't sound similar for nothing.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 12:15PM]

That's why they last longer if you keep them refrigerated.

[Slappy Wag Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:26PM]

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Igor, help me with the bags.
Igor: Soitenly. You take the blonde, I'll take the one in the turban.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I was talking about the luggage.

[hemmy Posted Oct 2nd 2009 5:11PM]

but the real question is, are they kosher pixels?

[Johnathan Posted Oct 5th 2009 2:22AM]

So he was comparing it to the thickness of a hair, hmmm... maybe that's where all of his went. There must have been a lot of comparing going on there.

[JRKScope Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:01AM]

MIT FTW

[MJGAMER 1991 XBL Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:26PM]

MIT fail, no diy instructions =(

[Wwhat Posted Oct 2nd 2009 5:43PM]

See that's why he's a genius, he electrocutes a pickle, get the accounting department to OK it, then adds a sony OLED TV for comparison purposes, and it's best secured on his desk obviously.

[pmaster500 Posted Oct 3rd 2009 5:17PM]

my high school physics teacher did this in class
the pickle smelled like sh**t !!!!

[Wwhat Posted Oct 3rd 2009 7:30PM]

I wonder what word starting with sh and ending in t has 2 empty positions, can't be 'shit' since that would have one *

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 5th 2009 7:38AM]

shift?

[StupidPopMediaReference Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:00AM]

Meh. Alton Brown on Good Eats did it already.

[Brokinarrow Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:07AM]

Simpsons did it!

[Patricio Arnechino Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:19AM]

CSI did it, too

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:29AM]

I saw one of those at the "adult toy store" the other day, it was battery operated and quite a bit longer.

[Farris Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:21PM]

Plus, Alton Brown doesn't sound like Microsoft Sam's voice from WinXP.

If I only had the audio for this, I would SWEAR that it was using a voice synthesizer.

[Dking7 Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:01AM]

so we can make a OLED display from pickles, tomatoes and other vegetables..
(like huge one, for ads...)

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:11AM]

So...
if a pickle gives you yellow light, Green =Yello+Blue where did blue go? (just kidding ok? If you're thinking of replying, just don't. Thanks)
I was saying, R-G/B*A^b2= blue is very hard to make and inefficient.

10 time more efficient in the future!

If only I was patient enough to wait...

Oh well

[CtrlBurn Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:10AM]

The pickle requires a lot of energy to glow. Making a screen out of produce is possible, but you have to pump each object with salt, and use a tremendous amount of energy. You probably also noticed the juice dripping out of the pickle whenever he turned on the electricity, and the smoke coming off of it. Your fruity jumbotron wouldn't last very long.

[nanobis Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:39AM]

At least they'd be easily recyclbe.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:07AM]

pretty phuckin dope.......

[mrnicksta Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:02AM]

pickles taste better when they're glowing!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:06AM]

Very interesting stuff. I hadn't previously known anything about OLED technology except "The O stands for organic....".

[fLim Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:15AM]

Everything is getting sized down nowadays. OLED TV screens, well, we face the problem of really small speakers, if placed on the sides of the screen.

I love bright colours and less power consumption, but I really love great sound.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:24AM]

If you loved great sound, you'd have seperate speakers anyway, right?

[Stereotype Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:49PM]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/24/video-emo-labs-invisible-speakers-visibly-demonstrated/

[simbr Posted Oct 2nd 2009 7:07PM]

Just use two NXT panels with a larger speaker in the base for bass.
Or something like Amina's SoundUnseen.

[KarlB Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:18AM]

So if I get an OLED TV, will there be hot pickle juice dripping out of the bottom of it? That could be a real downside to this technology.

[simbr Posted Oct 2nd 2009 7:12PM]

Better than the alternative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krsj2bcnRlM

[lexitu Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:15AM]

i may be immature, but this looks like?? and the electric current excites what??

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:15AM]

Your Penis

[Yoda Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:16AM]

Can they do this with an Apple?

[JRKScope Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:30AM]

Lol. Maybe then we'll see that on the next MBP generation?

[brdystyls Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:19PM]

Apple's newest latop and desktops screens; Now made with real apples!

[Apple patent troll Posted Oct 2nd 2009 8:11PM]

Yeah they can but it will be 3 times the cost and wont be compatible with other fruits and veggies.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:35AM]

Does anyone else think this guy sounds like the Persian King Xerxes from 300?

[jer Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:35PM]

no

[InsaneGeek Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:37AM]

Reminds me years ago in the 90's I was flown to a branch office of Computerland (they also had a side business as an ISP) in Missouri... while I was working on their SGI mail server at about 2am a couple of guys walk upto me and say "want to see a glowing pickle?" At which point in time I moved from to the other side of the workbench making sure to keep them in my vision the theme song of deliverance was pounding in my head....


Shortly thereafter they produced a dill pickle stuck a fork on each side, cut off the end of a powercord and proceeded to shock the hell out of it, claiming the "ones in more brine are brighter". I gotta say Missouri is a weird, weird place.

[mrnicksta Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:40AM]

"the ones in brine are birghter"

as the guy in the video said, higher sodium content = better glow :-)

[timmy2000 Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:44AM]

,,,get me moose and squirrel!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 10:51AM]

I was shown the glowing pickle in a physics class. I didn't realize that this is what could be done with it. Although, I hope OLEDs don't smell as bad as the pickle did when it was electrocuted

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:03AM]

thank you, i didnt know what OLED stands for until i read this article

-Red-

[Beamo Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:05AM]

what's with calling him Igor just because English isn't his first language? Pretty poor Engadget..

[Farris Posted Oct 2nd 2009 2:23PM]

Igor is pretty common lab lingo for someone that works in a lab.

Go watch "Young Frankenstein."

"Actually, it's pronounced eye-gor!"

[sirapdivad Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:25AM]

I'll give you a nickle if you electrocute my pickle...

[scstsut Posted Oct 2nd 2009 11:25AM]

I always thought they were saying "pixels". My laptop's screen is 1,470,000 pickles!