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Universal Display ships eight wrist-worn OLED displays to military, too late to help Noble Team
We had a little fun with Universal Display Corporation's flexible OLED display at CES a few years back, ruggedized and militarized and destined for Army wrists of the future. Little did we know that future would be so close. The company has just confirmed that it has delivered eight of the 4.3-inch, 320 x 240 screens to the US Army for "military evaluation and testing" and, while it doesn't sound like there's a specific purpose in mind at the moment, we're pretty sure they'll come up with something to do with them. We know we sure would. Update: We got a new picture of the current version above, and a second picture below of it being tortured on the rack.
New mass-production technique for flexible OLEDs could make them cheap
Getting tired of flexible OLED prototypes that are about as ready for retail as that cold fusion reactor your uncle Harry is building in his garage? Yeah, we are too, but it seems the industry is getting a little closer to reality, the latest step coming courtesy of Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center and Universal Display. Researchers at the pair have managed to produce flexible OLED displays using the same production techniques used to create standard, rather less bendy LCD displays, enabling the transistors that control the pixels to be applied to plastic, rather than the glass they typically find themselves embedded within. They glue a piece of plastic onto glass, feed it through the LCD manufacturing process, then peel the two apart like a high-tech Fruit Roll-Up. That technique was used to create the 4.1-inch monochrome display shown above -- which is for now just another prototype that won't be showing up in any devices any time soon. [Warning: PDF read link][Via Technology Review]
Video: Flexible OLED display for your MJOLNIR armor
As promised, Universal Display Corporation had its 4-inch, flexible, wrist-worn OLED display designed for military use (and nerds) here at CES. Master Chief would be proud. See what we mean after the break.
Universal Display, SFC partner up to develop PHOLED tech
If you're setting out to develop PHOLED (phosphorescent OLED) technology, it can't hurt to have friends in the chemical industry, which explains why Universal Display and Korean company SFC have become industrial BFFs. The two companies have agreed to jointly develop and commercialize those super-efficient PHOLED materials that our HD-loving eyes will want to have in displays if we're to soak up visuals without putting the planet in meltdown. Universal Display will help SFC with non-emitter materials and in return, SFC will transfer "certain existing phosphorescent" materials to Universal Display. Sounds good to us, and we're hoping to see Universal Display's numerous industrial partnerships to pay off in the form of tangible tech soon.
Konica Minolta licenses white PHOLED technology from Universal Display
Technology never stops moving forward -- even as LED lighting begins to enjoy a rollout across various product sectors, new eco-friendly lighting competitors emerge. Sure enough, we're talking OLED technology. Konica Minolta has entered a licensing agreement for some of Universal Display's UniversalPHOLED (phosphorescent OLED) technology. PHOLED lighting may not be as sexy as, say, full motion colorific OLED displays, but knowing how many applications there are for static white light, there's lots of moolah to be made in this technology. And between Konica Minolta's partnerships with Universal Display and General Electric, there could be some exciting developments in the not-too-distant future. And we're not thinking lightbulbs; try ultra-thin, energy efficient PHOLED backlighting as an interim technology while full-fledged OLED displays get mainstreamed.[Images courtesy InternationalLightTech and CityPages]
Universal Display's white OLEDs go easy on the energy bill
Universal Display has a thing for outdoing itself, and just a month after patting itself on the back for setting a new OLED power efficacy record, the outfit is already celebrating an even larger achievement. Reportedly, the company has "successfully demonstrated a record-breaking white OLED with a power efficacy of 102 lumens per watt at 1,000 cd/m2 using its high-efficiency phosphorescent OLED technology." In layman's terms, this means that its OLEDs are sucking down less energy than ever before. In time (before 2015, actually), the US Department of Energy wants someone to create a 150 lm/W commercial OLED light source, and thanks to our trusty abacus, we can definitively say that Universal Display is getting mighty close to said goal. Oh, and considering how badly Sony's XEL-1 performed in power tests, we can only hope this stuff is applicable to the TV sector.
