When do you believe we can see the next step for OLEDs, maybe in Mini Notebooks/Netbooks or Computer Monitors in 8-12 inch sizes?

Currently, the largest AMOLED Fab is Samsung Mobile Displays (SMD), at 730x460 (1/2 Gen 4). If we accept the premise that it requires at least 4-up panels to be economically viable, then the largest panels in mass production would be 15” wide. SMD has shown a 14.1” prototype and LG Display has shown a 15.1” prototype and it is likely that small volumes of these two panels will be released in late 2009 or early 2010. SMD has also shown a 31” TV and Sony has shown a 27 inch TV. It is possible that both products will be available in low volumes and very high prices in 2010.

Many major companies set there focus to OLED to their mobile devices. Do you think that we see some Apple products with OLED in the next few months?

Apple is very quiet about their products in development and although the rumors are abundant about an iPhone or iPod using an OLED, I suspect the rumors are premature. Apple has been reluctant to use OLEDs because of capacity and some performance issues. Apple tested an AMOLED early on when Sanyo Kodak released a product and apparently was very impressed by the front of screen performance and thin form factor even putting their own NRE to make it work better, but the early AMOLED was never able to meet spec. Perhaps, Apple will reconsider on the basis of some of the new products released by SMD, especially the display in the Zune.

At the OLED Association website there is a OLED-A Flat Panel Display section what can we expect here? http://www.oled-a.org/flat_panel_display.cfm

We are working on white papers to better quantify the differences between AMOLEDs and TFT LCDs, such as luminance considering color gamut, contrast ratio and gray scale. It has been demonstrated that AMOLEDs with a luminance of 150 cd/m² have the same perceived brightness as TFT LCDs at 250 cd/m²; viewing angles, there is no loss of contrast ratio for OLEDs at virtually any off angle; power consumption, AMOLEDs must be evaluated on the usage model and not just max. power.

LG Display, Samsung, Sony want to roll out OLED Television devices in the next months what do you expect here?

As I indicated previously, we should begin to see small volumes of OLED TVs in 2010. But large volumes will be dependant on reaching 5th, 6th and 7th Gen substrate sizes and we don’t think these larger AMOLED Fabs will be in production until 2011 or 2012.

What are the main problems for the mass production of large OLED panels?

There are three obstacles that must be solved in order to reach the larger Fab sizes and therefore the larger panels

1. Scaling the active matrix substrates – the likely solutions are a-Si with external compensation; metal oxide thin films; crystalline silicon that is printed on glass and nanowires

1. Scaling the deposition process – potential solutions are slot printing, Ink Jet Printing, Laser Induced Thermal Annealing; Using RGBW with a color filter

1. Deep Blue with >50,000 hr lifetime. – the Material suppliers appear to be very close to achieving this goal.

OLED lighting are also a main business in the future, what do you expect here in the next months?

Companies making OLED lighting have small prototype Fabs, with Philips having the largest a 2nd Gen Fab. I believe there will be significant development in the next few months and that efforts to produce larger Fabs are likely. OLED lighting does not face the display maker’s obstacles in that scaling or deep blues are not significant issues. The critical issues for OLED lighting are to improve the efficacy and luminance and to reduce the manufacturing costs.

The Interview was made by Erich Strasser (C) www.oled-display.net

About OLED-Association

By 2007, the OLED Industry had begun to ship products that were used in mobile phones, MP3s, automobiles, and headsets, yet the companies making the material, equipment, displays and lighting were virtually invisible. The newly emerging industry is relatively small – with ~US$500M in global revenues – but a handful of visionary leaders came together to create a forum to spotlight the OLED industry participants. The result is the OLED Association (OLED-A).

Challenges

One of the early challenges facing the industry is marketplace visibility. The new technology will be competing with technology that dominates the display and solid state lighting markets. OLED-A will be a source of information to the media and to the eventual consumers of OLED products