OLED on valgusdiood, mis on tehtud orgaanilisest materjalist, mis kiirgab valgust, kui elekter sellest läbi juhtida.

OLED'is on asetatud seeria orgaanilisi õhukesi kilesid kahe elektrijuhi vahele. Kui elekter nüüd nendest läbi juhtida, siis hakkab kiirgama erk valgus.

OLED'e saab kasutada ekraanide tootmiseks ja need on suurepäraste värvidega, kiire reageerimisajaga ning laia vaatenurgaga. OLED'i eelis teiste ees on see, et neid ekraane saab toota väga õhukeseid, isegi läbipaistvaid ja painuvaid võrreldes levinud LCD ekraanidega. Õheim prototüüp on vaid 50 mikronit paks. Võimalused on pea piiramatud. OLED ekraanid ei vaja filtreid, et värve vahetada, nagu seda teevad LCD ekraanid.
OLED materjalid on avastatud juba 1960-datel, kuid tehnoloogiasse rakendamiseks on neid hakatud uurima viimase 20 aasta jooksul.

Täna kasutatakse OLED ekraane peamiselt mobiilsetes seadmetes 2" - 4" (nuti- ja mobiiltelefonid, mp3 mängijad ja teised analoogsed seadmed). Need tarbivad tunduvalt vähem voolu ja seega just telefonide puhul eriti kasulikud.

OLED'i eluiga on täna 50000 või veidi rohkem tundi. Kõige raskem on tekitada sinist värvi OLED'ide puhul.

OLED ajalugu

OLED ajalugu:

2010

• January - Samsung's IceTouch is the world's first product with a transparent OLED
• January - Sony want to make flexible OLEDs "as soon as possibe"
• January - Lumiotec starts selling OLED Lighting panel samples
• January - AUO to make small to medium sized OLEDs in 2011
• February - Samsung announces the Super-AMOLED displays with integrated touch
• February - Pioneer and Mitsubishi to co-develop and sale OLED lighting panels
• February - Sony stops producing and marketing the XEL-1 OLED TV in Japan
• February - LG's 15" OLED TV will be released in Europe in May for 1,999 euro
• March - Novaled is working on OLED Lighting for a european car, expects it to enter the market by 2012
• March - Microsoft expects most WP7 devices to use AMOLED displays
• April - Samsung and LG commit to large OLED production investments
• April - Ledon, Panasonic, Kaneka and Neoview-Kolon all unveil new OLED lighting prototypes
• April - Dell and Nokia launch new AMOLED phones
• May - Sony shows a 4.1" rollable paper-thin AMOLED display
• May - Samsung committed $2.2 billion for new Gen 5.5 AMOLED plant
• May - Samsung's AMOLED business is profitable, can't meet demand
• May - Blackbody, Philips and WAC Lighting reveal OLED lamps
• May - Dupont says they can print a 50" AMOLED in 2 minutes
• June - China's first AMOLED pilot production line is ready
• June - Samsung started constuction of their $2.2 billion 5.5-Gen AMOLED plant
• June - MBraun says recent orders suggest customers are ready to launch OLED TVs in 2011
• June - Visionox AMOLED pilot production line is complete

2009

• January - several new phones announced with large AMOLEDs from Sony, Toshiba and Samsung.
• January - Novaled secures 11.2M$ in funding
• January - the OQO Model 02+ is the first PC with an OLED (5")
• January - LG says they can begin to produce their 15" AMOLEDs within 6 months if they get customers.
• January - CES 2009 gives us 15" OLEDs from LG, 4" flexible display from UDC, a 3" Sony Walkman,transparent OLEDs by Samsung and more.
• February - lot's of new OLED gadgets announcements from Samsung Omnia HD (3.7" OLED),W7900/i7410 projector phone, M7600 Beat DJ phone and the TL320 digital camera (3"). Nokia announced the N86 (2.6") phone.
• February - Samsung sees OLED TVs in 2009 and Flexible OLEDs by 2010.
• March - LG to direct investment to OLEDs
• March - Modistech to release OLED lighting products by 2011
• March - PNNL scientists develop efficient blue OLEDs
• March - Samsung says no OLED TV soon, but going to put AMOLEDs in half of their new touch-screen mobiles
• March - Toshiba bought our Panasonic's stake in TMDisplay, will focus on OLEDs. Panasonic still have plans for OLED TVs together with Toshiba within 2 years.
• April - LG says OLEDs to be adoped widely. Will have OLED products soon, OLED TVs by end of 2009, will cost twice as LCDs.
• April - Philips have started to ship OLED samples, (which you can order online now!), remain committed for 2010 commercial launch. They see tunable color and transparent OLEDs within 3-5 years. See somegreat photos (more here) and videos (more here) of their OLED lamps.
• April - Sony shows 21" OLED prototype. Might release 2nd generation OLED TV at IFA 2009(september).
• May - Dupont's new Green OLED materials has over a million hours lifetime
• May - Panasonic teams up with Sumitomo for 40" or larger OLED TVs
• May - Seiko Epson announces new inkjet technology to enable large size HD OLED TVs
• May - Samsung's Ultra Touch S8300 is selling great, 500K units in first month
• May - Samsung: OLED production to quadruple this year, considering next-gen production line
• May - Microsoft unveils the Zune HD with a 3.3" touch AMOLED
• June - Samsung shipping new 800x480 AMOLED panels, and announces new phones with these panels (Omnia 2, Louvre B7610, Haptic)
• June - Samsung claim that their 14.1" and 31" OLED TV panels are ready for production
• June - Samsung claims over 2M pre-orders for the JET phone, and 1.8M for the Ultra Touch
• June - Samsung joins OLED lighting race
• June - LG Displays has a customer that will ship 15" OLED TVs in Korea in December 2009
• July - LG Display to increase capacity, in talks with Nokia to supply OLED panels
• August - Sony delay their next-gen OLED TV to 2010
• August - LG shows their new 15" OLED TV panels
• August - Samsung say they shipped over 2M AMOLED panels in July
• September - Samsung promises an OLED laptop by Q3 2010
• September - Microsoft's Zune HD started shipping, and was sold-out within days
• October - Mitsubishi unveils very-large modular OLED displays
• October - LG will build a new 5G plant, to begin mass-production in 2H 2011
• October - Samsung have achieved 90% yield in their AMOLED plant, and are working 24 hours a day to meet demand
• October - AUO shows new 14" OLED panels, which are "Ready for production"
• November - LG Chem joins the OLED Lighting race, plans products for 2H 2010
• November - Konica Minolta to build a large-scale OLED Lighting plant by march 2014, hopes for a $1 billion business
• November - OSRAM starts to sell their first OLED Lighting product, the ORBEUS
• November - The LG 15" OLED TV is now available in Korea for 2580$
• November - Kyocera stops their OLED program
• December - LG buys Kodak's OLED unit
• December - Google to release the Nexus One phone with a 3.7" touch OLED
• December - OLED shipments rise sharply to over $250 million in Q3 2009
• December - CMO and TPO acquired by Innolux
• December - Doosan to develop and commercialize OLED Lighting

2008

• December - GE to stop working on Incandescent light bulbs - focus on LEDs and OLEDs
• December - Samsung says OLED laptops by 2010, but no OLED TV soon
• December - Project TOPLESS shows an OLED lamp
• November - BASF and OSRAM developed highly efficient white OLEDs
• November - MED is facing financial problems, appoints administration, looking to sell the company
• November - Dresden's COMEDD is open, Germany aims to become an OLED production center
• November - PolyPhotonix is building a new OLED light production line
• November - Zhongxian Tech to build China's first AMOLED plant with 65M$ investment. A new Chinese AMOLED research and production center is announced.
• November - RiTDisplays got orders for 35M PMOLEDs
• November - CMEL introduces new 'MEM' tech to make thinner and lighter AMOLED panels, shows 25" TV
• October - UDC shows flexible OLEDs that are less than 50 micrometer thin
• October - LG are 'cautious' about OLEDs, do not see big investments in the near future
• October - GE says they hope to start selling OLED lighting products in 2010. OSRAM says their own products will be available in 2011/12
• October - China's first OLED production line goes online
• October - CMEL's 7.6" AMOLED panels are now available for purchase
• October - Samsung shows 14" and 31" AMOLED prototypes, might be released in early 2010. Also shows a 40" HD AMOLED and shows interesting flexible and transparent OLEDs.
• September - AMOLED shipments fall, but PMOLED now account for 60% of new MP3 players
• September - Philips offers OLED lighting kits, plans to start selling products in 2009
• September - Kodak announces a wireless digital photo frame with a 7.6" AMOLED (made by CMEL)
• August - TMDisplay develops 2.2" OLED with world's longest lifetime and best efficiency
• August - Utah researchers: OLEDs will not be as efficient as previously thought
• August - Several new devices are announced with AMOLEDs: Nokia N85, iRiver SPINN, Cowon S9 curve,iRiver Unit2 (4.3") and others
• July - DisplayBank estimates 7.1M AMOLED units produced in first half of 2008
• July - TMDisplay to invest 140M$ on production lines for 2.5" AMOLED, sets target output of 1.5M a month
• July - Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI to join forces on OLEDs, make new "Samsung Mobile Displays" unit
• July - LGDisplay to invest 100M$ in new production lines for "smaller then 10 inch" displays
• July - Japanese government and companies team up to develop OLED tech
• June - Hitachi and Canon to make small/medium OLED panels for digital cameras
• June - Major investment in OLED production is announced by Samsung (530$) and LG Display
• June - The OLLA project delivers its final milestone, a followup project (oled100.eu) is announced
• June - UDC shows white OLED with over 100 lm/W
• June - LG Display officially open OLED division and production line
• June - AUO are reportedly back into OLED research (since January 2008)
• June - CMEL gets 21M$ for a new AMOLED production line
• May - Toshiba postpones large OLED TVs, to ship small/medium panels late in 2008
• May - Samsung shows 12.1" OLED for laptops, plans to release OLEDs ranging from 2" to 31" (15 different sizes)
• May - LGDisplay shows 15" XGA OLED TV
• May - Sony goes ahead with 200M$ investment, will release 27" OLED TV within 12 months
• April - OSRAM shows world's first OLED lamp
• April - Sony showcases thin OLED panels
• March - Kodak and LG display sign AMOLED cross-licensing agreement
• March - Samsung SDI’s AMOLEDs Reach Mass Production
• March - GE Demonstrates World's First "Roll-to-Roll" Manufactured OLEDs
• March - OLED Lighting Technology from OSRAM Achieves New Levels of Efficiency and Lifetime
• February - Sony to spend 200M$ on OLED production tech
• January - Sony sold first batch (1,300 units) of XEL-1 in one day, starts to sell it in the US
• January - Lot's of new AMOLED products announced (Samsung camera, iRiver A/V player, several mobile phones in Japan)
• January - CMEL producing 150,000 panels a months, gets orders for 7.6" panels from kodak
• January - Panasonic says no OLED TV till 2012-2014

2007

• December - Toshiba shelves plans to sell OLED TVs in 2009/10
• December - Samsung says will have 31" AMOLED TV prototype in CES, Commercial 40" TVs in 2010, and 14" panels in 2008
• November - Novaled reaches 100,000h lifetime for a highly efficient white OLED
• November - The world's first OLED TV, the Sony XEL-1 (11") starts to sell in Japan for 1,800$
• October - Sony announces the XEL-1, the first ever OLED TV (11")
• October - Samsung SDI and LG expand AMOLED production lines, fulfill orders
• October - CMEL begin shipment of ~2" AMOLED panels, showcases 4.3" and 7.6" panels
• October - Seiko Epson expanded OLED lifetime, to start making OLED panels (8" to 21")
• October - Samsung SDI shows OLED roadmap and claims 21" monitors in 2009, 42" HD TVs by 2010 and OLED lighting 'soon'
• August - Sumitomo plans OLED TVs by 2009
• July - LG Electronics moves into AMOLED mass production
• July - CMEL sampling 2.4" AMOLED panels
• July - Sumitomo acquires CDT for 285M$
• May - Mitsubishi to enter OLED market
• May - Novaled Achieving Groundbreaking Lifetimes For fluorescent PIN OLEDs
• May - Sony shows Flexible OLEDs
• May - Samsung SDI to make OLED TVs in 2009
• April - Sony to sell 11" OLED TVs in 2007
• April - TMDisplay to sell 21" OLED TVs in 2009
• April - Toshiba plans to launch 30" OLED TVs in 2009 (Update: in December 2007 Toshiba shelved those plans)
• March - KDDI starts selling a phone with a 2.4" AMOLED display.
• March - Konica Minolta and GE to jointly develop OLED light products.
• February - Sony begins production of AMOLED panels.
• January - Sony showcases 27" and 11" OLED TVs at CES. Says might start production at 2008.

2006

• October - CMEL & CMO develop a 25" AMOLED TV panel.
• October - Samsung showcases a 17" AMOLED.
• September - the first 'Nokia' phone with an OLED display.
• September - CDT sees rapid progress in Blue and Red lifetime.
• August - AUO relocates OLED engineers, focuses on LCD.
• June - India's Samtel to produce OLED displays.
• May - Pioneer Launches Mass Production at White OLED Plant.
• April - Kodak Licenses OLED Technology to Univision Technology.
• March - Univision to invest $40M in OLED line expansion.
• March - Epson and CDT shows world's first print head using an OLED light source.
• January - BenQ announces the world's first AMOLED (2.0") phone.
• January - Kodak Broadens its Participation in OLED Technology, ends OLED joint venture with Sanyo.

2005

• December - Pioneer withdraws from AMOLED market.
• November - CDT prints a 14" P-OLED display.
• November - China's first OLED production line set up.
• October - Samsung SDI's Organic LED Display Shipments Top 30 Million units.
• September - Toppoly develops a 7" AMOLED display.
• August - LG Electronics launches full-scale OLED operations.
• July - Samsung SDI to invest over 850M$ in AMOLED production.
• June - UDC announces bew sky blue PHOLED with over 15,000 hours of lifetime.
• May - Kodak Licenses OLED Technology to Fuji Electric Holdings.
• May - CDT Achieves 100,000 Hour Blue Polymer Lifetime.
• May - Samsung Electronics develops world's first 40-inch a-Si-based OLED.
• April - Samsung licenses OLED patents from Universal Display.
• March - Sony introduces Flash based MP3 players with OLED display.
• March - Canon to start making OLED displays next year.
• February - MP3-player demand boosts sales of Taiwan OLED makers.
• February - LG.Philips LCD launches AM OLED Business.
• January - Samsung Electronics develops 21-inch OLED for TVs, claims world's largest.
• January - Samsung SDI To double the OLED output.
• January - OLED Technology Poised to Become Core Business for Daewoo Electronics.

2004

• December - CDT IPOs, lists on NASDAQ.
• November - OLED displays with 50,000h operating lifespan from URT.
• November - Seiko Epson will commercialize OLED TVs by 2007.
• October - LG.Philips develops 20-inch OLED display.
• September - Sony Starts Mass Production of Organic EL Displays, and released first a new clie PDA with a 3.8in 480 x 320 OLED screen.
• July - OLED-Info is on-line, the web's first OLED community site.
• June - Toppan to volume produce large-size OLED panels.
• May - Seiko Epson unveils first 40" colour OLED display.
• May - Universal Display Corporation Announces Record-Breaking Power Efficiencies for its Phosphorescent White OLED Technology.
• May - Taiwan's AU Begins Mass Production of Organic EL Panels.
• May - Universal Display Corporation Unveils Ground breaking Flexible OLED Prototype on Metallic Substrate.
• April - Teco Optronics to invest NT$300 million to build new PM OLED plant.
• April - RiT Display ships mobile phone OLED sub-displays to Samsung, says paper.
• April - Seiko Epson Reveals 12.5-Inch Organic EL Panel for Large TVs.
• April - RiT Display shipping OLED panels to Motorola.
• March - GE Global Research Breaks Two World Records For OLEDs As A Lighting Device. Demo Lighting Panel is Biggest and Most Efficient Ever Created.
• March - NEC drops its OLED business .
• March - Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO) has announced a fully functional prototype of a 20-inch full-color OLED display - the largest Amorpheous Si TFT.
• February - Philips 639 mobile phone applies PolyLED technology in unique 'Magic Mirror' display.
• January - Opto Tech to invest NT$4.5 billion in four new OLED lines in 2004.

2003

• December - Univision reaches monthly capacity of 6,000 OLED substrates.
• December - Casio Ventures into Organic EL Panels Driven by Amorphous Si TFT.
• November - Tohoku Pioneer Corporation to Be First Manufacturer to Use Universal Display Corporation's PHOLED Material in a Commercial OLED Display.
• November - Univision showcases 65,000-color mobile phone OLED sub-display.
• October - Sanyo Unveils Long-Lasting QVGA Organic EL Panel for Cell Phones.
• October - Univision begins OLED production.
• September - AU Optronics has showcased its 1.93" AMOLED for Mobile Phone.
• September - Princeton electrical engineers have invented a technique for making Organic Solar Cells that Could Lead To Widespread Use Of Solar Power.
• June - ERSO and Windell develop 10-inch LTPS TFT technology-based AM OLED display.
• June - Sony to invest nine billion yen to build OLED production line.
• May - AUO and UDC develop 4-inch, a-Si TFT backplane-based, red phosphorescent AMOLED.
• May - Samsung NEC develops 65,000-color PM OLED mobile phone display.
• May - Sony demonstrated a 24.2 inch OLED panel.
• April - DuPont forges 'Olight' brand for emerging OLEDs.
• April - Sony testing 24-inch OLED screen.
• March - Kodak introduces the first AMOLED digital camera - the Kodak EasyShare LS633.
• March - IDTech develops 20-inch full-color OLED display.
• February - RiTdisplay lands mobile phone OLED orders from Samsung and LGE.
• February - Kodak Licenses Samsung NEC Mobile Display to Manufacture Passive-Matrix OLED Displays.
• January - Philips invents EL material to generate both red and green light.
• January - Kodak, Sanyo invest in active-matrix OLED production.
• January - Sanyo Unveils Mobile Phone with Organic EL Panel Designed for KDDI, announces plans to build full-color OLED production line.

2002

• December - DuPont Displays and Universal Display Corporation Form Strategic Alliance to Develop Next Generation Displays Combining Aspects of Small Molecule and Polymer OLEDs.
• November - Pioneer Supplies OLED to LG Electronics for Cell Phones.
• June - Epson, CDT form polymer OLED production venture.
• June - AU Optronics develops world's first OLED prototype combining a-Si TFT LCD technology.
• May - RiTdisplay reportedly receives orders for over one million mobile phone OLEDs.
• May - Kodak Announces Availability of Evaluation Kit For Active-Matrix OLED Display.
• April - Philips Announces Industry's First Volume Shipments of Polymer-Based OLED Modules.
• February - Samsung SDI develops 2.2-inch AM OLED for mobile phones.

2001

• November - RiTdisplay opens new color OLED/PLED factory.
• October - Samsung SDI Develops World's Largest Organic Display Panel (15.1 inch).
• October - Universal Display Reports New Red Phosphorescent OLED Materials, Significant Power Efficiency Advances.
• October - Universal Display Corporation and Samsung SDI Announce Key Joint Development Agreement.
• October - Sony Demonstrates 13-Inch, Full-Color OLED Prototype.
• August - eMagin's OLED Microdisplay Selected by Air Force for F15E Aircraft.
• May - Toshiba Develops World's First 260,000-Color Polymer OLED.
• April - Samsung Exhibits Color Organic EL LCD Panel for Mobile Phones at CeBIT (132 by 162 pixels).
• April - Universal Display Corporation and Sony Corporation Announce Joint Development Agreement Aimed at OLED Television Monitors.
• February - Sony Develops World's Largest Full Color OLED (13 inches diagonally with a resolution of 800x600 pixels.)

The Early Years

• 2000 - LG Electronics develops organic EL displays for mobile gadgets
• 2000 - NEC, Samsung To Develop Organic Wireless Displays
• 2000 - Sanyo Electric to start mass production of color organic EL panels in 2001
• 2000 - UDC and PPG Industries Form Strategic Alliance for Development & Supply of Chemicals for OLED Manufacturers
• 2000 - Motorola Grants OLED Technology Rights To Universal Display And Takes Equity Position
• 2000 - Toshiba Corp. plans to produce (organic EL) panels in 2001
• 2000 - Ritek plans to mass produce OLED
• 1998 - Green Organic LED Shows High Efficiency
• 1998 - Kodak, Sanyo Show Full-Color Active Matrix Organic Display; First Color OEL Display Increases Threat to LCD Display Dominance
• 1997 - Pioneer Electronic Produces EL Display with 260,000 Colors
• 1997 - UDC Demonstrates Flexible Flat Panel Display Technology
• 1996 - CDT gives world's first public demonstration of Light Emitting Polymer devices