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Galleries / Think Tech: The Future of Electronic Displays

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Stephen Cass; published April 22, 2008

Organic LEDs: The Future of Faster, Brighter, and (One Day) Cheaper TVs.

Elan Home Systems Ole XL Film Interactive Touchpad ($580)

Fossil Watch JR9465 ($215)

Nokia 7900 Crystal Prism ($550)

<p>If you've looked into buying a TV lately, you are familiar with the alphabet soup that seems to come with choosing even the most basic model: HDTV, 1080p, LCD, NTSC, and more. But before you give up the whole thing in frustration, here's one more acronym that could make your choice a lot easier: OLED.</p><p>The innovative thing about OLEDs (for organic light-emitting diodes) is that lots of tiny OLEDs can be "printed" onto a single big sheet, allowing engineers to make a digital display that uses less power than a plasma screen and offers higher contrast, a wider range of viewing angles, and richer colors than an LCD screen.</p><p>Already used in cell phones and other small devices, OLEDs were not initially employed in TVs because of a short life span of only a few thousand hours of use. But now Sony has announced the XEL-1 (pictured above), the first OLED-based TV. Currently available only in Japan and the United States, it has a price tag of almost $2,500 and a modest 11-inch screen. Still, if OLED manufacturing continues to improve, TV screens as large and as slim as those in old home-movie projection systems may become common. </p><p>For the latest news on OLED-based products, visit <a href="www.oled-info.com">www.oled-info.com</a>.</p>
<p>Sporting a 5-by-5-inch OLED display, this touchpad control allows users to command advanced home-theater setups.</p>
<p>This brushed silver watch uses OLEDs for a bright digital display that doesn't</p><p>need a backlight.</p>
<p>A 3G smart phone comes with a large, low-power OLED display.</p>
<p>1 Organic semiconductor layer with excess positive charges (purple circles).</p><p>2 Layer with excess negative charges (green circles).</p><p>3 Transparent surface electrode.</p><p>4 Rear electrode.</p><p>5 Emitted light. When voltage is applied across the electrodes, positive and negative charges combine, producing light</p>

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