In light of Sony’s recent announcement that they will ship the first commercial OLED television this December, now is a good time to look at the impact of this technology on consumer electronics, particularly portable electronics. The big announcement may be about the new 11-inch viewable, 3mm thick television, but in reality the big news is that mass market OLED is coming soon and it will change the face of portable technology immensely.
Before we look at that, let’s look at OLED technology itself. OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. It is not a brand new technology, having been developed by Eastman Kodak in the early 1980s. OLED displays are basically a series of organic compounds that are between two conductors; when current is applied through the conductors a bright light is emitted. 
Eastman Kodak has developed films of the primary colors; some are more efficient then others. The resulting matrix of colored compounds provides the colored lights as required. Kodak describes OLED thusly:
OLED displays stack up several thin layers of materials. They operate on the attraction between positively and negatively charged particles. When voltage is applied, one layer becomes negatively charged relative to another transparent layer. As energy passes from the negatively charged (cathode) layer to the other (anode) layer, it stimulates organic material between the two, which emits light visible through an outermost layer of glass.
That is a lot of techno-speak but at its essence OLED displays are ultra-thin, incredibly high contrast ratio displays that require no backlight as the organic compounds provide their own luminescence and color when an electrical current is applied. Comparing this to LCD displays which require a backlight to display images (which requires an extra layer, equaling a thicker display), a current OLED display requires 40% less power than a conventional LCD display and the OLED panel will also deliver a much higher contrast ratio (the higher the better as a higher ratio gives you truer blacks). The announced Sony 11-inch display features a 1000000:1 contrast ratio which blows their premiere LCD displays 52" BRAVIA XBR series LCD – 18000:1 dynamic contrast ratio/2000:1 on-contrast ratio) out of the water. The image and viewing angle on this display is phenomenal and it brings to mind other more compelling reasons to adopt OLED.
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Article comments
1 - daryl d
Excellent article! I saw a Sony OLED Clie handheld a couple years back and looking at the screen on that thing was beautiful. It was like the colors were looking at you rather than you looking at the colors. You have to see an OLED screen to believe it.
2 - mike
I for one, am ready for my super thin OLED screen to be installed into the head rest of my new hummer.
3 - Richard Dalziel-Sharpe
Just a correction on the iPod Touch battery time. The twenty two hours estimated by Apple is with the screen off, it is music listening time. The viewing time, with the screen on, is about five hours, so the oled screen would add another couple of hours to that at least.
I have one and the screen is great, but I have yet to flatten the battery by using it for five hours straight.
4 - Michael Prince
Thanks for the clarification, I was basing it off Apples public marketing specifications I guess =-)
5 - Daniel Woolstencroft
Great article Michael. I'm looking forward to OLED hitting the market, although I might hang on for that flexible display...
6 - Reggie Beltran
Here is my 2 cents to a great article
Portability equals Convenience
Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in portable devices because rapid technology is offering more convenience. GPS-enabled phones are expected to quadruple by 2011 and if Apple decides to add bluetooth for peripherals to a ipod touch you’ve got a wireless “micro-Mac.” Lets not forget the businees world where video conferencing has become the productivity tool of choice.. The InPerson conferencing system sits in your living room, hotel room, or any other room, running off the two-hour capacity battery or AC