Monday, October 21, 2002
Kodak licenses Opto Tech Corporation to make OLED displays
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 06:00 AM
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/display/optoTech.jhtml
This press release was published on September 5th, but I thought it was worth passing along - it looks like we're getting one step closer to OLED screens on our Pocket PCs. I doubt we'll see one until perhaps late 2003 or early 2004, but it's good to see progress being made. Moreso than the enhanced viewing angle, I'm hoping that OLED will bring some serious battery saving technology to the table.
To give you an example of how much power the screen sucks, consider this: in my tests, an iPAQ 3870 will stay on for 3.7 hours with the backlight on the highest setting. The same device will last 16.2 hours with the screen turned off. The device is effectively idling in these tests, so CPU drain isn't a big factor. Now imagine if OLED can cut that power drain by 50% - we'd see a significant increase in our battery life. Beyond fuel cells, I think OLED technology will be the most significant technology to impact the battery life on a Pocket PC. And maybe by then we'll have 640 x 480 resolution on our Pocket PCs! 8)
"Eastman Kodak Company has added another licensee to the growing list of manufacturers of organic displays. Opto Tech Corporation of Taiwan has licensed Kodak's organic light-emitting diiode technology for use in flat panel passive-matrix displays. Opto Tech also has demonstrated a full-color PDA-size display.
"This agreement between Kodak and Opto validates the utility of Kodak display technology for broad applications," said Leslie Polgar, president, Display Products, Eastman Kodak Company. "Manufacturers like Opto can capitalize on supplying differentiated displays to various consumer devices, especially displays as impressive as what Opto demonstrated. So we're proud and pleased that they have chosen to pursue our technology."
"Organic solid-state displays offer a bright, full-motion image display that is viewable from a very wide angle. The displays comprise specially designed organic thin-film materials that emit light when stimulated an electric charge. The emitted light can be individual colors of red, green or blue. Or they can be combined to create full-color, high-resolution image displays. Benefits over conventional technologies include higher contrast for superb readability in most lighting conditions and faster response time to support streaming video, as well as industry-leading (165 degree) viewing angle and thinner design for better ergonomics.
The royalty-bearing license to Opto covers use of passive-matrix OLED modules in a variety of flat panel display applications. The agreement also gives Opto the opportunity to purchase Kodak's patented OLED materials for use in manufacturing displays. This license illustrates the versatility of Kodak's OLED technology.
Pioneered by Kodak in the late 1980s, the technology and its practical applications have generated more than 50 Kodak patents. Besides Opto Tech, Kodak OLED licensees number more than a dozen, several of whom have announced mass production plans and customer design wins in 2002." Source: Foo Fighter
This press release was published on September 5th, but I thought it was worth passing along - it looks like we're getting one step closer to OLED screens on our Pocket PCs. I doubt we'll see one until perhaps late 2003 or early 2004, but it's good to see progress being made. Moreso than the enhanced viewing angle, I'm hoping that OLED will bring some serious battery saving technology to the table.
To give you an example of how much power the screen sucks, consider this: in my tests, an iPAQ 3870 will stay on for 3.7 hours with the backlight on the highest setting. The same device will last 16.2 hours with the screen turned off. The device is effectively idling in these tests, so CPU drain isn't a big factor. Now imagine if OLED can cut that power drain by 50% - we'd see a significant increase in our battery life. Beyond fuel cells, I think OLED technology will be the most significant technology to impact the battery life on a Pocket PC. And maybe by then we'll have 640 x 480 resolution on our Pocket PCs! 8)
"Eastman Kodak Company has added another licensee to the growing list of manufacturers of organic displays. Opto Tech Corporation of Taiwan has licensed Kodak's organic light-emitting diiode technology for use in flat panel passive-matrix displays. Opto Tech also has demonstrated a full-color PDA-size display.
"This agreement between Kodak and Opto validates the utility of Kodak display technology for broad applications," said Leslie Polgar, president, Display Products, Eastman Kodak Company. "Manufacturers like Opto can capitalize on supplying differentiated displays to various consumer devices, especially displays as impressive as what Opto demonstrated. So we're proud and pleased that they have chosen to pursue our technology."
"Organic solid-state displays offer a bright, full-motion image display that is viewable from a very wide angle. The displays comprise specially designed organic thin-film materials that emit light when stimulated an electric charge. The emitted light can be individual colors of red, green or blue. Or they can be combined to create full-color, high-resolution image displays. Benefits over conventional technologies include higher contrast for superb readability in most lighting conditions and faster response time to support streaming video, as well as industry-leading (165 degree) viewing angle and thinner design for better ergonomics.
The royalty-bearing license to Opto covers use of passive-matrix OLED modules in a variety of flat panel display applications. The agreement also gives Opto the opportunity to purchase Kodak's patented OLED materials for use in manufacturing displays. This license illustrates the versatility of Kodak's OLED technology.
Pioneered by Kodak in the late 1980s, the technology and its practical applications have generated more than 50 Kodak patents. Besides Opto Tech, Kodak OLED licensees number more than a dozen, several of whom have announced mass production plans and customer design wins in 2002." Source: Foo Fighter
