Sumitomo Chemical announced it will exhibit its latest polymer OLED (PLED) lighting at the Light+Building 2014 event next month.
Sumitomo will exhibit a PLED installation called OLED Cosmos, designed by Motoko Ishii. This installation will use new dual-color OLED panels. These panels (produced using printing technologies) use two distinct colors.
When Samsung and LG released their curved OLED TVs (and later on curved LCDs as well), a lot of people didn't understand why is that good for. Most reviewers and consumers seem to prefer a flat design - which means you can hang the TV on the wall and it looks better.
It seems that there's still a lot of confusion here, and today LG Display published an article that explains the advantages of curved TVs (it also details the company's flexible OLED technology). According to LG, there are several such advantages. First of all, the Curved OLED TV can enhance the viewer’s immersive experience with its curved form. The screen "wraps around the viewer" and so there's a comfortable feeling of stability and immersion. LG explains that the curved screen has a curved trajectory similar to a person’s ‘Horopter Line’ allowing the maintenance of a constant focus.
Panasonic demonstrated three new OLED lighting panels at a LED trade show in Tokyo. First up is a flexible panel - this is the first time Panasonic demonstrated a flexible OLED. They did not reveal any specification - beside the fact that it is only 0.4 mm thick.
The second panel is a 10x10 cm panel that offers a luminous efficiency of 100 lm/W. Panasonic already unveiled a 114 lm/W panel back in 2013 - but it was a lot smaller (1x1 cm). According to Tech-On, the panel is not very bright and is also rather yellowish in color and they suspect that the CRI is low. Panasonic says that the emphasis has been on efficiency for this panel, and they wouldn't reveal specifications such as lifetime, CRI, color temperature, etc.
Mitsubishi Electric demonstrated a new OLED lamp that supports the regular E26 ("medium") incandescent socket. This is not the best design for an OLED of course, but Mitsubishi says that one day such a design may be used to replace regular incandescent, CFL or LED lamps.
The OLED is 16x16 cm in size (8 mm thick). Mitsubishi did not reveal any specification on the panel - only that the OLED itself wasn't actually produced by Mitsubishi Electric. The lamp can be rotated independently from the base - so you can change the angle (or rotation) after you screwed the lamp in (this is because the OLED isn't round like normal incandescent or CFL lamps).
Alkilu was established in 2013 to develop affordable consumer OLED lighting devices. The company unveiled their range of OLED products at CES 2014. The company plans to produce several OLED lighting devices, and some of them are really affordable - as low as $19.95. In January I interviewed the company's CEO, who explained the company's business.
Now Alkilu launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise $50,000. This fund raising will enable Alkilu to develop the Aurora All-Terrain Light - shown above. This specific device is aimed towards camping trips and outdoor events. It has a 3x3 inch OLED that runs from a battery for almost 20 hours, and the whole device is water resistant. The 65 lm/W OLED features a lifetime of 22,000 hours, a color temperature of 3000K, luminance of 1000 to 3000 cd/m2 and a CRI of over 80. The price target of the Aurora is $39.95. If you support the campaign, you can get an "early bird" unit and a t-shirt for $79.95.
Konica Minolta developed the world's most efficient OLED lighting panel - at 131 lm/W. The panel's emitting area is 15 square centimeters. KM says that now OLEDs are actually more efficient than consumer LEDs, and this is a major step forward for OLED lighting. We do not know the lifetime or any other features of this panel.
KM's previous panel featured 103 lm/W and the company incorporated three new technologies in the new panel that enabled them to reach the record efficiency. First up is a new phosphorescent blue material that improved the internal quantum efficiency. In addition, KM also implemented a new light extraction technology and a new "organic layer construction technique", based on optical simulation.
Only three weeks after LG slashed the price of their curved 55" OLED TV to $6,999 (it was briefly selling for $6,499 too), Amazon now lists the 55EA9800 for $5,999. Amazon will also throw in a $500 promotional credit if you buy the OLED TV now. There hasn't been any official word from LG or Amazon on this price drop, so it may be temporary.
In August 2013 LG launched their 55" FHD curved OLED TVs in the US $14,999. The price keeps falling quickly, and the new price represents a 60% price drop in about 8 months. When LG's upcoming M2 Gen-8 OLED TV fab starts making panels in a few months, the prices will probably be reduced even further.
