Epson Creates World’s First Large Full-Color OLED Display Using Original Inkjet Technology
Seiko Epson Corporation (“Epson”) has used its original inkjet printing
technology to successfully develop the world’s first large-screen
(40-inch) full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display
prototype.
It is easy to forget that Epson used to sell computer monitors and
actively works on LCD technology for many applications. OLED technology
looks like a good one to provide cheaper, larger and better large
displays than LCD or plasma. Like most new technologies, there have
been issues with sorting out the manufacturing process. Epson is
addressing this.
Self-luminescent OLED displays, which offer outstanding viewing
characteristics, including high contrast, wide viewing angle, and fast
response times, are widely seen as the leading candidate for the next
generation of thin, lightweight displays. One of the major obstacles to
their realization, however, has been the perceived difficulty of
forming organic layers on large-sized TFT (thin film transistor)
substrates. Thus the question of when fabrication processes for
large-sized OLED flat panel displays would become technically feasible
had been anyone’s guess.
Epson has been actively working to develop and commercialize
next-generation OLED displays. The company, long a leader in inkjet
printers, has developed an original inkjet process for depositing
organic layers on large-size TFT substrates. Using this adapted inkjet
technology to form organic layers on large-size substrates in a simple
process, Epson has now developed the world’s largest (40-inch diagonal)
full-color OLED display prototype.
By establishing an OLED display manufacturing system and process that
can handle oversized substrates, Epson has beaten a path to large-size
OLED displays, as well as to lower cost small- and medium-sized panels
cut from larger TFT substrates.
Epson believes that the characteristics of OLED displays make them the
ideal device for entertainment applications, whether in equipment for
the road or living room. The company is thus gearing up towards
commercialization in 2007.
About Epson
The Epson Group increases its corporate value through its innovative
and creative culture. Dedicated to providing its customers with digital
image innovation, its main product lines comprise information-related
equipment such as printers and projectors, electronic devices including
displays, liquid crystal panels for projectors, semiconductors and
quartz devices, and precision products such as watches. Epson products
are known throughout the world for their superior quality,
functionality, compactness and energy efficiency.
The Epson Group is a network of 84,899 employees in 110 companies
around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the
global environment and to the communities in which it is located. Led
by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corp., which is listed on the First
Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Group had consolidated sales
of 1,413 billion yen in fiscal 2003.
Outline of prototype 40-inch full-color OLED display
Screen size 40-inch diagonal
Number of pixels 1280 x RGB x 768dots (W-XGA)
Driving method Active matrix
Pixels per inch 38
No. of colors 260,000
Main Specifications
Screen size 40-inch diagonal
Number of pixels 1280 x RGB x 768dots (W-XGA)