Samsung: OLEDs in notebooks by 2010

In a speech made last week at a seminar in Tokyo, Woo Jong Lee, the Vice President of the Mobile Display Marketing Team of Samsung SDI, said the joint venture between Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI will bring active matrix organic LED (OLED) displays to market in notebooks by 2010. Lee pointed out advantages of the new display technology, saying by 2010, burn-in for active-matrix OLED panels won't happen for more than 2,000 hours of use. The OLED panels will be used in notebooks first because of their demanding requirements.

Lee said active-matrix OLEDs have a wide operating temperature range, have excellent compatibility with touch screens and are highly recyclable, lessening their effect on the environment. He went on to say touchscreens will become commonplace in mobile devices, again making active matrix OLEDs suitable thanks to their higher noise resistance compared to TFT LCDs.

The VP expects 5-inch or larger OLED panels to be mainstream in 2009 or 2010 in devices such as smartphones and netbooks. He forecasted that by 2015, the cost premium of OLED panels will be just 10% by 2015, and 28% of all notebooks will have OLED panels. Samsung has shown prototype paper-thin OLED panels and says they could be used in passports and ID cards, as well as in car navigation systems that include an OLED panel installed on the inside of a vehicle's windshield, performing the same function as a heads-up display.