Have you ever imagined of having a display monitor built into your clothing that can be rolled up? Have you conceived of having a high-definition TV, 80 inches wide but less than a quarter-inch thick, and that consumes less power than most TVs. These devices are not just an artist's speculation, they might be possible in the near future with the help of OLEDs.

OLED or Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, a type of solid state lighting, are plastic-based materials capable of emitting light. It can be used to make screens by spraying the materials on a surface. OLED displays have the potential to offer a cheaper, brighter, less power-hungry alternative to LCDs.

The OLED screens have forayed into the display screen market, whether it is the mobile screen, laptop or your watch screen. Applications of OLED can be seen in electronic prodcuts as some of the top most companies have already taken initivatives towards this direction. General Electric along with Osram Opto Semiconductors, The Ewing and others have come up with the idea of transforming organic light-emitting diodes into a source of room lighting. Samsung and Pioneer Electronics are using OLEDs for screens on consumer electronics products.

At present OLED screens are being used in small-screen devices like cell phones, PDAs and digital cameras. The likes of Sony and Samsung are determied to use the OLEd technology in their future products. Sony Corporation announced that it was beginning mass production of OLED screens for various personal entertainment handhelds. In October 2007 they announced that they would be the first to market with an OLED television. Kodak released a digital camera, the EasyShare LS633, with an OLED display in March 2003.

Future applications

One of the most interesting aspects of OLED is that it can be used to build transparent and flexible screens. One of its applications can be "transparent window." By day, it would work like a common transparent plastic window. As light fade, flick a switch and it becomes a light fixture. It could cut energy costs by switching dynamically when sunlight will suffice. The government of USA is currently funding OLED research to produce a HUD, with which soldiers will be able to view through their helmets while receiving orders.

A good energy efficient alternative

OLED could be the energy efficient alternative for the power soaking incandescent bulbs. It can be done by increasing the size of the sheets and the brightness. In the wake of the rising importance of environment friendliness and energy savings, OLED is rapidly emerging as a highly competent and feaisble alternative to existing lighting technologies. The energy savings provided by the use of LEDs has attracted countries, like Europe, America, Japan, China, South Korea, etc to establish solid-state lighting.

 OLED Benefits

• OLEDs have a significantly lesser price than LCDs or plasma displays. It is due to the fact that they can be printed onto any suitable substrate using an inkjet printer or even screen printing technologies.
• Since the OLEDs can be printed onto flexible substrates, it has opened the gate to several new applications, like roll-up displays and displays embedded in fabrics.
• OLED pixels directly emit light, thus provides a greater range of colors, brightness, and viewing angle than LCDs.

OLEDs have a faster response time than standard LCD screens.