In the midst of the Sony Pavilion (already jammed nearly to capacity) was a dense gaggle of gawkers all vying for position to get a close look at something. Through the occasional break in the crowd, I spied what appeared to be a handful of smallish LCD TVs. No way… That can’t be it…
Now, please bear in mind that this is taking place at CES in Las Vegas. You can’t swing a cat without smacking it into at least 3 LCD screens no matter WHERE you are in the show. And that includes the bathrooms.
So what was so special about these little TVs? Well, after a little jockeying (I grew up in Manhattan, so I know how to use my knees and elbows), I made it to the pole position to get a good look… Ahhhh. Wow. Sony has beautifully harnessed the power of OLED on an ultra-thin TV-Sized display. The depth of color, brightness and resolution was absolutely mesmerizing.
For those of you not familiar with OLED (and I wasn’t until late-last year), the technology used is different from the familiar LCD displays in a few important ways. OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode.Â
The process used to lay down the layers of reactive compounds is very similar to how an inkjet works. Essentially you can ‘Print’ the successive OLED layers onto the substrate like printing old-fashioned color separations. Using precise instruments, the resolution of the display can be made very fine. For example, an HD display on your cellphone is not out of the question.
The recent advances in OLED technology has created the potential for some staggering changes in how information can be displayed. Two things in particular are the ability to print OLED layers on a flexible substrate and the very low power needed to drive the display.
Ah, but this wonderful new technology comes with a down-side.  Namely the short lifespan of the compounds used in the light emitting process. The current average lifespan of on OLED display is around 5,000 hours. Just about 7 months. However, many manufacturers are now citing lifespans of over 10,000 hours which seems to be the consensual tipping point for commercial viability.
Any way you slice it, the potential applications for this fantastic new technology are infinite and exciting. I, for one, will be watching closely…