OLED storage lifetime

[justtim]

I presented this question at the Adafruit forum https://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=71249 but haven't had any responses so I figured I'd try and get some input here.

My question is the interpretation of the "Storage Life Time = 20,000 hours" spec in the datasheet http://www.buydisplay.com/download/manual/ER-OLED0.96_Series_Datasheet.pdf for this http://www.buydisplay.com/default/datasheet-128x64-oled-module-spi-0-96-inch-graphic-displays-white-on-black OLED display. I asked the seller, and got a kinda "loose" answer:
 "Storage lifespan not mean it shall not work, It still works only the brightness of the display will decrease to half brightness (50% brightness as before)"

However, as I mentioned in the Adafruit forum post, I had one running 24/7 and it was half as bright after a few months and completely dark after about 10,000 hours (a little over a year). It still worked - confirmed by testing signals from MCU in and out of it. So since the spec is for 10,000 hours of completely on, and mine was completely dark thereafter, does the 20,000 hours mean the same may happen if it's stored on a shelf for 20,000 hours? From what I've read just "Googling" the OLED, unlike the LCD does degrade with time just because of the way it's made.

This is likely one of the most commonly used little displays by DIY'ers, so it would be a real shame if they all start going dark, even just sitting around after 3-5 years. And how about the ones that may have sat on shelves for a couple of years waiting to be sold which are then sold and go dark after just another year or two?

Since OLED is such an incredible technology (anyone seen some of the new OLED televisions?), I wonder if some major issues with it are actually being swept under the rug. Anyone have any ideas or interpretation of what the "Storage Life Time = 20,000 hours" actually means?

Thanks for any input,
Tim

[AndyC_772]

It should really be in the data sheet; I'd guess the storage life refers to the time until the display is half brightness, but without hard information from the display's manufacturer, it's impossible to be sure.

Some newer OLEDs have a very much longer lifetime than the early ones. If you need long life, they are out there.

[Fraser]

I was aware that OLED displays could have issues but I had not realised how bad they could be. It is interesting to note that a particular model of Logicube forensic HDD duplicator is a regular item on US e*ay auctions. Normally for spares or repair with a completely dark display. I bought one and sure enough it is the OLED display that has gone dark and not the drive electronics.

I don't know how others feel but I used to be annoyed when LCD suffered the dreaded black blob failure mode. This afflicted a specific LCD technology more than others and was not avoidable in many cases. Now if all the modern equipment with OLED displays has a 'ticking bomb' in it taking the form of the OLED display. that is a concern. Imagine your nice new OLED display XYZ brand bench power supply, signal generator, oscilloscope and even spectrum analyser, all about the same age, and all likely to suffer OLED failure in a few years rather than the decades that would normally be expected of an LCD panel.

If this is going to be the story of OLEDs that are a few years old I class them as pretty crappy !

Aurora

[DanielS]

If this is going to be the story of OLEDs that are a few years old I class them as pretty crappy !

The lifespan varies considerably depending on the OLED materials used, operating environment and brightness. Early OLEDs used to have a 50% brightness life of only a few thousand hours but leading formulations for red and green are around the 100k hours mark.

[Fraser]

Interesting comment in 2013 on OLED technology from C NET:

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/seven-problems-with-current-oled-televisions/

It would appear that the large TV manufacturers are unsure of the longevity of the blue pixels and are not providing decent operational life guarantees. A 1 year guarantee on a $9000 TV....what ?

OLED is not for me if I can avoid it !

Aurora

[justtim]

Aurora - I agree - scary.

It seems to be one of those technologies that is SO COOL, that nobody is really paying attention to the yet unresolved problems associated with it - even though it's right there in the datasheets. If the "Storage Life Time = 20,000 hours" spec is actually what it seems to be, there is going to be a "rude awakening" concerning these things. The 50% lack of brightness concerning actual on-time does seem to be 1000 hours because that's when the one's I've had on 24/7 showed it, and then increasingly worse thereafter until totally dark after the spec'd 10,000 hours. With that in mind it would seem that the "total black" could also apply to the 20,000 hours storage life. The thing I'm trying to get clarity on is what "Storage Life Time" in the data sheet actually denotes.

Concerning the newer technologies with up to 100,000 hours (that someone else mentioned and I seem to recall seeing somewhere): I haven't seen any "NEW" small OLEDs like are all over the place in projects like the ones sold at buydisplay.com. The minimal cost may actually reflect the potential problem. The only new technology may be going into televisions.

For now I'll likely just incorporate within the MCU code for my displays that "were" on 24/7, to only come on when told to do so, to at least increase the lifespan more than the 10,000 hours for my garden watering and CO2 monitoring I mentioned at the links in my prior post.

[Fraser]

This book excerpt suggests a 10 year shelf life for OLED is typical:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vmVEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA428&lpg=PA428&dq=shelf+life+of+oled+display&source=bl&ots=Dw6OMS8I7A&sig=z3KSMRAD3IbzbCgD3t997WtybGc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gkccVb3fA8qrUZ2vgpAJ&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=shelf%20life%20of%20oled%20display&f=false


Aurora

[PeterFW]

It seems to be one of those technologies that is SO COOL, that nobody is really paying attention to the yet unresolved problems associated with it

The one great thing about OLED to me, are the black levels.
To me, that is the important part about a Display, i do not care much about color vibrance, fidelity, or what ever you call it. The DPI and resolution are not that important to me either.

I would replace my TFT in the blick of an eye with a 720p OLED and 60Hz source material, even if i had to replace the screen every 2 years. But only if they cost the same as a TFT.

[Fraser]

A good Osram OLED app note here:

http://www.osram.co.uk/media/resource/hires/334571/oled-application-guide.pdf

It is a 2011 publication but they claim 10 years of storage before the OLED display is considered unfit for use.

NOTE: OSRAM state that OLED is only suitable for indoor use due to UV degradation.

Aurora

[justtim]

Aurora, the concern about the shelf life to me is still the unknown about how long all the small displays that were made a long time ago (how long ago) that everyone (including myself) have been buying from the east for an incredibly low price. Have they been making any new ones or are there just piles of the things that were made long ago now being sold inexpensively. The ten years mentioned in the Google books is about 85,000 hours which is close to the 100,000 mentioned somewhere else. I'll have to look and see if there is any kind of stamp on the modules I have that indicates the date they were actually manufactured.

Concerning the black contrast: it "is" one of the things, along with the clarity that makes them really cool, but once they're dimmed 50% as they age, all that kinda goes down into the mud.

[Fraser]

@justtim,

Totally understand your concern about possible new old stock.  As these products have a definite shelf life I would expect the outer carton to contain a 'use by date' just like Lithium primary cells. The bad news will be if the displays have been removed from their outer bulk carton as you lose the date information. I would expect the manufacturer to pack the displays in bulk cartons so you could ask a supplier to sell you a full carton with a OEM indicated long shelf life remaining ? If they baulk at that request, avoid them.

You may get lucky and the individual displays may have date codes on them. That would normally be detailed on the data sheet under component marking and shelf life paragraphs.

Good luck 

Aurora

[AndyC_772]

OLED's limited lifetime isn't news, though. It's not as though it's only just been discovered that they don't last forever, and it's doubtful whether *anything* purchased from the Far East at an "incredibly low price" should ever be expected to last much longer than it takes to arrive by sea.

[DanielS]

It would appear that the large TV manufacturers are unsure of the longevity of the blue pixels

The blue OLEDs have been giving researchers troubles since the earliest times I have heard about OLEDs 10 or so years ago. Blue has always lagged significantly behind red and green for both efficiency and lifespan.

It must be quite frustrating to have OLEDs almost figured out except for how to cope with usable blue still being elusive after a decade worth of research.

[Fraser]

Transparency is key here and that is not a pun. When I buy expensive test equipment it often has a section in the manual stating the guarantee period of the various parts. Mechanical parts are often de-rated in terms of guarantee. And let us not forget that guarantees often cover only manufacturing defects and NOT wear & tear. Ageing is often considered wear and tear.

How annoying it would be to buy something expensive where the electronics are capable of providing over a decade of service yet the OLED display is good for a year or two 

It may be 'common knowledge' to some but that does not address the short expected life and unknown OEM support stance when the OLED display fails. I have often seen OLED displays written up as a massive advantage in an equipment spec. well I will be looking at that in a very different light now (again nio pun intended). 

I have a couple of very expensive Eschenbach digital magnifiers that use so called "superior technology" OLED displays. I wonder how long they will last 

Thanks for raising the topic. I was one of the minority who apparently missed the memo on OLED crappiness 

Aurora

[rdl]

Hasn't Agilent had some trouble with oled displays on some (one) of their multimeters? Don't a lot of phones use oled displays? But I guess phones are expected to be obsolete in a few years. I think I bought a 20x4 oled display for some reason a few years ago. I never used it and it's probably in a storage box somewhere. I wonder if it still works or did it just rot away in the box.

[PeterFW]

I have a couple of very expensive Eschenbach digital magnifiers that use so called "superior technology" OLED displays. I wonder how long they will last 

My phone is about ~4 years old, i am unable to detect wear on the OLED display.
Still bright and working after about... maybe 2 hours of use per day on average?
But thats only ~2800 hours.
Sometimes i put it on the shelf and leave it running netflix the whole day in the background while i am working.
Other weeks i barely use it at all, besides taking the odd picture.

[Fraser]

@PeterFW,

That is good to hear. Thanks 

Aurora

[justtim]

Still not sure what to do about the "storage lifetime" issue, but as I write this, I'm modifying code to change my projects that had the displays on 24/7 to only come on when being viewed, replacing one that's completely dark, and a couple others that are dim. It's pretty simple to turn them off and back on with a few commands so that's not a big deal, I just wish I had known about this before. But as with perhaps some of you I never gave it even a little thought. The ones I'm using are white, and although I've heard the blue are bad and the red and green are better, I haven't seen anything about the white.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I suspect an issue is that consumer OLEDs are designed for consumer lifetimes, but sometimes people forget that and build them into stuff that should last longer.
I would guess one factor is choice of materials and construction to prevent moisture and/or air ingress over time - I don't know the chemistry enough to know which, but chances are one or both will be  a factor in shelf life.
For plastic encapsulation rather than glass, moisture is always going to get in somehow.

[flyt100]

Funny this topic came up today.
I've been following the threads below because I have had the OLED display in my $200 Livescribe electronic pen dim to the point of being unreadable, even in a dark room.  From their customer service, the solution is to buy another one if it is more than 2 years old.  It looks like it has happened to MANY people.  They state that it is likely from lack of proper care:

"In regards to proper care of your smartpen, in order to ensure the longevity of your display, the most important factors to keep in mind are:
1.  If your smartpen has been in an extremely cold environment, allow it to warm up for a few hours before powering it on.
2.  Low humidity environments can lead to static electricity; high humidity environments can lead to condensation – both of which are harmful to your smartpen
By adhering to these tips one will help protect their investment for years to come."

It's a little frustrating when I design electronics for a living, and I see them blaming the user (not the design/display).  They are still shipping the same bad displays year after year.  You'll see a post near the end where a guy ripped out the display yesterday and replaced it with a standard LED to have an on/off indicator.  That guy was me...

https://getsatisfaction.com/livescribe/topics/problems_with_the_display
https://getsatisfaction.com/livescribe/topics/display_went_dark

It's just one datapoint, but it shows that longevity can be an issue...

[justtim]

flyt100 - I read all the posts at the links you provided and see that it's pretty much an issue with the OLED's in many devices. Sure am glad I found this out as I was just about to undertake a major project involving hundreds of devices with 0.91"128x32 OLED Display Module. Now I have to rethink it. The possibility of having such a tiny display that is so readable even at a distance presents a lot of possibilities. Too bad all the possibilities have such a cloud of uncertainty hanging over them. Of course, as you found out about your pens, one could always just go ahead and use them in a project, not make the end user aware of the problem, and then blame them for not taking proper care of it. . . not something I'd feel right about doing.

[DanielS]

Of course, as you found out about your pens, one could always just go ahead and use them in a project, not make the end user aware of the problem, and then blame them for not taking proper care of it. . . not something I'd feel right about doing.

Or if you want to go ahead with OLED and not screw your clients over with potentially dying OLEDs a few years down the road, make the OLED part into a user-serviceable module so they can buy replacements if/when they die. When that happens, you can either refurbish the module with a new same-type OLED, replace it with a drop-in upgrade if one is available or possibly replace it with something else altogether using an adapter.

[amyk]

...or just use a standard backlit inorganic LCD, which will basically last the life of the product without any physical abuse.

Are there any inorganic LED displays commonly available? (I don't mean the large 32x32/64x64 panels with huge dot pitches, but something more comparable to a typical OLED/LCD.)

[NickAmes]

Are there any inorganic LED displays commonly available? (I don't mean the large 32x32/64x64 panels with huge dot pitches, but something more comparable to a typical OLED/LCD.)

They're closer to LCD character displays, but Avago and others manufacture dot-matrix LED displays: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Avago-Technologies/HDSP-2112/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvkC18yXH9iIsSFKp4VzurGXEDzr0MnizA%3d

Very expensive, but incomparably beautiful in the right application.

[linux-works]

just made this today (wrote the software for it):

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/tiny-oled-128x64-calendar-display-%28arduino%29/

and I was all set to build a clock/calendar from it - but now I'm hearing its a very short lifetime.  damn.

yes, mine will be in a socket so it can be replaced.  I'll see how long mine lasts.  since I have a RTC module that I'm going to use, I'll just have the old arduino turn this display off at nite and turn it back on in the AM.



just checked the datasheet.  10,000 hours at 7x24 duty cycle.  that's about a year if you leave it on fulltime.

$10 for a year's worth of display is fine.  if this was a $50 display or more, I'd be a bit more annoyed, but for $10 or less, I guess its not the worst thing.