Do you guys think OLED will replace traditional LCD and/or VFD in time?

[alank2]

Do you guys think OLED will replace traditional LCD and/or VFD in time?

I wonder this.  I tried out a yellow character style (HD44780 like) 20x4 OLED display and it is pretty nice.  Fast, clear, bright, no backlight...

[Lightages]

I don't think OLED will replace things too quickly. The technology still has problems with color shift over time, reduced brightness, and burn in. It has its uses but my new phone was chosen because it specifically has an IPS screen instead.

[rollatorwieltje]

As a replacement for VFD, probably. I would say currently VFD and OLED are on the same level, they both suffer from burn in and degradation, but you don't need the high voltage drivers for OLED.

For your typical character LCD probably not, those LCD panels are dirt cheap and draw basically no power.

For consumer electronics... People also bought plasma screens... Not sure what the life expectancy is of those OLED panels, I think Samsung claimed 20k hours* for their AMOLED phone panels, but those have a far higher DPI than a TV panel. AFAIK the smaller the pixel the faster it dies, so maybe those big panels last longer. 20k hours would be stupid for a TV panel, the first generation plasma claimed 30k hours or so and those were horrible.

*degredation to 50% brightness, pixel turned on 40%

[nanofrog]

As a replacement for VFD, probably. I would say currently VFD and OLED are on the same level

I wouldn't at this stage, particularly given what's happened with the OLED screens on Agilent branded handheld meters, such as the U1253A and U1253B models. Owners have only gotten ~3 - 5 years out of them before they died IIRC under light to moderate use conditions.

VFD may die in time, but it currently outlasts OLED by years IME, making it a better value for end users.

Not seeing much regarding R&D on OLED lately either (have the impression it's stagnated), so I'm unsure of whether or not we'll see any improvement. 

[alank2]

Any idea why the Agilent displays are having problems?

The data sheets I see show 100K hours or 150K hours for yellow for some character module oled's.

Is this a matter of a short lifespan in years, even more than hours?  Such as it is only going to last 5 years whether you use it or not?

[Fsck]

OLED is not nearly as bright as VFD. Also, OLED controllers are basically all based on advanced CMOS process, while VFD drivers are based on old process. This made VFD drivers much more radiation tolerant, and much more interference tolerant. More than that, the rugged nature of VFD panels makes VFD displays much suitable for high reliability applications.

VFDs can also have a ridiculous operational temperature range that I've yet to see in OLEDs.

[Andreas]

Is this a matter of a short lifespan in years, even more than hours?  Such as it is only going to last 5 years whether you use it or not?

My impression is that the lifetime begins after first usage of the OLED and is independant of usage after this. The 3 OLEDs that I bought died each after 1 year after first usage with only around some 10 hours of usage time.

With best regards

Andreas

[Zero999]

Any idea why the Agilent displays are having problems?

The data sheets I see show 100K hours or 150K hours for yellow for some character module oled's.

Is this a matter of a short lifespan in years, even more than hours?  Such as it is only going to last 5 years whether you use it or not?

I believe the colour is a factor with yellow OLEDs lasting much longer than the blue.

[DanielS]

Back when OLED was new, expectations were that techniques would eventually be discovered to enable printable displays on plastic/polymer substrate. This has yet to happen on an economically viable volume production process.

Imagine how cheap OLED displays could become if they could be manufactured by offset or inkjet printing, or even silk screen on a flexible plastic substrate. That would likely end up much cheaper than LCDs before you even count the LCD's backlight, color filters, diffuser layers, polarizing filters, light pipe panel, etc.

Once they finally figure it out, if they ever do, I would expect OLEDs to storm the market.

[saturation]

Based on the technical literature there are still many problems to overcome to make a panel that survives for many years.  I'd avoid purchasing or designing with OLED until proven otherwise for devices with working lives expected of >5 years, such as HDTVs or automotive display panels.

That said, Samsung's AMOLED is well suited to smartphones or similar technology.  The evolution is so rapid that the device will be obsolete before the AMOLED screen malfunctions.  However, you can prematurely age your screen if you leave images on it persistently.  If you're a heavy gamer or watch movies on a smartphone regularly expect greater wear.

[Yago]

Lightpaper might out for sale this year:
http://www.fastcolabs.com/3038890/rohinnis-lightpaper-is-incredibly-thin-and-printable

[DanielS]

Lightpaper might out for sale this year:
http://www.fastcolabs.com/3038890/rohinnis-lightpaper-is-incredibly-thin-and-printable

I could use a few square meters of something like that for photo booth lighting - no more shadows!

[coppice]

There are a lot of large LG OLED TVs in the shops now, both flat and curved. Samsung seems to have backed away from this market. The LG TVs are a lot more expensive than similar LCD models, although crazily expensive like they used to be. They used to look worse than LCDs, giving rather cartoonish colour, but they seem on par with LCDs now. What they don't seem to offer is any benefit, apart from being only 6mm thick. They still need a bulge on the back for the electronics, so that 6mm doesn't translate into something hanging like a picture on the wall. Without a real selling point I wonder how many they sell? If they sell very few, will they ever gain the momentum needed to drive the price down?

[Psi]

There are a lot of large LG OLED TVs in the shops now, both flat and curved. Samsung seems to have backed away from this market. The LG TVs are a lot more expensive than similar LCD models, although crazily expensive like they used to be. They used to look worse than LCDs, giving rather cartoonish colour, but they seem on par with LCDs now. What they don't seem to offer is any benefit, apart from being only 6mm thick. They still need a bulge on the back for the electronics, so that 6mm doesn't translate into something hanging like a picture on the wall. Without a real selling point I wonder how many they sell? If they sell very few, will they ever gain the momentum needed to drive the price down?

I would imagine they have true blacks unlike any LCD

What i want is a curved transparent display Give that alpha channel something to do.

[coppice]

There are a lot of large LG OLED TVs in the shops now, both flat and curved. Samsung seems to have backed away from this market. The LG TVs are a lot more expensive than similar LCD models, although crazily expensive like they used to be. They used to look worse than LCDs, giving rather cartoonish colour, but they seem on par with LCDs now. What they don't seem to offer is any benefit, apart from being only 6mm thick. They still need a bulge on the back for the electronics, so that 6mm doesn't translate into something hanging like a picture on the wall. Without a real selling point I wonder how many they sell? If they sell very few, will they ever gain the momentum needed to drive the price down?

I would imagine they have true blacks unlike any LCD

What i want is a curved transparent display Give that alpha channel something to do.

If you use the OLED TV in a darkened room that might well be true. In a normally lit room the light reflecting off the screen means black areas of the picture look no darker on the OLED screen than the LCD one standing beside it in the shop.

[DanielS]

I would imagine they have true blacks unlike any LCD

If you use the OLED TV in a darkened room that might well be true. In a normally lit room the light reflecting off the screen means black areas of the picture look no darker on the OLED screen than the LCD one standing beside it in the shop.

How many people watch TV and movies in a "normally lit" room when they actually intend to dedicate their time to actually watching the show instead of having it play for background noise while doing other stuff? I turn off most lights and close the blinds to reduce the amount of glare and reflection on the screen.

[coppice]

I would imagine they have true blacks unlike any LCD

If you use the OLED TV in a darkened room that might well be true. In a normally lit room the light reflecting off the screen means black areas of the picture look no darker on the OLED screen than the LCD one standing beside it in the shop.

How many people watch TV and movies in a "normally lit" room when they actually intend to dedicate their time to actually watching the show instead of having it play for background noise while doing other stuff? I turn off most lights and close the blinds to reduce the amount of glare and reflection on the screen.

I suspect the market for people who darken the room to use a TV is pretty small. We very occasionally do it when watching a movie, but not often enough for it to carry much weight when buying. It would be an interesting question for a poll. Just how do people use their audio visual equipment these days?