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Back in December, 2000 Eastman Kodak demonstrated early prototypes of 2.5- and 5.5-inch active-matrix OLED screens the company had developed in a partnership with Sanyo, and last October the company showed off a prototype 15-inch flat-panel screen that uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, which it claims will eventually replace desktop computer and laptop CRT and liquid-crystal display screens. The technology could also be used for flat-panel televisions. While 15” OLED screens aren’t commercially available yet, this week Eastman Kodak unveiled a digital camera that will be the world’s first consumer product with a full-colour OLED screen. According to a Finance-Lycos report, Kodak and Sanyo have begun making OLED screens in February at a joint venture factory in Japan, and that Sanyo will soon use the new screens in its own digital cameras and those it builds for partners like Olympus Optical Co Ltd. The new Kodak camera, with three-million-pixel resolution and a 3X zoom OLED screens emit light directly and, consequently, the backlight required by conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) can be eliminated, which reduces bulk and power consumption. Active-matrix OLED screens also offer a wider viewing angle than LCDs, so they can be seen clearly from the side, and they have a much faster response time than LCDs as well. Seiko Epson Corp has entered a joint venture with British startup Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) to develop equipment for making OLED displays. CDT, one of the pioneers in the OLED technology field, says that the development of Light Emitting Polymer (LEP) technology will create a new class of flat panel displays that are set to change not only the nature of display products that are all around us, Several other firms, including Samsung Electronics and a unit of Pioneer, are working on OLED screens using the so-called “small molecule” technology developed by Eastman Kodak. Cambridge Display has an alternative polymer technology that, while still less developed than Kodak’s, could overcome cost and size hurdles posed by vacuum deposition used in the small-molecule process. Researchers at Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, have succeeded in making a 64-by-64-pixel display in which each pixel is turned on and off by a switch based on plastic electronics. This is a major step towards the realization of low-cost, flexible displays made in plastic. Philips suggests that this kind of reloadable flexible display "may even replace the daily newspaper one day." Philips says that the use of plastic electronics rather than conventional silicon-based technology to switch the pixels in displays is an important technological breakthrough. It implies an enormous saving in the production cost of current displays. In addition, it paves the way towards all-plastic flexible displays. Each of the 4096 pixels of the demonstrator display has its own switch based on plastic electronics. The picture displayed, can be refreshed one hundred times per second. The display is still currently being made on a glass plate. However, the same group of researchers has already proven its ability to make these kinds of switches on plastic, so the next step will be a prototype flexible display. OLED technology could theoretically enable fabrication of display screens CDT) claims that it has successfully made plastic display screens just by Based on a poly-silicon active matrix driver the color display uses a digital drive scheme based on time and area variables addressing each pixel separately. This is in contrast to the Thin Film Transistor (TFT) analog drive system of the previous monochrome display, which was more susceptible to the variance of the TFT threshold voltage. CDT, which is partly owned by Cambridge University, hopes that LEP screens can eventually be made from soft plastics that will allow them to be rolled up. They also hope to replace the CRT. LEPs do not require the inefficient colour filter required for conventional LCDs since color is generated directly on the front faceusing phosphors. Contrast, brightness, and color are the same fromall angles of view. Because LEP technology eliminates the viewing angle dependence ofconventional LCDs, benefits include: The ink-jet technique allows the LEP material to be printed from a liquid solution and brings advantages when compared to existing and emerging display manufacturing processes by eliminating the need forbacklights, color filters and polarisers used in LCD displays, and complex multi-shadowing techniques for depositing small molecules. The structure of the display consists of two polymer layers, aconducting polymer layer covering all the pixels and a light emittingcolour polymer layer where each pixel consists of a third of each ofthe red, green, and blue color LEP materials. LEP displays are constructed by applying a thin film of light emitting polymer onto a glass or plastic substrate coated with a transparent, indium tin oxide electrode. An aluminum electrode is sputtered or evaporated on top of the polymer. Application of an electric field between the two electrodes results in emission oflight from the polymer. The LEP display has a number of very attractive features. The response time is fast (sub-microsecond), switching occurs at low voltage (5V), and the intensity of light is proportional to current.If the electrodes are patterned, for example in orthogonal X and Ylines, light will be emitted from the area at the intersection of these lines. The technology therefore combines the low voltage DC benefits o ftraditional LEDs with large area patternability associated with non-emissive display technologies such as LCDs. For more For more information on CDT, visit: Fuel Cells Could Provide 10 Hours Of Power For Laptops Gillian Law of IDG News Service reports that:
This is the first fuel cell small enough to potentially replace laptop batteries. The Toshiba technology uses water produced by the fuel cell to dilute the methanol to the 3-6 per cent concentration required for the electricity generating reaction, allowing the fuel tank to be a tenth the size previously needed. Commercial production is expected by next year. Note: Letters to Moore's Mailbag may or may not be published at the editor's discretion. Correspondents' email addresses will NOT be published unless the correspondent specifically requests publication. Letters may be edited for length and/or context. Opinions expressed in postings to Moore's MailBag are those of the respective correspondents and not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Editor and/or Applelinks management. If you would prefer that your message not appear in Moore's Mailbag, we would still like to hear from you. Just clearly mark your message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION," and it will not be published. CM
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