OCTOBER 10--Eastman Kodak Company (Rochester, NY) and Sanyo Electric Co. (Chiba, Japan) have unveiled a prototype 15-in. flat-panel display, the next generation of full-color displays based on Kodak's patented organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) technology. The two companies are showing the prototype at the CEATEC JAPAN trade show. The active-matrix display features full-color, 1280 x 720 (HDTV) resolution; a display area of 326.4 x 183.6 mm; and a brightness that rivals the best active-matrix LCD monitors on the market today.
"This demonstration underscores the extendibility of our organic display technology to larger sizes and broader consumer applications, including television," said Leslie Polgar, the president of Kodak's display products business. "The visual impact of this 15-in. display is already at the level of recently commercialized LCD-TFT televisions, which bodes well for moving OLED displays beyond smaller consumer devices and into laptop computers and TVs." Organic light-emitting diode displays offer bright, full-motion images that are viewable from a very wide angle. The displays comprise specially designed organic thin-film materials that emit light when stimulated by an electric charge. Benefits over conventional technologies include higher contrast for superb readability in most lighting conditions, faster response time to support streaming video, 165° viewing angle, and thinner design for better ergonomics.
In December, Kodak and Sanyo announced the formation of a global joint venture, the SK Display Corporation, to manufacture OLED displays for consumer devices such as cameras, PDAs, and portable entertainment machines. Today's announcement represents the latest milestone in the companies' joint effort to achieve widespread commercial use of OLED displays.
For further information on Kodak displays and licensees, go to www.Kodak.com/go/display.
