CEATEC - Japan's answer to CES - is about to kick off in Tokyo, and already a few companies are showing-off what they've been working on. TDK is at the front of the queue, displaying some of the latest in OLED technology.
First up is a flexible display destined for use in mobile devices. The panels - one colour and one monochrome - use a special resin substrate instead of the more traditional glass, allowing them to bend without breaking or even distorting the colour. The materials also allow the display to be less than 0.3mm thick and weigh barely more than 1g. This is about one sixth of the weight of the company's traditional OLED panels.
Unfortunately, the 3.5in prototypes only have a 256x64px resolution, though the contrast ratio and brightness are claimed to be equivalent to glass OLED panels.
Volume production of these screens is scheduled for later in 2011, which means that they could make their way into devices in early 2012.
Also on show were see-through colour and monochrome OLED panels. While other companies have shown off these sorts of displays in the past, TDK has managed to raise the bar in terms of transmittance. This is the amount that can be seen through the panel, and these new displays manage to hit levels of over 50 per cent - significantly higher than the competition.
The 2in displays have a resolution of 320x240px, and are essentially the same as the flexible panels, albeit with a glass substrate instead of resin. It could also, in theory, go into production immediately if there was sufficient demand.
The resolutions alone show that TDK still has some work to do before this tech is ready for prime-time, but the company has plenty of time to perfect its latest displays.
