Epson: ready with 40" OLED display, planning TVs

Seiko Epson has showcased a 40-inch diagonal OLED display prototype and announced that it will offer polymer-based OLED products beginning in 2007, perhaps including a 40-inch OLED TV. The 40-inch panel was made by attaching four diagonal 20-inch low-temperature LCD panels and then printing polymer organic electronic luminescence materials using ink-jet printing technology. The prototype display is a 40-inch diagonal with 1280 x 768 pixels delivering over 260,000 colors. Epson used ink-jet technology that can print and form OLED pixels in an area of 1200 x 820 mm with 2,880 dpi resolution.

According to Shoichi Iino, division manager of OLED Technological Development Division at Epson, as company´s low temperature polysilicon line handles only the 400 x 500 mm substrate, they used four panels pasted together to form a 40-inch display. "The biggest challenges for OLED display for TV applications are lifetime and enlarging the size," said Iino. Epson set the initial target for OLED panel performance at over 10,000 hours, the same level as the initial stage of plasma display panel TVs.