2006-03-31

Latest thing in OLED displays: transparency

"Any regular reader of Ars knows that the editorial staff is fascinated by the potential for organic LED technology. While we are still awaiting installation of the first OLED panels at the Orbiting HQ, we tend to keep a close eye on any new advances in that area, and this latest one is pinning our excitement meters.

Scientists at the Technical University of Braunschweig have announced the development of transparent OLED panels. That's correct, transparent. This offers more than just the opportunity to play Minority Report - The Home Game. The development team sees this as having applications ranging from operating rooms, where surgeons could be fed a constant stream of patient data without blocking their field of view, to automobiles, although if the technology is added to windshields, we're going to recommend against hooking up the game machine while driving.

How did they do it? By marrying transparent thin-film transistors (TFTs) to OLEDs. Transparent TFTs are made of zinc-tin-oxide—as opposed to the more common silicon—and transmit at better than 90 percent in the visible spectrum."

- Read the rest of the article at Ars Technica

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