Organic LCD technology - paving the way to flexible displays.

While we have to disappoint many that the OLCD prototype is not for sale, the good news is that the flexible electronics technology behind it is ready to hit the market and be integrated in consumer products. The wrist-worn OLCD demo we showcased at Mobile World Congress has been created as a proof of concept for our OLCD technology, to present the technology to product designers and manufacturers who can use it for the development of consumer products.

You would be forgiven for feeling puzzled at the mention of the term ‘OLCD’ – it is a new technology based on organic backplanes, and FlexEnable is the only company that has proven and industrialised it. Liquid crystal display, or LCD, is the most widely used display technology that accounts for more than 90% of the displays sold today.  However, they are made with glass which limits the ability to flex and the displays and conform to surfaces.  If you replace the glass with ultra-thin plastic, an LCD can be made to bend, by carefully selecting the liquid crystal materials and optimising the assembly process. We have shown we can do just that with our fully industrialised process for organic backplanes and have called the technology organic liquid crystal displays (OLCD).

   OLCD can now achieve the same performance as your TV at home, but on plastic. Moreover, the manufacturing process has been developed to be highly compatible with existing capital equipment used for amorphous silicon LCDs, and using much of the existing materials supply chain making OLCD the lowest cost route to flexible, colour, video-rate displays.

Endless possibilities

The conformable OLCD we demonstrated helps imagine how it can bring extra utility to wearable and mobile devices. For example the flexible display allows you to combine the features of both a smartphone and a smartwatch. So why would you need two devices when you can have one?

This technology is not limited to wearable and mobile devices. It can be integrated into car interiors, digital signage, white goods and other applications that will benefit from creative designs, more functionality and unbreakable screens.