Toshiba, Matsushita to jointly make OLED screens for cell phones, mobile devices

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co, the joint venture beyween Japanses electronoics majors Toshiba Corp and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co will start making next-generation displays for cell phones and mobile devices at their joint plant by the second half of 2009.

Toshiba Matsushita Display, is a 60:40  venture between Toshiba and Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products.

Established  by the two Japanese compnies in 2002, the joint venture will invest about 15 billion Yen ($140 million) to make small and medium-size organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays in anticipation of a shift to the new technology from the more common liquid crystal displays. 

Using light-emitting organic compounds similar to those found in fireflies, an OLED panel reproduces images from light emitted by the fine organic electroluminescent film formed on the glass substrate. This provides high-contrast, clear images with ultra-fast response time for moving picture performance and does not require a backlight.

Moreover OLED panels are thinner than panels based on liquid crystal or plasma displays and feature ultra-wide viewing angle, a thinner profile due to the eliminated backlighting system and other peripheral elements, and energy conservation offering eco-friendly advantages.

Since the development of a 17-inch OLED panel in April 2002, which then was the world's largest screen size among OLED displays, Toshiba Matsushita has been developing 2.0-inch, 2.2-inch, 2.5-inch, 2.8-inch, and 3.5-inch OLED panels ideally suited for cellular phones and compact mobile equipment and has been in mass production of 3.5-inch OLED panels.

In April 2007, the company had announced the development of 20.8-inch low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel to advance to the next-generation of flat-screen TV sets and monitors. The newly developed panel demonstrated the world's largest screen size for polymer-type OLED display panels using LTPS technology, accomplished through the use of newly developed techniques for uniform coating of organic electroluminescent materials and the optimized combination of electrodes and organic materials.