The very serious scientific journal Nature echoes a particularly interesting discovery concerning the organic LEDs used in our OLED screens. This advance could allow engineers to put an end to the marking problems, currently inherent to this display technology.
The permanent marking of OLED screens, monitors and televisions, also called “burn-in”, was recently the subject of a report in our columns.
Devastating, these screen burns are induced by the degradation of the organic materials that make up the OLED panels, and more particularly their sub-pixels. The image displayed on the screen is then altered forever, with, where applicable, the appearance of superimposed patterns which no longer disappear.
This situation is unfortunately common on OLED screens, in particular in the context of use involving the display of static elements on the screen over long periods (news channel banners, TV channel logos, elements of HUD in some video games, etc.).
OLED, a fragile technology
In recent years, OLED screens have improved a lot, and different manufacturers have developed technologies (notably dynamic pixel shifting and panel cleaning) to reduce the occurrence of these burns, but without ever succeeding in definitively overcome it.
Despite its undeniable advantages in terms of display quality (almost unrivaled contrast, vivid colors, rich dynamic range and negligible response time), OLED technology still suffers from less durability than LCD technology and remains a a source of concern for many users… even though its presence is growing more and more, not only in the television market, but now also in the field of PC monitors and laptops, among others.
It is in this context that a potential solution arrives, discovered by scientists from the University of Cambridge and published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.
Burn-in of OLED screens: a solution in sight?
This solution is mainly based on better control of blue light-emitting diodes. Cambridge researchers explain that encapsulating these self-emitting LEDs in alkylene strips significantly reduces the risk of burn-in. But that’s not all, because this process would also have the advantage of making the manufacturing process of OLED panels much more efficient.
The problem is that this discovery is still very fresh. New industrial processes will have to be put in place to eventually be able to exploit it, and this will take time for manufacturers of OLED panels, such as LG Display, Samsung Display, or even BOE, to name a few. Possible logistical problems could also arise from this change in process, which could lead to an increase in production costs in the medium term.
As pointed out TweakTown, this discovery nevertheless has the merit of encouraging a certain optimism regarding the permanent markings observed on many OLED panels. We can now have good hope that these problems will eventually disappear (at least largely?) on the next generations of televisions, monitors and OLED panels.
Sources: Nature, TweakTown
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