See-through OLED technology

Remember when regular old LCD monitors hit the market and everyone was wowed by just how much thinner your screen could be compared to the chunky CRT alternative? Well, cellphone screens are getting thinner and thinner these days, to the point of reaching transparency. A couple of companies thus far have developed the innovation, but they are utilizing slightly different technology.

Fraunhofer uses a “light-emitting polymer, and a new type of metal electrode that supplies current to it.” By contrast, the good people over at Universal Display Corporate are going about making what they call TOLED, which works via a “transparent compound cathode.” This is said to produce in the neighbourhood 70-85% see-through goodness when switched off.

The latter has already started working with Samsung on applications of the cutting edge tech, and is also moving toward “Novel Smart Windows Based on Transparent Phosphorescent OLED,” whatever that means. The company website makes mention of helmet-mounted or “heads-up” systems for virtual reality. Pretty nifty.