The National Lighting Bureau (NLB) recently released a video in an effort to spread awareness around OLED technology. At the NLB's Annual Lighting Forum, two experts explained the technology in layman's terms.
Randy Reid, the NLB executive director and editor of the EdisonReport, moderated the panel. The experts included Mark Taylor of Corning and Michael Boroson of OLEDworks. According to an NLB press release, "In this panel discussion, they compare and contrast OLED with LED. OLEDs are full-spectrum lights that reproduce natural lighting with a CRI greater than 90. They have no peaks; therefore, they are naturally diffused. There is no blue hazard and no UV, making them circadian-rhythm friendly. You won't typically see OLEDs in school lighting, but you might see it in a high-end office conference room. You won't find the technology in a Ford Taurus, but you will experience OLEDs in certain Audi and BMW models."
A few years ago, OLEDs' efficiency was 45 lm/W. Nowadays, they have 85 lm/W at the source level, and because there are no phosphors or heat sinks, there is essentially no loss between the source and the luminaire. It also makes them safer, since people can be closer to it due to its lack of heat and glare. In addition, costs for the technology are down, and the lifetime of OLEDs is now rated at 100,000 hr.
Their discussion can be viewed in the following video from the NLB.
