Researchers worldwide are developing the technology to provide high quality images at a relatively low cost in consumer electronic, precision imaging, scientific research, and engineering applications, among others.

"Advanced display technologies are being used in displays as large as a 61 inch diagonal flat panels, as small as a thumbnail-sized microdisplay, as round as a globe for 3D imaging, or as flexible as a map in a military project under development," says Technical Insights Analyst Michael Valenti.

Organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), in particular, are attracting investment and being promoted as replacements for the currently popular liquid crystal displays (LCDs). When used as pixels in flat panel displays, OLEDs offer advantages over LCDs that need backlighting, including lower power consumption, greater viewing angle, lighter weight, and quicker response.

OLEDs are expected to find use in digital cameras, personal digital assistants, smart pagers, virtual reality games, mobile phones, and various industrial applications. OLEDs, in one of their first applications, are expected to surpass existing technologies is microdisplays.

"Microdisplays are making inroads into head-mounted display and hands free monitoring applications that require high-information content displays in small, cost-effective packages," says Valenti.

The main challenge in advanced displays centers around the need for 3D images. One promising approach uses LCDs to produce stereoscopic images, which manipulate the parallax inherent in human binocular vision and enables the observer to perceive images in 3D without wearing glasses.

Efforts are also under way to develop revolutionary flexible screens that enable portable and instant displays. The polymer light emitting devices used in flexible screens have unstable bonds, which can oxidize as electricity passes through them. The challenge lies in developing a protective shield that does not interfere with screen flexibility.

Recently, a flurry of licensing agreements reflects the spread of OLED technology around the world, specifically to the major display manufacturers of the Pacific Rim. With many technology developers joining forces with display makers to scale up their technology to commercial uses, the former are now gaining access to the international markets of display manufacturers.

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