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| Background |
Many of the largest groups in the field of Polymer Organic Light-Emitting Display (P-OLED) technology are focusing on the immense potential markets for improved high information content flat panel display (FPD) technology that may someday replace LCD and Plasma display technologies in consumer appliances, including cell phone, PC’s and TV’s. P-OLEDs are attractive here as they potentially provide high brightness, wide color gamut, wide viewing angle, long operating lifetime, video-enabling switching speeds, and low power consumption. Today’s conventional P-OLEDs are demonstrating performance that exceeds many incumbent inorganic-based display systems. To compete with LCD and Plasma display technologies, conventional P-OLEDs have largely developed along a path that optimizes display performance. As a result, truly remarkable display performance has been realized since the inception of P-OLEDs more than 15 years ago. However, the manufacturing equipment, costs and approach for conventional P-OLEDs is derived from LCD display manufacturing, a technology it is envisioned to one day replace.
 AVI recognized the potential of adapting P-OLED display technology to the low-resolution display and specialty lighting markets. However, the conventional P-OLED approach, was incompatible with a wide range of low-resolution display products which requires large-area patterning onto flexible substrates at very low cost. In 2001, AVI charted its own development path in P-OLEDs that represented a significant departure from mainstream approaches. The challenge was to develop a display technology that could offer the key benefits of P-OLEDs, while simultaneously leveraging the low-cost fabrication methods employed by the printing industry, not the display industry. AVI’s key innovation was the development of an air-stable device structure and related chemistries that allowed every layer of the display to be printed in air using conventional printing equipment and practices.
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