The scientists at Imperial College London have invented a new screen technology that will not only increase the power efficiency of future TVs and smartphones but the displayed pictures too.
Organic Light-Emitting Diodes or OLEDs are the tiny devices that currently light the pixels in our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and TVs screens. While the tech is as cutting edge as it gets, it’s not very power efficient.
OLED screens are coated with anti-glare filters to increase visibility when exposed to direct sunlight. That way, users can see images, even on the sunniest days.
There’s just one thing, the physics of how anti-glare filter works keep half of the light which the OLED generates within the display. As a result, it reduces the energy efficiency by half.
Ultimately, the makers of OLED displays sacrificed energy efficiency for usability. But, what if you could have both?
According to the findings published in the journal ACS Nano, it is indeed possible to obtain usability without sacrificing energy efficiency.
New Energy Efficient Screen Technology
The scientists proved that it’s possible to control the chemistry of the OLED material such that it produces OLEDs with special polarised light. With this particular light, it becomes unnecessary to use an anti-glare filter.
As you can imagine, displays from such OLEDs should be more energy efficient. In other words, they’ll provide a longer battery life while reducing carbon footprint.
Speaking on the project, Imperial College’s Department of Physics researcher and co-author of the study, Dr. Jess Wade said:
“Our study suggests, for the first time, that by changing our OLED recipe, we can generate efficient polarising OLEDs. The findings could make screens of all kinds brighter, with better contrast and longer life.”
Although the researchers only explored OLEDs for the new screen technology in their study, the material, as well as the approach, can be applied in other areas.
For example, the polarized light can be used in information storage, transmission, and encryption. That means it could potentially change computing and how we transmit data for good.
The researchers published their paper, ‘Inverting the Handedness of Circularly Polarized Luminescence from Light-Emitting Polymers Using Film Thickness’, in ACS Nano.
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