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� AMAZIG ANSWERS TO CURIOUS QUESTIONS -------------------

How thin can TVs get?

OLED displays are changing the face of our TVs,
monitors and mobile phones

Vs have come a long way since the are two kinds of OLED display, of which the light on an AMOLED display directly
massive boxes hogging the corner of AMOLED (active matrix) is the most important. corresponds to the brightness of each
Tyour living room. Yet even your current Designed for larger displays (of over about individual pixel. For devices that run on
flat-screen LCD TV will soon look unwieldy three inches), it allows for each individual battery power, like mobile phones, this is a
compared to the next generation of products. pixel on the screen to be controlled separately. massive boon. The final benefit comes in the
With OLED (organic light-emitting diode) The three key benefits to OLED displays all form of a massive improvement in image
technology televisions, computer monitors, stem from that lack of a backlight. The quality, with greater contrast between light
mobile phones and pretty much anything else immediate consequence is that devices can be and dark colours thanks to the absence of the
with a screen are set to become thinner than made thinner - a 40-inch LCD TV needs a backlight that turns blacks into dark greys on a
ever before. backlight large enough to span and light the traditional LCD.
OLED is a major step on from the LCD entire surface of the screen evenly. Without Of course, thinner hardware is only the first
technology that is currently used. In simple this problem, the same sized OLED-based TV step in what OLED technology will bring us.
terms, it is created from organic materials that could be little more than an inch thick, and as Through nanotechnology companies like Sony
emit light when power is passed through it. An miniaturisation of the other components and Toshiba have created screens that
OLED display contains thin films of organic powering devices develops further, they will measure less than half a millimetre thick,
materials placed between two conductors; as only continue to get thinner. making them extremely flexible. Imagine a
the current passes through, the display lights The next benefit is that without that mobile phone with a large screen that can be
up. This self-illuminating function removes backlight, the screens draw far less power. folded to keep it pocketable, or even wearable
the need for the backlight that is an essential While a black image on an LCD display is computers built into clothing - this is no longer
requirement of a traditional LCD screen. There backlit to the same degree as a white screen, just the stuff of science fiction.

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