DuPont has wanted to produce OLED-TVs for many years and in 2010 DuPont started talking about a method for printing OLED-TV panels up to 50 inches in a matter of minutes. DuPont has now found a partner and has licensed their OLED printing method. The company has only been revealed as a “leading Asian manufacturer” but Samsung is believed to be the partner.

DuPont finds partner for printing OLED-TVs
In 2010 DuPont said that in the future manufacturers can “nozzle-print” OLED panels. The future is here. DuPont has found a licensing partner for their AMOLED printing production method.

The partner is said to be a “leading Asian manufacturer” and Bloomberg claims to know that it is Samsung. Samsung just announced that they will not be using RealD’s 3D technology for their TVs and a deal with DuPont could indicate that Samsung is looking to introduce OLED-TVs soon instead of focusing on 3D. Samsung is said to have 55-inch OLED-TV prototypes ready for production but it is not known if DuPont’s production method has been utilized.


A 4.3-inch prototype of a DuPont-printed OLED panel

DuPont’s nozzle-printing method uses a continuous stream of ink instead of droplets in inkjet printing. Last year DuPont claimed that they can print a complete 50-inch OLED-TV in less than 2 minutes but at that time DuPont had some difficulties creating sub-pixels. DuPont also claims that they can produce much cheaper OLED panels compared to existing production technologies and DuPont even says that the production costs for an OLED-TV panel will be less than those for a similar LCD-TV panel.

Samsung has made no mention of a deal with DuPont. Samsung will reveal their 2012 TV line-up this January at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. According to sources both Samsung and LG have 55-inch OLED-TV planned for CES 2012. LG has confirmed the rumors but Samsung remains mum. Bloomberg also reports that DuPont is looking to add more electronics makers including General Electric that is said to work on OLEDs that can be painted onto a wall or other surfaces for lighting purposes.

For more information see this short video describing DuPont’s nozzle-printing production method.




- Source: DuPont / Bloomberg