For everyone wondering what your going to do for decorative lighting once incandescent bulbs become illegal in a few years, General Electric is up to. Think what you could do with wallpaper paper flat lighting that can be molded into just about any shape imaginable. For more read Engadget's GE researchers create printable, flexible OLEDs:
"Researchers at GE have created the world's first roll-to-roll manufactured OLEDs -- a newspaper printing-like process that is the first step to plentiful, cheaply produced, flexible lighting. Production of the thin, organic materials in this manner could lead to a wide array of innovations in the use of lights, sensors, and displays, and could make a noticeable impact on the efficiency and environmental performance of lighting and electronics. The company envisions a new playing-field for businesses, architects, and lighting designers who need access to cheap, energy-conscious materials, and see this research as a first step to an emerging field of commercialized OLED lighting. Yes, a new vista of discovery, wealth, and prosperity awaits those who take this bold step into the wide, wonderous, and uncharted worlds of scientific research and prototyping -- let's just hope it doesn't end up all Bioshock-y and weird."
And from the Register there is more Boffins demo OLED-on-a-roll production process:
"General Electric scientists have worked out how to manufacture OLED displays on a roll, a process that they hope will one day allow panels to be punched out cheaply and cut to size like cloth.Sphere: Related Content
So far, GE's researchers have simply demonstrated such an approach is possible. But they believe that, with further development, the technique could soon result in vast sheets of OLED materials flowing out of production plants and wrapped onto large rolls ready for shipment.
OLED panels sandwich organic compounds between two electrodes. When a charge is placed across the electrodes, the organic compounds emit light. Different compounds produce different colours of light, and by building cells out of these structures, it's possible to build a full-colour display.
It's a technology widely seen as the successor to today's LCD and plasma screens. OLED produces bright colours and uses much less energy to do so. However, big OLED panels are very costly to produce and right now don't last as long as LCD and plasma before their image quality degrades.
...The company's vision is to replace lightbulbs and fluorescent tubes with light-emitting sheets that, because of their size, deliver more light but at much lower power than today's lighting systems eat up.
Four years ago, GE demo'd a 60 x 60cm OLED panel capable of producing as much light as a modern incandescent bulb. It wants to begin commercializing such products in 2010."
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