Philips shows off the OLED window

Posted by David Walker on Fri 6 Mar 2009

Who needs a light fitting?

Think OLED and you probably think TV or a screen on a media player or camera. But that's not the only use for that Organic Light Emitting Diode, you could use it to light up your house.

It's an intriguing concept and one that's being shown off right now by Philips as a window. That's right, you can have a clear window in the house by day, then switch it on to provide light by night, which is likely to be more energy-efficent than a selection of light bulbs around the room too. But there is a downside - theoretically, you might have to replace a window if your OLED pane gets a fault or runs the course of its life. That's likely to be an expensive business.

But it's a problem we're unlikely to be dealing with for some time yet. According to Philips, 'It could be a few years before we see this kind of OLED produced commercially', especially in a size that's usable - the prototype is just 12cm in size. There are problems with production too. All OLEDs need to be created in a 'clean' room, with a single particle able to destroy an entire screen. So you can imagine how sky high the production costs will be.

Still, it's impressive stuff and an interesting glimpse into the future of our homes. let's hope the robot butler follows close behind.

Link: Philips (via TechRadar)