First flat screen technology was Liquid Crystal Display technology (LCD), then plasma, then Surface-conduction Electron-emitter (SED) and now Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED).

Kodak 1987 discovered electronic devices produced by placing a series of organic thin films between two electrodes - OLED.

" In 1987, they reported OLED materials that became the foundation for OLED displays produced today. The first color “discovered” in this early OLED research was green. Kodak has since improved the purity and brightness of color.
Organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology uses substances that emit red, green, blue or white light. Without any other source of illumination, OLED materials present bright, clear video and images that are easy to see at almost any angle."
Kodak

Diodes themselves emit light, so there is no need for backlight. OLED TV are much thinner than LCDs and plasma TVs. They react faster to changes in signal than do plasma or LCDs. That makes them much better for full-motion video. Because no backlight is needed that means lower power consumption and one less component. They use a flexible substrate, they are lighter in weight and they are more durable. Also they can operate in a much greater temperature range what makes them ideal for hostile environments.

Sony started to sale their XEL-1 OLED TV ( 11in, 5mm thick, with resolution of 1,024 x 600) in December 2007. It uses eight-bit per channel RGB colour and have million-to-one contrast ratio.

Sony XEL-1 OLED

Few days ago Samsung anounce they will begin mass-producing 14in OLED TVs in 2010.
Toshiba with 30in OLED TV would go on sale in 2009.

Displays made of organic LEDs are brightly lit but tend to be mostly opaque.
Scientists at the Fraunhofer succeeded in constructing transparent OLED displays. They used light-emitting polymers. When Fraunhofer Institute made them transparent they have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Now it is possible to make display panels in laminated glass.
This will be an advantage to transform car windshields, cell phone displays, PDAs and keyboards, computer monitors, HDTVs, glazing elements in buildings...

MURPHY'S TECHNOLOGY LAWS:

Einstein's Rule:
-- Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Principle of Design Inertia
-- Any change looks terrible at first.

Cahn's Axiom
-- When all else fails, read the instructions.

Clarke's Third Law
-- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Belinda's Law
-- The chance of a computer crash is directly proportional to the importance of the document
that you are working on.

Holten's Download Principle
-- The likelihood of receiving an error message during download increases the closer
you come to finishing.

Putt's Law:
-- Technology is dominated by two types of people -- those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.