Alexei Volkov
The 'P' in POLED stands for plastic, which is used as a substrate for the OLED screen. The use of plastic substrates in POLED displays offers several advantages over traditional glass substrates, including reduced production costs, enhanced durability, and greater flexibility. This makes POLED technology ideal for foldable smartphones, wearable electronics, and devices with curved displays. While POLED screens are more resistant to scratches and cracks than glass screens, they are not entirely scratch-proof.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Substrate | Plastic |
| Flexibility | High |
| Thickness | Thin |
| Durability | High |
| Versatility | High |
| Shatter-resistance | High |
| Power consumption | High for white backgrounds |
| Burn-in | Common |
| Visibility | Poor outdoors |
| Weight | Light |
| Shape | Easily formed into new shapes |
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What You'll Learn
POLED screens are made of plastic
The use of plastic substrates in POLED screens offers several advantages over traditional glass substrates. Plastic is more lightweight and durable than glass, offering greater resistance to wear and tear, scratches, and cracks. This makes POLED screens ideal for devices that are frequently handled and potentially dropped, as plastic holds up better to impacts than glass.
In addition to durability and flexibility, POLED screens made of plastic also offer cost benefits. Plastic substrates are cheaper to produce than glass substrates, making POLED screens a more cost-effective option for manufacturers. The use of plastic also allows for unique designs, driving advancements and expanding the possibilities for new applications in consumer electronics.
While POLED screens made of plastic offer many advantages, there are a few drawbacks to consider. One issue is that the plastic base layer can still get scratched over time, especially when coming into contact with gritty substances or hard objects like keys. This has led to the use of screen protectors to keep the plastic scratch-free, but these protectors can add cost and reduce screen sensitivity.
Overall, the use of plastic in POLED screens has revolutionized display technology, offering enhanced flexibility, durability, and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional glass substrates.
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Plastic screens are more durable
The use of plastic in screens promotes durability and versatility. POLED screens are thinner than traditional OLED screens with glass substrates, allowing manufacturers to produce thinner display panels for thinner devices. The flexibility of plastic substrates is particularly beneficial for curved screens and foldable devices, such as Samsung's Galaxy Fold series.
The trend towards using plastic substrates instead of glass is driven by the desire for more interesting form factors and the need for flexible screens in modern devices. Plastic is also much more cost-effective than glass, making it a popular choice for manufacturers.
While POLED screens offer advantages in durability and flexibility, they do have some disadvantages. Plastic OLED screens have a shorter lifespan than IPS LCD or TN LCD panels due to the faster degradation of blue materials, which can lead to screen burns within two years or less. Additionally, POLED screens may have poor outdoor visibility due to lower brightness compared to IPS LCD screens.
Despite these drawbacks, the advantages of plastic screens in terms of durability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness have made them a popular choice for manufacturers, especially for smaller displays in smartphones and wearable devices.
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Plastic screens are flexible
The flexibility of plastic screens offers several advantages over traditional glass screens. Firstly, plastic screens are more durable and shock-resistant than glass screens. They are also lighter in weight and easier to mould and shape, making them ideal for curved and foldable devices. Additionally, the use of plastic substrates can reduce production costs compared to glass substrates.
While plastic screens offer improved flexibility and durability, they also have some disadvantages. One notable drawback is their shorter lifespan compared to IPS LCD or TN LCD panels. The blue materials in plastic screens degrade faster than other colours, leading to screen burns within two years or less. Plastic screens also struggle with outdoor visibility due to the lack of backlighting, making them difficult to view in direct sunlight.
Despite these disadvantages, plastic screens have become popular in the market. Manufacturers such as Samsung and LG have adopted plastic substrates for their OLED panels, particularly in smaller displays for smartphones and wearable devices. The flexibility and durability of plastic screens have enabled innovations such as curved and foldable designs, enhancing the user experience and opening up new possibilities for device form factors.
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Plastic screens are cheaper to produce
Secondly, plastic is a more cost-effective material to work with than glass. Plastic substrates can be formed and shaped more easily, allowing manufacturers to produce thinner display panels that can be fitted into thinner devices. This property is essential for creating curved and foldable screens, as plastic is flexible and can be moulded into new shapes, whereas glass is fixed and rigid.
Additionally, plastic OLEDs (POLEDs) have a faster response time than LCDs, and they do not require a backlight as each pixel produces its own light. This lack of a backlight reduces power consumption and improves battery life, especially when displaying images with black backgrounds.
While POLEDs have some disadvantages, such as a shorter lifespan and poor outdoor visibility due to the lack of backlighting, their advantages in terms of durability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness make them a popular choice for manufacturers.
Overall, plastic screens offer a more affordable and versatile option for display technology, which is why companies like Samsung and LG have adopted plastic substrates for their smartphone and other product lines.
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Plastic screens are lightweight
The use of plastic substrates gives POLED several advantages. One of the advantages of POLED over conventional AMOLED is thinness. The plastic substrate is considerably half as thin as glass substrates, thus allowing manufacturers to produce thinner display panels that can be fitted into thinner devices. Another advantage of POLED is flexibility. Plastic is essentially more flexible than glass and is easier to form into new shapes. This property is essential for curved screens as well as foldable devices like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold series.
OLED screens comprise millions of carbon-based diodes, hence the name organic light-emitting diode. These diodes are a mixture of red, green, and blue emitters that can be arranged in several ways. When an electric current is applied, light is emitted. Because each pixel handles its light and color, OLED displays do not need a separate backlight. The lack of backlight means that OLED displays offer infinite contrast.
However, there are also some disadvantages to plastic OLEDs. One notable disadvantage is a shorter lifespan than IPS LCD or TN LCD panels. Color-specific organic materials in an OLED have varied lifespans. The blue materials degrade faster than other colors, thus a plastic OLED can demonstrate screen burns within two years or less. Poor outdoor visibility is another disadvantage. IPS LCD is essentially brighter than OLED because of the addition of backlighting. This means that a POLED can be difficult to view outdoors or under direct sunlight.
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Frequently asked questions
POLED (or pOLED) screens are flexible displays that use plastic substrates instead of glass. They are lighter, more durable, and cheaper to produce than glass substrates.
The "P" in POLED stands for plastic, referring to the plastic substrate used in these displays.
POLED screens offer several advantages over traditional glass substrates, including increased durability, flexibility, and lower production costs. They are also thinner and have smaller bezels, making them ideal for foldable devices and curved screens.
Examples of devices that use POLED screens include the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, LG G Watch R W110, and Google Pixel 2 XL.
