OLED vs LED fight

OLED lighting has become a hot topic in the solid-state lighting industry. The topic of LED and OLED PK has been buzzing. So, in the field of solid-state lighting, LED and OLED compared to what is better?

Square: LED industrialization is more competitive. Theoretically, LED lighting can last 100,000 hours, and the luminous efficiency of LED chips can reach more than 120 lm/W, compared with OLEDs.

Focusing on a new technology and new product, we must focus not only on the technology or the product itself, but also on its future industrialization. The development of industrialization of solid-state lighting is closely related to factors such as cost, longevity, and light efficiency. Of course, these factors have a causal relationship with the technology itself. Those who emphasize the competitive strength of LED lighting and sing OLED lighting are nothing but fuss about these factors.

For the cost, the LED package level price is 5 US dollars / klm, integrated lighting price is 20 US dollars to 100 US dollars per klm, and OLED is much more expensive than this. Some people think that OLED is not a cost-effective choice at the price point (panel level) of $300 to $500/klm, including the cost of luminaire design. Although OLED suppliers often target products in the professional market, high prices will still hinder the market. Of course, the OLED price issue is still attributed to the level of technology. The encapsulation layers (blocking, bonding, and sealing) and the integrated substrate (transparent conductive layer, substrate, and light exit layer) are still the main drivers of cost.

For the life expectancy, the industry believes that LED lighting theoretically sustainable 100,000 hours, of course, in the use of heat affect life, light failure and other issues, while the OLED device is seriously short of life, generally only 5000 to 8000 hours, OLED lighting If the application is to be popularized, it must further increase its life span. The initial goal is to reach the level of fluorescent lamps, that is 20,000 hours, and the future goal is to reach 50,000 hours. To achieve this goal, there must be a major breakthrough in materials. And further improve the device structure and process level.

For light efficiency, LED chip luminous efficiency can reach 120lm / W or more, when the additional lamp, the effect of the lampshade, light scattering and other devices, the actual efficiency may drop to about 60 ~ 70lm / W; OLED lighting can only do To 30~50lm/W, others say that there is a maximum of 60lm/W. However, there is still a big gap between the two.

Anti-side: OLED lighting will suddenly become a continuous spectrum of OLED lighting, there is no UV problem, the light is more natural and soft, almost no harm to human vision.

The surface light source is the unique "label" of OLED lighting, and around this feature, it also derived a lot of advertised advantages. For example, in the aspect of lighting design, LED heat is concentrated, and it is necessary to add a lamp shade, a heat sink, or a light scattering device, and the lighting design is more complicated. The flat light source characteristics of the OLED, in addition to a variety of types of lamp design, the heat performance is also better, without additional cooling components to increase the cost of lighting. If flexible substrates are used, OLEDs will become flexible surface light sources, which is believed to be favored by many designers and create more imaginative luminaires. Because it is a surface light source, OLED lighting has a high potential for large-area light emission, and its size is also very advantageous.

The impact on people’s eyesight is another key factor in the discussion. At this point, OLED is even better. OLED lighting is a continuous spectrum and can use direct current. Such natural light, its light is also softer, and it will hardly hurt people's eyesight. More importantly, OLEDs are completely free of UV light. Most of the LEDs use ultraviolet light to generate visible light, and then they are processed to form white light or other colored light. If the components are exposed in the ultraviolet treatment, they will cause damage to the human eye. Currently developed solar-like OLED devices can be widely used in daytime and night lighting scenarios, OLED lighting design with super high color rendering, its color temperature performance and color rendering can also change the performance characteristics of lighting lamps through different processes or voltage.

From the perspective of the industry chain, some industry players believe that the OLED industry chain is shorter and more integrated. Their reason is that, for the upstream of the OLED industry chain, it is the supplier of various materials and components, such as organic semiconductor materials, electrode materials, substrate materials, and light extraction materials. It is likely that the substrate supplier will integrate the integrated electrode material and the light extraction material with the substrate to provide a complete substrate solution to the midstream panel manufacturer, which not only simplifies the process but also reduces the cost. For the middle reaches, it is the panel manufacturing field. Since the organic semiconductor materials used in OLED devices are relatively low in environmental tolerance, OLED panel manufacturers also assume the responsibility of packaging. This is different from the LED lighting industry. Currently, LED chip manufacturers and packagers are mostly Still independent, although vertical integration has been surging in the LED field, it is still not as natural as the OLED chip and package. For the downstream, due to the more flexible design of OLED lamps, downstream lighting manufacturers can make corresponding design and development according to different lighting requirements. Therefore, the OLED lighting industry chain has a stronger ability to integrate.

Conclusion: It is not Yu Zheng's dispute that the complementary symbiotic LED has entered the general lighting field. OLED is also mainly used in the field of special lighting. Next, it will enter high-level offices, commercial facilities and high-end residential buildings.

Regarding OLED lighting and LED lighting, whether they are better or worse, in fact, more people think that they will “do their part”, coexist and develop together. From the perspective of lighting requirements, LED is a point of light, concentrated lighting, when applied to the outdoor environment is more eye-catching, suitable for local lighting, advertising signs, traffic warning signs and other applications. OLED belongs to the surface light, the light is soft and uniform, and the effect is better in the room. Both have their own advantages.

In terms of applications, LED has entered the general lighting field. Since the OLED industry is still in its infancy, the first stage of OLED lighting is special lighting applications, followed by high-level offices, commercial facilities, and high-end residential lighting. Into the general lighting market depends on the next step in the development of technology. "OLED is a supplement to LED. From the current technical point of view, OLED to replace the general lighting, as well as technical bottlenecks. Can do anything else, really do home lighting still has some limitations, the need for product development and The technical input will continue to be tackled," Peter Laier, chief technology officer of OSRAM GmbH, told reporters.

In fact, many international giants are not only vigorously developing LED lighting products, but also invested heavily in OLED research and development and have mass production. Among these, in addition to hope that they can occupy the commanding heights in the future technology, I believe that the company's senior officials are optimistic about the development prospects of both.