New machine prints sheets of light

[Greyskye]

New machine prints sheets of light

* Sheets owe luminance to organic light-emitting diodes called OLEDs
* OLEDs could be used to make light sources out of everyday objects
* Sheets provide broad, diffuse light sources that bathe rooms in a gentle glow
* OLEDs will not be competitive with fluorescents by 2010, experts says

On a bank of the Mohawk River, a windowless industrial building of corrugated steel hides something that could make floor lamps, bedside lamps, wall sconces and nearly every other household lamp obsolete.
You could even make OLED wallpaper, since the material is flexible, one scientist says.

You could even make OLED wallpaper, since the material is flexible, one scientist says.

It's a machine that prints lights.

The size of a semitrailer, it coats an 8-inch wide plastic film with chemicals, then seals them with a layer of metal foil. Apply electric current to the resulting sheet, and it lights up with a blue-white glow.

You could tack that sheet to a wall, wrap it around a pillar or even take a translucent version and tape it to your windows. Unlike practically every other source of lighting, you wouldn't need a lamp or conventional fixture for these sheets, though you would need to plug them into an outlet.



(more at http://us.cnn.com/2008/TECH/10/10/sheets.of.light.oleds.ap/index.html)

[BrklynLiberal]

1. That is sooo amazing..

[grannie4peace]

2. whooo, the future!!!!! super cool!!!

[TomInTib]

3. I want one.

Period.

I want one of those.

Fascinating.

[Greyskye]

4. I'll pass on the semi-trailer sized machine...

...but I certainly am intrigued by its output! :)

[roguevalley]

5. WHOA

[Hydra]

6. I love to see progress

If this has low heat output, we're definitely looking at the future.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. I remember reading about this in popular science a few months back

I'll say now what I said then: Wake me up when I can buy glow in the dark underoos.

[Occulus]

8. And now, solve this problem:

Exposure to atmospheric oxygen, which can seep through plastic, destroys them quickly.

Coat it with what?