At the end of last month, DVN visited the Philips Automotive Lighting plant in Aachen to get the latest information on OLED activities within Philips. The first part of the visit was devoted to general information on lighting with OLEDs; in the second section automotive OLED applications were discussed specifically.

OLED general information
Philips have been active in OLED technology development since 1991, mainly focused on display panel applications for mobile phones, TVs, etc. In 2004 a strategic decision was taken to leave the display market and focus on OLED lighting only. The result of this shift in strategic focus was the introduction of the world first in-line tool for OLED manufacturing for lighting applications in 2007. Two years later Philips commercialised the “Lumiblade” OLED lighting panels—an industry first.

Currently Philips have a two-range strategy for OLED general lighting:

•  Design orientated “Decorative Line” with focus on customized OLEDs. Colour, size, and shape are delivered according to customer wishes. This range includes transparent or structured appearance in the unlit state. Lighting performance is adequate for the customer application, but not optimum due to sacrifices made for design purposes.

•  Light output optimised “Performance Line” featuring significantly higher lighting performance compared to the decorative range, but limited in design flexibility.

This range is the choice for applications where light output preempts other factors in the specification.

To facilitate creative thoughts about OLED applications, the Lumiblade Creative Lab has been set up. It is the place where designers, architects and engineers can play with this new technology and develop inspiration for appealing luminaire concepts.