LG ChemHas Bright Outlook for OLED Lighting
SEOUL – The library of Korea’s top university is now being spectacularly illuminated with the world’s next-generation lighting system: OLED, or Organic Light Emitting Diode lamps.
Seoul National University is South Korea’s premier college – the country’s equivalent to Harvard or Oxford. Fittingly, this cutting-edge institution is the first to embrace OLED lighting in a key building for any center of learning:its brand-new library.
It is an impressive sight. Flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows, the main reading space of the library is gently illuminated by row upon row of double-headed, ultra-slim desk lamps, each standing upon the ranked desks.
With 1,100 OLED lightpanels set into the lamps, the library is the world’s biggest building installation of OLED lighting, according to Seoul-based LG Chem – itself the largest manufacturer of OLED lighting solutions globally, and the company which helped to outfit the building.
OLED was chosen not simply because its unique design capabilities conformed with the library’s ultra-moderninterior, but because it provides the gentlest form of lighting for students’ eyes.
Library officials said their selection of OLED was based on the need to avoid eye fatigue: OLED was the best lighting option for the library’s study area, since it protects student’s eyes while offering a soothing, simple design.
The OLED panels used in the library measure 320mm by 110mm, with a light efficiency of 60lm/W, offering a lifetime of 40,000 hours.The panels are just 0.88mm thick, meaning that even in their aluminum housings, the lights are just 2.2mm thick, offering an ultra-slim design. The lamps’ brightness is adjustable to between 300lx and 850lx,using a touch sensor.
An LG Chemexecutive said the same OLED reading lights installed in the university will be sold commercially from March in Korea and from May in the U.S. and E.U.He also hoped that the library installation would raiseOLED lighting’s visibility among trend-centric designers.
“OLED lighting is a brand-new technology that simply has not existed before,” said Chang-HoonJeong, Head of Marketing Teamat LG Chem’s OLED Light Division. “Wehopethat this prestigious library project will fire designers’ imagination andhelp kick-start the global OLED lighting market.”
Mankind’s Sixth Lighting Technology:
OLED’s Place in the Spectrum
Human technological advancement in almost all sectors has acceleratedthrough the ages. The history of lighting technology, in particular, exemplifies this general fact.Throughout most of the vast span of mankind’s existence, lighting was based on a single source: fire. Only since the late 19th century have light sources truly diversified.
Broadly, lighting can be broken down into six major sources.
The first artificial source of lightwas fire. This prehistoric “technology” illuminated the life of hunter-gathering humans for millennia. After the rise of agricultural civilization,fire’s usewas made more efficient when it was applied to candles and lanterns. These latter light sources would be used worldwide for the bulk of recorded human history.
It would not be until the late Victorian era that the next advance, incandescent light, arrived – in the shape of Edison’s electric light bulb. While a brilliant advance at the time, by today’s standards, this technology has major limitations. Based on tungsten filament, the fragile glass bulbs are inefficient – they produce more heat than light – but are, remarkably, still in wide use globally. However, the U.S. and E.U. are considering phasing them out due to their failure to meet energy efficiency standards.
Fluorescent lighting appeared in the 1920s. These linear lamps offer a far longer lifetime than electric bulbs – 20,000 hours compared to 100 hours – but many find their glare too intense. They also use mercury, a toxic metal, as a component.
By 21st century standards, the first truly “modern” lighting, using a point light source, was Light-emitting Diode (LED) lights. LED lights emit illumination by transmitting electricity between two different semiconductor materials. They are more energy efficient than electric bulbs or fluorescent tubes, and theirflat shape permits a more creative application to buildings and machines than their predecessors.
Now, there is OLED lighting, the world’s first surface-light source lighting, granting high uniformity across the surface. Unlike LED lights, OLED (Organic Light-emitting Diode) lights are made of layers of fully organic materials. Light is generated when the OLED’s emissive layer responds to electrical current. LG Chem OLEDs have a lifetime of 40,000 hoursat all luminance options up to 3000 cd/m2.As they require none of the heat-ameliorating devices that need to be added to LED light panels, they are more energy efficient, while their flexibility of shape permits more design creativity than LED lights.
“It may sound pretentious to call something a ‘historical’ development, but when it comes to OLED lighting, the adjective is appropriate,” said Ryan Lee, Marketing Communication Manager at LG Chem’s OLED Light Division. “This is only the sixth format for lighting in history, so represents a major jump in the way humans illuminate their lives.”
Optimal Light for Operating Theaters, Wine Cellars and Nuclear Submarines?
OLEDs’ Energy, Healthand Environmental Advantages
By spectrum distribution, OLED is the closest artificial source to sunlight.
“People may not register it consciously, but both common sense and scientific research indicates that we humans are more emotionally comfortable with natural light,” said Chang-HoonJeong, Head of Marketing Team.“This makes OLED light ideal for places where natural light is unavailable, or where optimal-quality light is required – be that in an operating theater, a wine cellar or a nuclear submarine.”
Yet despite its similarity to sunlight, OLED lights emit zero UV, a form of radiation that causes skin aging and wrinkles.It also emits – unlike fluorescent lighting – zero glare. This is important: glare is a contributing factor to eye strain.All these add up to major pluses for eye health.
“OLED is a new technology so medical studies have yet been undertaken, but it seems reasonable to assume that the widespread adoption of this lighting would be beneficial for eye-health worldwide,” said Chang-HoonJeong, Head of Marketing Team. “Simply put: OLED is easier on the eyes than any other form of artificial lighting.”
Dating back to fire, most light sources generate heat as a byproduct of light. This is problematic for two reasons: Oftentimes, heat is not required, and this “dual use” spells energy inefficiency.
However, OLEDs produce very little heat, largely obviating these age-old problems. As OLED panels generate minimal heat (35degrees centigrade), they are safe to touch and easy to handle. One test is to simply place a piece of chocolate on an OLED panel in use: it will not melt.
And anenvironmentally positive factor is their lack of heavy metals: OLED lights contain neither lead nor mercury, positioning them as the ideal “green light” technology.
All this adds up, granting OLED lighting the widest possible range of benefits. It is more energetically efficient, more health friendly and more environmentally sound than any competing technology.
Slim, Light, Flexible, Durable:
OLED Application Advantages
OLEDs are one tenth the thickness of LEDs and one fifth their weight, making them the ultimate “light lights.”These elements not only provide designers with maximum flexibility, they also cut weight in places where energy output is limited – such as electric cars, airplanes and submarines.
And LG Chem has developed flexible, bendable OLED panels that can be shaped to curved surfaces – be they appliances, vehicles or buildings. This is a world first for a light source.
“When it comes to lighting, designers of industrial products and buildings will no longer have to think in straight lines,” said Ryan Lee, Marketing Communication Manager at LG Chem’s OLED Light Division. “This one, single facet of OLED lighting holds the potential to change the face of our appliances and urban spaces after dark.”
An additional benefit of thinness and flexibility is durability: OLED lights will not break, making them less fragile than any form of lighting since candles.
Already, LG Chem has developed an in-house range of pilot applications.
The company – a B2B manufacturer – is taking the unusual step of producing and marketing a range of B2C products, including desk lamps and an upcoming DIY OLED kit, to get the market enthused by OLED lights’ potential.
Another application is a magnetic mounting solution – via which anyone can simply attach an OLED light panel to any metal surface. Even magnets are not necessary: thanks to their ultra-light weight, OLED lights can even be attached to surfaces by double-edged adhesive tape.
And taking advantage of their super slim profile, OLED lights have been fully embedded into furniture to highlight design.
Because of their low heat emission, OLED lights do not damage fragile materials, such as fabrics, paper or wood, making them ideal solution for museums, antiques and heritage architecture. In Seoul,South Korea, OLED light panels arealready being used to light the wooden beams of a historical hanok, or traditional Korean house.
Collaborations include the “Tincan Project” in London, UK, which features OLED lights in the “Tincan” restaurant designed by AL_A architects. The simplicity of OLED lights enabled AL_A, an architectural firm, to design and manufacture the light fixtures themselves. And London-based Grimshaw Architects, fascinated by OLED’s potential, is sponsoring an OLED light design competition.
In Seoul, South Korea, the “Marley” coffee shop in trendy Gangnamglued together 53x55mm OLED lighting panels to form butterfly-like wings, suspended from the ceiling. These “wings” are attached to motion sensors which flicker when movement is detected. Most flickering lights tire the eyes; OLED, which is glare-free, does not.
And most promisingly, LG Chem is working with automakers in Japan and Europe – who value the flexibility, light weight and durability of OLED lights – with the goal of introducing OLED rear lights.
“These early innovations only represent the tip of the iceberg,” said Chang-HoonJeong, Head of Marketing Team. “We believe that OLED is a game changer, so we are focused on the long game, and are strategizing for this business appropriately.”
A Next-generation Industrial Product:
A Peak into the Future of OLED Lighting
The nascent OLED lighting panel market is expected to hitonly US$82 million in 2015 – but will climb rapidly to $4.7 billion by 2020, according to forecasts from UBI Research, a Seoul-based consultancy. This reflects the fact that, on the one hand, OLED is meeting international regulatory demands for more environmentally friendly and energy efficient light sources. On the other hand, it meets consumer demands for more applicable andflexible light panels.
OLED lighting is now reaching the tipping point toward full commercialization.
JiMok-hyun, a technology analyst at Meritz Securities in Seoul said he is positive aboutthe future of OLED lighting. “Right now, the market size is small, but in three to five years, I expect to see the market take off.”
Ji added that he expects the auto sector to be the first big driver of demand for OLED lighting.
LG Chem has been developing OLED lighting products since 2008.Landmarks include the release of the first OLED light panel in 2011; a bendable OLED panel in 2013; and the world’s largest OLED light panel in 2015. It is the only company in the world that produces OLED lighting in every part of the supply chain, nose-to-tail.
These developments reflect the fact that Korea is the world’s biggest manufacturer of OLED displays – led by LG Chem’s sister company LG Display – bespeaking a premium-quality infrastructure and HR pool. This grants LG’s OLED lighting production arm, LG Chem, significant potential.
And LG Chem is not standing still.
“A first-mover advantage is desirable in most industrial sectors, and we are perfectly positioned to occupy that space,” said Chang-HoonJeong, Head of Marketing Team.“OLED lighting ticks all the boxes demanded by governments and consumers – environmental soundness, energy efficiency and design flexibility – and we are determined to maintain our lead.”
