MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Economist runs story on e-paper and prosaic e-readers

brecklundin · 06-21-2007, 04:29 AM

Hi Nat:

Just did a fast search about the OLED lifespan issue. The info I had was a bit out of date and from the first part of this year. I had read the life span of an OLED display was about 10,000hrs. While that is about 1-1/4 yrs of 24/7 use that is pretty limited compared to LCD's.

I guess now the claims for current OLED displays is about 25,000 - 35,000 hrs which is 3-5 yrs worth of hours. My concern with them is because the emitting material in each emitter is consumed in the process of using them, that the display will become unusable long before they actually stop working. Also will the display's degrade evenly or get sorta "patchy"...we really have no idea I guess.

This is where I love the potential of e-ink though I am still somewhat fuzzy on exactly how the segments work and display. With their inherent ability to be used outside and lower power demands it just seems like they are almost too good to be true.

So in the mean time I am saving my pennies to treat myself to a gen2 or maybe a gen3 reader next year sometime when the market place sees a bit more in terms of options. For now I am using an old M125 and my laptop.

06-21-2007, 04:29 AM	#14
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	Hi Nat: Just did a fast search about the OLED lifespan issue. The info I had was a bit out of date and from the first part of this year. I had read the life span of an OLED display was about 10,000hrs. While that is about 1-1/4 yrs of 24/7 use that is pretty limited compared to LCD's. I guess now the claims for current OLED displays is about 25,000 - 35,000 hrs which is 3-5 yrs worth of hours. My concern with them is because the emitting material in each emitter is consumed in the process of using them, that the display will become unusable long before they actually stop working. Also will the display's degrade evenly or get sorta "patchy"...we really have no idea I guess. This is where I love the potential of e-ink though I am still somewhat fuzzy on exactly how the segments work and display. With their inherent ability to be used outside and lower power demands it just seems like they are almost too good to be true. So in the mean time I am saving my pennies to treat myself to a gen2 or maybe a gen3 reader next year sometime when the market place sees a bit more in terms of options. For now I am using an old M125 and my laptop.