# Kateeva Aims to Make OLED Production Cheaper, Now.



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Organic Light Omitting Diode (OLED) display technology has been simmering in the background for quite some time. Believe it or not, but nearly seven years have passed since Sony first introduced their ridiculously priced industry-first 24.5-inch OLED display. We’ve since heard near fantasy talk of OLED’s stunning brightness, infinite black levels, vibrant colors, and limitless viewing angles. It’s arrival has probably helped to quicken plasma technology’s ride to the grave and one has to wonder if LCD based displays are next. While videophiles drool away, the vast majority of electronics consumers know that OLED's attractive features are sure to arrive in force with major dollars attached. We’ve seen this time and time again with every new iteration of display technology...to state it succinctly: they are expensive and can take years to become affordable. Samsung's 2013 55-inch OLED display hit the market with a $10,000 price tag, nearly 5-8 times more than many 55-inch LED HDTV's, and there are more to come.








This week a Silicon Valley company named Kateeva made an announcement that might help to reign-in OLED display costs for all of us. But before we get to the announcement, let’s take a look at Kateeva’s mission statement: “Kateeva aims to reduce the cost of making flexible and large-scale OLEDs. Radically.” Did that catch your attention? It certainly has caught ours. I’m not sure about you, but they had me at “Hello.” 

The company has unveiled an inkjet printing manufacturing solution to produce OLEDs in high volume. It’s called YIELDjet and is the first inkjet printer designed and manufactured specifically for OLED mass production. And the best part? Kateeva says YIELDjet bests current OLED manufacturing technologies in more ways than one, including cost.

The YIELDjet platform is predicated on creating a near-perfect process environment for the creation of OLEDs. Kateeva says its nitrogen process chamber provides this environment, nearly doubling the lifespan of its OLEDs. Moisture during production is OLED’s evil enemy and a degrader of quality. YIELDjet’s nitrogen chamber shields OLED materials from moisture. And, most importantly, the company touts its chamber’s design as easily serviceable which reduces manufacturing down-time due to repairs.

The platform’s mechanical design also accelerates OLED creation through reducing particles by as much as 10-times. Taking design elements from the semiconductor industry, Kateeva has created one of the finest particle reduction designs in the industry. 

Finally, YIELDjet has upped OLED film coating uniformity with a process window that is 5-times wider than other production technologies. This means product reliability and mass production capabilities are vastly improved as compared to current standards.

So, what’s the bottom-line result? OLED production that is more reliable, faster, and more economical.

President and Co-founder Dr. Conor Madigan had this to say: “YIELDjet was inspired by a simple vision: help display manufacturers realize the full potential of OLED technology so that their customers can enjoy and benefit from these dazzling new displays. YIELDjet delivers by using inkjet printing to crack difficult technical problems that made manufacturing flexible and large-size OLEDs challenging and costly. We’re encouraged by our customers’ interest, and we’re excited to be enabling this important display technology transition.”

Kateeva is banking on the fact that their YIELDjet platform offers a manufacturing solution that answers many of the constraints hampering current production techniques. They also feel that YIELDjet’s ease of scalability and high yield output will more than help to meet the expected OLED production demands over the next six years, when the OLED production market is expected to become a $15.5 billion business. Hopefully consumers will also benefit with reduced buy-in costs. Wouldn’t that be nice?

_Image Credit: Samsung_


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## JimShaw (Apr 30, 2012)

If they can develop a 65" flat OLED that can be hung on a wall, I'm all in.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

JimShaw said:


> If they can develop a 65" flat OLED that can be hung on a wall, I'm all in.


Jim, this technology is red hot. I suspect that within 4 years, hopefully sooner, OLED displays will be the gold standard... It's also safe to assume that 4K will also be a huge selling point (even though the benefits of owning 4K for the average consumer are debatable). What we are seeing is a shift away from standard hi-def (1080p) and the old guard technologies. Much to the chagrin of many folks, myself included, plasma has taken a hard hit and appears to be standing on its last legs - Panasonic will no longer be producing plasma displays as of early 2014. I would assume that LCD based LED televisions and OLED products will be the primary competition going forward. If companies such as Kateeva are able to cheapen the manufacturing costs of OLED, then that's great news to all of us... of course OLED prices will still remain high during the initial rollout of OLED displays, but hopefully advancements in production (such as the advancement offered by Kateeva) will work and help to push them lower than what we would have initially anticipated.


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## cavchameleon (Jan 7, 2008)

OLED looks like the wave of the future. For now, I love Plasma, but since that is being phased out, I'm hoping that OLED will become affordable sooner. As Jim states, "I'm all in" - me also!!! We have a couple LED sets in our home and we're not that happy with the picture compared to Plasma. But, OLED is very promising.

Thanks for the news blurb Todd!


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## Mike0206 (Jul 14, 2013)

It's great that OLED prices may become more affordable to the masses with Kateeva's announcement, but the other way to look at it is a lot of Plasmas that are leftover on the market will have some serious price reductions. If OLED kept prices high no need to reduce the price on the best plasmas but now it'll be a different story. I wouldn't mind picking up a 65" ZT60 for $1500 or less. Lol!!


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## flamingeye (Apr 2, 2008)

I'm looking forward to OLED becoming mainstream and I've heard the benefits of OLED but I haven't heard anything about there longevity , my panny plasma touts that it can last 30 years though how much of that is true I don't know .


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## JimShaw (Apr 30, 2012)

flamingeye said:


> I'm looking forward to OLED becoming mainstream and I've heard the benefits of OLED but I haven't heard anything about there longevity , my panny plasma touts that it can last 30 years though how much of that is true I don't know .


30 years? What member of this forum should keep his main TV 30 years?

If an OLED would last 6 years, or possibly 5, I'm still in. I change TV's about every 3-4 years


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## flamingeye (Apr 2, 2008)

JimShaw said:


> 30 years? What member of this forum should keep his main TV 30 years?
> 
> If an OLED would last 6 years, or possibly 5, I'm still in. I change TV's about every 3-4 years


hey it's not always about how long some one plans to keep his TV but how much the resale value it keeps , it helps supplement ones upgrades costs


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## JimShaw (Apr 30, 2012)

flamingeye said:


> hey it's not always about how long some one plans to keep his TV but how much the resale value it keeps , it helps supplement ones upgrades costs


Oh, that's probably right. I didn't think of that. And the reason for that is I generally end up giving my three years cast off to a family member.

But you are absolutely correct.


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## kingnoob (Mar 12, 2013)

cavchameleon said:


> OLED looks like the wave of the future. For now, I love Plasma, but since that is being phased out, I'm hoping that OLED will become affordable sooner. As Jim states, "I'm all in" - me also!!! We have a couple LED sets in our home and we're not that happy with the picture compared to Plasma. But, OLED is very promising.
> 
> Thanks for the news blurb Todd!


Why does plasma have to be Phased out so unfortunate.
Yeah but what ever happened to Laser Tvs?? they just costed to much


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## Saturn94 (Jun 8, 2013)

JimShaw said:


> 30 years? What member of this forum should keep his main TV 30 years?
> 
> If an OLED would last 6 years, or possibly 5, I'm still in. I change TV's about every 3-4 years


I've been averaging about every 10 years. 

Hopefully by the time I'm ready to replace my 151 Kuro, I can get a bigger OLED TV for much less money. 

I still love my Kuro though, so I'm in no hurry.


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