Too expensive. Just a glow. Not available in volume.
These are just a few of the tags that cling to the reputation of OLED lighting.
It is time to shake off these dusty labels and start seeing OLED lighting as the exciting innovative light engine it truly is.
Let’s consider performance. OLED technology now provides beautiful light quality at truly functional light levels. One 120mm Lumiblade panel can provide 300 lumens, and that is no glow! Want a glow? Sure, it can dim down to 1%! The Brite 1 panels are competitive at 45 lumens per watt and the newly announced Brite 2 continues the OLED evolution (or is that revolution!) to 60 lumens per watt. In addition, the Brite 2 comes in two color temperatures, 3000K and 4000K with CRI >90. Furthermore, depending on brightness, lifetime (L70) ranges from 10K to 50K hours with no significant color shift.
So, performance is enticing. But aren’t they too expensive? Increasingly, lighting designers are concluding “No”, that in fact the total cost is compelling. With scale and manufacturing innovation, the OLED costs are tracking the Department of Energy SSL OLED cost curve very closely. Without a need for thermal management or optical wave guiding and diffusion, designers also realize the savings in product development time, supply chain management and total system cost.
With performance and price opening up larger market opportunity, are products really available in volume? Absolutely! OLEDWorks can ship Lumiblade panels at manufacturing quantities very quickly, usually within a few weeks. What about drivers? A family of Philips OLED drivers, dimmable to 1%, are available and the driver options continue to expand as the industry seizes this growth opportunity.
OLED technology is here, is affordable, is high performing and opening up a whole new way to design and deliver a superb lighting experience. Those dusty labels are long gone.
