Transparent OLED with Opaque Bank Pattern

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Solution Overview

Problem

Transparent display devices face a trade-off between emission efficiency and transparency, as increasing emission efficiency reduces transparency and vice versa, and the use of reflective plates complicates the bonding process with color filter substrates.

Innovation Solution

A transparent display device design that eliminates the reflective plate, allowing for increased transmissive regions and reduced opaque regions, with a second bank pattern formed of opaque material to overlap circuit regions, simplifying the configuration and omitting the need for a color filter layer and its bonding process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If a reflective plate is used to increase emission efficiency, then emission efficiency is improved, but transparency is deteriorated

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemission efficiencyVSAvoidtransparency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the reflective plate from the display device structure. By extracting this component, the device achieves both high emission efficiency (through direct light emission from OLEDs) and high transparency (by eliminating the reflective surface that would otherwise block light transmission when the display is off or showing non-emissive content).

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Productivity

If the emission area is increased to improve emission efficiency, then emission efficiency is improved, but transparency is decreased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveemission efficiencyVSAvoidtransparency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different optical properties to different regions of the display device. The pixel regions use transparent electrodes and transparent encapsulation layers to maintain high transparency, while the emission areas are optimized for light output. This local differentiation allows the overall device to achieve both high emission efficiency and high transparency simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Object-affected harmful factors

If a color filter substrate is added to suppress reflection, then reflection suppression is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty are increased

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvereflection suppressionVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the color filter substrate and its associated bonding processes from the device structure. Instead of adding complex layers to suppress reflection, the invention achieves reflection suppression by using transparent materials throughout the device and relying on the OLED emission characteristics, thereby simplifying the overall device architecture and manufacturing process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces expensive and complex color filter substrates with simpler, more cost-effective transparent materials. By using transparent encapsulation layers and transparent electrodes, the device achieves the desired optical performance without requiring costly color filter layers and their associated precision bonding processes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Data Source

PatentEP3136439B1Transparent display device
Publication Date: 2019.03.13 LG DISPLAY CO LTD
  • EP3136439B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3136439B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3136439B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A transparent display device including: a plurality of column lines including data lines and voltage lines; a plurality of pixel regions which is formed into a matrix shape by the plurality of column lines and a plurality of horizontal lines intersecting with each other and includes a plurality of transparent regions and a plurality of circuit regions; a first electrode extended from the transparent regions to the circuit regions and formed of a transparent conductive material; an organic light emitting layer disposed on the first electrode in the transparent regions and formed of a transparent organic material; and a second electrode disposed on the organic light emitting layer and formed of a transparent conductive material.