OLEDs - The Lighting on the Wall

Scientists at many leading companies and start-ups are developing "Organic Light Emitting Diodes." (Everyone has heard about LEDs by now and that they are the next big thing in lighting, and if you haven't, be sure to google it). To put it simply, an OLED is a thin sheet of material that will illuminate when an electrical charge is applied to it. It's like wallpaper that lights up, and it's not going to be hitting shelves any time soon. It will probably have more use in display screens of all kinds than it will on your wall--unless you live in a dance club? (Hey, I'm not judging.)

OLEDS:

*Don't require a backlight to function (displays can be thinner even than LCD)
*Draw less power from a battery (think cell phone displays)
*Degradation of OLED materials is still a problem

Quite a few companies are working to develop them now. It's an area where the little fish will start being gobbled up by the big players eager to gain an advantage on their competitors in a few years.