Feb 2009: MicroOLED to set a milestone for 3D mobile video and gaming
OLED specialist leverages a single HDMI connection to enable high-quality 3D glasses for mobile video and gaming applications
Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain - February 17, 2009 - MicroOLED, a recognized leader in the development of efficient organic light emitting diode) technologies (OLED), today announced the release of a new high-definition multimedia interface allowing its high-resolution microdisplays to connect to the Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) OMAPTM platform.
A groundbreaking innovation for mobile gaming and video entertainment, the new interface enables 3D video or 3D gaming while using specially-designed video glasses. Leveraging a single HDMI connection to the mobile phone, the solution generates both left and right SD video streams onto the microdisplays embedded within the glasses, thus allowing gamers and video enthusiasts to view and/or interact with their favorite multimedia content while on the go.
The new system also features the MicroOLED wide video graphics array plus (WVGA+) high-resolution OLED microdisplay withRGB video interface. This microdisplay is based on MicroOLED's proprietary OLED-on-CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology, which delivers high-resolution video while offering an extremely small footprint, low power consumption and outstanding image picture quality. This advancement makes the technology ideally suited for high-end video glasses that support best in class 3D image quality and mobile entertainment, whether at home or on the move.
MicroOLED's technology successfully connects to TI's proven OMAP platform via a single HDMI connection, delivering optimal processing performance to decode high definition video streams along with power from which MicroOLED's technology generates two 873 x 500 pixels videos. This dual-technology combination will empower mobile telecommunications carriers to sell full, DVD-quality 3D content on their video-on-demand portals for mobile applications. The result of this effort is the creation of technologies for 3D mobile devices and applications enabling life-like user experience.
"By integrating our energy-efficient microdisplay into 3D video glasses and this 3D interface, we are enabling a full range of new mobile entertainment applications ranging from 3D gaming to HD mobile video. This is made possible only by combining TI's OMAP platform and MicroOLED's microdisplays, two leading technologies that deliver low power consumption and high performance," explained Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO of MICROOLED.
"TI is enthusiastic about the capabilities that MicroOLED's technology enables on the leading OMAP platform," said Elias Belmand, director for TI's wireless business Europe. "We're entering a new era of wireless possibilities - one in which consumers increasingly crave for HD 3D content viewing capabilities attached to their mobile. With incredible 3D-image quality and HD capabilities, MicroOLED's imagers and optical technologies breaks the barriers of on-the-go visual stereo HD experience, promising a whole new level of user-handset interaction."
Nov 2008: MICROOLED and CEA-LETI design the most efficient silicon-based OLED microdisplay in the world
Offering better comfort to users of point-and-shoot digital cameras, and new designs for video glasses with the highest resolution ever, Microoled and the CEA-Leti have targeted these and many other potential applications with the announcement of the most efficient
silicon-based OLED microdisplay in the world.
Microoled and CEA-Leti announce the OLED microdisplay with the finest pixel pitch (more than 1.7 million sub-pixels, 2 to 4 times more than the other emissive technologies) and the lowest power consumption reported to date (4 times more efficient). This very
compact 0.38” WVGA microdisplay from Microoled is based on the exclusive OLED technology licensed from Thomson and CEA, and integrates the latest know-how and key technologies developed by the teams of Microoled and CEA-Leti. This display is perfectly
suited for camcorder and digital still camera eye-pieces as well as for video or interactive eyeglasses.
“This new achievement in the world of microdisplay opens the door for high picture quality electronic viewfinders for cameras, but also enables the market of high definition video eyeglasses for mobile video applications. We are very satisfied with the close collaboration of CEA-LETI, with which we succeeded to develop this highly integrated display with extremely low power consumption”, said Eric Marcellin-Dibon CEO and cofounder of Microoled.
“Marrying the capabilities of CMOS and the flexibility of OLED offers a unique route to microdisplays with unequalled resolution and brightness. We foresee a tremendous potential of applications for theses devices. The high resolution and the low power consumption makes it perfect for a large set of nomadic products”, said Laurent Malier CEO of CEA-Leti.
Jan 2008 : France Info interview with MICROOLED’s CEO.
Sitting on the train, a pair of glasses resting on your nose, watching your favorite movie. Miniature screens, about .16 by .31 inches, are typically used for viewfinders on digital cameras or camcorders. But MICROOLED, a French-based company, is now developing a new type of micro-screen and plans to market its first application, video-glasses, next year.
Éric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO and cofounder of MICROOLED.
E. M-D.: MICROOLED designs and manufactures highly energy-efficient, high-quality microscreens delivering high-resolution images. Primarily intended for video applications, these microscreens can be placed in a pair of video-glasses, which can be hooked up to portable multimedia players used to store music, movies, or games.
So if I put on a pair of these glasses, I’ll be able to use them to watch a movie?
E. M-D.: Right. These miniature screens will be built right into your glasses. Their optical system will provide you with the same image quality you enjoy when watching a high-res movie on your plasma screen at home. So these glasses will make it possible for you to display your TV shows, movies, or games… anywhere!
And it’s just like watching the screen right in your living room?
E. M-D.: Yes, completely. You get outstanding image quality and visual comfort. And since our screens are very tiny and don’t use up much power, these glasses are really lightweight and feel almost like regular glasses.
And I suppose this technology can be used for other applications.
E. M-D.: Yes, in medicine, to help the visually impaired. Or also in defense and security, or for professional cameras. So we’re currently working with our manufacturing partners to come up with and develop many other applications.
Pascal le Guern, 28/01/2008
Jan 2008 : EETIMES Europe
A LÉTI-CEA TEAM FOCUSES ON OLED SCREENS
PARIS - The Laboratory for Electronic and Information Technologies of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA-Léti) recently set up an OLED screen development team featuring its internal talents in the areas of flat screens and above-IC technologies.
CEA-Léti states that the “keystone" of this operation is a cluster-type OLED deposition system, which has been incorporated into the 200-mm MEMS production line at Minatec and is associated with specific characterization equipment.
CEA-Léti explains that the results of this research will be enhanced by the efforts of the Grenoble-based young start-up MICROOLED, created in 2007.
The product of six years of R&D carried out at Thomson and CEA-Léti (Grenoble), MICROOLED plans to position itself as a supplier of very high-resolution, highly energy-efficient microdisplays for mobile video applications. The young start-up promotes its technology as being able to produce a resolution up to four times higher than that of the company’s competitors while consuming four times less energy.
These microdisplays are intended mainly for use in camcorders, digital cameras, and new mainstream (mobile video glasses) or professional (medicine, photography, defense) applications.
Anne-Francoise Pele, 01/08/2008
Dec 2007 : L'USINE NOUVELLE
MICROOLED SHRINKS VIDEO SCREENS
If everything goes according to plan, the next generation of glasses allowing users to watch films in high-def will incorporate embedded technology developed by MICROOLED, a start-up formed in Grenoble (France) in April 2007. But this very nearly didn’t happen. Indeed, in 2006, the French group Thomson decided to close its “display” division. This division supported the laboratory in Rennes (France) that, since 2000, had been developing the energy-efficient microscreen technology currently being manufactured by MICROOLED. The French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) decided to transfer this technology to its Grenoble-based Laboratory for Electronics and Information Technology (LETI) and took over some of the production teams. And there was another stroke of luck. The US-based company HP provided logistical and financial support to Éric Marcellin-Dibon and Gunther Haas, both engineers at Thomson, so that they could form MICROOLED, which holds exclusive licenses to all patents associated with this technology. “We had already been asked by a number of manufacturers to sign development contracts. But we needed a structure,” explains Marcellin-Dibon.
The first video glasses are expected to hit the market in 2009. But this application will not be the only use for the microscreens. Assistance for the visually impaired, night vision, enhanced vision, high-def, 3D, there are a number of possibilities. This opens up significant growth opportunities for the company, which will handle the production of the screens. Within the next three years, MICROOLED plans to employ 30-40 people and achieve 10 million euros in sales.
Aurélie Barbaux, n°3081, December 2007
Jan 2008 / Sept 2007 : CEA NEWS, LES DÉFIS DU CEA
MICROOLED
Meet the screens that will revolutionize the world of video and perhaps even the world of vision…Based on OLED2 technology, these very high-resolution, highly energy-efficient microscreens can actually be used with integrated circuits. Video screens straight out of science fiction are thus becoming a reality…with the added bonus of a number of wireless applications. It will thus be possible to provide visually impaired readers with much larger characters from scanned pages, to view videos stored on a portable DVD player or mobile phone, to activate night vision during military operations, and to allow doctors to display patients’ X-rays on these transparent glasses, and thus help them make accurate diagnoses…all this relies on the device’s tiny size, its low voltage (3.3 volts), and the very high resolution of the restored images, much like the image quality delivered by 16/9 television screens3! This is a real advantage over the dark glasses used in virtual reality.
The basic technology developed by Thomson was transferred less than a year ago to CEA-Léti4, which then enhanced it. This technology is now being developed at MICROOLED, a company headed by Éric Marcellin-Dibon, Gunther Haas, and Christophe Prat. An initial prototype - manufactured using an integrated circuit - is expected to be available late this year.
NOTES:
2. Organic light-emitting diode. 3. Five times as many pixels as glasses used in virtual reality (i.e. 850 x 480 pixels per line for a 0.37” screen). 4. the Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)
MicroOLED is named winner of the 2007 French national competition for the creation of technologically innovative companies, organized by the French Department of Higher Education and Research.
Fev 2007 : EETIMES EUROPE
CEA AWARDED AT THE FRENCH NATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THE CREATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
PARIS - The official results of the 9th Concours National d’Aide à la Création d‘Entreprises de Technologies Innovantes (French national competition for the creation of technologically innovative companies), organized by the French Department of Higher Education and Research, are in. Six projects designed by researchers at CEA (the French Atomic Energy Commission) are among the award winners, with five in the creation-development category and the sixth in the emerging technologies category.
The selected companies include MICROOLED, which focuses on the development of very high-resolution, highly energy-efficient microdisplays for “mobile video” and professional applications. The company is headed by Eric Marcellin-Dibon, in conjunction with Gunther Haas and Christophe Prat of the CEA’s Laboratory for Electronic and Information Technology.
Another winner, the young start-up Movea, offers embedded and autonomous motion capture solutions intended for a number of health care and mobility applications. The company operates under the leadership of Sam Guillaume, in conjunction with Yanis Caritu and Bruno Flament of CEA-Léti, as well as Marc Attia.
The business plan devised by Xedix TS also captured the jury’s attention. Focusing on the provision of software for multimedia and XML, Xedix offers a high-performance management solution for online XML multimedia content. This technology was designed by Jean-Claude Sabattier, CEA-DAM Ile-de-France.
A final example of the projects recognized at the 9th Concours National d’Aide à la Création d’Entreprises de Technologies Innovantes is that developed by Kwele, a company headed by Rysvan Maleck-Rassoul of the CEA-DAM Cesta research center. This company designs, manufactures, and markets terahertz measurement devices suitable for nondestructive evaluation purposes and intended for a number of quality control applications.
Anne-Francoise Pele, 07/02/2007
April 2007 : ECONOMIE ISERE
MicroOLED is winner of the Forum 4i in Grenoble.
BRAVO
MICROOLED has won the 4i-Jean-Michel Lamure Award at the 10th annual 4i Forum. This young start-up, founded by two former researchers at CEA-Léti - the Electronics and Information Technology Laboratory of the French Atomic Energy Commission - and Thomson, develops high-resolution and highly energy-efficient microscreens for mobile video applications. Using OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology, these microscreens are used in viewfinders on camcorders and digital cameras. New applications intended for mainstream (mobile video glasses) and professional (medicine, defense) use are currently being developed.
La lettre de l’économie, 2007
Palmarès 2007 : 9EME CONCOURS NATIONAL D’AIDE À LA CREATION D’ENTREPRISES DE TECHNOLOGIES INNOVANTES
MICROOLED aims to become a supplier of high-resolution, highly energy-efficient microdisplays for mobile video applications. MICROOLED’S technology allows for the delivery of a resolution four times as high as that offered by the company’s competitors, while consuming four times less energy. These key advantages are due to the use of the OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology developed by the team and protected by a large portfolio of patents. To date, this type of microscreen is mainly used in viewfinders on camcorders and digital cameras, but new applications intended for mainstream (mobile video glasses) and professional (medicine, defense) use are currently being developed. The potential of these markets appears to be highly attractive because MICROOLED’S technology is unique and addresses the strong, fast-growing demand for these applications.
Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, 2007