The world’s first 3D Printed OLED display is a good alternative if your device’s display breaks, and might not even need you to buy a new one or replace certain components to make it work again. These displays could be simply built by you as new ones. Researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities claim to have created the world’s first entirely 3D-printed flexible OLED display. Theoretically, this will make you zero-dependent on panels manufactured by massive, far-away factories to create or repair your devices.
To manufacture the six layers required for a working display, the novel technology combines two ways of 3D printing. The electrodes, encapsulation, insulation, and interconnects were created via extrusion printing, while the active layers were spray-painted at room temperature. Previous attempts by other teams either had problems with light uniformity (consistency throughout the entire panel) or depended on processes other than 3D printing to install some components, such as spin-coating or thermal evaporation.
The prototype was about 1.5 inches wide and had only 64 pixels. Any practical use would need far higher resolutions (a 1080p display would necessitate nearly 2 million pixels), and the scientists would also like to enhance brightness. It may also take some time to customize the device for home applications. The university employed a specialized 3D printer that costs the same as a Tesla Model S. It may take some time for the technology to be practical on off-the-shelf printers, even high-end versions like FormLabs’ $4,850 3B+.
However, the nature of the technology makes those ambitions very doable and opens the door to a plethora of options if and when home-printed OLED panels become feasible. This might allow you to develop homemade gadgets with unique displays in addition to do-it-yourself fixes. While this endeavor does not reflect the democratization of tech production, it may minimize your reliance on pre-assembled components from companies.
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