OLED
light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current.
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in response to an electric current. This organic layer is situated between two electrodes; typically, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. OLEDs are used to create digital displays in devices such as television screens, computer monitors, and portable systems such as smartphones and handheld game consoles; its significant advantage over liquid-crystal displays (LCD) is that the individual pixels emit their own light, requiring no backlight like LED-lit LCDs.
OLEDs are fundamentally different from LEDs and do not employ a crystalline structure. There are two main families of OLED: those based on small molecules and those employing polymers. Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) which has a slightly different mode of operation. An OLED display matrix can have various control schemes:
A passive-matrix (PMOLED) where each row and line in the display is controlled sequentially, one by one
Active-matrix (AMOLED) that uses a thin-film transistor (TFT) backplane to directly access and switch each individual pixel on or off, allowing for higher resolution and larger display sizes.
The invention of OLED can be attributed to two chemists at Eastman Kodak in 1987, namely Ching Wan Tang and Steven Van Slyke. Its public commercial use began with a car stereo in 1997 by Pioneer and for more than a decade its use was mainly for small monochrome displays in-car or portable systems, although the first full-color OLED display was implemented in a Kodak digicam in 2003. OLED displays took off during the latter half of the 2010s and have since been implemented mainly in wearable devices, smartphones, and high-end televisions.
The public source identifies “OLED” as light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around OLED, light-emitting and diode.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “OLED”, the useful work is to connect “light-emitting diode in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light in response to an electric current” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q209593. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1987, 1997 and 2003.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “OLED”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow OLED primary sources, OLED archive and OLED research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “OLED”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “OLED” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.