Matrix-addressed displays

The ability of showing any arbitrary message is the major advantage of matrix-addressed displays, as compared to the simplified iconic display in which only one message can be presented. Two different updating techniques are available; passive and active matrix addressing. In general, the latter architecture shows less cross-talk effects but becomes more complex to manufacture since transistors are required to control the current flow to the pixels.

The ultimate goal is to enable high-volume manufacturing of matrix-addressed displays by utilising various kinds of printing and/or coating techniques. The manufacturing process is kept simple thanks to the few number of materials and layers involved, and the resulting displays are light-weight and flexible because of the plastic or paper substrate [1, 2]. In addition to this, low power consumption is ensured by that the electrochromic pixels are operated at low driving voltage, and the integration of printed batteries would open up for mobile display systems.  

Typical application areas for matrix-addressed displays are e.g.

• Point-of-sale displays
• Billboards
• Electronic shelf labels
• Sensor indicators
• Displays integrated in packages

[1] Andersson, P., Nilsson, D., Svensson, P.-O., Chen, M., Malmström, A., Remonen, T., Kugler T. and Berggren, M., "Active Matrix Displays Based on All-Organic Electrochemical Smart Pixels Printed on Paper", Advanced Materials, 14, 1460-1464, 2002. Abstract

[2] Andersson, P., Forchheimer, R., Tehrani, P. and Berggren, M., "Printable All-Organic Electrochromic Active-Matrix Displays", Advanced Functional Materials, 17, 3074-3082, 2007. Abstract