OLED and DIrect Sunlight

[Enigma]

How serious is the issue of the sun degrading the organic materials of an OLED?

I want to buy a new TV for the living room, would prefer an OLED over a MiniLED (use case is gaming and movies), but the TV gets direct sunlight for about 30 minutes every morning from the west. Long story, but curtains. blinders, etc not an option.

So have to live with this 30mins of sunlight. Would you get a high-end Mini LED over an OLED in such a case?

Thanks

[jorimt]

How serious is the issue of the sun degrading the organic materials of an OLED?

This is the first I've heard of such of a concern. Your source(s)?

A quick Google search came up with this bizarre AVS thread:
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/how%E2 ... 3/#replies

Turns out the owner had their OLED sitting in front of a window, and the sunlight reflected off the top of an Apple TV into the screen, which heated that part of the screen up enough for the OLED compensation algorithm to misread that extra heat on the screen as more pixel usage in that spot, so when the auto compensations ran over a period of time, they actually (temporarily) caused the shape of the Apple logo reflection to appear due to the overcompensated voltage "corrections."

Beyond that extremely fringe scenario though, I don't foresee this as an issue to worry about vs. a Mini LED, for the majority of owners, at least.

[Enigma]

How serious is the issue of the sun degrading the organic materials of an OLED?

This is the first I've heard of such of a concern. Your source(s)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL9U-fI43TY

Also:

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are highly susceptible to the harsh environmental conditions found outdoors, like exposure to direct sunlight as well as UV radiation and storage temperature, resulting in a loss of luminance and lifespan, pixel shrinkage, and permanent damage and/or malfunction of the panel.

The loss of luminescence intensity, rapid increase in operational voltage over time and undesirable appearance of dark spots and/or pixel shrinkage after UV irradiation limit the reliability of devices against operation in harsh environmental conditions, and are also the major cause of product failure. We investigated the stability of red phosphorescent TEOLEDs under UV irradiation/solar radiation by employing a Yb : LiF EIL underneath the Ag : Mg cathode in the device. Highly stable variation in luminescence intensity over time was noticed in a previously UV-irradiated (for 300 h) red TEOLED device with a Yb : LiF (1 : 1, 2 nm)/Ag : Mg (10 : 1, 16 nm)/NPB (60 nm) cathode unit. The operational voltage had also not increased significantly. Moreover, no change in the physical distribution of each constituent in a co-deposited metal cathode Yb : LiF (1 : 1, 2 nm)/Ag : Mg (10 : 1, 16 nm)/NPB (60 nm) cathode unit was observed, as this layer plays a significant role in determining the performance and stability of the cathode unit. Furthermore, a uniform and relatively stable current efficiency of over 50 cd A−1 in the luminance range 10 000 cd m−2 was noticed in a red phosphorescent device with a Yb : LiF (1 : 1, 2 nm)/Ag : Mg (10 : 1, 16 nm) cathode unit before UV irradiation. A current efficiency of about 51 cd A−1 at a given constant luminance of 6000 cd m−2 and a low current efficiency roll-off of 9.25% (54 to 49 cd A−1) were observed in this device. In addition, concerns about pixel shrinkage and/or dark spot formation were addressed by having a more robust Yb : LiF EIL. Our TEOLED device with a Yb : LiF (1 : 1, 2 nm) EIL decelerates the aging effect, arrests pixel shrinkage, and improves device stability and performance against UV exposure, paving the way for applications in harsh environmental conditions, automobiles, and space applications.

Ref: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/article ... c9ra09730a

Related, on Reddit:

OLED's can be damaged by sunlight (particularly the UV light in sunlight). How much damage depends on how the OLED was built. if the OLED was designed with a magnesium Cathode, there will be damage. If the OLED was designed with a Ytterbium cathode, there is very little damage (barely measurable). There are other cathode materials to consider as well. I just happened to be reading an article about Ytterbium. How was your OLED designed? Hard telling. Manufacturing techniques like that are closely guarded. Safe bet, avoid the sunlight.

In this picture, the OLED on the left has a magnesium Cathode and the one on the right has a Ytterbium cathode.



Also:

https://www.nijkerk-ne.com/enhance-the- ... pplication.

The emitting layer made by organic material is the key factor behind the light emission of OLED displays. High-intensity energy will damage the structure of organic material in the emissive layer, which causes low light-emitting efficiency and fast brightness decay.

In order to protect the organic material from UV damage, we have to minimize the intensity of UV wavelength. Meanwhile, we don’t want to decrease the intensity in the visible light range(400nm~700nm). For this purpose, add a polarizer which the transmission of wavelength < 380 um (UV band) is under 1% is a very suitable solution.

In summary, OLED modules with polarizer can resist the damage of UV exposure effectively. It is recommended that the products which might be exposed to the sun should add polarizer to protect the OLED panel. Generally, there is no issue for handheld products with polarizer used in outdoor application. For outdoor fixed-position devices, it is recommended the modules should add a polarizer and a shed to avoid long-term direct sunlight to extend the OLED lifetime.

(hmmm, don't WOLEDS include a polarizer, but QD-OLEDS do not? Wondering if the LGs are more resistant to sun degradation than the Samsungs)

[jorimt]

Ref: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/article ... c9ra09730a

This goes way beyond my personal interest in the subject.

All I know is after owning multiple LG OLEDs, I haven't had any issues with noticeable degradation due to direct sunlight, but then I place my OLEDs strategically so that they face away from my windows, and I use them in light controlled rooms, so YMMV.

But the bottom line is this; OLED is OLED, and is as susceptible to its own issues as all other panel types are to theirs. Buy it or don't based on your particular requirements and use case, entirely up to you.

[RealNC]

Get a sunshade and cover it. Or if the TV is big, get a couple of them and stitch them together.

[Dalek]

What is the general weather/temperature that you get? If you live in a hot climate where it is rarely cloudy for example, then you'll probably want to invest in some sort of white cover or light blanket to put over the TV. The problem with this though is that you'd need to be somewhat conscious that whatever you use to cover it with doesn't have dust and dirt that could potentially end up scratching the screen.