Ink-jet used to print TV screens

Printed computer screens and TVs could hit the market in the next two years after R&D firm Cambridge Display Technology launched a 14in ink-jet printed screen.

The 2mm-thick panel (pictured) uses pixels of ink that light up in red, green or blue when an electrical current passes through them, and can show moving images just like a flat-panel TV, but without the need for a backlight.

The panel is printed on an amorphous silicon sheet using a 128-nozzle ink-jet head and uses a technology called P-OLED, or polymer light emitting diode.

A CDT spokeswoman said that its scientists hoped to develop the product to print it on a plastic substrate and that the silicon version could be incorporated into new products in the next two years.
Its launch follows similar recent developments by Siemens and American firm E-Ink.