Eastman Kodak Company, a pioneer in organic light emitting diode
technology (OLED), today announced an intellectual property
cross-licensing agreement with LG Display Co., Ltd., of Korea, a
world-class flat- panel display industry leader.
The license, which is royalty bearing to Kodak, enables LG Display to
use Kodak technology, including yield-improving capabilities for Active
Matrix OLED (AMOLED) modules, in a variety of small to medium size
display applications such as mobile phones, portable media players,
picture frames, and small TVs. The agreement also enables LG Display to
purchase Kodak's patented OLED materials for use in manufacturing
displays. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“We are pleased with the opportunity to expand
our relationship with LG Display beyond the Joint Evaluation Agreement
we announced in February 2006,” said Mary Jane
Hellyar, President, Kodak Display Business, and Executive Vice
President, Eastman Kodak Company. “As we said
during our recent investor meeting, OLED is an important technology that
will help fuel Kodak’s future growth. Our goal
is to see AMOLED panels that have been co-developed continue to appear
in the industry during 2008.”
“AMOLED is the newest generation of display
technology and will compete in the full spectrum of size ranges,”
said Andrew Sculley, General Manager and Vice President, Kodak’s
Display Business. “AMOLED technology offers
superior product performance, and ultimately low-cost manufacturing
advantages. We’re proud and pleased that LG
Display has chosen to incorporate our OLED technology to power a variety
of innovative new consumer display products.”
Hyun He Ha, Executive Vice President and Head of Small & Medium Displays
Business Unit at LG Display, said, “The
agreement will help strengthen our small and medium size OLED business,
and bolster our position in the large OLED market in the long run. We
expect the win-win relationship to create vast synergy for the OLED
business of both companies.”
The agreement with LG Display is the latest in a series of moves that
Kodak has made as the company commercializes its innovative OLED
technology. Recently, KAGA Electronics of Japan announced plans to
introduce the world’s thinnest, lightest
portable 1-Seg television featuring a full-color, 3.0-inch OLED display
utilizing Kodak’s AMOLED technology, which
includes Kodak’s patented Global Mura
Compensation that provides overall yield improvement. The KODAK ELITE
VISION AMOLED 1-Seg TV was co-developed by Kodak, LG Display, KAGA
Electronics and Andes Electronics and will be available in Japan by the
end of March 2008.
Pioneered by Kodak in the late 1980s, OLED technology and its practical
applications have generated more than 1,900 Kodak patents and patent
applications worldwide. Benefits over conventional technologies include
higher contrast, fast response time that can deliver blur free video
motion, industry-leading (180 degree) viewing angle, thinner design for
better ergonomics, and potentially lower unit cost of manufacturing.
As the world's foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers,
businesses, and creative professionals unleash the power of pictures and
printing to enrich their lives.
To learn more, visit http://www.kodak.com,
and our blogs: 1000words.kodak.com,
and 1000nerds.kodak.com.
Editor’s Note: Kodak corporate news releases
are now offered via RSS feeds. To subscribe, visit www.kodak.com/go/RSS
and look for the RSS symbol. In addition, Kodak podcasts are viewable at www.kodak.com/go/podcasts.
Our podcasts may be downloaded for viewing on iTunes, Quicktime, or
other PC-based media players. Users may also subscribe to Kodak podcasts
via the iTunes application if already installed on your computer. From
the iTunes store, type “Kodak podcast”
in the search field to view all of our podcast offerings.
About LG Display
LG Display Co., Ltd (NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220) is a leading manufacturer
and supplier of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD)
panels and OLEDs, flexible displays. The company provides TFT-LCD panels
in a wide range of sizes and specifications for use in TVs, monitors,
notebook PCs, and various applications. LG Display currently operates
seven fabrication facilities and five back-end assembly facilities in
Korea, China and Poland. The company has a total of 22,000 employees
operating in ten countries around the world. Please visit http://www.lgpdisplay.com
for more information.
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