Kodak Sells OLED Business to LG

By Geoff Duncan December 4, 2009

South Korea’s LG Electronics is a leader in the field of OLED displays today—with a 15-inch OLED display on sale now and hoping to get a 3-inch version out the door in a little over a year—but Kodak actually did a lot of the legwork on developing the technology, creating the first diode device in the 1980s. Now, Kodak is getting out of the OLED business altogether, announcing that not only is it selling its OLED business lock, stock, and barrel to LG Electronics, but it’s also entered into a broad patent cross-licensing deal with LG that will give the company access to Kodak’s display technology patents.

Kodak OLED Wi-Fi photo frame — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed, but Kodak describes the patent agreement as “royalty bearing,” meaning they’re going to be receiving income from LG products that utilize Kodak technology.

Kodak had previously announced belt-tightening measures to bolster the company’s bottom line, including scaling back its investments in research and development. Selling the OLED business to LG should help the company focus on its digital printing products.

Kodak had recently generated some buzz with its 7.6-inch OLED wireless photoframe, which latches on to home networks via Wi-Fi wireless networking so users can pull images from online photo sites like Flickr, and well as tap into personalized Internet news feeds—although the $1,000 suggested retail price probably put off any but the most ardent OLED fans.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

4 gaming monitors you should buy instead of the Alienware 34 QD-OLED

Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Alienware 34 QD-OLED.

The Alienware 34 QD-OLED is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy. There's no doubt about that. It has exceptional image quality, an attractive price, and a suite of features that are actually useful. Even with such high praise, the Alienware 34 QD-OLED isn't for everyone, and there are some other great options available.

Maybe you're looking to spend a little more or a little less, or maybe the ultrawide form factor isn't for you. Regardless, we've rounded up four monitors that Digital Trends has reviewed and found to be great alternatives to the Alienware 34 QD-OLED.
Samsung Odyssey OLED G8

Computing

LG Gram laptops are heavily discounted — up to $700 off

The LG Gram Style laptop on a desk.

If you want your next Windows 11 laptop to be both powerful and stylish, you're going to want to take advantage of the discounts in this ongoing sale for LG Gram laptops. With prices that start at $700 and savings as much as that same amount, there will be something among these bargains that should catch your eye. We've recommended our top picks among the available laptop deals below, but feel free to take a look at all the offers. You better hurry with your purchase though, as there's no telling how much time is remaining before these prices return to normal.

What to buy in the LG Gram laptop sale

Computing

The Steam Deck OLED needs burn-in protection

The Steam Deck OLED sitting in a case.

The Steam Deck OLED is starting to show burn-in issues.

YouTuber Wulff Den released a report on the Steam Deck OLED, showing it suffered from OLED burn-in after 1,500 hours of screen time. This isn't the first time we've seen a torture test on the Steam Deck OLED, but Wulff Den's experiment is particularly potent. The YouTuber was among the only people to put the Nintendo Switch OLED to the test on the burn-in front, and the consistent updates over the course of two years remain some of the most-viewed videos on the channel.