Transistor platform reduces display power consumption by 50%

10th May 2017

Alice Matthews

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Whitepaper

A new whitepaper from SmartKem has shown that display power consumption can be cut by at least 50% using their technology platform in mobile display-based devices, ending the inconvenience of daily recharging for smartwatch and mobile phone users across the world. The study shows how SmartKem's truFLEX transistor platform can deliver significant power consumption reductions for display-based devices. These power savings have the potential to make hundreds of millions of wearable devices more convenient for the end user.

Currently, displays can account for up to 70% of total power consumed in a portable device. This drain on battery life means owners of smartphones and especially smartwatches need to constantly recharge, or in some circumstances, hunt for power points while on the move.

SmartKem’s thin film transistor (TFT) display backplane platform has been shown to offer the lowest TFT power leakage rate on the market. This enables the potential to increase battery life by at least a factor of two and the doubling of a typical smartwatch battery life between each recharge.

Dr. Mike Cowin CMO from SmartKem, which has its headquarters in St Asaph, Wales, said: “Users of display-based products don't want to have to constantly re-charge their devices, it’s a real inconvenience. From a display industry perspective this is the ‘elephant in the room’ when it comes to the smartwatch user experience. Having to constantly recharge your device every single day is a real pain-point for users and many people simply stop using their devices for this reason.”

The display industry knows it has a major challenge in extending the time between charge cycles. Whilst developments in battery technology are focused on improving charge capacity and form factor, an alternative and more effective means to solve this problem exists - reducing the power consumption of the display through the adoption of organic thin film transistor (OTFT) backplanes.

SmartKem examined the impact its truFLEX OTFT technology could have in a typical smartwatch. Its simulation revealed significant power consumption savings were possible due to the exceptionally low transistor leakage currents offered by the OTFT platform.

Cowin added: “Our low leakage OTFT platform offers an immediate route to extended battery life in all mobile LCD and OLED display-based consumer products. This key technology differentiator and value-add to the user experience has now been recognised by the display industry.

“We hope our white paper helps to educate the rest of the market about this great opportunity.”