From foldable displays to smart wearables
Whether it is smartphones, wearables or televisions: In consumer electronics, printed electronics are changing the appearance and functionalities of solutions and products—for example in the form of flexible displays and Human Machine Interfaces like control panels with touch function.
OLED displays, for instance, are already the standard here. They are used in smartphones and tablets as well as for TV screens. Thanks to higher contrast and better color brilliance, they enable a whole new level of picture quality and consume less energy. And curved-display televisions offering a completely different viewing experience are already available.
Foldable displays are already on the market. This means display size is no longer limited by the size of the device, significantly reducing the tension between compactness and user experience.
Another application of printed electronics are electrophoretic displays. They are characterized by the combination of particularly low power consumption and high daylight suitability. Frequent fields of application are e-readers as well as smart labels, e.g., smart price tags. Smart labels can act as displays for the indication of important notifications and messages at any time, for example as digital timetables in public transport.
More and more spectacular solutions are coming up around wearables— clothes and accessories with integrated electronic functionality. These include, for example, special T-shirts that measure the heart rate during sports. Smart watches and fitness trackers go beyond that and record numerous further body data—and, thanks to the flexible OLED display, they can even be used as mini televisions at any time.
Washing machines and refrigerators have undergone yet another major transformation. Ultra-thin touch-sensitive sensors and displays ensure that the increasingly smart functions and capabilities of these and other household appliances can be used comfortably and clearly.
When switches become history: Printed electronics in the white goods sector
Household appliances also benefit from the possibilities offered by printed electronics—for example, in the form of spectacularly designed control elements where component and electronic functionalities form one single unit.
As in the automobile sector, buttons and switches disappear from household appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers. Instead, films with printed sensors integrated directly during manufacture of the respective plastic component, enable operation by a simple touch of the touchscreen. Thanks to this so-called in-mold production process, even curved or specially shaped geometries no longer present any problem and country-specific variants can be produced quickly and easily.
Visually, the control panel thus presents itself as a uniformly flat surface that appears even more as a design element. In addition, the integrated production of components and operator functionalities also stands for above-average durability and stability. Moreover, companies benefit from comparatively low production costs.
Further product differentiation is offered by appearances, colors and lighting states of control elements and touchscreens that can be selected according to the time of day or personal mood and can be changed by specific movements or gestures.
Printed electronics allows more emphasis on front components whose control functionalities become visible only at the touch of a finger. This activates integrated lighting, while the device otherwise appears as a visibly uniform monolith.