Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing of Displays;Can it Become a Reality?

A basic assessment is presented of the technical, economic and strategic challenges expected for manufacturing displays in a roll-to-roll format. Two general pathways are considered; one that results in dramatic cost reductions but results in sacrificing product performance, and another which is an extension of the conventional FPD cost-reduction from increased substrate size. While Roll-to-Roll fabrication is fundamentally possible, feasibility experiments will be required to address the most significant technical challenge: achieving and managing acceptable yield. In all respects, the efforts to achieve RTR manufacturing will be assisted by overlapping interests in other application areas such as flex circuit, photovoltaics and large area lighting.