Cost-efficient and eco-friendly, lights powered by light-emitting diodes are taking off but may soon be upstaged by their organic cousins.

Engineers have high hopes that OLED (organic light-emitting diode) lights, which are flat and produce a softer light than LEDs, will become a new option in the lighting industry and cultivate the market further.

¡°We¡¯ve been researching them for 10 years and feel that the technology is nearly ready for practical use,¡± said Yasuki Kawashima, manager of the solid-state lighting application engineering and development department at NEC Lighting Ltd., which makes OLEDs.