Scientists Achieve Record 4 Gbps Internet Using OLED Display Technology
Study Finds | July 20, 2025 | Kou Yoshida (University of St. Andrews)

Researchers in England and Scotland have achieved a groundbreaking 4 gigabits per second data transmission using modified organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), the same technology that makes smartphone and television displays so vibrant.

While the OLEDs used in this experiment were custom-fabricated lab devices rather than commercial panels, the underlying materials and design principles are closely related. The speeds they achieved are fast enough to download a full-length movie in about two seconds, based on typical HD file sizes and raw bandwidth.

Scientists from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and Cambridge University successfully beamed data across a 33-foot room at nearly 3 gigabits per second, with even faster speeds achieved at shorter distances. Their research, published in Advanced Photonics, could lead to a massive leap forward for visible light communication (VLC) technology, which uses light instead of radio waves to carry data.

How OLED Display Technology Transmits Internet Data

OLEDs create the brilliant displays in high-end phones and TVs by emitting light when electricity passes through them. Scientists discovered that by rapidly switching these tiny lights on and off – faster than the human eye can detect – they can encode digital information into light beams.

I thought that’s what fiber optic cables already did. But I’m hazy on this.

Previous attempts at OLED-based communication topped out around 2.85 gigabits per second over very short distances – about 10 inches. The new research not only surpassed that speed but achieved it over distances 40 times longer.

Does sound like an up-and-coming technology to invest in. But I’m hazy on investments too.

Can they come up with a better name than “OLEDs,” though? I do know something about lumpy-sounding words.