With the extensive applications of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) in the display field, fabrication technologies for low-cost and large-area OLED devices are rapidly emerging. Compared with traditional vacuum evaporation technology, printed display technology has some advantages, including simple process, high material utilization, preparing large-area and flexible device，etc. It is considered as one of the mainstream technologies for preparing new display devices. Printed OLED technology is a comprehensive system engineering of materials, devices, processes, equipments and others. It is a typical emerging technology of interdisciplinary and field cooperation. Luminescent materials are the core materials for devices manufacturing, especially for printing process. The quality of the final products is determined by the properties of luminescent materials, such as the luminous efficiency, film-forming property and stability. The development tendency of OLED display technologies was introduced. The basic theories of structure and working mechanism to OLED devices were summarized. Simultaneously, the characteristics and key problems for printed OLED technology were described. And the luminescent mechanism and research progress of printed OLED materials were reviewed. At last, the key scientific problems and development direction of printed OLED materials were prospected.