A complex picture of phenylene-based polymers is developed which unifies fe
atures of band and molecular exciton models. It incorporates major experime
ntal finding in direct and photoinduced optical absorption, stimulated phot
oemission and photoconductivity. We give new assignments for the most dispu
ted features and identify new ones as edge states. We confirm a low binding
energy for the principle emitting exciton and show that it dominates also
in the fundamental absorption. Contradictions in the current modeling state
-of-art are displayed and discussed.