The OLED-Info newsletter (December 28, 2021)

LG Display will be demonstrating two new "lifestyle" applications for its OLED TVs at CES 2022. Both these concept project use flexible OLED TV screens.

First one is the Media Chair, which is a modern relaxation device that combines a comfortable recliner with a 55" curved (1,500R) OLED TV and LG's Cinematic Sound OLED (CSO) technology.

Back in April 2021 we reported that Samsung Electronics is in talks with LG Display regarding the supply of OLED TV panels. Back then it was estimated that Samsung will release its first OLED TVs before the end of 2021.

This did not happen, but recent reports from Korea suggest that the two companies will likely sign a supply agreement soon. Samsung aims to order around 1.5 OLED TV panels in 2022 from LGD. This will enable the company to ship around 2 million OLED TVs in 2022 (as it hopes to buy 500,000 QD-OLED panels from SDC).

OLEDON says that it has developed a new curved plane-source evaporation shadow mask process that can be used for OLED microdisplay fabrication, with a potential density of 10,000 PPI. Using this technology it will be possible to create direct-emission microdisplays.

In the video above, you can see the lecture OLEDON's CEO gave last month at iMID 2021, that explains the new technology.

Huawei's P50 Pocket is a clamshell styled Harmony OS smartphone with a 6.9" 2790x1188 120Hz foldable AMOLED display. When closed, the phone has two holes in its external case - one that holds the cameras, and another that holds the external display, a 1.04" 340x340 OLED.

Other features include a Snapdragon 888 chipset, 8/12 GB of RAM, 256/512 GB of storage, NM card slot and a triple camera setup.

The Huawei P50 Pocket is now shipping, in China only, starting at around $1,400.

LG Display announced that its automotive OLED displays have been recognized as "high visibility displays" by by leading global independent inspection service TÜV Rheinland of Germany.

LG says that its automotive OLED panels consistently offer the best image quality in a wide range of environments. Thanks to the high brightness (10 to 5000 nits) of its displays, these OLEDs can perform well during both day and night, and work at a wide range of temperatures, even minus 40 degrees Celsius.

LG Display will introduce new transparent OLED application ideas at CES 2022. The company is unveiling four innovate solutions, all that use the same 55" FHD 38% transparent OLED panel that LG is producing since 2019.

First up is the Shopping Managing Showcase which uses a wooden display stand. This retail application is "ideal for luxurious department stores as it can "display eye-catching visual content on the screen that harmonizes with the products on display behind".

According to reports from China, Visionox has finalized its LTPO R&D project and is now starting to produce LTPO OLED displays. This will enable the company to compete with Samsung and other leading OLED producers for the high-end smartphone display segment.

Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide, or LTPO , is an OLED display backplane technology developed by Apple. LTPO combines both LTPS TFTs and Oxide TFTs (IGZO, Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) to enable variable refresh rate displays, and power savings of up to 15%. LTPO AMOLED displays are widely used today in high-end smartphones and other mobile devices.

2021 is soon over - another pandemic-driven year, where we experienced new COVID breakouts, a massive IC shortage and a strong resilience and innovation in the OLED industry.

Here are the top 10 stories posted on OLED-Info in 2021, ranked by popularity (i.e. how many people read the story):

1. LG's 27" OLED monitor, the 27EP950, to cost $2,999 (Feb 7)
2. LGD: higher efficiency WOLED stack, to start producing 42- and 83-inch panels (Jan 11)
3. OLED vs MicroLED - a technology comparison (Jul 28)
4. JOLED supplies its printed OLEDs for LG's upcoming 31.5-inch 4K monitor (Jan 14)
5. LG to ship the OLED C1 OLED TVs towards the end of April 2021 (Mar 20)
6. Here come Samsung polarizer-free POL-LESS OLEDs (Mar 30)
7. SDC to introduce more than 10 new AMOLED displays for laptops in 2021 (Jan 3)
8. Is Facebook planning to use eMagin's dPd OLED microdisplays? (Aug 17)
9. DSCC sees OLED microdisplays shipments rising to over 19 million in 2026 (Apr 20)
10. AUO shows a dual-sided rollable OLED and a 32" inkjet printed panel (May 20)