The OLED-Info newsletter (January 18, 2022)

OLED-Info and our sister site MicroLED-Info are happy to announce the 2022 edition of The MicroLED Handbook. This book is a comprehensive guide to MicroLED display technology, industry and market. MicroLED displays are thin, efficient, bright and flexible and are on track to revolutionize the display industry. The handbook is now updated to January 2022 and lists recent developments and new companies, initiatives and research activities.

Reading this book, you'll learn all about:

• MicroLED technology, materials and production processes
• How MicroLEDs compare to LCDs and OLEDs
• What are the challenges towards commercial production
• LED technology and manufacturing processes
• MicroLED driving and full-color architectures
• The MicroLED displays currently on the market

Samsung Electronics has been in talks with LG Display over the supply of WOLED TV panels for a long time (we first reported on this in April 2021) but the agreement was delayed, with the two parties not agreeing on price and other issues.

A new report from Korea suggests that Samsung and LGD have finally reached an agreement over panel prices (Samsung will pay the same as LG Electronics), and it is estimated that an official agreement will be reached soon. Samsung plans to unveil its first WOLED TV in July 2022.

OLED driver IC developer MagnaChip announced that it is expanding its OLED IC product lineup as it is developing a next-generation OLED DDIC for automotive displays.

Magnachip is developing an OLED DDIC for automotive based on the 40nm process technology, targeting center stack displays and instrument cluster displays. The company plans to supply the new product to premium European car manufacturers in the first half of 2023. The new driver will support a wide range of resolutions (including FHD) and will work with both rigid and flexible OLED displays.

Dell's XPS 13 Plus Windows 11 laptop features a "virtually borderless" 13.4" 4K LCD or a 3.5K OLED display, Intel's latest generation 12th-Gen Core 28W chipset and a sleek new design.

The XPS 13 Plus will ship in the Spring of 2022, pricing was not detailed yet.

The OnePlus 10 Pro smartphone features a 6.7-inch 120Hz 1300 nits 1440x3216 LTPO2 AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chipset, 8/12 GB of RAM, 128/256 GB of storage and a triple camera setup.

The OnePlus 10 Pro is now shipping starting for $740.

Market research firm Omdia estimates that 5.58 million OLED laptop displays shipped in 2021, up 389% from 2020. The leading producer is Samsung Display with a 84% market share, followed by LG Display (10%) and BOE (5%).

Omdia estimates that in five years, OLED penetration into the laptop display market could exceed 10%. The total laptop display market in 2021 amounted to 280.85 million panels.

Xiaomi's 11i smartphone features a 6.67" 1200 nits 120Hz 1080x2400 AMOLED display, a MediaTek 920 5G chipset, 6/8 GB of RAM, 128/256 GB of storage, a microSDXC slot and a triple camera setup.

The Xiaomi 11i will ship soon globally for around $375.

Construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat is showing a new electric excavator concept that features a see-through AR windshield display that is based on a transparent OLED.

Bobcat's E35e concept uses LGD's 55" FHD transparent OLED to overlay information for the operator, such as the location and conditions of a construction site. The display is touch enabled so the operator can perform functions through the display, and even even control other excavators from a distance.

The 2022 Mercedes EQE electric car comes with either a 12.8-inch AMOLED or (optionally) Mercedes' MBUX Hyperscreen. The Hyperscreen is a 56-inch display, actually made from three different OLED units, embedded in a single glass display. There's a central 17.7-inch panel plus two 12.3-inch panels. The 56-inch glass also includes holes for the air-vents which are integrated into the display.

The MBUX Hyperscreen was first used in the higher-end EQS electric car. The 'lower-end' 12.8-inch AMOLED screen, shown below, is used in the 2021 S-class cars. We speculated that LG Display is supplier to Mercedes (the two companies have been working together since around 2016) and LG Display earlier this week officially confirmed that it is indeed Mercedes' OLED supplier.

Gigabyte's 2022 AERO creators laptops offer AMOLED displays in some of the models. Both the AERO 16 and the AERO 15 can be equipped with a 15.6" 4K AMOLED (16:10 on the AERO 16). Other features include Intels' 12-Gen chipsets and NVIDIA's latest RTX 30-series GPUs.

Gigabyte did not reveal the price or release date of its 2022 AERO laptops yet.

The Honor Watch GS 3 features a 1.43" 466x466 AMOLED display, 4GB of storage, 5 ATM water resistance and heart rate and SpO2 sensors.

The Watch GS3 is now shipping for around $200.

Design house Look Labs announced a new product, a Hoodie called the omfy420 Metalight Hoodie that features the design house's CryptoPunk #5402, which is targeted for gamers who play Look Labs' own 420 game and can buy the hoodie from within the game and

The Hoodie features an Inuru's OLED lighting device which lights up the eyes of the figure in the hoodie. Inuru's OLEDispowered by an integrated thin-film battery that can be recharged wirelessly, and the whole system is washable and easy to integrate into textiles.