The OLED-Info newsletter (September 3, 2022)

Samsung Display's CEO Choi Joo-sun says that the company sees a great potential for OLED displays in the IT market (mainly notebook and monitor displays), and that Samsung is building a new 8.5-Gen (2200x2500 mm) which will begin production in 2024.

This new fab was already reported last year, but this is the first time we officially hear a commitment from SDC. According to DSCC, there are over 10 8.5-Gen OLED lines under consideration now in the industry, as demand for OLED panels for laptops, tablets and monitors is o the rise. Samsung is the current leader in OLED IT displays.

Corsair's Xeneon Flex, designed together with LGD, is a bendable OLED gaming monitor, that offers a 45" 240Hz WQHD (3440x1440) WOLED panel, with a peak brightness of 1,000 nits and a 0.03 ms GtG response time. It can bend from a fully flat screen to a 800R bending radius curved display.

Other features include Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium support, anti-reflective coating and a 3-years burn-in and dead pixels warranty. Corsair did not yet reveal the price or availability of the new monitor.

This is the first commercial bendable OLED gaming monitor, that we knew LGD was working towards. LGD itself has demonstrated a bendable 48-inch gaming monitor last year.

In 2021 China-based TV maker Skyworth announced the Skyworth W82, which is the world's first bendable TV, also based on LGD's WOLED panels.

US-based Margik (previously Light and Charge Solutions) was featured at the Unicorn Hunters second season episode 14, and the company ended up raising 10 million Unicoins (a cryptocurrency initiated by the show, that is currently worth $1 million).

Margik, established in 2019, designs next-generation electron and hole transport materials (ETM, HTL) for organic electronic devices, including OLED lighting and display panels. The company says its materials offer high thermal stability and high resistance to moisture. Margik collaborates with Inuru to produce OLED based flexible "stickers".

Last month Samsung Display confirmed it is developing OLED microdisplays, and now the company provides more details on its plans.

Samsung admits it is still at an early stage of development, and it says it will start building its first line (with likely limited capacity) in 2023. By 2024 it will mass produce displays, and in 2025 it will expand capacity so that by 2026 it will achieve full commercialization.

Samsung Display says that it managed to increase its QD-OLED production yields to around 85% (up from 75% in April). The company plans to introduce new technologies and processes that will enable it to increase its production capacity from 30,000 monthly substrates to almost 40,000 at the same production line.

Samsung Display will so increase its QD-OLED production capacity by 30%. The main step to achieve this is the reduction of TAKT time (the time it takes to produce one panel).

The LG Ultragear 45GR95QE is a gaming monitor that is based on a 45-inch 240Hz 3440x1440 curved (800R) WOLED panel. The monitor has two HDMI 2.1 ports and supports console VRR.

LG did not yet provide pricing or availability of the 45" monitor.

BenQ's MOBIUZ EX480UZ, the company's first OLED gaming monitor, offers a 48-inch 120Hz 4K WOLED panel, that offers a response time of 0.1 ms. The monitor features FreeSync Premium and BenQ‘s HDRi technology, as well as a KVM switch, scenario mapping with remote control, light tuner, and treVolo speakers.

The EX480UZ will ship by the end of October 2022, with a price tag of $2,000.

UBI Research says that OLED emitting material sales amounted to $412 million in the second quarter of 2022, up 7.8% from last year. Sales decreased about 2.1% from Q1 2022.

UBI says that the sales of OLED panels were seasonably low in the second quarter (compared to Q1), but this was somewhat offset due to favorable exchange rates, and supply of new materials with higher prices.