The OLED-Info newsletter (October 2015)
Published: Thu, 10/01/15
Panasonic unveils the company's first OLED TV
Panasonic announced the company's first OLED TV, the TX-65CZ950. This is a curved 65" 4K OLED panel that features Panasonic's 4K Pro tech which includes advanced gradation controls and 3D color look tables. The TV supports HDR and is THX certified. Panasonic did not reveal any details regarding pricing or release dates.
The OLED panel itself is produced by LG Display, and uses LGD's WOLED (WRGB) architecture. Panasonic used to co-develop OLED TVs together with Sony, but that OLED TV joint development project was canceled in December 2013. Panasonic (together with JDI, Sony and the INCJ) formed a new company (JOLED) to develop small/medium OLED panels. But the company OLED TV program is reportedly halted.
Even though the panel is made by LG, Panasonic claims that their advanced signalling technology makes this TV superior to LG's OLED TVs. You can see the company's Hollywood Labs VP of operations explain this in more detail here.
Panasonic's first OLED TV will be probably very expensive, but Panasonic expects OLED panel prices to drop, to the point where they are within reach of average consumers in two or three years. Panasonic's first OLED TV is curved, but the company says that the benefit of the curved shape is "not so big", and consumers prefer flat TVs. In fact Panasonic's next flagship TV will "probably" be flat.
OLED TV news
In early September, the IFA 2015 conference took place in Berlin, and several companies took advantage of this tradeshow to demonstrate new OLED TVs. The most high-profile introduction was by Panasonic, which we discussed above, but there were more OLED TVs on display - from Metz (Skyworth) and Haier. And LG of course.
The Korea Times posted an interesting interview with Brian Daniels, senior VP from Merck's performance materials-advanced technologies division. Brian says that Samsung is committed to OLED panels - and will return to the OLED TV market by 2017. Merck says that improvement in OLED materials will enable cost reductions which will enable OLED TVs to reach large production volumes in three years. Merck further believes that inkjet printing will offer several advantages over current evaporation-based OLED production methods - and will be more cost-effective.
Meanwhile LG is continuing its OLED TV push, and its flat 4K OLEDs are finally shipping in the US - for the same prices as LG's curved models..
Amazon.com now lists the 55" 4K 55EF9500 at $3,999 the 65" 4K 65EF9500 is selling for $5,999. LG's entry-level 2015 model, the curved 55" Full-HD EG9100 is shipping in the US too, for $2,299.
LGD: OLEDs will revolutionize people's lives
LG Display has been very bullish on OLED TVs for several years now, and recently the company announced a major shift in focus towards OLED technologies, with a planned investment of $8.5 billion in the next 3 years. The company's CEO, Dr. Sang Beom Han, gave the IFA 2015 keynote speech (, and he was very enthusiastic on OLEDs. The full version of his speech is available here.
During his speech, Dr. Han said that "OLED will bring revolution to people’s lives" - as it's the only technology that offers enhanced images combined with dynamic form - mainly transparency and flexibility. LG Display acknowledges the fact that it chose a difficult path in pioneering OLED technology, but they are proud in achieving the goal of making a display that realizes people’s imagination and dreams. He predicted that OLED has a bright future.
At the trade show, LG Display also presented some new OLED prototypes. First up is the 111" double sided "Wave" you see above - which is made from three attached 65" 4K OLED panels. It seems double-sided OLEDs are a thing now - LGD also demonstrated a 55" double-sided OLED display aimed towards commercial/retail applications. The whole display is just 5.3 mm thick and weighs just 12 kg. LG also demonstrated its 55-inch "wallpaper" OLEDs which were first unveiled in May 2015. A video showing the double-sided OLEDs and the OLED wallpaper displays is available here.
Finally, LG Electronics announced that it will demonstrate a 55" rollable OLED TV at CES 2016 (which will take place in Las Vegas, on January 6-9). This is just a prototype, of course, but according to LG Display's original plan, it will have production ready 60" UHD rollable transparent OLEDs by 2017. Back in 2012, LG Display was awarded a project by the Korean government to develop 60" UHD flexible and transparent panels by 2017. Later in February 2014, LGD said it is still on target for this project, and in July 2014 the company demonstrated 18" flexible (shown below) and transparent OLEDs.
DisplayMate: OLED TVs outperform the best LCD in nearly all categories
The display measurement experts at DisplayMate posted a very interesting article comparing LG's 65" 4K OLED TV (the 65EG9600, which costs $5,999) and Samsung's top of the line 65" 4K LCD (the UN65JS9500). DisplayMate performed dozens of tests, comparing those two high end TVs in several scenarios.
DisplayMate finds that the OLED TV outperforms the LCD in all the tests - the only category in which the LCD outperformed the OLED was brightness with average picture level higher than 25%. Specifically the OLED offers a higher contrast, a higher color accuracy, much better viewing angles, faster response time and higher power efficiency.
DisplayMate says that this is the best TV they ever tested - and it actually outperforms Sony's professional CRT monitors - that cost $50,000 and are regarded as the golden standard for picture quality.
Everdisplay unveils a 5.6" WQHD flexible AMOLED prototype
Everdisplay (EDO) unveiled a 5.6" WQHD (2560x1440, 525 PPI) flexible AMOLED prototype. This impressive display is the first flexible OLED prototype by the Chinese OLED maker. EDO says that flexible OLEDs are set to become the display of choice for top-tier brands.
Everdisplay started mass producing 5" 720p AMOLED displays towards the end of 2014. Since then the company seems to be accelerating its OLED program. The company is developing larger displays (5.5", 6" and an 8" AMOLED for the automobile market), round AMOLEDs (a 1.4" 400x400 circular AMOLED for the wearable market) and also recently demonstrated a 6" 4K (734 PPI) AMOLED display.
Fraunhofer demonstrates an OLED device with a graphene electrode
Finding an alternative for ITO as a transparent electrode is one of the major flexible OLED challenges. The Faunhofer Institute FEP demonstrated an OLED device that has a graphene electrode, developed as part of project GLADIATOR.
The Fraunhofer developed the device in collaboration with Spain-based Graphenea, which supplied the CVD-produced monolayer graphene. Graphene-Info posted an interview with the project's coordinator who further explains the technology, why graphene is promising and what are the challenges that still has to be solved before graphene transparent electrodes can be commercialized.
OLED-Info's interviews LG Display's marketing team
LG Display is one of the two companies that lead the OLED industry, and the Korean display maker recently announced a major shift in focus from LCD displays to OLEDs. We conducted a short interview with an official from LGD regarding the company's OLED business goals and aims.
OLED-Info's market reports updated
In early September, we updated all of our market reports, that cover the transparent, automotive, microdisplay and flexible OLED markets. OLED-Info provides comprehensive niche OLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the OLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to September 2015.
OLED patent newsletter updates
OLED-Info, in collaboration with Global IP News, is offering a daily newsletter covering OLED patents news for some time now. The OLED Patent Newsletter provides patent information from more than 85 countries and can be a valuable tool in tracking the OLED patent scene and protecting your company's assets.
In addition to the daily email alert, we are happy to announce a new feature - you can now browse and view OLED patents from your desktop or mobile device, filter by company and country and also export the patent list to excel or PDF. As a special feature-launch offer, if you subscribe by October 31 you will get a 25% discount - a yearly single-user subscription for only $300 (down from $400). We now also offer company-wide subscriptions - up to 10 subscribers for only $750.
IHS says that the flexible OLED market will grow very fast - and in 2020 180 million flexible OLED will be shipped. Foldable displays will appear in early 2016.
The market research company says the OLED lighting market will grow from $150 in 2015 to $6.7 billion in 2023 (75% CAGR)
OTI Lumionic's Aerelight desk lamp, announced back in September 2014, is finally shipping for $299
UBI estimates that 56 million AMOLEDs were shipped in Q2, an increase of 35% over Q1 and 19% over Q2 2014. Those 56 million AMOLEDs generated $2.8 billion in revenue.
Samsung Display has been playing around with transparent OLEDs for ages, according to a new report the company is also thinking about starting to make transparent OLEDs in smaller sizes, with an aim to use these in home appliances such as refrigerators.
UK's SmartKem signs agreements with two 'leading Asian display makers" to transfer OTFT tru-FLEX backplane technology
Audi announced that they intend to be the first company to introduce OLED lighting in the tail lights of production cars.
Audi unveiled their new luxury electric crossover concept car, the e-tron quattro, that uses OLEDs in all of its displays, its frontlights and its taillights.
Blackbody introduced a new OLED lighting installation that adopts hundreds of OLED panels by LG Chem
Porsche unveiled a new electric concept car, the Mission E, that uses a large curved OLED display
Google's high-end 2015 Nexus, made by Huawei, has a 5.7-inch 2560x1440 AMOLED
An entry-level smartphone for the India market, the J1 Ace has a 4.3-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display
Another entry-level smartphone for the india market, the J2 has a 4.7-inch qHD (960x540).
B&N's latest tablet is a rebranded Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 - with a 8-inch 2048x1536 Super AMOLED.
Meizu's flag ship phone has a 5.7-inch Full-HD Super AMOLED display
An Android smartphone with a 5.2-inch 720p AMOLED display
A Tizen-based smartwatch with a 1.2-inch 360x360 (302 PPI) circular Super AMOLED display
Huawei's flagship 2015 phone has a large 5.5-inch FHD AMOLED display
A large Android smartphone with a 6-inch Quad-HD Super AMOLED display
The consumer-version of Samsung's Gear VR headset supports the Note 5, Galaxy S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+
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