The OLED-Info newsletter, June 2019
Published: Mon, 06/03/19
Samsung says it resolves the Galaxy Fold display issues
On April 23th, after early reviewers reported that that the foldable screen in their Galaxy Fold devices broke down after a day or so, Samsung decided to delay the release of its foldable smartphone. Samsung's CEO now says that the company will soon announce a new launch plan for the Galaxy Fold in the US, after it had resolved the issues with the display.
Samsung says that it has "reviewed" the defects caused by particles that entered the device below the screen. Samsung will strengthen the durability of the exposed area on the hinge of the phone and will minimize the gap between the protective layer and the bezel of the main display in order to prevent any external substances from penetrating the device.
The Galaxy Fold features a 7.3" 1536 x 2152 foldable Infinity Flex AMOLED display that folds inside, in addition to a secondary cover display - a 4.6" 840×1960 Super AMOLED. Click here for information about the possible reasons for the screen fails.
IGNIS shows how its compensation technology can remove burn-in from automotive AMOLEDs
IGNIS Innovation published an interesting video that shows how its compensation technology can remove the visible signs of pixel aging.
The panel is a 12" LTPS automotive AMOLED panel, which IGNIS tested it for 1,000 hours at 85 degrees Celsius - to make sure the company's compensation technology can remove all signs of burn-in patterns. IGNIS's Max Life technology combines a functional in-pixel compensation pixel circuit with a sensing line and the company's current measurement driver chip that can perform external compensation. Read more and see the video here.
Did Samsung delay its QD-OLED TV production plans?
In February 2019 it was reported that Samsung Display will hold an investment review committee on April 2019 to decide whether to go ahead with plans to start producing QD-OLED TV panels - and then commence mass production by the end of 2020.
According to a new report from China, Samsung will indeed go ahead with its QD-OLED production plans, but at a slower pace than was first estimated. Samsung will only begin trial production towards the end of 2020, with real mass production on a new 10-Gen line only at around 2023.
In addition, the report says that that Samsung has decided to convert a 8-Gen line (and not a 8.5-Gen as was first suggested) which means that Samsung will concentrate on 55" or smaller sizes (as the 8-Gen line is not large enough for efficient 65" production) which will make it difficult to compete with lower-cost LCDs.
AUO to build a 6-Gen OLED ink-jet printing line
Digitimes reports that AU Optronics has setup a 3.5-Gen test ink-jet OLED printing line, and the company now intends to start building a 6-Gen production line. AUO will start constructing the line before the end of 2019.
AUO's Chairman confirmed that the latest advances in printing materials and equipment are starting to make OLED printing viable for commercial use. AUO has not yet decided the schedule for volume production. AUO's present inkjet printing OLED line is still at its product development stage, and the schedule for volume production has not yet been decided, Peng said.
In October 2018 we reported that AUO is utilizing JOLED's production equipment, and is aiming to produce OLED monitor displays and OLEDs for automotive applications (which makes sense for a 6-Gen line which will not be large enough to produce OLED TVs economically).
Lenovo demonstrates a foldable OLED laptop
Lenovo demonstrated a prototype foldable ThinkPad laptop, that features a 13.3" foldable OLED display. Lenovo says that it developed this device for over three years, and hopes to launched a commercial one in 2020. The supplier of this 13.3" OLED is LG Display.
The reporters at The Verge really liked the device, but noted that the hardware is clearly not finished - the folding mechanism for example did not feel sturdy (and we all know this is critical in a foldable device) and the display itself suffers from "remarkably poor viewing angles".
TCL starts flexible OLED pilot production at its Wuhan CSoT fab
China-based display maker TCL announced that its 6-Gen LTPS flexible AMOLED production line in Wuhan has commenced operation. The company already achieved some design wins with "top-class" phone makers and is expected to start shipping OLED displays to its customers in Q4 2019.
TCL's production line in Wuhan (which is actually owned by the company's subsidiary CSoT) will have a production capacity of 45,000 6-Gen substrates.
Besides its plans to produce flexible mobile OLED displays and OLED TV panels, TCL is developing cutting edge OLED technologies - including ink-jet printing, foldable OLEDs, hybrid QD-OLED panels and more.
The 4th International TADF Workshop - August 2019, Japan
Almost a decade has passed since the first demonstration of TADF OLEDs at Kyushu University in 2009, and these past ten years have seen rapid and remarkable advances in this scientific field.
Marking the 10-year anniversary of TADF, the 4th International TADF Workshop in Fukuoka Japan (August 19-20, 2019) will cover a diverse range of topics in TADF, excitonic materials, physics and devices - including a special focus on device architectures, up-conversion mechanisms, radical (doublet) emitters and perovskite emitters.
Korea-site The Elec says that according to its sources, Apple is "considering adoption" of OLED displays in its Pro laptop and tablets lines. The iPad Pro will adopt an 11-inch OLED while the MacBook Pro will adopt a 15.6-inch one.
Organic-TFT backplane/emitter developer Mattrix Technologies (previously nVerPix) announced that it has closed its Series A financing round, with $3 million in investment from Samsung Ventures and JSR Corporation.
UDC Ventures plans to invest and partner with new start-ups and companies with an emphasis on technology platforms that have a strong proprietary position and significant growth potential.
TADF developer Cynora announced that it has secured $25 million in its Series C funding round from investors in Asia, Europe and the US. Since 2008, Cynora raised $80 million.
Wisechip recently started shipping a new dot-matrix transparent PMOLED (1.51" 128x56, light-blue) and the display is now available on the OLED Marketplace.
UDC reports revenues of $87.8 million, an operating profit of $34.3 million and a net income of $31.5 million
OLEDWorks announced a pre-development collaboration with Audi to advance OLED lighting technology in automotive applications
Flagship smartphones with high quality 6.67-inch 90Hz 1440x3120 Fluid AMOLED on the 7 Pro and a 6.41-inch 1080x2340 Optic AMOLED on the 7
A stand-alone VR headset with dual 1440x1600 72Hz AMOLED displays
A gaming smartphone that features a 6.65-inch 2160x1080 90hz AMOLED display
The lite-version of Google's latest phone features a 5.6-inch 1080x2220 AMOLED display (6-inch on the 3a XL)
An Android smartphone with a 6.5-inch 1080x2340 AMOLED display
A high-spec budget smartphone with a 6.53-inch 1080x2340 AMOLED full-screen display
A Microsoft Azure AI laptop with an SDC 15.6-inch 3840x2160 AMOLED display
Dell's professional laptop features an optional SDC 15.6-inch 3840x2160 AMOLED display
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