OLED-Info newsletter

TCL's $6.8 billion plan to start printing OLED TVs by 2024

According to reports from China, TCL says its CSOT OLED inkjet printing project is going well, and the company expects to start mass production at its 8.5-Gen Guangzhou T8 (owned by Huaxing Optoelectronics) production line in 2024. Earlier this year the Guanghzhou development commission issued a report that says CSOT's investment in this R&D and production project will amount to 46 billion yuan ($6.8 billion USD), and the construction of the actual production line will be in 2021-2023.

TCL has been a long time believer in inkjet printing for OLED displays, and the company has established Juhua Printing in 2016 (together with Tianma and other collaborators) as an "open-innovation platform" to develop ink-jet printing of OLED panels.

A few months ago TCL invested $187 million USD in Japan's inkjet printing developer and producer JOLED, and has also signed an agreement to jointly develop OLED TV printing technologies.

A discussion on MicroLED efficiency

MicroLED technology is regarded by many as a highly promising display technology, that could rival OLED in many applications in the future. We have been following microLEDs since 2018 via MicroLED-Info and are indeed excited by the progress and potential of this display technology.

One of the most talked-about advantages of microLED displays compared to OLEDs is the power efficiency. MicroLEDs are based on in-organic LEDs, which are inherently much more efficient than organic LEDs.

MicroLED-Info posted a couple of articles that discuss the efficiency of microLEDs. The first article looks at the microLED chips themselves, and shows that the power efficiency (or EQE) of microLEDs is indeed quite high. The second article, which is more interesting, looks at the entire display - and the conclusion is quite surprising. Modern LTPS backplanes consume around 70% of the power that is used to drive a display, which means that microLED displays may perhaps be better than OLEDs but not by much. Of course the results are different for passive-matrix displays, microIC-driven microLEDs and microdisplays. Read the full article here.

Apple goes all-OLED in its iPhone 12 lineup

Apple announced its newest iPhone smartphones, and all of this year's models have OLED displays. All of Apple's new phones also include 5G connectivity and the company's latest A14 bionic 5nm chipset. Interestingly, all these OLED displays offer a refresh rate of 60Hz, it seems as if we'll have to wait for at least one more year to get 90Hz or 120Hz displays from Apple.

So first up we have the iPhone 12 Pro, which features a 6.1-inch 1170x2532 800-nits XDR AMOLED display. The larger iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 1284x2778 AMOLED. Next we have the iPhone 12 - with its 6.1-inch 1170x2532 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display. Apple also introduced a smaller model, called the iPhone 12 mini which sports a 5.4-inch 1080x2340 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display.

We're happy to see Apple finally going with OLED displays in all of its latest smartphones!

Latest OLED market updates

Here are the latest OLED market updates, published in October 2020:

• DSCC: OLED production rebounded in Q3 2020, and will continue to be high in Q4
• Omdia: 3.3 million OLED TVs will ship in 2020, and 5.5 million in 2021
• UBI: the COVID pandemic decreased demand for OLED smartphone displays, while demand for wearable displays have risen sharply
• DSCC estimates that miniLED TVs will only be around 10% cheaper than OLED TVs
• OLED-Info updates its OLED and MicroLED market reports

TCL's CSoT shows new rollable OLED display prototypes

TCL's CSoT demonstrated some interesting new displays at the DTC 2020 conference a few days ago - including rollable OLEDs, foldable OLEDs, ink-jet printed rollable OLEDs and new microLED prototypes.

In the video here, you can first see the company's latest inkjet-printed rollable OLED, with a size of 17-inch. CSoT says that it managed to reduce the OLED thickness by removing the color filters it used in earlier designs, which improves the flexibility - as you can see this display rolls up very nicely.

Interestingly in the video you can see what seems to be a large OLED TV that is rollable - maybe this is the 31" rollable OLED display already unveiled earlier this year, or maybe even a larger one, we do not have more information on that display yet.

In the photo above you can see another prototype, this one is a extending-rolling phone prototype (similar to what LG is likely to be launching next year). This display is 6.7-inch in size, and it scrolls to become a smaller 4.5-inch display device. The roll radius is 3 mm and TCL says this OLED has passed over 200,000 rolling cycles. A few months ago TCL unveiled a similar device, but that scrolls to the side.

LG starts shipping its rollable OLED TV in Korea

LG Electronics announced that it is now shipping the world's first rollable OLED TV, the 65" 65RX OLED TV. The price is set at KRW 100 million (USD 87,000) - that's actually cheaper than expected.

The 65RX rollable TV is currently available in Korea only. The rollable OLED TV was first unveiled in early 2019, but LG did not manage to produce it until now as it faced several technology challenges, including low durability.

Samsung researchers developed a new high-performance OLED structure

Researchers from Stanford university in collaboration with Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) developed a new OLED structure that enables resolution of up to 10,000 PPI, high brightness and a cost-effective production process.

In the new so-called Metaphotonic OLED structure, the panel is produced on a base layer of reflective metal with nanoscale corrugations. This 'metasurface' can manipulate the reflective properties of light and thereby allow different colors to resonate in the OLED sub-pixels. This new design offers a completely different OLED color architecture -where one of the main advantages is the fact that all OLED sub-pixels are produced in the same height which means other material deposition is easier.

OLED-Info updates its OLED and MicroLED market reports

Today we published new versions of our market reports - that cover the flexible, VR/AR, microdisplays, automotive and graphene 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 October 2020.

Our market reports come with one year of free upgrades. If you bought your report within the year, contact us to get your new edition. Older customers are entitled for an upgrade discount, please contact us for more information - or simply reply to this mail for more info!

You can now order Lenovo's foldable laptop with its 13.3-inch 2048x156 folding OLED display, starting at $2,499

Vizio started shipping its first OLED TVs, the OLED-H1 family - the lowest cost OLED TVs in the US.

UK-based PolyPhotonix announced today that it has signed a deal with Pioneer for the supply of OLED panels for the sleep masks

LG Display says that its turnaround was due to increased demand for IT displays and OLED displays - both OLED TV panels and flexible OLEDs for smartphones

UDC reported its Q3 2020 financial results, with revenues of $117 million (up from $58 million in Q2 2020 and $98 million in Q3 2019, and a net income of $40.5 million.

Merck says that it will invest 26 million Euro ($23.6 million USD) to expand its OLED manufacturing capacities in Korea and China

Demand for Visionox's AMOLED displays is on the rise, while demand for LCD displays (which Visionox does not produce) is down in China.

An online review shows that the new foldable UTG cover used in the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is indeed more durable - but not by much

KM is now producing a small red OLED panel that is integrated with an NFC antenna

TADF emitter developer Kyulux announced that has signed a joint-development agreement with Nippon Soda to develop new intermediates compounds for TADF emitters

A convertible laptop with a 13.5-inch 3000x2000 (yes, 3:2 aspect ratio) AMOLED display, the first product to use this display

The iPhone 12 Pro features a 6.1-inch 1170x2532 800-nits XDR AMOLED display

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 1284x2778 AMOLED

The iPhone 12 has a 6.1-inch 1170x2532 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display

The small iPhone 12 Mini sports a 5.4-inch 1080x2340 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display

Huawei's 2020 flagship smartphone range sports a 6.5-inch 1080x2376 (402 PPI) flexible 90Hz HDR10 OLED display (6.76", 1344x2772 ,456 PPI, on the Mate 40 Pro and Pro+).

A mid-range smartphone with a 6.53-inch 1176x2400 flexible HDR AMOLED

Google's latest smartphone features a 6-inch 1080x2340 90Hz HDR10+ AMOLED display

A high-end gaming laptop with an optional 13-inch Full-HD AMOLED display

A fitness band with a 1.1-inch AMOLED display selling for $42

The Mi-Watch smartwatch features a 1.39-inch 454x454 round AMOLED display

A large smartphone for the Japanese market, with a 6.9-inch 1080x2400 OLED with an under-the-OLED camera

The latest Realme smartphone features a 6.4-inch 1080x2400 Super AMOLED display