The OLED-Info newsletter, April 2021
Published: Thu, 04/01/21
Here come the polarizer-free AMOLEDs
Samsung Display has been developing polarizer-free AMOLED displays for many years, and last year UBI detailed how the company plans to use color filters to eliminate the need for polarizers and so increase the efficiency of their OLED panels while also lowering the thickness.
DSCC posted an interested article that details Samsung's upcoming polarizer-free OLEDs, which it brands as POL-LESS OLEDs. The first OLEDs to adopt this new structure are expected to be adopted in Samsung's Galaxy Fold 3 later this year.
Click here for more information on Samsung's upcoming POL-LESS OLEDs.
A few days ago Tianma unveiled a new OLED display technology, which it refers to as CFOT OLED. This new foldable AMOLED display improves over the company's previous design with a lowered power consumption. The new displays are also thinner than before.
We do not know much about this new technology. But from the performance boost and the CF part of the name, it is likely that this is a polarizer-free OLED that adopts color-filters instead to remove reflections.
The Latest OLED market updates
Here are the latest OLED market updates from March 2021:
- DSCC sees a large spike in foldable OLED shipments towards the end of 2021
- UBI: The OLED market grew only 0.7% in 2020, details revenue by company
- Trendforce: AMOLED displays will grab 39% of the smartphone display market in 2021
- UBI says UTG will hold a 80% market share in the foldable OLED cover material market
- DSCC sees a low utilization rate at flexible OLED lines in H1 2020, high utilization at rigid OLED lines
JOLED starts mass producing inkjet-printed OLEDs
JOLED announced that it has started to mass produce OLEDs at its new 5.5-Gen production line in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture. JOLED brands its new displays as OLEDIO displays. JOLED plans to produce 10- to 32-inch displays, targeting applications such as high-end monitors, automotive displays and medical monitors.
JOLED also branded its production technology, based on ink-jet printing, as TRIPRINT.
Earlier this year, JOLED announced that Last month LG Electronics' 31.5-inch 4K UltraFine OLED Pro 32EP950 uses the company's panels. LG will also release a 27-inch model.
LG details the price and availability of its 2021 OLED TVs
LG is gearing up to start shipping its new 2021 OLED TVs, and the company has announced pricing and availability for most of the models.
The entry-level A1 series will ship in June, with prices ranging from $1,299 for the 48" model to $3,199 for the 77-inch model. Next up we have the OLED C1 range, which starts at $1,499 for the 48-model. The 83-inch C1 will cost $5,999. The C1 range will start shipping later this month for soe of the sizes (55-inch to 77-inch) and the 48-inch model will ship in April. The 83-inch OLED C1 will ship in May.
The Gallery G1 series with the new OLED evo panel will cost $2,199 for the 55-inch model, $2,999 for the 65-inch model and $4,499 for the 77-inch model. The TVs will ship in March (65-inch and 77-inch) and April (55-inch).
Interesting, LG says that the OLED ZX range (from 2020) will ship throughout 2021, and the company did not detail about the price or availability of the OLED Z1 range which should have replaced it.
Will Apple adopt OLED displays in the 2022 iPad Air?
In late 2020 several reports from Korea suggested that Apple is looking to adopt OLEDs in future iPad devices, as early as in 2022.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, a usually reliable Apple analyst, Apple is looking to adopt an OLED display in its 2022 iPad Air (while the MacBook Air will start using miniLED LCDs). MiniLEDs are actually more expensive than OLEDs today (these iPad OLEDs will be the cheaper rigid variant) and so cheaper iPads or laptops will use OLEDs from 2022 and onwards, while more expensive models will opt for miniLEDs which do not suffer from burn-in.
Visionox spins-off its PMOLED business
China-based OLED maker Visionox has spun-off its PMOLED business, to create a new company called Qingyue. Visionox will now focus on AMOLED production (after having spun-off its OLED lighting unit Yeolight back in 2015).
Qingyue, which is one of the world's leading PMOLED makers, has two 370x400 mm production lines, each with a capacity of 8,000 monthly substrates (around 1.75 million 1-inch displays).
For more information on the PMOLED market, consult our PMOLED Market Report.
Mercedes shows its unique 56-inch automotive OLED display
A few months ago Mercedes announced that its upcoming EQS electric vehicle will adopt a large curved front display, 56-inch in size, called the MBUX Hyperscreen. Today the company unveiled the interior cabin of the EQS:
The display is 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 whole AI-enabled system is powered by 8 CPU cores and 24 GB of RAM.
Mercedes is likely to be using LG Display's OLEDs, as the two companies have been working together since around 2016. Last year Cadillac launched the 2021 Escalade, which also uses a wide 38-inch display, made from several LGD P-OLED displays (there are three different displays - a 7" display, an 14" one and a 16.9" display).
QuantumDots-Info launched
We are happy to announce a new Metalgrass knowledge hub, QuantumDots-Info.com. Our new site focuses on QuantumDots technologies for the display industry. QDs are already used in many displays, and it is likely that the future will bring us more types of QD Displays, including QDEL and QD-OLEDs.
QuantumDots-Info brings you daily news, commentary, resources and updates about QDs in the display industry. You can subscribe to our weekly QD display newsletter here.
Sumitomo says it will ramp-up its OLED business as demand for its materials is expected to grow
Researchers from the UK's UCL and Italy's IIT developed OLED-based smart temporary tatoos. Similar to children's sticker type tatoos, these small devices can be transferred to the skin by being pressed and washed with water.
SDC will do so by developing low-power materials and optimizing power-efficient technologies.
According to a new report from Korea, BOE finally managed to pass Samsung's tests and is set to start supplying flexible OLEDs that will be used in Samsung's budget Galaxy M series of smartphones.
The researchers managed to build the entire device, including the substrate, conductive wires, electrodes and OLED layers, from stretchable materials.
The ThinkPad X1 Fold is a Windows 10 Pro laptop that features a 13.3-inch 2048x1536 foldable OLED display produced by LG Display.
The US court in Texas says Samsung should pay $62.7 million to Solas due to two OLED patents it infringed upon. Samsung later won an appeal regarding one of the patents.
Towards the end of last year, the price of one oz of Iridium was $1,760. Last week it hit $6,000 - the price jumped over 300% in just three months.
OLED driver IC developer MagnaChip announced that it is being acquired by China-based Wise Road Capital
The new Chinese fab will start operations by the end of 2022, and by 2025 it will have a capacity of 20 metric tonnes.
Panasonic latest OLED TVs feature 48-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch 4K WOLED panels (produced by LGD)
The OnePlus 9 features a 6.55-inch 120Hz HDR10+ 1080x2400 Fluid AMOLED. The Pro model has a high-end 6.7-inch LTPO 120Hz HDR10+ (1,300 nits) 1440x3216 Fluid2 AMOLED.
This new laptop comes standard with a 15.6-inch 3000x2000 600-nits AMOLED display
The Mi Mix Fold is the company first foldable OLED smartphone. It features a main 8.01-inch HDR10+ 1860x2480 AMOLED display that folds inwardly, and an external 6.52-inch 90Hz HDR10+ 840x2520 AMOLED display.
Xiaomi's latest flagship smartphone family all adopt OLED displays. The top of the line Mi 11 Ultra has a 6.81-incu 120Hz HDR+ (1,700 nits) 1440x3200 AMOLED display and an additional 1.1-inch AMOLED selfie veiwfinder.
A fitness tracker with a 1.56-inch 156x486 AMOLED display
A smartphone with a 6.4-inch 1080x240 90Hz Super AMOLED
Samsung's Galaxy M62 features a large 6.7-inch 1080x2400 Super AMOLED (Plus) display
The Galaxy A52 has a 6.5-inch 90Hz 1080x2400 Super AMOLED display
The A72 uses a 6.7-inch 0180x2400 90Hz Super AMOLED display
A range of smartphones that feature an advanced 6.7-inch 1440x3216 120Hz HDR10+ (1,300 nits) LTPO AMOLED displays. The Find X3 Neo is a lighter variant,with a 6.55-inch 1080x2400 90Hz AMOLED.
The new Oppo smartphones use 6.43-inch 1080x2400 Super AMOLED displays
Another Oppo smartphone, with a similar 6.43-inch 1080x2400 AMOLED display
A smartphone with a 6.44-inch 1080x2400 90Hz HDR10+ AMOLED display
A smartphone with a 6.2-inch 1440x3200 120Hz 1,300 nits Super AMOLED display
A smartphone with a 6.43-inch 1080x2400 120Hz Super AMOLED display
A gaming smartphone with a 6.78-inch 1080x2448 HDR10+ 144Hz AMOLED display
The OnePlus smartwatch has a 1.39-inch 454x454 round AMOLED display
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