LG Display posted a very interesting article explaining their flexible OLEDs, and giving some predictions (based on IHS DisplayBank estimates) about the flexible OLED market. In the article LGD explains how the OLED is produced and also finally gives some info on the company's Face Seal encapsulation technology.LG quotes IHS DisplayBank's reports, saying that flexible OLEDs are expected to become a $41 billion market by 2020. Over 50% of those displays will be used in "new applications" and 33% will be used in smartphones. From 2015, the market will more or less double each year. Flexible displays will amount to 16% of the total FPD market in 2020.

At the Mobile World Congress event, Samsung unveiled three new OLED products. First up is the Galaxy S5, the company's flagship mobile phone for 2014. Samsung says that the new phone was designed to "focus on what matters most to consumers". The display is a 5.1" FHD (432 PPI) Super AMOLED display (seems to be the same display as on the GS4, only a bit larger). Other features include a 2.5 Ghz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16MP camera (4K video support). The GS5 is dust and water resistant, and it packs a finger scanner and a heart rate sensor. The new flagship device will launch on April 11 in 150 countries worldwide.

Samsung did include two display-related innovations in the GS5. There's a new image chip that dynamically adjusts the color gamut and contrast based on ambient light - very useful as OLED's wide color gamut can be used in ambient light conditions to improve the image quality. The GS5 also includes a new ultra power-saving mode that turns the screen monochrome and lowers the brightness.

In past weeks we heard several reports regarding the GS5 display - that it will use an LCD and not an AMOLED, that it will use a 5.2" WQHD (2560 x 1440, 560 PPI) AMOLED and even that it may sport a flexible (curved) OLED screen. It may be that Samsung will unveil a "premium" GS5 model later on - and this one may sport the higher-density OLED or even a curved display indeed, and maybe also lower-end models with an LCD.

Samsung also released two smartwatches. The Gear 2 is an upgrade to the original Gear, with the same 1.63" 320x320 Super AMOLED display. The second product, the Gear Fit, is much more interesting. This smart fitness band is Samsung's second flexible OLED product, and it adopts a 1.84" 432x128 curved Super AMOLED. It includes several sensors and can also show notifications from your phone.

Plastic Logic and Novaled announced that during 2014 they will demonstrate truly flexible, fully-organic plastic based AMOLED displays. The first display unveiled in a presentation is a first-gen prototype - a monochrome (red) AMOLED.

I discussed the state of OTFT technology with Plastic Logic's research director. The team at PL believes that organic semiconducting materials have reached a "tipping point" in electrical performance that makes them viable to drive flexible OLED displays. Read the full OTFT article here.

Back in June 2012 LG was awarded with Korea's ambitious Future Flagship Program that aims to develop 60" flexible transparent UHD OLED displays by 2017. This project raised a few eyebrows and was never mentioned again. Now we hear that LG Display is still developing the technology, and still says that the want to be ready with a real product by the end of 2017.

LGD is currently developing a 17" transparent flexible OLED and they hope to ready a prototype by the end of 2014. If this is successful, LGD will move on to the next stage - the 60" UHD panel. This panel will feature 40% transmittance and a curvature radius of 10 cm.

LGD says that such displays will "clearly be a breakthrough in display innovation". The expect the transparent flexible display market to reach $131 billion in revenues by 2023.

DisplaySearch says that following the release of the Samsung Galaxy Round and the LG G Flex smartphones, flexible displays may have finally reached critical mass. DisplaySearch estimates that new device with flexible OLEDs in various form factors will reach the market in 2014 (following DisplaySearch's article, Samsung launch the Gear Fit with a flexible OLED).

DisplaySearch further says that in the optimistic scenario, the flexible OLED market could grow as fast as 151% CAGR to exceed $20 billion in 2020. Several manufacturing technology issue still needs to be sorted out before this happens, but it is possible that innovations will continue to increase flexibility and lower costs.Interestingly, DisplaySearch expect foldable devices to reach the market between 2016 and 2018. Samsung Electronics promised their first foldable device in 2015, and according to reports the company privately showed prototypes during CES 2014. I guess DisplaySearch do not believe SDC will be able to mass produce such displays next year.

The SID display week is scheduled for June, and the paper list for the event is now online. There are some interesting OLED developments in there! For example there are several new flexible displays developed in China and a new 65" AMOLED TV prototype that AUO developed using inkjet printing. LG will explain the technology that allowed them to cut the power consumption of their OLED TVs, while Sharp and SEL developed a 13.3" 8K OLED (664 PPI!). Read more here.

Simple and cheap PMOLED displays were popular up until 2006, when the iPhone virtually killed the clamshell phone design with its simple subdisplay on the outside. The PMOLED market has been in decline ever since, but now it may take off as it is being adopted by many smart fitness bands .In the past 2 months alone, we've seen LG, Huawei and Razr announce new smart bands that include PMOLED displays.

Read more about the PMOLED market and how the new wearable device hype may effect it here.