OLEDs for laptops - introduction and industry news. - Page 17

Lenovo announced its OLED X1 Yoga laptop-tablet hybrid back in January 2016, and the high-end OLED laptop is finally shipping. Engadget posted a review, and it appears that the display is simply stunning.

The reviewer says that the OLED display simply "blew his mind", and concludes his review saying that "the Thinkpad X1 Yoga is a reminder that OLED isn't just bright and bold, it's a transformative display technology. Now if only it weren't so expensive".

In January 2016 Lenovo announced its first OLED laptop-tablet hybrid, the X1 Yoga. The OLED model is finally shipping, starting at $1,400.

The X1 Yoga has a 14" 2550x1440 display (LCD or OLED) and the configuration goes up to Core i7 CPUs, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. The laptop weighs 1.27 Kg.

HP started shipping the Spectre X360 OLED hybrid laptop/tablet, starting at $1,499. The X360 has a 13.3" OLED display (2560x1600, made by SDC) - and the OLED model weighs 50 grams less than the equivalent LCD model, and HP says that the OLED outperforms the LCD in terms of color gamut (103% RGB vs 72% in LED displays) and is also more power efficient.

Samsung demonstrated two OLED displays for laptops at SID 2016. First up was a 13.3" 2560x1440 (221 PPI) panel. This display offers a brightness of 300 nits and is 1.01 mm thick and weighs 120 grams.

The second display is a bit larger at 14", but otherwise pretty much the same (2560x1440, 210 PPI) and it weighs 130 grams.

Apple will reportedly update its MacBook Pro lineup towards the end of this year, and it is rumored that one of the new features in these new laptops will be an OLED touch bar, placed above the keyboard (instead of the function keys).

Leaked chassis photos of the upcoming MacBook Pro seems to show a keyboard with a missing function line - and an empty display slot.

The following premium article takes a look at the current markets for OLED displays - including smartphones, wearables, VR / AR, mobile PCs and TVs. We will then summarize OLED market forecasts by leading analysts.

In recent weeks, we heard very strong indicators from OLED equipment and component makers. Coherent, Orbotech, Colnatec and MagnaChip all reported significant OLED orders, and are very optimistic about the OLED market going forward.

Those suppliers report sales mostly to Korea, of course, but also to Japanese and Chinese display makers, as these new players ramp up their OLED production and begin to compete with Samsung and LGD.

IHS say that the lower prices of AMOLEDs and the improvements in production is attracting more device makers to adopt AMOLED panels in their products. This leads to rapid increase in AMOLED shipments.

IHS sees 395 million AMOLEDs shipped in 2016 (this seems a bit optimistic) - an increase of 40% compared to 2015. Revenues will increase by 25% to reach $15 billion. AMOLED penetration in smartphone displays will rise from 17% in 2015 to 21% in 2016. IHS says that "AMOLED is becoming the shiniest spot in the flat-panel display industry".

So we might as well get used to this - OLEDs have arrived at the laptop market. Dell's Alienware announced their latest gaming laptop, the Alienware OLED 13 R2 - and it uses a 13" 2560x1440 AMOLED display.

The Alienware OLED 13 laptop will ship in April 2015 starting at $1,499. It's quite similar to the LCD Alienware 13 R2, just with an OLED instead of the LCD (which has a higher 3200x1800 resolution). The LCD model currently starts at $1,068 - this means that the OLED premium is about $450 - but then again it may also have higher specs, so it is difficult to compare. Alienware themselves says that the OLED model will cost exactly the same as the LCD model.

A day after Lenovo announced the world's first OLED laptop (the 14" X1 Yoga), HP announced a similar product - a model of the popular Spectre X360 hybrid laptop/tablet that comes with a 13.3" 2560x1600 AMOLED display.

HP did not reveal the price premium of the OLED model, but they said that it will ship by the spring of 2016. It's highly likely that Samsung Display is the producer of the AMOLED.

Lenovo announced a new laptop-tablet hybrid family - the X1 Yoga, which is the world's first OLED laptop. The X1 Yoga is equipped with a 14" 2550x1440 display - LCD in the lower models and OLED in the higher-end ones. The hybrid configuration goes up to Core i7 CPUs, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage. The laptop weighs 1.27 Kg.

The basic X1 Yoga starts at $1,449 (with an LCD) - the OLED model will be released in April 2016 - price hasn't been announced yet.