WRGB - Page 10

According to our sources, AUO finally started AMOLED mass production in their AFPD subsidiary in Singapore. AFPD has a Gen-4.5 LTPS fab that was converted for AMOLED production. The fab has a monthly capacity of 45,000 substrates but it's not clear whether all the lines were converted to AMOLED and how many OLED panels are currently produced there.

AUO 4.4-inch AMOLED prototype

I'm not sure which panels are being produced there at the moment, but it's likely that AUO is producing the panels they have recently unveiled at trade shows - 4.4" 1900x600 (413 PPI) panel, 5" Full-HD (443 PPI) panel and their newest 5" HD720 AMOLED panels. Earlier reports suggested that HTC and Sony are waiting to integrate AUO's AMOLEDs in their mobile devices.

Sharp is showing new 7" MEMS-Shutter Display prototype at Ceatec 2013. MEMS-Shutter displays are similar to LCD in that they have a LED backlighting unit (BLU), color filters, and a component that blocks the light. But instead of liquid-crystals and polarizers, these displays use MEMS shutters.

A MEMS-Shutter Display is about 6 times more efficient than a regular LCD. This is mostly due to the fact that you do not need a polarizing filter like in LCDs. The displays also use a WRGB structure in which there is a white subpixel which increases brightness and efficiency. The panels on display had a resolution of 800x1,280 (220 PPI). The backplane is an IGZO. Sharp co-developed these panels with Qualcomm.

Samsung launched a new cinema advertisement campaign in the UK for the S9C curved OLED TV. The campaign slogan is "life in every pixel" (obviously hinting at the fact that Samsung is using Direct-Emission as opposed to LG's WRGB design). I personally don't like this specific ad, but it's great to see Samsung continue push its OLED technology to consumers:

Samsung's S9C (KN55S9C), now shipping in the US for $8999, is a Full-HD 55" curved OLED TV that offers the "perfect picture quality" (according to Samsung) as the distance from the viewer to the TV screen is the same from almost any angle. It sports a "timeless arena" design (the display is placed within a luxurious frame whose curved shape mirrors the curvature of an arena).

DisplaySearch says that OLED TV panels production costs are still very high, but this will not deter investments and the company forecasts rapid expansion in AMOLED capacity, as can be seen in the chart below (in which the yellow bars show AMOLED capacity while the green bar is capacity that can be used for either LCD or AMOLED production):

According to this chart dedicated AMOLED fab capacity grew from less than a million square meters in 2011 to almost four million square meters in 2013. In 2017, dedicated AMOLED capacity will reach 14 million square meters (i.e. 28 times as much capacity as in 2011).

Yesterday it was reported that Japan Display is planning to raise ¥200 billion (around $2 billion USD) in an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. JDI will be valued at around ¥700 - $800 billion ($7 to $8 billion USD) and will use the money to invest in new capacity and OLED technology.

JDI was formed in November 2011 by Sony, Hitachi, and Toshiba who combined their small/medium panel production capabilities and received $2 billion from Japan's Innovation Network Corp (INCJ). The company is currently the largest small/medium display producer and reportedly supplying displays to Apple an Google among others.

Now that both LG and Samsung are shipping 55" curved OLED TVs in the US, we can expect several reviews that compare these two TVs. The first one comes from HDguru via NBC News. They like both TVs saying that they provide an image superior to any LCD or plasma TV they ever tested - but Samsung's OLED TV is better than LG's (and it's cheaper by 40%, too).

Samsung's KN55S9C was found to be brighter than the LG 55EA9800. LG's TV also suffered from dimming of test signals and stuck sub-pixels. Surprisingly, both TVs suffered from motion blur, but Samsung offers a special mode (Clear Motion) which inserts black frames between live frames. This removes the blur (but lowers the brightness).

Only a few weeks after launching the KN55S9 55" curved OLED TV in South Korea for 15 million Won (about $13,000), Samsung slashed the price today by 34% - to 9.9 million Won (about $8,900). Samsung said that this price cut will enable them to reach more consumers and lead the OLED TV market. Samsung will refund the difference for customers who already bought the TV.

Reports from Korea say that Samsung were also able to improve the production yield of these OLED TVs and so can now produce more panels and lower the price. Now it will be interesting to see how LG responds - their own curved OLED TV costs $13,000. LG is using a theoretically more cost-effective production technology (WRGB vs Samsung's direct-emission OLEDs).

LG Electronics announced today that their curved 55" OLED TV is now available in the US, exclusively through Magnolia stores inside Best Buy. The 55EA9800 costs $14,999 (in South Korea it costs around $13,500) and it is currently on display in Best Buy's store in Richfeld, Minnesota.

In the following weeks more stores will display and sell the OLED TV (in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and San Antonio) and later on more stores will offer it. According to Pocket Lint, LG's TV is "jaw-droppingly stunning". LG's curved OLED TV features an Oxide-TFT WRGB Full-HD OLED panel (like LG's 55EM9700 'flat' OLED TV). The TV features "infinite" contrast ratio, passive 3D, Smart Touch Controls and a "paper-slim" design (it's only 4.3 mm thick and weighs just 17Kg). It is made from Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastic (CFRP).

During SID 2013 AUO unveiled a new 4.4" AMOLED panel prototype. The panel is 4.4" in size and features a PPI of 413 (1600x900 resolution). The brightness is 250 nits and the color gamut is 105% NTSC. This panel uses the WRGB structure and an LTPS backplane.

Last month AUO unveiled an AMOLED with an even higher PPI (5" Full-HD, 443 PPI). It's nice to see AUO unveil new prototypes, but what we really want to see is for them to start actual mass production. Some reports suggest that AUO's yields are still very low (around 40%) and the company won't stat mass production until 2014.

Several companies announced new flexible OLED panels at SID 2013. None of the panels were demonstrated (except for Toshiba which showed the OLED but it was not powered). First up is Toshiba, which showed a 10.2" 1920x1200 (223 PPI) panel. Toshiba's OLED has an Oxide TFT backplane and uses the WRGB (white OLED with color filters) architecture.

Toshiba flexible OLED prototype

Panasonic developed a 4" flexible OLED with 224x224 resolution (only 80 PPI, direct emission). Panasonic used PEN as a substrate and the panel can be bent up to a curvature radius of 10 mm. This is also an Oxide-TFT panel. To produce it, Panasonic attached the PEN sheet to a glass substrate, deposited the OLED materials and then de-laminated the glass.