OLED Smartphones - introduction and industry news - Page 73

Update: It seems to me that Samsung did clarify this issue saying that this is not a glass-based display, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

On October 9th, Samsung launched the world's first device with a flexible OLED display, the Galaxy Round smartphone - with it's curved 5.7" Full-HD flexible Super AMOLED. Strangely Samsung does not refer to this display as a YOUM display, which is the brand name for plastic-based OLEDs they launched at CES 2013.

In their PR, Samsung also never mentioned that this display is "unbreakable" - which is one of the biggest advantages of plastic-based OLEDs. Samsung's design is also much less exciting that the design prototypes they unveiled at CES that used a YOUM display. A couple of weeks ago I thought that perhaps this display uses a glass substrate and not a plastic one, which will explain everything. I checked with my sources and they said that it is using plastic and this is a YOUM display.

Update: The G Flex is finally official, with a 6" curved plastic OLED

LG is soon to release its first phone with a flexible OLED display, the G Flex. A few days ago Engadget got hold of some "press renders" showing the upcoming phone, and now Argentinian broadcaster Telefe managed to get hold of the device, showing a video of it in action (the video also includes Samsung's Galaxy Round). Unfortunately I cannot show the video here, but you can watch it at Telefenoticias.

The G Flex will use a 6" flexible OLED display made by LG Display that is curved from top to bottom. I think this makes more sense than Samsung's Galaxy Round which is curved from left to right. From the video you can see that the G Flex has rear-mounted buttons (like in LG's G2). The camera is reportedly 13 mp and that's all we know currently. LG will release the G Flex in Korea soon, and will probably not release it anywhere else (similarly to Samsung).

CNet is reviewing Apple's iPhone 5s against Motorola's Moto X smartphone. This week they are comparing the display. The reviewer says that the Moto X display (a 4.7" 720p AMOLED, 316 ppi, non PenTile) is excellent and it may be time for Apple to consider using AMOLEDs in their products.

CNet correctly explains why Apple cannot yet use OLEDs though: there's a single supplier (SDC) with limited capacity, OLEDs still cost more than LCDs and they are more power hungry. These things will improve in the future, and the reviewer concludes that "Apple would be stupid not to use the display technology down the road".

Last week we reported that AUO finally started AMOLED mass production. Today AUO's president Paul Peng confirmed this report in an interview: "AUO has made progress in developing AMOLED and has begun volume production of small-size AMOLED panels".

AUO 4.4-inch AMOLED prototype

According to our information, AUO is mass producing AMOLEDs in their AFPD fab in Singapore. This is a Gen-4.5 LTPS fab that was converted for AMOLED production. The fab has a monthly capacity of 45,000 substrates (we're not sure if all lines were converted to OLED though).

On Octbober 9th, Samsung launched the world's first device with a flexible OLED display, the Galaxy Round smartphone, with it's curved 5.7" Full-HD flexible Super AMOLED. Today SamMobile reports that Samsung has no plans to release this phone outside of Korea. The company regards it as a "prototype" device and they will only produce limited quantities.

This makes sense because Samsung's flexible OLED capacity is limited. Samsung Display is producing those OLEDs at their 5.5-Gen line, and the monthly capacity is about 8,000 sheets. But it's likely that Samsung also uses this line for R&D work. Combine this with probably not very high yields, and you'll find that the real production capacity is probably quite low. It's also likely that those flexible OLEDs are very expensive currently - the Galaxy Round costs 1,090,000 Won (a little over $1,000) in Korea, it's very expensive.

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.

Do you have a Galaxy S4 or a Galaxy Note 3? Samsung just published a new Android application that targets those devices that have a Full-HD Super AMOLED display. The application simply shows beautiful nature shots by renowned photographers (such as Ashley Vincent, Hougaard Malan, Kwon O Chul and Satoshi Kuribayashi) and also highlights how OLEDs produces accurate colors and a large color gamut.

Engadget said they got hold of the following "press renders" showing LG's upcoming LG G Flex phone that will sport a flexible OLED display. Engadget also reports that they confirmed that the OLED panel will be 6" in size and the phone will be announced in November.

As you see this phone is curved from top to bottom. I think this makes more sense than Samsung's Galaxy Round which also uses a flexible OLED but is curved from left to right. Of course we'll have to wait for someone to review both phones to see which design is better. I'm guessing in coming months we'll see several new phone designs using flexible panels as makers try to figure out how best to use curved displays.

AT&T is now offering Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 - starting from $289 with a plan. You can also buy it without a plan for $749.99. The Note 3 smartwatch companion, the Galaxy Gear, is now shipping from Amazon for $299.99. 

The Galaxy Note 3 features a 5.7" Full-HD Super AMOLED display (386 PPI), a 2.3 Quad-Core CPU (or a 1.9 Ghz octa-core in some markets), 3 GB of RAM, 32/64GB of storage, a 13 MP camera (will be capable of 4K videos in some markets) and Android 4.3. It is smaller and lighter than the Note 2. DisplayMate says that the Note 3 has the best AMOLED display ever - and it actually beats the best LCDs across the board.

Yesterday we reported that Samsung started mass producing plastic-based 5.7" FHD flexible OLED panels, and today the company announced the first device to use them - the Galaxy Round smartphone. This is an Android 4.3 smartphone similar to the Galaxy Note 3, with the major feature being the curved (400 mm curvature radius) flexible display (samsung simply refers to it as a flexible Super AMOLED, strangely they are not using the YOUM brand).

The Galaxy Round includes all sorts of user interface tweaks to take advantage of the curved screen, for example the so-called Roll-Effect that enables user to check information such as date, time, missed call and battery easily when home screen is off (see video below) and the "Gravity Effect" for creating visual interaction with the screen by tilting the device.