OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Alan Tsai, Deputy Director of AMOLED Technology Development Division of Toppoly. Dr. Alan Tsai has 9-year experiences in the development of a-Si, LTPS and AMOLED technology and is also involved in the mass production of display products. He obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from University of Cincinnati (USA) in 1996. He joined Toppoly in 2000.
Q: Hello Alan, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Before we begin, can you tell us a little bit about Toppoly?
Established on December 24, 1999, Toppoly is a dedicated TFT-LCD volume manufacturer pioneering LTPS technology, based in Taiwan. Toppoly provides Flat Panel Displays with the latest display technology and has been developing AMOLED technology for next generation display. It plans to deliver AMOLED products in 2005.
Q: What are the advantages of OLED over LCD or other display technologies? what are the disadvantages?
Front of screen performance (FOS) is one of the key performance indicator for a good display. OLED, with its advantages of high contrast ratio, high color saturation, and wide view angle, is regarded to be a technology superior to LCD and other display technology. However, currently, lifetime and cost issues continue to be a factor impeding its penetration into the market extensively.
Q: What are Toppoly's current OLED products?
2.5" AMOLED is our 1st in-house product and it is expected to enter into mass production in Q4 this year. It is designed for the displays of DSC (Digital Still Cameras), printer, and PMP (Portable Multimedia Players).
We are currently engaged in discussions on several projects, but please allow us to maintain the confidentiality of these business agreements at the moment.
Q: Can you give some more technical specs of the 2.5" screen (resolutions, colors, etc)?
150nits, >65% NTSC, Contrast ratio>400 (@500lux)
Q: Toppoly have recently began to build a new FAB (Fab II) - Congratulations. Can you give us more details about Fab II OLED capacities?
FAB2 is planned to have two phases in building up its AMOLED capacity, the 1st is 4K sheets/month, the 2nd is 16K sheets/month, and then total 20K sheets/month. The equipment move-in will be in Q4, 2005
Q: From which companies did you license your OLED IP?
We have been developing our own OLED IP and have also acquired certain fundamental OLED IP from other OLED developers, including IBM which has done some pioneering development work on AMOLED. Licensing discussion is on-going but we are not entitled to disclose the identities of these companies at the moment.
Q: Do you have plans for larger OLED screens?
Based on the FOS advantages, fast response, and wide view angle performance, we view AMOLED is an incomparable display solution for larger screens.
Q: If I'm looking to integrate an OLED screen into my products, why should I choose Toppoly?
Toppoly is the first and only dedicated TFT-LCD volume manufacturer pioneering LTPS technology in Taiwan, we have implemented our LTPS technology into production and delivered more than 1.6 m pieces of LTPS panels monthly. With the experience in LTPS technology and production, and in-house OLED development experiences, we are in position of delivering quality AMOLED with competitive prices.
Q: What does the future hold for Toppoly? where do you see Toppoly in about 5 years?
Currently, we are perfecting the LTPS technology for LCD uses and promoting our LCD business. At the same time, we are developing AMOLED products, not only for the small/medium sizes, but also for the large sizes to fully extend our AMOLED product line by taking advantage of LTPS technology.
Q: How do you see the future of the display market and technologies? where do you see OLED, specifically, in about 5 years?
We expect AMOLED to play a significant role in the market of hand-held mobile devices by taking more and more market shares especially in 2005 and 2006; also we expect AMOLED to support NB PC and personal TV around 2007-2008, and larger TV by 2009-2010.
