There are rumors that Samsung is set to release a new Galaxy S II variant (code named Celox) with LTE. The interesting bit is that it is said that this phone will sport Samsung's new Super AMOLED HD display rather than the Super AMOLED Plus used in regular S II phones - and that Super AMOLED HD will use PenTile matrix again.

Galaxy S II

So if Samsung goes back to PenTile, this might explain the resolution increase, although it will still be unrealistic to expect an HD (1280x800) resolution on a 4" display - even with PenTile, as Samsung will not be able to move beyond 200ppi using their current FMM technology. In any case, it seems rather unlikely for Samsung to go back to this technology after telling us that normal matrix is better in Super AMOLED Plus displays...

There are reports that Visionox officially launched their AMOLED project - with plans to build a 4.5-Gen AMOLED fab which will start production in 2013. The company plans to use this fab to make several sized panels - from 3" to 30" - with applications including phones, computer monitors and TVs.

Visionox AMOLED pilot production line

In June 2010 Visionox completed their first AMOLED pilot production line, developed in cooperation with the Kunshan Industrial Technology Research Institute (K-ITRI). The company is also researching OLED Lighting.

The Nikkei business daily reports that LG Display aims to invest $2.8 billion towards 8.5-Gen OLED TV mass production - which will take place in 2H 2014. According to this report, LG Display's plan to start pilot-production of 55" OLED TV panels in 2H 2012 is still on track - and in fact the company plans to sell around 30,000 such TVs in a month.

LG wants to wait and see how the market reacts to these TVs in 2012 before committing the large investment needed for mass production. LG now says that after introducing the 55" panels, they will start making smaller ones as well, around 40".

Universal Display announced record revenue of $11.3 million (a 33% increase compared to Q2 2010). Commercial revenue was $5.3 million - a 170% increase over last year - mostly due to Samsung AMOLED capacity expansion. Operating loss was $1.1 million (down from $1.9 million). When taking stock warrant liability into account, net income was $3.2 million. The company is operation-cash positive ($223,000 in the quarter), and has about $326 million in cash or short-term investments.

During the conference call, the company gave some interesting updates. They say that no-one is currently using their green PHOLED material in commercial product. But they say that about half of their development revenues were from the sales of green-emitter and host materials (and over 10 customers are evaluating green). Our (trusted) source said that Samsung are using green in their 5.5-Gen fab - perhaps UDC cannot say it's commercial until they sign a new license agreement with Samsung that includes green. Or perhaps our source was wrong.

Samsung's Galaxy S Plus (a Galaxy S variant) is now available unlocked for $539.99. The S Plus offers a faster 1.4Ghz processor and Android v2.3. The display is the same as on the Galaxy S - 4" WVGA Super-AMOLED.

Researchers from Rice University created thin hybrid metal-graphene electrodes - that outperform ITO electrodes, are also more transparent and less resistance to electric current. This can be useful for transparent and flexible OLED displays or lighting panels.

The new electrode is a thin film of single-layer graphene and a fine grid of metal nanowire. It's basically a hybrid-graphene electrode. The metal is used to enhance the conductivity at the required transparency. The metal grid strengthens the graphene, and the graphene fills all the empty spaces between the grid. The researchers found a grid of five-micron nanowires made of inexpensive, lightweight aluminum did not detract from the material's transparency.

According to reports, Samsung placed orders for 30 million touch sensors from CPT and other suppliers. These touch sensors will be used in 4" AMOLED displays in mobile phones.

Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Electronics is enjoying great sales of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 phones. In fact the S2 just crossed the 5 million units mark, and is Samsung's fastest selling phone to date.

Digitimes says that they estimate that OLED TVs will grab around 2% of the large TV (40" and larger) market. Update: It's not clear when they think this will happen, they probably mean 2015.

LD 31-inch OLED TV prototype

The current leader in OLED TV plans seems to be LG Display - they plan to introduce 55" OLED TVs in 2012 in small quantities (tens of thousands of units at first).

There are reports that Samsung plans to introduce new 7" AMOLED displays later this year. According to these reports Samsung's new AMOLED displays will feature 1024x768 - and be used by Samsung Electronics in new Tablets, released towards the end of 2011.

A 7-inch Super AMOLED prototype

But in the same article they say that Samsung aims to introduce Full-HD tablets as well. Perhaps the new 7" panels will offer 720P HD resolution (1280×720)? This makes sense as the pixel density for such a display is about 180ppi - which is achievable in Super AMOLED Plus displays. In fact this may be the Super AMOLED HD display we keep hearing about lately...