Apple filed a new patent that describes a fascinating elastic haptics display. The idea is that the screen can not only provide tactile feedback (using vibration, etc.) but change its shape to form real 3D buttons, markings and even maps. Pretty cool.

In order to create such a display, Apple needs a flexible panel - and indeed they specifically mention a flexible OLED panel in the patent. Apple does say that any suitable flexible display panel can be used, for example graphene based display. But it seems that OLED is the most mature technology when it comes to such flexible displays.

Verbatim started shipping the first color tunable Velve panels back in April 2011, and now the company is presenting their 2nd-Generation panels and modules - which are twice as bright at 2,000 cd/m².

The company offers two panel sizes (although Verbatim can also create custom-made OLED panel sizes): 131x44 mm and 65x72 mm. The depth is just 5 mm. The profile of the modules is smaller, thinner and lighter because the printed circuit board is no longer rear-mounted and is housed in an electronic control unit connected via cabling.

OLEDNet posted an article with some new details about LG's upcoming 3.5-Gen flexible OLED line in LG's Paju plant (E2), Korea. According to the report, LG contracted Jusung Engineering and Avaco to supply the equipment. Both companies will supply encapsulation equipment. The deals are worth 11.4 billion Won (about $10 million) for Jusung and 7.6 billion Won ($6.7 million) for Avaco.

OLEDNet says that total cost for this new line (which is actually an extension of the existing pilot line) is worth 200 billion Won ($176 million).

eMagin announced that it has received a follow-on order for OLED microdisplays (SVGA+ OLED-XL) worth $3.1 million from the US Army. This contract is under the existing U.S. Army Remote Viewer Program. Deliveries under this contract have already begun, and all the microdisplays are to be delivered prior to the end of 2012.

An eMagin OLED microdisplay

This OASIS program initiated in 2008, deliveries under the original contract began in 2009 and are expected to continue into 2013.

Chimei Innolux's chairman Hsing-Chien Tuan says that the company plans to start AMOLED production before year-end 2012. CMI's 3.5-Gen AMOLED fab will produce small-sized panels. The production rate will be about 3,000-5,000 substrates a month.

Back in March 2011 CMI showed two AMOLED panels: 3.2" (320x480) and 3.5" (360x64). CMI were calling those displays TrueOLED, and apparently they use a WOLED-CF (RGBW) design. The panels featured 300cd/m² brightness, 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 160° viewing angles and 100% color gamut for the 3.2" panel (87% for the 3.5" one). We do not know whether the panels CMI plans to produce in 2012 will have the same specifications.

Last month we reported that the Korean police is investigating a case of AMOLED technology leaking from Samsung Mobile Display to a "local rival firm". We suspected the rival firm is LG Display, and today this is confirmed. The Korean police announced that they are questioning 10 LG Display employees, all former SMD employees. LGD's stock fell around 5% on the news.

This technology is Samsung's Small Mask Scanning, used to produce AMOLED on large substrates.

Vossloh-Schwabe (owned by Panasonic Electric Works) unveiled a new prototype OLED+LED luminaire. The OLEDs are of course provided by Panasonic themselves (or actually PIOL), and are color tunable:

PIOL is already shipping OLED panels, but this is the first time we hear of any color-tunable ones from the company, these are not available to purchase yet as far as we know. Update: according to one of our readers, the LEDs are tunablem but the OLEDs aren't.

OLED-Info's editor, Ron Mertens, will be attending the SID Display Week event in Boston (June 3-8). The SID Display Week is the premier display industry showcase and should be an exciting event.

If anyone wants to setup a meeting - please contact us here. See ye' in Boston!

Asahi Glass (AGC) is showing a new concept called Luminous Touch, designed by Danny Venlet. This is an OLED lighting panel integrated into glass, complete with touch sensitive switch. Quite cool:

The OLED itself is a small circle (probably supplied by Philips as it looks similar to the Dot Lumiblade I have reviewed a few months ago).

Researchers from the UK's University of Exeter discovered a new graphene based material that can be used as an ITO replacement. The so-called GraphExeter is a lightweight, flexible and transparent conductor which is more flexible than ITO and will hopefully be cheaper.

GraphExeter is made by compressed ferric chloride molecules between two sheets of graphene. The researcher are also working on a spray-on version of the material. This is not the first graphene based ITO replacement material. Back in August Rice University researchers unveiled a hybrid metal-graphene electrode which can also relace ITO.