October 2018

Researchers from Korea's KAIST research institute developed a high-efficiency OLED architecture that uses external scattering medium to achieve an EQE greater than 50%.

Such high EQE was only demonstrated before using complex internal nanostructures or by employing a micro-lens array, but these solutions are complicated to produce and can hinder the OLEDs flexibility and planar structure. The researchers say that their scattering approach maintains the planar geometry , results in flexible OLEDs and can be easily scaled to enable low cost production.

Lufthansa Technik announced a joint venture with LG Electronics to develop, produce and market OLED displays for commercial aircraft cabins. The venture will be based in Hamburg, Germany and will commence operations in the first half of 2019.

Lufthansa says that LG's lightweight and flexible OLED display technologies could be used to create new markets for on-board aircraft applications such as welcome screens in entrance areas, and interior linings. The image above shows a proposed application, promoting upgrade options during the boarding phase.

Automotive suppliers Continental unveiled a concept technology that could minimize blind-spots in automobiles. The idea is to wrap a flexible OLED around the car's A-pillar, and then use an external camera combined with head-tracking in-car camera to feed the external view on the A-Pillar display.

This seems to be a smart idea if performed well that solves a real issue - Continental says that a typical A-pillar can obscure more than 3 feet's worth of area at a distance of 12 feet from the vehicle - and the blind spot grows as the distance does. CNet notes, however, that Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover previewed and patented similar technologies in the past.

Lee Min-Cheol, Samsung Electronic's PC Marketing VP says that Samsung is collaborating with "display makers" (Samsung Display? or an error in the quote?) to develop OLED laptops with foldable displays. Samsung says that it aims to bring "new value and user experience" and not just create a laptop and can simply fold in and out.

Samsung will hopefully release its first foldable smartphone device by the end of 2018 or in early 2019, but apparently the company is already thinking about other form factors. Earlier this month a report from Korea suggested that LG Display is collaborating with Lenovo to develop a 13" foldable tablet, with aims to start panel production in H2 2019.

We're happy to announce that The OLED Marketplace is now listing OLED Microdisplays, in addition to the current wide offering of PMOLED and AMOLED displays.

OLED Microdisplays are tiny (usually less than one inch in diameter) displays used in near-eye applications - such as VR/AR, industrial and military applications and more. The OLED microdisplay market is seeing increased interest at these microdisplays can enable much smaller and more efficient VR systems, compared to the current HMDs which use smartphone-sized OLED displays.

LG Display announced its financial results for Q3 2018 - with revenues of $5.3 billion (up 9% from Q2 2018). Net income in the quarter was $15.8 million (up from a loss of $264 million in Q2 2018).

LG Display announced that its OLED TV business has finally turned profitable. LGD started producing OLED TVs in 2013 and it has been incurring losses for a long time. In 2018 LGD expects to sell a total of 2.9 million OLED TV panels (up from 1.7 million in 2017).

The following is a sponsored post by Shaanxi Kuntech Semiconductor Technology

The press conference for the landing and launching of Shaanxi Kuntech Flexible Semiconductor Service Manufacturing Base Project was grandly held in West Fengxi New City, West Xian Xin New District, Shaanxi province on the morning of October 16, with its theme being "Shinning Shaanxi and Shaping the Future World".

A number of Chinese government leaders, partners from home and abroad, as well as the media attended the event, where the duo direction foldable AMOLED display with internal and external folds developed by the R&D team was also displayed.

On October 19 Samsung held its 2018 Samsung OLED Forum, in Shenzhen, China, during which the company highlighted its OLED technology roadmap.

In an interesting slide, Samsung shows its roadmap for integrating sensors into the OLED display. Samsung's vision includes putting a fingerprint sensor, a camera (Under Panel Sensor, or UPS), speaker (Sound on Display) and also Haptic capabilities.

China-based OLED producer Visionox announced plans to establish its 2nd flexible OLED production line in Hefei. The new line will have a monthly capacity of 30,000 1500x1850 mm substrates (6-Gen), similar to the company's first line in Hebei.

The construction of the new line will take 25 months - so mass production will not begin before the end of 2020. Total investment in the new production line will be $6.3 billion, out of which $3.15 billion will be raised with debt and the rest by equity - by Visionox and the Hefei Municipal People's Government.

According to a report from ETNews, LG Display is collaborating with Lenovo to develop a foldable tablet. The tablet will use a 13" foldable OLED - which LGD aims to start producing in the second half of 2019.

The 13" display will be around 9" when folded. So this device will stay in the tablet size category when folded, this will not compete in the smartphone market. This is the first time we hear of such a device under development - which could make sense as a tablet is not used as much as a smartphone is - and so the number of supported folding cycles can be lower.