In January 2018 LG Display unveiled its largest OLED TV panel yet - a 88" 8K (7680x4320) display. In early 2019 LG Electronics announced that it will adopt this panel in its upcoming OLED Z9 88" OLED TV. Yesterday in Shanghai at the Appliance & Electronics World Expo 2019 (AWE2019) Skyworth demonstrates its own 88" 8K OLED TV.

We do not have any details on this TV, and whether it is just a prototype or a product that Skyworth aims to launch soon. In any case it turns out that Skyworth already demonstrated this TV at CES 2019, but we failed to report on that. In addition to the large OLED, Skyworth also demonstrated a new OLED TV design which they call waterfall OLED - look at the image below to understand why. It is not clear but it is likely that this is a prototype rollable OLED TV.

In 2014 we reported that the Tai-Yah (also called Atayal) tribe, the "dark tribe", has started to test National Tsing-Hua University's blue-free OLED lighting panels (produced by WiseChip).

These early candle-light street OLEDs were not suitable for that environment, and NTHU researchers say that mountain dew rapidly shorted the wires. But not NTHU has stepped up its efforts and teamed up with First-o-Lite to produce a new version of its panels. This time the researchers are positive that its new panels will enable the entire village to adopt blue-hazard free lighting,

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) has developed a high density OLED display (5,291 PPI) based on its proprietary CAAC-IGZO (C-Axis aligned crystalline In-Ga-Zn-O) backplane. SEL will discuss this new achievement at SID 2019.

We do not have more information, but SEL has shown some high resolution CAAC OLEDs before. In 2014 it demonstrated a 2.8" 2560x1440 (1,058 PPI) WRGB OLED display. If SEL indeed developed a 5,291 PPI OLED display on glass it is very impressive.

We are happy to announce that Futaba's film-type flexible 1.4"128x16 monochrome white PMOLED display has been added to the OLED Marketplace. This unique flexible PMOLED joins Futaba's 1.8" 160x32 white flexible PMOLED that is also available through the marketplace.

If you are interested in this display for your device or new project, contact us now, or check out more information over at the OLED Marketplace.

ETNews reports that BOE has developed a new technology that integrates a touch layer inside a flexible OLED display (on touch) - a similar technology to Samsung's Y-OCTA. BOE is reportedly aiming to integrate the technology to its B11 production line in Miyangyang.

Y-OCTA panels are thinner than Samsung's previous flexible Add-On Touch panels - and the optical features are also better as the touch layer is below the polarizer. Samsung estimates that Y-OCTA also cuts production costs by around 30%.

In March 2017 OLED maker BOE Technology and OLED Microdisplay maker OLiGHTEK announced a new $170 million joint-venture to produce OLED microdisplays for the consumer VR and AR markets. US-based microdisplay-maker Kopin signed agreements with OLiGHTEK and with BOE's JV with OLiGHTEK for the production of its OLED microdisplays.

In August 2018 Korean ET News said that BOE is getting ready to start trial production in the new fab in early 2019. During Kopin's recent conference call, the company's CEO said that BOE's factory is "actually finished". All the equipment has been installed and the company is running first test runs and the first production samples should be produced in a few days, hopefully.

In October 2018, during the company's OLED Forum in china, Samsung detailed its future OLED technology roadmap, highlighting its sensor integration technologies. Samsung's vision includes putting a fingerprint sensor, a camera, speaker (Sound on Display) and also Haptic capabilities - all under or inside the OLED display.

In the Galaxy S10, Samsung drilled a small hole in the AMOLED display around the camera module. This is quite an achievement, and Samsung's Mobile Communication VP Yang Byung-duk now ways that the company aims to develop a full-screen smartphone display that will put the camera under the OLED without a hole. Byung-duk says that this is a challenging technology - and it will take at least 3 years to develop.

In early March we conducted a 10 day trip to Seoul, to attend the OLED Korea 2019 conference (and visit some local display companies).

Visiting Seoul is a great chance to witness some beautiful OLED installations - LG Display has been deploying its OLED lighting and display solutions across town in businesses and tourist attractions. Retail stores of course were showing the latest smartphones by Samsung and LG - all of which adopt high end flexible AMOLED displays.

Universal Display announced that it has signed an OLED evaluation agreement with Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology (CSOT). UDC will supply CSOT with proprietary UniversalPHOLED phosphorescent OLED materials for display applications. UDC did not disclose any more details about the agreement.

Towards the end of 2018, CSOT, a subsidiary of TCL, started construction on its T7 large-area display production fab. The T7 fab, which has a total cost of around 42.7 billion Yuan ($6.15 billion USD), will produce both LCD and OLED displays on IGZO backplanes. CSOT's plan is to start production by the end of 2020 - with real mass production starting in 2021.

We are happy to announce the eighth edition of The OLED Handbook, the most comprehensive resource on OLED technology, industry and market - now updated for 2019. The OLED industry grows and changes very fast, and the new edition include new details on the OLED mobile display market, new production fabs in China, OLED TVs, flexible OLEDs and more.

Reading this book, you'll learn all about:

• OLED technology and materials and production processes
• How OLEDs compare to LCD displays
• OLED TVs, flexible, foldable and transparent OLEDs
• The OLED lighting industry
• The future of OLED displays and the challenges ahead

The book also provides:

• A history of OLED development
• A guide to OLED investment
• A comprehensive list of OLED companies
• A list of existing and planned AMOLED fabs
• An introduction to quantum dots, micro-LEDs and e-paper displays

The OLED handbook has been read by hundreds of display engineers, business developers, researchers, equipment vendors, OLED material companies, private investors and others who wished to learn more about OLEDs today and in the future. I truly believe that it is the best introduction to OLED displays and lighting!