Automotive OLEDs: introduction and industry news - Page 35

Back in May we reported that Audi installed an AMOLED digital rear view "mirror" in their R18 sports prototype car. The AMOLED display was chosen because of the high density, excellent image quality and very fast response time (good even at 330 km/h). Now Audi announced that they will use this AMOLED "mirror" in the upcoming R8 e-tron car that will be available by the end of 2012. The e-tron will be a small-volume electric road car that has no rear window and thus cannot use a conventional mirror.

Audi also reveals that the AMOLED display itself is 7.7" in size and is made by Samsung Display (which isn't really surprising).

Audi's R18 sports prototype cars just got a new addition: an AMOLED digital rear view "mirror". They say that the AMOLED display was chosen because of the high density, excellent image quality and very fast response time - even at 330 km/h (92 meters per second) the image is still fluid, according to Audi. It's also quite light, in fact probably lighter than a traditional mirror.

A digital mirror also providers other advantages of course: it can display information (current gear, warnings, etc) and it also behaves better than a traditional mirror in bad weather. The camera is installed behind the antennas on the roof.

A couple of days ago we reported that Audi is experimenting with OLED technologies - with a concept car that has hundreds of Philips-made triangular OLED panels on the car's body. Today we present a video and more details about Audi's OLED designs:

Audi actually has 3 OLED based designs. The first is rather simple - rear lights that are made from four small red OLED panels, and a flashing turn indicator made from 8 panels. Audi actually has a roadmap for introducing OLEDs. They say that OLEDs will be used as rear lights in the "relatively near future". It will take a few more years for OLEDs to be used in brake lights as these need to be about five times brighter than rear lights.

Update 2: We got new photos, more details and a video showing the three OLED applications demonstrated by Audi.

Update: We just got word from Philips saying that they are providing the OLED panels for Audi...

It turns out that Audio is experimenting with OLED lighting. The company unveiled a concept car that has hundreds of triangular OLED panels on the car's body. This sure is pretty:

Remember Daimler's Smart Forvision concept EV? That car has a transparent solar-panels on the roof, see-through dashboard and transparent OLEDs for internal lighting - on the roof of the car. We knew that Daimler was collaborating with BASF on this concept, and today BASF released a press release saying that indeed they developed those panels together with Philips.

The OLEDs are transparent when switched off, allowing for a clear view outside the vehicle, yet providing light only within the vehicle when switched on. The transparent OLED sandwich structure can be combined with equally transparent solar cells, as was demonstrated in the Smart Forvision. This development was achieved as part of a longstanding cooperation (since 2006) between BASF and Philips in the research and development of OLED modules.

Update: Futaba asked me to remove the roadmap from my site...

Back in October 2011 Futaba bought out TDK's part in their joint OLED company, which is now a subsidiary of Futaba. Today we got hold of Futaba's OLED roadmap for 2011-2015. For the consumer market, Futaba is currently offering small (around 2") PMOLED displays. They are also offering 2.4" transparent panels, but it seems to be made in small quantities.

Futaba is also planning to start using OLEDs in printer heads. They currently use VFD technology and will adopt OLEDs in 2012-2013. For the automotive market, Futaba currently offers 0.9", 2.0", 3.4" and 3.5" monochrome panels,The company is also interested in round shaped OLEDs.

Kia unveiled a new concept car called the GT, which uses transparent OLEDs to display instrument data and navigation. They are using three OLED panels to create a 3D effect, this is quite clever:

Kia is also using OLEDs in the climate control display, to the right of the driver. This car incorporates some pretty smart ideas!

Daimler unveiled a new concept EV (the Smart Forvision). This concept car has a transparent solar-panels on the roof, see-through dashboard and transparent OLEDs for internal lighting. Daimler partnered with BASF on the plastic wheels, heat shield and new aluminum fiber paints.

We do not know whether BASF is also involved with the transparent OLED panels. In any case, these transparent OLEDs are hexagonal - which makes us think these might be made by Philips (the only company we know of that makes such shapes, and we've seen transparent OLED lighting panels from Philips since back in 2009, so they have the technology). Anyway, this new OLED-equipped car is great looking...

Nanomarkets released a new OLED lighting report (OLED lighting global market forecasts 2011). According to the new report, the OLED lighting market will grow to $4.8 billion in 2016. Mass production will start by 2014, and one of the sectors that will lead the demand will be the automotive industry.

Nanomarket predicts that in 2016 general lighting will reach $2.7 billion in revenue, architectural applications will reach $950 million and automotive applications will reach $800 million in sales.

Both Hyundai and Kia unveiled new car concepts - and both use transparent OLED displays. Hyundai's car is called Blue2 and it's actually an update to the Blue-will concept car from 2009 (which also included a transparent OLED). The Blue-2 is powered by a 90kW (122PS/121bhp) fuel cell stack - delivering 34.9 km/liter. It has rear-view cameras, automatic door opening system. The main center console uses a transparent OLED and Gorilla glass. The infotainment system is operated with a haptic wheel and gesture controls.

Kia's new concept EV car is called Naimo (Korean for square). The car has no B-Pillars, rear doors that open up clamshell style and large (20-inch) wheels. On the inside Kia use Korean oak for the floors and a transparent OLED display behind the wheel. In fact the inside design is very similar to Kia's Pop concept from 2010. The car has an electric motor with a maximum output of 80kW (107hp). The battery is a 27kWh lithium ion polymer - giving a range of 124 miles. The battery has a fast-charge mode which can charge it up to 80% in 25 minutes. A full charge will take five and a half hours.