Automotive OLEDs: introduction and industry news - Page 9

OLEDWorks announced that it is the supplier of the digital OLED rear lights adopted by Audi in its 2022 A8 and S8 cars. These OLEDs are now standard in the new A8.

Customers can choose one of two light signatures on the A8 (the S8 offers three possible signatures). Audi says it will deliver the first cars in Q2 2022.

The OLED lighting market is still in its very early stages as currently commercial shipments mostly consist of premium lamps and installations, and the industry target niche applications - such as commercial lighting, health-related solutions and the automotive industry.

OLEDs offer several unique advantages to the automotive market, and it's also a market with defined premium cars that can be used for early adoption of high cost technology. In the past few years, we've seen several car makers (including Audi, Mercedes and BMW) that started to adopt OLED lighting in car taillights. Initial adoption was for optional modules, but today several car models come with OLED lighting as standard. OLED lighting can be used for several applications within the automotive market.

Back in 2020 we reported that Apple is worried about lifetime and burn-in issues in AMOLED displays in tablet applications, and Apple decided to adopt a tandem OLED architecture in the displays it will eventually adopt in future iPad devices.

LG Display already developed such panels for automotive applications, and according to reports it is developing a tandem LTPO AMOLED display for Apple, aiming to supply these to Apple at around 2024. According to a new report, Samsung Display has launched a project to develop tandem OLED panels as it also hopes to supply panels for Apple's future iPads.

Today we published new versions of our market reports - that cover the transparent, PMOLED, microdisplays and automotive OLED markets. OLED-Info provides comprehensive niche OLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the OLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to January 2022.

The OLED and MicroLED Microdisplays Market Report:

• The advantages of OLED and MicroLED microdisplays
• Information on all companies involved in this market
• What kind of displays are available on the market today
• Future technologies and roadmaps

The report package also provides a complete list of OLED and microLED microdisplays makers and their current (and future) products, and personal contact details into the leading microdisplays makers. Read more here!

The 2022 Mercedes EQE electric car comes with either a 12.8-inch AMOLED or (optionally) Mercedes' MBUX Hyperscreen. The Hyperscreen is a 56-inch display, actually made from three different OLED units, embedded in a single glass display. There's a central 17.7-inch panel plus two 12.3-inch panels. The 56-inch glass also includes holes for the air-vents which are integrated into the display.

The MBUX Hyperscreen was first used in the higher-end EQS electric car. The 'lower-end' 12.8-inch AMOLED screen, shown below, is used in the 2021 S-class cars. We speculated that LG Display is supplier to Mercedes (the two companies have been working together since around 2016) and LG Display earlier this week officially confirmed that it is indeed Mercedes' OLED supplier.

Construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat is showing a new electric excavator concept that features a see-through AR windshield display that is based on a transparent OLED.

Bobcat's E35e concept uses LGD's 55" FHD transparent OLED to overlay information for the operator, such as the location and conditions of a construction site. The display is touch enabled so the operator can perform functions through the display, and even control other excavators from a distance.

OLED driver IC developer MagnaChip announced that it is expanding its OLED IC product lineup as it is developing a next-generation OLED DDIC for automotive displays.

Magnachip is developing an OLED DDIC for automotive based on the 40nm process technology, targeting center stack displays and instrument cluster displays. The company plans to supply the new product to premium European car manufacturers in the first half of 2023. The new driver will support a wide range of resolutions (including FHD) and will work with both rigid and flexible OLED displays.

LG Display announced that its automotive OLED displays have been recognized as "high visibility displays" by by leading global independent inspection service TÜV Rheinland of Germany.

LG says that its automotive OLED panels consistently offer the best image quality in a wide range of environments. Thanks to the high brightness (10 to 5000 nits) of its displays, these OLEDs can perform well during both day and night, and work at a wide range of temperatures, even minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Some years ago, OLED lighting was a great promise. OLED panels can offer a beautiful light source, uniform emission, very high (system) efficiency, flexible and transparent functionality and designs that cannot be matched by other lighting types. OLED devices offer high light quality and a healthier type of light, as well.

All major lighting makers attempted to develop OLED lighting: Philips, GE, Osram, NEC , LG and others. But most companies gave up, as the high production costs and challenging competition from LED lighting were too much to tackle.

But OLED lighting is still being developed, by several players, and it is making good headways in some markets, especially the automotive one. Here are some recent announcements that will hopefully make you more positive about the future of OLED lighting:

Continental announced that it has earned its first major order to supply OLED displays to a global vehicle maker. The total order value is around €1 billion.

Continental's solution is built from a multi-display that stretches from the driver's area to the center console, and integrates two OLED displays which are optically bonded behind a curved glass surface. Production of the display solution is scheduled to start in 2023.