Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT)

In September 2019, CPT (Chunghwa Picture Tubes) filed for bankruptcy - as the company could not repay its debt.

CPT was established in 1971 in Taiwan and was a CRT and LCD display maker. In 2012 CPT started to develop AMOLED technologies and the company established a small-size experimental line. Later on CPT actually started to produce AMOLEDs in low volume, and also developed flexible OLED technologies.

Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) says that it is developing Quantum-Dots displays (QD-LEDs) produced using a printing process. CPT says that QD-LEDs offer pure-colors, long lifetime and are more efficient and stable compared to OLED displays.

CPT hopes that a printing process will enable low cost QD-LED displays. CPT's Material Technology Division manager estimates that the major obstacles have already been overcome - although the performance of quantum dots is still lacking and CPT is continuing to research and develop QD materials. CPT estimates that it could start mass producing QD-LED displays within two years.

Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), in collaboration with European research institute imec (in the framework of the Holst Centre collaboration) have demonstrated an ultra-high resolution OLED display that was patterned using photolithography - without the need for an FMM (metal mask). A photolithography process offers a high aperture ratio, large substrate sizes and good yield control.

The prototype display that was demonstrated is a passive display with a 1400x1400 resolution (or 1250 PPI!) of side-by-side orange and green OLEDs. imec reports that preliminary lifetime investigation shows operation of each color after patterning for a few hundred hours at more than 50% of the original brightness.

When Samsung started producing AMOLED displays in 2007, AMOLED technology was at a very early stage, immature, and Samsung took a huge risk. A few years later, this risk was rewarded with a successful display business and a boost to the company's smartphone business that was the first to adopt AMOLED displays.

Fast forward to 2016, and today Samsung is still the king of AMOLED displays, with a market share of over 95% in small/medium AMOLED panels. If we look at OLED TV production, then LG Display is the only commercial producer at this stage. But Samsung and LG are not alone - several companies in China and Taiwan already started mass producing AMOLEDs, and others have announced plans for large AMOLED fabs. In this long article we'll list all of these AMOLED producers and developers (over a dozen) - and details their current production capacity and rumored and confirmed production plans.

Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) is building a new 6-Gen fab in China, with an investment of about $1.85 billion. Digitimes reports that CPT plans to produce IGZO backplane OLED panels in its second phase.

The first phase production is scheduled to begin at around June 2017 (construction will be completed by the end of 2016 and equipment installation will begin in Jaunary 2017). The first phase will produce a-Si LCDs, with a monthly capacity of 30,000 substrates. Digitimes did not say when is the second phase planned, and what kind of capacity will be allocated to OLED displays.

Researchers from Taiwan's ITRI developed a foldable AMOLED display - which fold both inwardly and outwardly.

ITRI will transfer this new technology to Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) in Q4 2016. CPT will start trial production at its pilot 4.5-Gen AMOLED fab (currently used to produce glass-based rigid AMOLEDs in small volume). In August 2015, CPT signed a technology-transfer agreement with ITRI for its flexible OLEDs.

A few months ago, FlexEnable and Chunghwa Picture Tube (CPT) demonstrated a full-color flexible AMOLED display that uses FlexEnable's OTFT backplane. 

This glass-free display is still a prototype (as you can see there are many defects) - but it's a great demonstration of a truly flexible display. It operates at 60Hz and is only 125 microns thick.

Earlier this month we reported that Taiwan's Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) signed an agreement with ITRI for a technology transfer for flexible AMOLED and touch panel integration. Today we hear that CPT expects to start mass producing such flexible touch AMOLEDs by 2017.

CPT has an existing pilot 4.5-Gen AMOLED fab (used to produce AMOLEDs in small volume) - and reportedly they will either convert this line to flexible AMOLED or somehow integrate it with ITRI's 2.5-Gen flexible AMOLED line. CPT will also aim to use IGZO backplanes for AMOLED production.

Taiwan's Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) signed an agreement with ITRI for a technology transfer for flexible AMOLED and touch panel integration (specifically ITRI's FlexUP flexible substrate technology - which is owned by FlexUp, encapsulation technology and flexible touch sensor technology).

CPT aims to use these technologies to achieve flexible OLED mass production "as soon as possible". Earlier today we posted that ITRI is set to demonstrate a 7" Full-HD foldable AMOLED prototype soon. ITRI and CPT has been cooperating on flexible OLEDs since 2012.

FlexEnable and Chunghwa Picture Tube (CPT) demonstrate an OTFT full-color flexible AMOLED display manufactured by using FlexEnable's low-temperature process and CPT's RGB OLED technology.

The glass-free prototype display (which you can see above) is a full-color AMOLED that operates at 60Hz and is only 125 microns thick. This is a great achievement, but it's not clear whether CPT aims to commercialize such displays any time soon.