OLEDs for digital cameras - introduction and industry news - Page 2

eMagin reported their financial results for Q1 2013 - revenues rose 39% (compared to Q1 2012) to $8.5 million (the company reports record display sales). Net income was $205,000 (compared to a net loss of $452,000 in Q1 20122).

The company has around $14.4 in cash or equivalents (they paid a dividend on December 2012). eMagin affirmed their 2013 revenue guidance range of $34 million to $39 million. eMagin quotes insight media with their forecast of the microdisplay market - that is set to grow to almost 24 million units by 2017 (double the expected 12 million units in 2013).

Canon has been interested in OLED displays for years - they have shown prototype OLED DSLRs back in 2005, they had plans to make their own OLED panels, and they acquried Tokki, which makes OLED manufacturing equipment. Today Canon finally announced their first cameras with OLED displays (which are most likely made by Samsung).

Sony announced a new DLSR, the A58. This new mid-range camera sports a newly-developed 20mp sensor, new lock-on focus mode and auto-object framing mode. The EVF uses an SVGA (800x600) OLED microdisplay. The back display uses Sony's new Triluminos Quantum-Dots enhanced LCD (the first time this display is used in a consumer product, expect Sony's newest TVs). We just spotted the A58 on Amazon.co.uk - and it will launch on April 19 2013 in the UK for £500.

That SVGA OLED microdisplay is interesting. Sony themselves released 0.5" XGA (1024x768) and 0.7" 1280x720 OLED microdisplays back in August 2011 (they are using the XGA ones in several DSLRs, such as the A99 and the A65), and they never mentioned an SVGA one. We do know that both eMagin and Olightek are making SVGA microdisplays however.

Nikon announced several new digital cameras, two of which sport 3" AMOLED displays. First up is the S9500, an ultra-slim 22x optical zoom compact camera with a 18.1 mp sensor, Full-HD videos and built-in GPS and Wi-Fi.

The AW110 is a rugged shockproof, waterproof and freeze-proof compact camera that features a 16 mp sensor, Full-HD videos and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS.

eMagin reported their Q3 2012 financial results today. Revenues were $7.5 million (Q3 2011 revenues were $8.3, the decrease is because of lower R&D contract revenue). Net income was $340,000. eMagin has $16.6 million in cash and the company maintains their 2012 revenue guidance of $30-$34 million.

Regarding the camera electronic viewfinder project, eMagin says that they shipped some first prototypes, and are implementing further improvements - mainly a 67% increase in color gamut. This means that the current crop of digital cameras with OLED XGA viewfinders (the Fujifilm X-E1, the panasonic GH3 and Sony's A99, NEX-6 and the RX-1.) do not use eMagin's microdisplays (we actually assumed thus back when the cameras were announced). In fact eMagin says that they hope to ship the microdisplays during Q1 2013, and the product will probably ship in Q2. This is a high-end camera, but eMagin says these kinds of cameras can sell about 100,000 units a year.

Nikon's S800c Android (V2.3) powered camera is now shipping for $347. The S800c is the world's first Android-powered (v2.3) digital camera. The slim camera sports a 10x optical zoom lens, 16mp sensor, 4GB of internal memory, inbuilt GPS and a 3.5" WVGA AMOLED touch screen.

A few days ago Sony announced new cameras with OLED EVFs, and today they are available to buy on Amazon.com: The A99 for $2,798 (body only, will ship in October) and the NEX-6 for $848 (body only, will ship in November). The RX1 costs $2,798 (will ship in December, we do not know about the optional OLED EVF yet).

The A99 is Sony's flagship full-frame DLSR with a 24.7 mp sensor with on-sensor phase detection, dual AF system and Full-HD (1080p@60). The NEX-6 is a 16 mp mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that features Wi-Fi, in-camera apps and on-sensor phase detection.

Sony announced several new digital cameras and camcorders today, all with the same XGA (1024x768) OLED EVFs (made by Sony). First up is the A99, Sony's flagship full-frame DLSR with a 24.7 mp sensor with on-sesor phase detection, dual AF system and Full-HD (1080p@60). The A99 will ship on October 2012 for about $2,800 (body only).

The NEX-6 is a 16 mp mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that features Wi-Fi, in-camera apps and on-sensor phase detection. The NEX-6 will ship in November 2012 for $850 (body only).

Two of Samsung's new AMOLED cameras have started shipping yesterday. The MV900F is now shipping for $350 (with an 8GB memory card, tripod, case and a spare battery). The MV900F is a digital camera that sports a display that can flip to face forward and enable self portrait photos. The camera features an 4/2.5-6.3 5X zoom lens, Wi-Fi, 16.3mp sensor, 1080p video and a 3.3" WVGA AMOLED.

The second camera to ship is the EX2F - for $499 The EX2F is a high-end compact digital camera sporting bright f/1.4-2.7 lens (24-79mm, or 3.3X), 12.4mp camera, Wi-Fi, a full-size hot shoe, dual image stabilization, top ISO of 12,800 and a 3" swivel VGA AMOLED display. The camera has full manual controls, RAW image option and Full-HD (1080p @30fp) video.

eMagin reported their Q2 2012 results with record revenues of $8.6 million (a 15.3% increase over Q2 2011). Net income was $577,000. eMagin has about $13.3 million in cash. During Q2 the company bought back 125,000 shares (average price $2.95).

New deposition machine

Andrew Sculley (eMagin's CEO) says that eMagin have finally started to produce microdisplays on their new deposition machine. The machine isn't yet fully optimized, and they are also producing on their older Satella machine. eMagin says that once the new machine is fully optimized (they need to automate a certain process still), capacity will grow 10-fold, and the displays will have better uniformity - which will increase quality and yields.