OLED monitors: introduction and industry news - Page 6

Samsung announced that it is set to start producing several new QD-OLED panels and products in 2023. In addition to the current 34-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch panels, it will also offer a 49-inch 240Hz ultra-wide 5120x1440 QD-OLED for gaming monitors, and a 77-inch TV panel.

Samsung will adopt the new 49-inch ultra-wide QD-OLED panel in its upcoming Odyssey OLED G9 monitor. We already knew Samsung has finished developing this panel back in November when MSI unveiled their own QD-OLED monitor project. The 77-inch panel was also unveiled before.

LG Display announced that it is starting to produce 27" and 45" 240Hz WOLED panels, optimized for gaming applications. The 45" panel is an ultra-wide 3440x1440 (WQHD) curved one.

LG Electronics already unveiled monitors based on these panels last month, the Ultragear 27GR95QE-B and 45GR95QE. LGE did not say when these monitors will ship, but it will likely happen soon if LGD is already producing the panels. Other companies, including Asus and Corsair have also developed monitors based on these panels.

MSI unveiled an upcoming monitor, a QD-OLED super ultra-wide curved display, that will offer a 240Hz herz. MSI did not disclose anything else - beyond saying that the current name is Project 491C.

This is the first time we publicly hear of a 240Hz QD-OLED display. Samsung currently produces a single monitor QD-OLED panel, a 34-inch curved 175Hz 3440x1440 display.

According to UBI Research, Samsung Display has decided to produce QD-OLED panels at its upcoming 8.7-Gen A5 production line. The company IT display strategy will be to produce QD-OLED panels for monitor application (27-inch displays, at first) and tandem RGB panels for smaller IT displays (tablets, laptops).

A 34-inch QD-OLED monitor (Dell Alienware)

Samsung is looking for design wins with Apple for both its display architectures - the larger QD-OLED panels for Apple's monitors and the smaller sized panels for its tablets.

UBI Research estimates hat shipments of OLED panels for IT applications (tablets, monitors and laptops) will reach 48.8 million units by 2027, growing from around 9.5 million units in 2022 (a CAGR of 39%).

In 2022-2024, the main application for OLED panels is in laptops, but this will change from 2025 and onwards as tablets will also become a dominant applications (as Apple will start adoping OLEDs in its high-end iPads).

LG Display announced that its OLED TV and monitor panels has been recognized as having a perfect black level in any environment, from UL Solutions. The company received the new verification for its panels ranging from 42-inch to 97-inch.

LGD says that it is the only company that has been recognized in this verification for TV and monitor panels.

According to reports, LG Display will start producing mid-sized W-OLED panels, as it is concerned that demand for TV panels is on the decline.

LGD will start producing 27-inch WOLED panels as early as by the end of October, targeting small TVs and gaming monitors. LGE will be LGD's first customer, and it plans to release its 27-inch OLED display in Q1 2023.

Last month LG announced its first bendable OLED monitor/TV, the OLED Flex LX3. The company now announced that it will start shipping it next month, for $2,999.

LG's OLED Flex LX3 is a bendable OLED monitor/TV that features a flexible 42" 4K 120Hz WOLED panel that can change from a flat shape to a 900R curved one (with twenty levels of possible curvature settings). Other features include Dolby Atmos, two 40W speakers, HDMI 2.1, VRR, ALLM and G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync support.

DSCC says that spending on equipment for the production of large area OLED panels (used in TVs and monitors) have decreased from $3 billion in 2019 to $2.05 billion in 2020, $1.47 billion in 2021 and will drop further to $1.42 billion in 2022.

DSCC estimates that in 2023, the spending on such equipment will be zero. But OLED producers will resume buying large OLED equipment in 2024. Spending in 2024 will amount $2.01 billion, and in 2025 - $1.51 billion.

OLED makers are gearing up to increase production of IT OLED panels, used in laptops, monitors and tablets. Towards that, analysts expects over 10 8.5-Gen OLED lines under consideration now in the industry. This drive is led by Samsung Display that confirmed is is building a 8-Gen (2200x2500 mm) OLED production line, that will begin production in 2024.

A 8-Gen (or actually 8.5-Gen) fab uses 2200x2500mm glass substrates. According to a new report in Korea, Samsung actually decided to adopt a larger glass - a 8.7-Gen 2290x2620 mm. The ~10cm increase will increase production efficiency by around 9%, but this means that current 8.5-Gen LCD equipment that Samsung hoped to use will not be usable any more.