PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED): introduction and basics - Page 19

Taiwanese market research institute Topology Research Institute (TRI) says that RiTdisplay got orders for 35 million PMOLED, 30 million of which shall be delivered this year. This makes RiTdisplay the largest PMOLED maker. RiTdisplay's PMOLEDs are up to 1.98" currently, although they are working on 3.1" ones.

TDK is showing a W-QVGA 3" PMOLED, using Dialog's SmartXtend driver, saying production may begin in the second half of 2009.

We covered Dialog's SmartXtend in February, and it's good to see TDK's implementation. The SmartXtend can reduce peak current through each diode by up to 30 percent compared to regular PMOLEDs, and it allows for greated resolution and larger displays than normal PMOLEDs, while being cheaper to make than AMOLEDs.

Read more here (ElectronWeekly)

Visionox and Tsinghua University began manufacturing on China's first PMOLED production line in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. The new fab's capacity will be about a million panels per month.

Visionox expects to begin construction on its next OLED line in the second half of 2009.

DisplaySearch says that SamsungSDI's AMOLED second quarter shipments are down 22% from previous quarter (the forecase was an increase of 12%) due to low demand from phone makers, including Nokia. The slowdown is expected to continue in the next quarter.

Total AMOLED revenue was 54M$, down 27% quarter to quater.

PMOLED shipments are up 17% from previous quarter (20M$), after 3 quarters of slowing down. PMOLEDs are now 60% of the MP3 players market.

RiTdisplay had a record quarter with revenues of US$33.8 million. Pioneer maintained its shipment volume of 4.4 million units, most of which were monochrome displays. Chi Mei EL (CMEL) also reported AMOLED revenues of only US$7.6 million, down from US$12.8 million last quarter.

Read more here (digitimes)

Global Technology Transfer Group (GTT) has announced the availability of a patent portfolio dealing with improved OLED illumination stability and improvements to AMEL technology. This portfolio is entitled 'Display Technologies Patent Portfolio' and consists of six US patents, one that relates to OLED technology and five that relate to AMEL technology.

The OLED patent relates to an improved passive matrix OLED device that provides for a control mechanism to maintain uniform light output from individual pixel elements throughout the illumination period. The invention additionally claims a passive matrix OLED device that provides for a control mechanism that prevents overshoot and undershoot illumination.

In July 2008, I had the chance of interviewing Dr. Michael Fiebig from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. Dr. Michael Fiebig gained his PhD in Physics at the University of Hanover in 1998. He joined OSRAM Opto Semicondutors in 2001, and since 2008 he is leading the Marketing and Business Development in the business segment Solid State Lighting at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.

OSRAM is part of the Industry sector of Siemens and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. Its subsidiary, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH in Regensburg (Germany), offers its customers solutions based on semiconductor technology for lighting, sensor and visualization applications. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has production sites in Regensburg (Germany) and Penang (Malaysia).

Sichaun CCO began production of China's first OLED production line in a RMB705 million investment (around $100 million). Production will start in the first quarter of 2009, annual capacity will be 12 million PMOLED displays.

He Kesi, director of Changhong's Enterprise Scheming Department, says that Changhong will consume part of the products of the new facility with the rest supplied to other manufacturers. Changhong owns 60% in Sichuan CCO.

As we reported last week, Dialog Semiconductor has announced an interesting new technology called SmartXtend. The technology gives PMOLED displays a boost in terms of video quality and performance - they claim it will be just ilke AMOLED, at a much lower cost.

Now we got some more information from them, attached below. The summary -

"SmartXtend™ reduces peak current by driving more than one row at a time. In particular, each video frame is decomposed into two sub-frames. During the first of these sub-frames the rows are driven two at a time with the same data. That is, a lower peak current is applied over a longer period of time. During the other sub-frame ‘corrective’ data is added to each row to give each pixel its individual color.

Dialog Semiconductor is the first to have found a way to perform the necessary calculations in a cost effective manner suitable for application to low power, mobile devices. Using this driving scheme SmartXtend™ can reduce peak current through each diode by up to 30 percent. For example, a PMOLED panel driven with the conventional scheme requires about 150uA per anode, whereas only 100uA is required to drive the same panel when SmartXtend™ is used."

Dialog also claim they can reduce power consumption - "SmartXtend™ reduces average power consumption using a number of proprietary techniques that reduce the number of pre-charge cycles, the current and the voltage. Using these techniques SmartXtend™ can reduce power of the whole display subsystem by up to 30 percent."

Dialog Semiconductor has announced its new SmartXtend(TM) technology that will allow the main displays of many mobile devices - particularly those offering W-QVGA and QVGA resolution - to utilize passive matrix OLED displays rather than LCD or active matrix OLEDs. Passive matrix OLEDs are available at a much lower cost compared to active matrix OLEDs while providing the same advantages in terms of video quality and performance.

The new SmartXtend(TM) technology, which utilizes a number of innovative design techniques including a unique multi-line addressing scheme, accurate dynamic current matching and state-of-the-art power management, will form the basis of a new family of display drivers to be developed by Dialog Semiconductor for passive matrix OLEDs. SmartXtend(TM) is designed to significantly extend the lifetime of passive matrix OLED displays; it reduces the peak current by up to 30 percent and power consumption by up to 30 percent compared to the conventional passive matrix driving scheme.

Read more here

OSRAM has recently stopped making PMOLED modules, and several companies have been looking for replacement modules. Yesterday we reported that OSD is offering replacement PLED modules, and now we are told that Batron also offer replacement modules - LCD ones. Batram offers replacment for the Calgary (2.7"), Stockholm (1.54") and Rio (3.2").

Thanks Philip for the update!