PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED): introduction and basics - Page 20
DisplaySearch: OLED Display Market Continues to Flourish; Revenues Up 13% and Unit Shipments Up 24% Year over Year
With the release of the highly anticipated AMOLED displays, this segment continues to develop, experiencing unit shipment growth of 4% Q/Q and 24% Y/Yâhitting the 19.8 million mark in Q2'07. On a revenue basis, OLEDs hit US$123.4M in Q2'07, down only 1% Q/Q and up 13% Y/Y, even as ASPs fell 9% Q/Q. Over the last year, main display shipments were up 16%, sub-displays up 77%, car audio displays up 35% and industrial displays up 295%.
DisplaySearch revealed these Q2'07 OLED results in its Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report. The report's findings also show that active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays are beginning to impact the market, as Samsung SDI moves into full production, and Chi Mei and LG begin to ship qualification units. Furthermore, Sony is expected to begin shipping their highly anticipated 11" AMOLED TV display in Q4'07.
The top five OLED manufacturers shown in Table 1 accounted for a combined market share of 85.4%. For the first time in several quarters, there were two new entrants in the PMOLED market, Visionox and Truly, which are both located in China. Next quarter, MED is expected to begin production of microdisplays and will be the first OLED competitor for eMagin.
Volume shipments of AMOLED displays continued in Q2'07, with Samsung SDI, Kodak and eMagin shipping a combined total of 1,445K displays for applications such as MP3s, mobile phones and near-eye panels. Overall, Pioneer led in units shipped with 5.1 million, closely followed by RiTdisplay at 4.8 million, Samsung SDI at 3.7 million, LGE at 3.1 million and TDK at 1.3 million units. Also of note, LGE will not ship any passive matrix OLED (PMOLED) displays in Q3'07, as the company is converting to AMOLED production.
Sub-displays and MP3 player displays continue to account for about 88% of OLED shipments at 14.1M and 3.5M, respectively. Of the remaining applications, main displays and industrial applications showed strong growth.
LG Electronics Moves into AMOLED Mass Production
LG Electronics says they will start making AMOLED panels, and will introduce mobile phones with the displays. They will also phase-out PMOLED production. They are also inn close talks with LG.Philips LCD for the AM OLED business direction such as production of AM OLED panels using LG.Philips LCD's fourth-generation low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) LCD glass. substrates.
Intersil - New Passive Matrix OLED Boost Regulator
Intersil Corporation today announces the release of the ISL97701. By combining high current output, an integrated Schottky diode and fault protection, Intersil provides the industry's most complete boost regulation solution for passive matrix OLEDs. With efficiency up to 87%, the ISL97701 can deliver 50mA of output current at 18V. It can provide up to 28V output, enabling power efficient operations in MP3, portable media players, automotive clustering, and low-end cell phones PMOLED displays. ISL97701 is also suitable for standard boost regulation applications such as WiMax card and LCD bias generator power applications.
The integration of the Schottky diode reduces the BOM cost and saves board space, while an integrated input disconnect switch protects the device against overcurrent, overvoltage and over temperature. The ISL97701 is highly versatile with a variable output that can be set by external resistors to match the needs of the application. At just 3mm x 3mm x 0.9mm, its 10-lead DFN (Pb free) package is a very compact power management IC for portable applications.
Samsung YP-K3 MP3 Player with OLED screen now selling on Amazon
It's now possible to get the Samsung YP-K3 MP3 player on amazon. The display is a 1.8" PMOLED display.
The price is about 160$ for the 4GB version.
Univision company spotlight
We recently had a short discussion with Univision. They gave us an interesting company information, and we're happy to share it with you here in OLED-Info.
About Univision Technology
Univision Technology, founded at the Hsin-Chu Science based industrial park in July, 2000, is a company focused on the research and development, design, manufacturing and sale of PMOLED displays.
The product line includes full color, multicolor, and monochrome displays which can be used in the main and sub-panel of mobile phone, MP3 player, blue tooth earphone, game, digital camera, car audio, and other industrial applications.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Unveils the Pictiva OLED Display Reference Design Kit for 2.7'' 128x64
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors announced a new reference design kit for their 2.7" 128x64 PMOLED panel. The Reference Design Kit serves as a design model and helps customers to easily evaluate OSRAM OLED products, allowing for rapid and efficient integration into their display system applications.
The kit includes all necessary items to power up, initialize, test various modes, and display images on a display module. The kit is already shipping for less than $200.
Here comes the OLED
OLED is a new display technology that promises to deliver thin, power efficient and bright displays. OLEDs (already popular in MP3 players and cell phones) have amazing potential - thin TVs, flexible displays, transparent monitors, white-bulb replacement, and more.
An LCD works by having a backlight (white light) source, which is then filtered make colors. OLEDs however work by emitting color light. This has several advantages. It allows to make simpler and thus thinner and cheaper displays. It also means that OLEDs require less power. Think that when you have a screen that is completely black (but turned on), LCD will still require the whole white backlight to be emitted. With OLEDs, almost no energy is consumed in such a scenario. It is also possible to make flexible OLED displays, and even transparent ones, but this is obviously more challenging than a simple LCD-like display.
While OLEDs are heralded as the display technology of the future, they are already produced and used today. While making large panels is still a great challenge, smaller screens (up to 2") are already produced in commercial quantities today. There are many MP3 players and cellular phones that use OLED displays. Companies such as Sony and Samsung use OLED displays in their leading models. The OLED market reached 500$ million in sales in 2005, and is expected to grow quickly in the coming years.
There are two main types of OLED screens Passive Matrix (PMOLED) and Active Matrix (AMOLED). PMOLED displays are cheaper and easier to manufacture, but they have a limitation in resolution, size and refresh rate. Most OLEDs that are being made today are PMOLED. However several companies (including Samsung SDI and LG.Philips) have announced plans to begin producing AMOLED panels in 2007.
The future for large OLED panels is not so certain. The major limitation of OLED technology today is the lifetime, especially for the blue color. Progress is being made all the time, but the technology is not ready yet. Scaling the OLED screens is not an easy thing to do, either. Making a large panel (for TV or computer screen) is far from simple. While prototypes have been showed, it will take several years before we'll be able to buy an OLED television.
OLEDs actually make it possible to create screens that are flexible and/or transparent. The possibilities of this kind of displays are almost endless. Think about car windshield-embedded transparent displays, or rollable mobile TV. This technology is still at an early stage, but already companies are showing prototype and design sketches.
One of the areas that seem most promising for OLEDs is white lighting. Many companies are hoping that OLEDs will enable very efficient light sources. With today's high energy costs, and the drive for efficiency, there is a lot of money in white-light research, and OLEDs are seen as one of the best future technologies. OLEDs will also enable unimaginable designs, because of their thin and flexible nature.
DisplaySearch Reports Q2'06 Mobile Phone Main Display Shipments
The report shows shipments according to screen type, including PMOLED and AMOLED displays.
The report shows growth in PMOLED display shipments to mobile phones (reaching 0.3% in Q206).
Sony Ericcson announce mirrored Z610 3G clamshell, with OLED display
Sony Ericsson has just announced the Z610 clamshell, a stylish 3G phone that sports a sleek mirror finish, and a hidden PMOLED, 128 x 36 pixel display which can only be seen when in use.
The new phone sports a 2.0 megapixel camera and 3G connectivity and will come in three colors - Luster Black, Rose Pink & Airy Blue.
LG in talks with LG.Philips LCD over OLED business
LG Electronics Inc. is in negotiations to sell off its OLED business line to its display panel joint venture LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd., a senior LG executive said during presentations on the company's second quarter earnings.
LG Electronics currently operates two PM-OLED production lines in Gumi, South Korea, with a combined annual production capacity of 2 to 3 million PM-OLED display units for use in mobile phones. Since 1999, the company has invested a total of Won 200 billion (about $208 million) in its OLED business, according to LG.
