PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED): introduction and basics - Page 7

Wisechip, the Taiwan-based PMOLED maker, demonstrated its new flexible and transparent PMOLED displays last week in a trade show in Germany. Embedded News TV interviewed the company's R&D manager and published the following video which also shows Wisechip's latest OLED prototypes.

On display at the trade show were two flexible OLEDs - a 1.8" monochrome 160x32 panel, a 1.36" monochrome 128x16 panel. Wisechip also has a 256 x 64 display. Wisechip also demonstrated a new transparent OLED for automotive applications and a round 1.07" 160x136 transparent PMOLED (this one was also on display last year). Wisechip's original plan was to start producing transparent displays towards the end of 2016, but apparently this is a bit delayed. We hear that the displays are nearing production though.

Taiwan-based PMOLED maker Wisechip announced it is developing transparent and flexible PMOLED displays last year, and the company has presented new prototype displays in a trade show in Germany last week.

Wisechip demonstrated three flexible OLEDs - a 1.8" 160x32 panel and a 1.36" 128x16 panel. Both are monochrome (white) panels as you can see in the photo above. The third display is a 256x64 one. The curvature radius of Wisechip's displays is 40 mm. The photo also includes a demonstration of a PMOLED display embedded in a credit card form.

Solomon Systech announced it financial results for 2016, and the Hong Kong based display IC maker reported strong growth of its PMOLED display drivers in 2016, following strong demand from the wearable market.

Solomon Systech also announced several new design wins for its PMOLED display drivers with "world-renowned brands of wearable health and fitness devices". In January 2017 the company shipped its millionth SSD1306 PMOLED driver, the best selling OLED driver ever. The SSD1306 has been introduced in 2008 and is (according to Solomon Systech) the de-facto PMOLED module design standard.

Flexible displays are exciting - giving device makers the freedom of design can potentially unlock new applications and put displays where they haven't been seen before. Flexible displays, made on plastic substrates, are also thinner, lighter and more durable.

Following years of research, in 2013 both Samsung Display and LG Display finally started producing flexible OLEDs on plastic substrates. Since then Samsung has taken the clear lead, but LGD has some ambitious plans of its own. Other display makers are also aiming to start making such panels soon. This article will detail current AMOLED production capabilities, future production plans and market forecasts.

OLED-Info's OLED Marketplace offers what we believe to be the world's largest OLED catalog. Today we updated the marketplace's graphics, adding new icons instead of the old photo-based interface.

As we keep adding panels to our catalog, we have found the need to create more categories, and we also split graphic OLED displays into "graphic PMOLED" and "graphic AMOLED" displays. This makes it easier to find the displays you need. The OLED Marketplace is a great place to find the OLED you need for your new device!

Solomon Systech announced that it has shipped over 200 million units of its SSD1306 PMOLED driver. The company believes that this is the best selling OLED driver ever. The SSD1306 has been introduced in 2008 and is (according to Solomon Systech) the de-facto PMOLED module design standard.

Solomon Systech says that is has a market share of over 50% of the global PMOLED display driver IC market. The SSD1306 is the world's first OLED driver IC with built-in charge pump, which means that external DC / DC converter and associated passive components are no longer necessary. The SSD1306 also features programmable frame rate and multiplexing ratio, as well as screen saving continuous scrolling function in both horizontal and vertical direction which enables smooth content display. It can connect to different MCU interfaces, including I2C, 8-bit 6800/8080-series parallel interface, 3/4-wire serial peripheral interface and more.

Futaba demonstrated a new transparent PMOLED prototype display that it aims to release commercially next month. The ELA0502AAGS is a segmented monochrome (white, blue or amber) T-OLED that features high transparency (80%).

The display has a glass outline of 22 x 20 mm and the active area diameter is 0.59". The pixel size is about 50 um. The display is very bright at 1,000 cd/m². The demonstrated display has a battery icon, 4 characters and a cross hair in the middle - this is obviously aimed for telescopic sights.

Solomon Systech announced that it acquired mobile touch technology assets from Microchip for $23 million in cash. Solomon now has a license to sell Microchip's maXTouch based products and also has access to Microchip's design database and a portfolio of over 500 patents.

Solomon Systech says that this technology is renowned in the touch controller market, and has widespread applications in mobile phones and tablets. This technology is leading, according to Solomon System, especially in the flexible OLED touch controller market.

Taiwan-based PitekPro launched a new 256x64 monochrome white PMOLED display. According to the company, this display is aimed to replace 16x2 character displays (whether PMOLED ones, or competing LCD displays) so that device makers can upgrade easily from a character display to a graphic one.

The display is 2.08" in size (127 PPI) and is said to be easy to use. You can find more information over at the OLED Marketplace, our own comprehensive OLED catalog. Contact us if you want more details on this panel.

Last week Wisechip announced that it will demonstrate its new flexible and transparent PMOLED panels. Wisechip achieved a breakthrough in transparent OLED production, and mass production will begin by the end of 2016.

Above you can see Wisechip's new prototype. It is a round 1.07" PMOLED that features a resolution of 160x136. We do not have any more technical details, but Wisechip says it achieves "good transparency".