Competing technologies - Page 14

According to IHS, production costs of 55" 4K OLED TVs have declined 55% from the beginning of 2015 to Q2 2017. IHS estimates that it costs $582 for LGD to produce a 55" OLED panel, and the price will continue to drop to reach $242 in 2021.

In early 2017 the cost of a 55" OLED TV is about 2.5 times the production cost of an equivalent 4K LCD TV panel. The price gap has narrowed as it was 4.3 times back in Q1 2015. The price in material cost is currently around 1.7 times - but other factors such as yields and depreciation increase LGD's production costs.

Apple has not started shipping its much anticipated OLED iPhone X, but a reporter at the Wired received an early unit and has posted a review after a week of using this new device. There's a lot to like in Apple's new flagship phones - a great form factor, great cameras, fun animoji's and a large potential. Besides being expensive, the reporter also complains about Face ID problems and says that the phone and it's black "notch" at the top is an "aesthetic setback".

The reviews is very happy with the OLED display - as it covers almost the entire phone, the iPhone X has a large display (5.8" 1125x2436 flexible Super AMOLED) in a relatively compact form factor. It's only slightly bigger than the iPhone 8 while it has a display that's almost the same size as the one in the iPhone 8+. The display quality itself is excellent - "I found the display a noticeable, and greatly pleasurable, advance over my iPhone 7, whether watching The Big Sick, streaming a live football game, or simply swiping through Instagram".

E Ink, the most (and pretty much only) e-paper technology, has been used for years as the display of choice for e-readers. Following the stagnation of the e-reader market, E Ink Holding is struggling to find more application for its e-Paper displays, with initial success in electronic shelf labels and signage applications.

Low-power digital display solution provider Visionect has developed a conference room management system based on E Ink displays, which they call the JOAN meeting room scheduling solution. This is a wireless and battery-powered device that is easily installed (no cables required) and that provides a beautiful and useful solution.

UK-based SmartKem is developing a new class of flexible high-mobility p-type semiconductor inks for flexible displays. The company recently made headlines as it started its commercialization phase and announces advances in its collaboration projects with OLED producers in Asia.

SmartKem's CEO and founder, Steve Kelly, was kind enough to answer a few questions we had on SmartKem's technology and business. Steve is an international business professional with more than 20 years’ experience specializing in technology ventures, particularly early stage. He has extensive experience in Intellectual Property exploitation, VC funding and launching new technology to market.

Q: Steve, thank you for your time and for this interview. Can you first give us an overview of SmartKem’s OTFT technology?

SmartKem’s organic thin film transistor (OTFT) backplanes are designed for both glass and flexible displays. They are compatible with electronic paper displays (EPD), liquid crystal displays (LCD) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technologies. Through our sophisticated modelling and simulation, they have sufficient driving capability for OLED and potentially, microOLED displays which offer increased contrast, response times and energy efficiency.

Samsung has published a video showing how 12 hours of gaming effects different TV technologies. Samsung compare's it's own Q-LED (quantum-dots enhanced LED LCD TV) with LG's OLED TVs (the 2017 OLEDB7).

The video shows that following the extensive gaming run, Samsung's TV shows no image retention, while some problems are clearly visible on LG's TV.

Oculus (Facebook) announced its new affordable VR headset, the Oculus Go. This $199 device will launch early next year for $199 and Facebook hopes that this will be a step towards its goal to get one billion people to use its VR products.

One of the ways that Oculus used to lower the cost of to Go headset is to switch from an OLED to an LCD. Oculus says that this is a "fast-switch LCD". It's too early to say how this display will compare to the current OLED used in the Oculus Rift. Looking at the slide above, it seems that the Go uses a single 2560x1440 LCD.

A report from Korea suggests that Samsung is accelerating its effort to develop a Micro-LED based TV. The company is currently focused entirely on QD-LEDs for its premium TVs but is looking for alternative technologies as it fails to increase its market share in this segment.

Samsung is said to be looking at several alternatives - one of which is to acquire Taiwan-based PlayNitride - a deal that was first reported on OLED-Info in April 2017. Samsung aims to first use micro-LED technologies for its cinema LED screens, and then apply it to home-based TVs as well.

US-based video game developer Valve has announced that it will license more of its VR technology to hardware makers that can develop VR HMDs based on its technology. In addition to the tracking and input tech that was already licensed before, HMD makers can now use Valve's optical system, calibration tools and a supporting software stack.

Currently pretty much all high-end HMD devices adopt OLED displays as these panels offer faster refresh rates compared to LCDs. But Valve says that recent LCD advancements combined with VR specific calibration now make LCD a viable technology choice for high end VR systems.

UK-based OTFT developer SmartKem announced that it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) towards a commercialization partnership with a leading OLED market in China. This partnership will enable the development and industrialization of OTFT LCDs and OLEDs on plastic substrates.

SmartKem says that this LOI is just the first step in a joint commitment by SmartKem and the OLED maker to develop LCD and AMOLED solutions and a full commercialization of an OTFT-based display production.

Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) says that it is developing Quantum-Dots displays (QD-LEDs) produced using a printing process. CPT says that QD-LEDs offer pure-colors, long lifetime and are more efficient and stable compared to OLED displays.

CPT hopes that a printing process will enable low cost QD-LED displays. CPT's Material Technology Division manager estimates that the major obstacles have already been overcome - although the performance of quantum dots is still lacking and CPT is continuing to research and develop QD materials. CPT estimates that it could start mass producing QD-LED displays within two years.