Oxide TFT - Page 12

LG Display had a very big booth at SID 2012, showing lot's of displays. The main item on show was the 55" OLED TV panel, but all the rest of the displays were LCDs. As I said in my first post from SID, LG's OLED TVs stunning with great colors, amazing contrast and excellent 3D effects. Unlike Samsung, LGD had only one TV on show, showing 2D and 3D convent sequentially (the 3D uses passive glasses). LG's OLED panel is extremely thin - 4 mm, you can hardly see it looking from the side.

During LG Display's keynote speech, they made some very interesting comments about their OLED technology and business. First of all, LG expects OLED TVs to grow at 320% (CAGR) from 2012 to 2016, reaching 11% of the TV market, while the rest of the market - LCD/PDP/CRT will only grow at 1.1%. OLED TV is the "next evolution" of TV technology.

Sony has developed a 9.9" 960x540 (111ppi) flexible OLED panel, using an Oxide-TFT (IGZO) backplane and a WOLED-CF architecture (RGBW). The thickness of this panel is only 110 um. To make this panel, Sony used two glass substrates (for the backplane and the color filters) during the production process, which were later removed. This allows Sony to use their regular OLED manufacturing process. We're not sure what kind of material is used as the final substrate.

The small-molecule OLED materials were deposited using vapor deposition. Unfortunately the company didn't demonstrate this panel at SID.

Yesterday we reported about Sharp's new IGZO based OLED. Here's a nice video showing the new displays, and also explaining Sharp's new crystal structure innovation that enables those displays. According this video, Sharp is not planning commercialization yet:

In the video you can see Sharp's two OLED prototypes. The first panel is a 13.5" 3840x2160 (QFHD) panel (326 ppi, WOLED/RGBW architecture). The second is a 3.4" flexible OLED (326 ppi as well, 540x960).

Update: Here's a video of the new displays, and more details

Sharp announced it will show two new oxide-TFT (IGZO) based OLED panel prototypes at SID 2012 next week. The first panel is a 13.5" 3840x2160 (QFHD) panel.The panel features 326 ppi and is made using a WOLED (RGBW) architecture - similar to LG's upcoming OLED TVs.

The second panel is a flexible OLED, 3.4" in size. It too features 326 ppi (540x960 resolution). We do not have more technical details, hopefully we'll learn more at SID.

Update: more information on this panel from SID 2012 here

The Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University (ASU) have manufactured the world's largest (7.4") flexible (bendable) OLED using advanced Mixed-Oxide TFTs. The panel was developed in collaboration with the US Army Research Labs.

The FDC says that Mixed-Oxide TFTs deliver high performance (fast switching speeds and reduced power consumption) and are quite cost-effective and can be produced on existing amorphous silicon production lines.

Update: Here are all the details from LG's OLED TV launch

Back in March it was reported that LG plans to officially launch their 55" OLED TV during the Cannes film festival - and today there are new reports that they indeed intend to do so on Wednesday (May 23) - in Monte Carlo. According to Italian site DDay, invitations has been sent to reporters.

Hopefully during the launch LG will unveil the final mode number, price and actual shipping dates. Currently we know that the model is 55EM9600, and it uses a WOLED-CF design on an Oxide-TFT backplane. The panel is only 4mm thick, and the whole TV weighs just 7.5Kg. LG Display can currently make around 48,000 monthly 55" panels in their pilot 8.5-Gen production line. Estimates suggest that the TV will cost around $8,000.

Chimei Innolux's chairman Hsing-Chien Tuan says that the company plans to start AMOLED production before year-end 2012. CMI's 3.5-Gen AMOLED fab will produce small-sized panels. The production rate will be about 3,000-5,000 substrates a month.

Back in March 2011 CMI showed two AMOLED panels: 3.2" (320x480) and 3.5" (360x64). CMI were calling those displays TrueOLED, and apparently they use a WOLED-CF (RGBW) design. The panels featured 300cd/m² brightness, 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 160° viewing angles and 100% color gamut for the 3.2" panel (87% for the 3.5" one). We do not know whether the panels CMI plans to produce in 2012 will have the same specifications.

Sharp announced that they have begun to produce Oxide-TFT (IGZO) based LCDs at their Kameyama Plant #2. Sharp says that these displays will have smaller TFTs and thus increased pixel transparency - which leads to lower power consumption. Sharp's proprietary UV2A*3 photo-alignment technology employed in Sharp's AQUOS LCD TVs enables these displays to achieve high image quality.

Sharp also revealed some sample panel specification: 32" 3,840x2,160 (140 ppi), 10" 2,560x1,600 (300 ppi), 7" 800x1,280 (217 ppi). Sharp is expanding production scale through April "to meet market demand".

There are two interesting reports today regarding AU Optronic's OLED TV program. According to Reuters, the company is planning to sell up to 800 million shares (or about $300 million) to finance its OLED program and to "enhance the company's operational capital position". ETNews says that Sony is collaborating with AUO on OLED TV research. Perhaps it makes sense for Sony: AUO will provide the capital and manufacturing while Sony will contribute its OLED know-how (ETNews suggests that Sony engineers have been working with AUO since 2011).

Back in February AUO announced a strategic alliance with Idemitsu Kosan on OLED materials and technology, and ETNews suggests that this will turn into a three-way alliance with Sony now. We'll have to wait for confirmation of course, the only official word from Sony was when its new CEO said they will make "major investments towards OLED TVs" back in February.

There are reports that LG Electronics plans to launch their 55" OLED TV in May during the Cannes film festival. The TV will cost 9 million Won - or about $7,900 (this is consistant with DisplaySearch's estimates). LGE originally planned to launch it during the London Olympics in July, but the company wants to be the first out with an OLED TV and so accelerated the production schedule. The company will make a decision on further OLED investment in July, after judging the first consumer reactions.

LG's 55" 55EM9600 is using a WOLED-CF design on an Oxide-TFT backplane. The panel is only 4mm thick, and the whole TV weighs just 7.5Kg. LG Display can currently make around 48,000 monthly 55" panels in their pilot 8.5-Gen production line.