VR - Page 16

Taiwan's AU Optronics is currently focused on VR, wearable and automotive applications for its AMOLED displays. The company recently announced it is developing 3.8" and 5.5" VR AMOLEDs, and today we learn that the 3.8" panel is now entering production.

The new panel features a resolution of 1080x1200 and a refresh rate of 90Hz. It is intended for VR HMD applications - which use two such displays, one for each eye (the Oculus Rift, for example, uses two 3.54" 1200x1080 90Hz AMOLEDs produced by SDC). More information on AUO's new panel can be found on the OLED Marketplace.

OLED Microdisplay-maker eMagin announced that it entered into an early warrant exercise transaction with certain of its warrants holders, to raise about $4.5 million.

An eMagin OLED microdisplay

Some of these funds will go towards the company's growth initiatives with consumer AR/VR - and to finance the company's two consumer products that are set to launch in Q4 2016.

OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reports its financial results for Q2 2016. This was a financially challenging quarter for eMagin, but the company says it is excited about its progress on opportunities in the commercial and consumer markets. Revenues were $5.5 million (down 21% compared to Q2 2015 - mostly due to lower volumes and manufacturing issues that has been resolved). Net loss was $2.2 million (up from $66,000 in Q2 2015).

eMagin XGA096 OLED-XL

At the end of the quarter, eMagin had $6.1 million in cash and equivalents (down from $9.3 million at the end of 2015). The company increased its R&D investments and began to build inventory as it expects to launch two consumer products later this year (more on these below). eMagin expanded its active customer count by 11% since the beginning of 2016 - and it currently has 108 active customers.

OLED microdisplay maker eMagin developed a 2K x 2K OLED microdisplay based VR HMD, which is now being offered to partners (the company's first licensee is probably ODG). The company is also developing its next-gen 4K OLED microdisplays.

Reaching out to first-tier customers means that eMagin will need to produce a massive amount of microdisplays at a relatively low cost - which it cannot do with its current production equipment and capacity. The company will upgrade its production fab, but that won't be enough and eMagin already stated that it is in talks with potential foundry partners.

IHS performed a tear down of the Oculus Rift consumer edition VR headset. IHS says that the component cost is $200 (the price of the headset is $600). The most expensive component is the displays - the dual 3.1" 1200x1080 VR AMOLED displays cost $69 together.

Those displays are optimized for VR applications - with a higher refresh rate than the AMOLED displays used in mobile phones (90Hz). The same displays are also used in the HTV Vive and the OSVR HMD.

Taiwan's AU Optronics reported its financial results for Q2 2016. The display maker says that it saw strong demand for displays, including TV displays and the average panel price bottomed up in the quarter - and started to pick up. Revenues reached $2.5 billion and gross profit reached $175 million.

AUO's experienced growth in both OLED client number and projects number. The company expects to ship over a million OLED panels in Q3 2016. AUO is focused on OLED for VR application and the company produces 3.8" (1080x1200) and 5.5" VR OLEDs, reaching a high 420 PPI. AUO also develops OLED displays with higher resolution - larger than 600 PPI, aiming to bring this into mass production as soon as possible.

Razer announced that it will ship the OSVR HDK2 on July 29. The basic configuration (available for pre-order now) costs $399.

The HDK2, which is based on an open-source software platform, uses a 2160x1200 low-persistence (90fps) AMOLED display.

DeePoon started shipping its M2 VR headset a few weeks ago. The company says the orders (since announcing the M2 in April 2016) are over 20,000 already - which makes this HMD the most successful one in China's VR headset industry.

The M2 includes an on-device computer using Samsung's Exynos 7420 chipset. The M2's display is a 2560x1440 AMOLED display made by SDC. Deepon operates what it says to be the largest VR content platform in China with over 150 VR games and 5 million users.

We're happy to announce a new market report: OLED for VR and AR. This report, brought to you by the world's leading OLED experts, is a comprehensive guide to OLED displays for the VR and AR markets. OLEDs have a bright future in VR and AR - and our new report discusses the future of these two emerging and fast-growing markets.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• Why OLEDs are adopted in almost all VR HMDs
• What kind of displays are required for VR and AR applications
• What the future holds for the VR and AR markets
• Current and future VR and AR systems

The report also includes:

• VR/AR market forecasts from leading analysts
• VR and AR OLED companies overview
• Datasheets and details on leading OLED VR microdisplays
• Free updates for a year

Razer demonstrated the newest version of the open-source VR HMD Dev-Kit, the OSVR. The new so-called HDK2 improves the previous design with a new higher-resolution OLED. The HDK2 has a 2160x1200 OLED, while the HDK1.4 had a Full-HD one.

Razer will ship the OSVR HDK 2 next month for $399 (the current HDK 1.4 costs $299 and it will remain available for the time being).