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takyon writes:

LG is showing off the world's largest and highest resolution OLED panel in an 88-inch TV at the Consumer Electronics Show:

Just as 4K and HDR are finally going mainstream, the ambitious folks at LG Display have also been busy pushing its OLED technology to 8K. Come CES, the Korean manufacturer will be letting attendees get up close with its new 88-inch [2.2 meter] 8K OLED display (can we just call it the "Triple 8?"), which is both the largest and the highest-resolution OLED panel to date. But as far as specs go, that's all we have for now.

Also at The Verge and BGR.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A number of companies, including Apple, Valve, and LG, have invested in the OLED display manufacturer eMagin:

According to documents filed last month with SEC, a new stock issuance of some $10 million by OLED microdisplay maker eMagin will be bought up by Apple, Valve, and LG, among others.

Founded in 1993, Emagin is a producer of OLED microdisplays which have seen deployments in military, medical, industrial, and other sectors. With the rise of AR and VR in the consumer market, Emagin has recently marketed their display technology toward companies building consumer headsets.

The company's flagship product in this space is a 2,048 × 2,048 OLED microdisplay with a ~70% fill factor, which the company claims will eliminate the 'screen door effect' seen on today's consumer VR headsets.

[...] As for Valve, the company's chief, Gabe Newell, said back in 2017 that he expected VR display technology to make great strides in 2018 and 2019; a timeline which may have been guided by the company's involvement with Emagin:

"We're going to go from this weird position where VR right now is kind of low res, to being in a place where VR is higher res than just about anything else, with much higher refresh rates than you're going to see on either desktops or phones. You'll see the VR industry leapfrogging any other display technology. You'll start to see that happening in 2018 and 2019 when you'll be talking about incredibly high resolutions."

2,048 × 2,048 at a 9.3 µm pixel pitch suggests a 19 mm × 19 mm (0.75 in × 0.75 in) panel, with about 2,730 pixels per inch.

Also at CNET.

Update (2/12/18): An earlier version of this article stated that Apple, LG, and Valve had participated in Emagin’s new stock offering; according to a press release issued by Emagin today, the companies ultimately didn’t participate in the deal. While the company had filed documents with SEC on the 25th of January listing the companies as “specified investors” in the deal, none of those companies took part in the deal by the time it had closed on January 29th, according to Emagin. We’ve reached out to the company for additional information surrounding the deal and Emagin’s involvement with Apple, Valve, and LG.

According to a report from Bloomberg, “Emagin listed those companies in the filing because it had discussions with [the companies] at industry events,” the company reportedly told the publication.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Google and LG will show off an OLED display for virtual reality headsets that could have a resolution of around 5500×3000:

Google and LG are set to present an 18-megapixel 4.3-inch OLED headset display with 1443 ppi and a higher refresh rate of 120Hz during the Display Week 2018 trade show in late May. The display will have a wide field of view and high acuity. The advanced program for the expo was spotted by Android Police via OLED-Info.

Those specs make the forthcoming headset better than most of what's on the market. Screens like the new HTC Vive Pro and Oculus Rift only boast total resolutions of 2880 x 1600 and 2160 x 1200, respectively.

From the Display Week 2018 Symposium Program:

The world's highest resolution (18 megapixel, 1443 ppi) OLED-on-glass display was developed. White OLED with color filter structure was used for high-density pixelization, and an n-type LTPS backplane was chosen for higher electron mobility compared to mobile phone displays. A custom high bandwidth driver IC was fabricated. Foveated driving logic for VR and AR applications was implemented.

The competing "Pimax 8K" uses two 3840×2160 panels to hit 7680×2160 with a 200° field of view. Shipments of that headset have been delayed to April or later. A 2017 StarVR headset used two 2560×1440 panels for a 210° field of view. Two of the panels from Google and LG could add up to around 11000×3000 (based on The Verge's guess), 12000×3000 (36 megapixels), or 11314×3182 (36 megapixels, 32:9 aspect ratio).

Recall that AMD has envisioned VR resolution reaching 16K per eye (a grand total of 30720×8640, or over 265 megapixels).

List of common resolutions.

Also at UploadVR and Android Authority.

Related: Is Screen Resolution Good Enough Considering the Fovea Centralis of the Eye?
AU Optronics to Ship 8K Panels to TV Manufacturers in H1 2018

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Inside Apple's Secret Plan to Develop and Build its Own Screens

Apple Inc. is designing and producing its own device displays for the first time, using a secret manufacturing facility near its California headquarters to make small numbers of the screens for testing purposes, according to people familiar with the situation.

The technology giant is making a significant investment in the development of next-generation MicroLED screens, say the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal planning. MicroLED screens use different light-emitting compounds than the current OLED displays and promise to make future gadgets slimmer, brighter and less power-hungry.

The screens are far more difficult to produce than OLED displays, and the company almost killed the project a year or so ago, the people say. Engineers have since been making progress and the technology is now at an advanced stage, they say, though consumers will probably have to wait a few years before seeing the results.

[...] Right now smartphones and other gadgets essentially use off-the-shelf display technology. The Apple Watch screen is made by LG Display. Ditto for Google's larger Pixel phone. The iPhone X, Apple's first OLED phone, uses Samsung technology. Phone manufacturers tweak screens to their specifications, and Apple has for years calibrated iPhone screens for color accuracy. But this marks the first time Apple is designing screens end-to-end itself.

MicroLEDs could have several advantages over today's OLEDs:

microLED, also known as micro-LED, mLED or µLED, is an emerging flat panel display technology. As the name implies, microLED displays consist of arrays of microscopic LEDs forming the individual pixel elements. When compared to the widespread LCD technology, microLED displays offer better contrast, response times, and energy efficiency. [...] Unlike OLED, microLED is based on conventional GaN LED technology, which offers far higher total brightness than OLED produces, as much as 30 times, as well as higher efficiency in terms of lux/W. It also does not suffer from the shorter lifetimes of OLED.

Also at 9to5Mac.

Original Submission