AMD confirms its collaboration with OLED microdisplay maker eMagin

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.

It was rumored that AMD is one of those potential partners, and indeed in the video above (at around 3:00) you can see AMD’s Corporate Vice President Roy Taylor talking about AMD's collaboration with eMagin. It seems though that these two companies are no longer working together (Roy says that AMD "have worked with eMagin for a little while").

Source: 
Posted: Aug 08,2016 by Ron Mertens

Comments

Seems highly unlikely to me that AMD & eMagin are "are no longer working together " as you suggest by your interpretation of Roy's statement .    

As you pointed out,  eMagin is talking to foundry partners.    As it happens , eMagin leases  its facilities from  Global Foundries who supplies wafers to AMD .     Certainly AMD would want to be included in the supply chain  of display manufacturing .   More likely eMagin would source from AMD than directly from Global Foundries .   These 3 companies are working together IMO .

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1046995/000101376216001555/f8k050916_emagin.htm

Furthermore, eMagin is the only company that can take the resolutions to the higher levels  essential to making  high end VR experiences  - the type that is necessary for Hollywood to justify making $1m per minute VR content .   Hard to fathom AMD would no longer be working with eMagin when both will play an integral part in facilitating high end VR .

In another video from VRWC   June 10, 2016 Roy describes resolutions without naming eMagin as eMagin's 2K x 2K IHMD is shown on the slide .

Roy states " we have in our labs" .

Current tense not past tense .

Roy then states " I cannot wait to share it with the world " 

@ 2:35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggBlhzUMO9k

I believe it's more likely Roy was trying to downplay the ongoing relationship between AMD and eMagin as he somewhat inadvertently announced the name of the previously unnamed partner.

One more point .

Your article title :

AMD confirms its collaboration with OLED microdisplay maker eMagin

seems to contradict your own statement :

 "It seems though that these two companies are no longer working together (Roy says that AMD "worked" with eMagin "for a little while").  "

Furthermore , eMagin's 2K x 2K "steam punk" styled IHMD would be a perfect fit for "location based VR " experiences such as AMD's recently unveiled  "Awesome Rocketship"  on Aug 5th .

http://uploadvr.com/amd-reveals-bizarre-vr-pod-called-awesome-rocketship-vrla/

People who made the mistake of spending a lot of money on the Z800 HMD, only to have driver support immediately abandoned, have learned to never buy from Emagin.