OLED in cars

Remember Samsung 14" transparent OLED laptop? PlusPlasticElectronics says that Samsung actually plans to release this laptop as a real product within 12 months. They also reveal that the IceTouch MP3 player will sell for around $330 and will be released in the US in the first half of 2010.

Samsung 14-inch transparent OLED laptop

Samsung wants to dominate the transparent display market, and plans to introduce a range of new products with such displays within the next year. They will even consider products not normally produced at Samsung - such as a transparent automobile navigation system that can be placed on a windscreen. Now how about a transparent OLED TV?

Cadillac has unveiled their latest concept car, the XTS Platinum concept, a replacement for the STS/DTC. The hybrid car uses an AWD powertrain, backup up by a 3.6L V-6 engine and an electric motor. The car can move under the electric power only.

The Cadillac XTS uses OLEDs in place of both the gauges and the center stack controls and infotainment system. Rear seat passengers also get a pair of slim LED screens that rise out of the front seat backs.

Via MotorTrend

DisplaySerach has released their latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report. They say that OLED revenues have reached $252 million in Q3 2009, up 31% Q/Q. OLED shipments were 21.7 million (up 19% Q/Q). Demand was driven by high-end mobile phones.

Quarterly shipments and revenue

Samsung Mobile Displays continues to be the market leader - in face they have a 73% market share (in revenues). RiTdisplay is second with a 12% share. 

PMOLED shipments did not grow from 2008 to 2009. In face, mobile-phones shipments decreased (there is a shift from clam-shell style phones with external PMOLEDs to smart-phones), but PMOLED for automotive applications is increasing, with Mercedes Benz and Lexus adopting PMOLEDs. PMOLED shipments in Q3 2009 has reached 427,000.

OLED-Info readers get a 5% discount on this report, follow this link

Hyundai have unveiled their Blue-Will plug-in hybrid concept back in April. We've got some new photos (via CarAdvice), which show the transparent touch-enabled OLED display:

Interestingly this looks just like NeoView Kolon's transparent OLED prototype, also unveiled in April, so we can assume that they provided this unit for Hyundai. Here's the photo of NeoView Kolon's OLED:

The Blue-Will promises an electric-only driving distance of up to 64km on a single charge and a fuel economy rating of up to 2.2 liters/100 km (106mpg). It seems like several car makers are now testing OLEDs for dashboard displays.

OLED is an emissive display technology - it means that the OLED materials emit light. This is in contrast to a reflective display - which uses an external light source - an ePaper display for example, or a 'real' paper. OLEDs are bright, and provide great image quality, but because they are emissive, when viewed under direct sunlight (or any strong light source) they have a readability problem.

The best display technology for direct sunlight (besides ePaper) is said to be transflective LCDs, which uses a reflective layer under the LCD's filter. However this reduces the transmissive capabilities of the LCD, and the contrast is compromised as well. With OLEDs, unfortunately, it's not possible to use a reflective layer as the OLEDs themselves emit light.

We have received some word from Nokia N85 users saying that the display is not readable in sunlight - it behaves very poorly. It seems this issue is widespread. Check out this photo for example, showing a prototype N85 outside:

Here's a short video showing the Samsung Omnia II outside. As you can see, the contrast is very poor. In this case they use the automatic brightness mode.

Hyundai is showing its new plug-in hybrid concept car, called Blue-Will. It's just a concept, for 'testing new ideas', but it's good to hear that it includes transparent OLED displays on the steering column, which is apparently touch-enabled.

Back in January we first heard of the EDAG 'light-car' concept. The car (which they call Light-Car-Open-Source, or LC-OS) will have OLED taillights, 'body' lights and also an OLED dashboard. The idea is that everything is configurable - you can change the look of the car and your dashboard (just like you can change your desktop), and also display custom 'signs' on the rear window.

EDAG light car prototype

Today EDAG showed another prototype, in the motor show at Geneva. They don't actually plan to produce this car, but to share their technology and concept with car makers.

The car will be built from Basalt Fiber (recycled materials), and will have an electric drive.