OLED-Info: the OLED experts

According to ETNews, Samsung aims to expand the adoption of its Y-OCTA touch technology which will be used in both versions of its Galaxy S9 (5.77" and 7.22"). In the Galaxy S8, only the 5.77" version uses Y-OCTA, the larger variant uses Samsung's film-type touch.

Y-OCTA (which apparently stands for Youm On-Cell Touch AMOLED) describes Samsung's On-Cell flexible (hence Youm) AMOLED touch technology. The touch sensor in Y-OCTA displays is deposited directly on the encapsulation (TFE) layer which is better than the add-on (or film-type) touch used in older flexible AMOLEDs generations. The optical features are better as the touch layer is below a polarizer and enables the use of a non-ITO grid, there's no need for a support film (see image above) and the number of layers is lower. Samsung estimates that Y-OCTA also cuts production costs by around 30%.

Chinese blogging site Weibo shared some very blurry photos that seem to show a TV being tested by Apple in a special testing environment. The site claims that this photo shows a secret 60 OLED TV that Apple is developing.

Obviously this can only be considered a rumor at best - and of course even if Apple is testing a product or a design, it does not mean it will see the light of day. Nothing in this photo proves that this is an OLED, or whether it is indeed 60" in size.

We are happy to announce a new Metalgrass knowledge hub, MicroLED-Info.com. Our new site will focus on Micro-LED display technology and its future market. MicroLED is quickly becoming a promising future display technology.

Many expect the first Micro-LED devices to hit the market in the very near future, with first applications in the wearable market - and also in HUDs and HMDs. MicroLED promise great performance, very high efficiency and brightness - and may indeed compete with OLEDs in the future. There are still many technical challenges ahead, but this is certainly a technology that any display expert should not ignore.

The phosphorescent OLED emitter market is currently dominated by Universal Display who owns the basic patents to phosphorescent OLED emitters. All the major OLED makers (including Samsung and LGD) are using UDC's materials in order to achieve higher display efficiencies, beyond what is available from fluorescent emitters.

Universal Display holds over 4,000 issued and pending patents, but some of its basic phosphorescent patents are set to expire by the end of 2017. Honestly, it is very difficult to know exactly what effect this will have on the market - some analysts believe that it will carry very little effect while others say that this will open the door for other companies to sell competing phosphorescent emitters.

Korea's Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the country's Engineering Research Center (ERC) are joingly setup a new OLED light therapy engineering center.

The new R&D center will initially target skin wound treatment and sleep disorder treatment, using flexible OLEDs to replace current LED-based solutions. In the longer range, the center will also look into dementia prevention and treatment, mild cognitive impairment solutions and other diseases.

Last week Japan Display announced a new strategic shift to OLED technologies, as its LCD business is losing money and the company now says that a transformation into an OLED-focused company is its last chance to become profitable.

JDI said it will need to raise new funds to finance this focus shift and overcome its losses. An interesting report from Japan claims that Foxconn is interested in acquiring JDI with an aim to integrate it with Sharp to create a Japanese OLED alliance that will be able to compete with Samsung and LGD.

A report from the Korea Herald suggests that Samsung Display decided to invest €10 million in TADF developer Cynora, which follows LG Display's €15 million investment in the company. Both companies aim to secure access to next-generation emitter technology.

The Korean report actually states €100 million from SDC and €150 million from LGD - but this is surely a mistake as it's highly unlikely that Cynora could be raising such a huge sum of money at this stage. An earlier report from ETNews claimed LGD's investment totaled $9 million.