OLED displays use organic materials that emit light when electricity is applied. OLEDs enable emissive, bright, thin, flexible and efficient displays - and so OLEDs are set to replace LCDs in all display applications - from small displays to large TV sets.
An AMOLED display is an OLED display that is driven by an active matrix backplane, it is a type of OLED display that can achieve high performance. Most OLED displays such as the ones used in TVs and smartphones are actually AMOLED displays.
What does AMOLED mean?
The term AMOLED means Active-Matrix OLED. The 'active-matrix' part refers to the driving electronics, or the TFT layer. When you display an image, you actually display it line by line (sequentially) as you can only change one line at a time. An AMOLED uses a TFT which contains a storage capacitor which maintains the line pixel states, and so enables large size (and large resolution) displays.
AMOLEDs today
AMOLED displays today are used in many applications - and are most common in smartphones. Most smartphones today use AMOLED displays - including the latest Samsung phones, all of Apple's iPhones models and more.
AMOLED displays are also used in OLED TVs, many wearables (such as the Apple Watch), tablets, laptops, VR headsets, monitors, and more.
AMOLED vs PMOLED
A PMOLED uses a simpler kind of driver electronics - without a storage capacitor. This means that each line is turned off when you move to the next line. So let's say you have 10 rows in your display - each row will only be on 1/10 of the time. The brightness of each row has to be 10 times the brightness you'd get in an AMOLED. So you use more voltage which shortens the lifetime of the OLED materials and also results in a less efficient display. So while PMOLEDs are cheaper to make than AMOLEDs they are limited in size and resolution (the largest PMOLED is only 5", and most of them are around 1" to 3"). Most PMOLEDs are used for character display, and not to show photos or videos.
Flexible, foldable and rollable AMOLEDs
One of the main advantages of AMOLED displays is that they can be made flexible. Flexible AMOLEDs are already popular for many years in smartphones and wearables, and in 2019 we will experience the first foldable devices and rollable screens.
Looking to buy AMOLED displays?
Are you looking to buy AMOLED display for your project? AMOLEDs on the market range from small 1-inch ones for smartwatches through large OLEDs used in tablets and laptops - to large TV panels, up to 97" in size. Visit our OLED Marketplace, the world's most comprehensive OLED catalog, where you can browse the available panels, and let us help you find the best AMOLED supplier for your needs!
Further reading
The latest AMOLED news:
Samsung develops a technology for AMOLED displays with multiple refresh rates
Samsung Display has developed a new technology that enables multiple refresh rates in AMOLED displays. The idea is that one can create several zones in the display, each with its own refresh rate.
Driving at low refresh rates helps reduce the power consumption of the display and the new technology will be useful in scenarios in which a part of the screen needs high refresh rates (like video content embedded inside a web page).
DSCC sees a decline in smartphone OLED shipments and revenues in 2022
DSCC estimates that OLED smartphone display shipments will decrease 5% in 2022, to 592 million units. Flexible OLED shipments will rise by 2% (and will decline 10% in terms of revenues) but rigid OLED shipments will drop 14% (and revenues will decline 32%).
DSCC sees the OLED smartphone market declining 16% in 2022 to $317 billion (smartphone sales), and explains that this is due to macroeconomic headwinds, weakened consumer demand and problems with supply chains and inventories.
TCL shows a 17" foldable inkjet-printed IGZO AMOLED prototype
TCL's CSoT demonstrated a new prototype AMOLED display - a 17" IGZO foldable panel, that was produced using inkjet printing. The company says this kind of panel can be used in tablets, monitors and laptops.
CSoT is progressing with its inkjet printing technology, and aims to start production in 2023. Last year the company demonstrated a 65" 8K inkjet-printed OLED TV panel, in addition to a 14" rollable panel.
Omdia: Chinese OLED makers increase their market share to over 20%
Omdia says that the market share of Korea's OLED producers, SDC and LGD is eroding, as Chinese OLED makers increase their OLED shipments. A main driver is Apple's increased iPhone AMOLED orders from BOE.
Omdia says that BOE's market share has increased from 5.6% in 2019 to almost 12% in 2022 (first quarter). The market share of all AMOLED makers in China is now above 20%, from from less than 10% in 2019.
Omdia sees almost 6 million OLED automotive panels shipped in 2028
Market research firm Omdia sees higher demand for OLED solutions for the automotive sector. Omdia says shipments of OLED panels will grow from around 500,000 units in 2022 to almost 6 million units by 2028.
Currently most automotive makers that use OLEDs adopt flexible panels, but Omdia actually sees the adoption of rigid glass-based OLEDs (single stack) growing faster than that of flexible OLEDs (tandem stack), and by 2027 the share of rigid automotive OLEDs will be higher than that of flexible ones. This is an interesting forecast.
BOE to supply 5% of the OLED displays used in the iPhone 14
According to reports, Apple finalized its supply plans for the iPhone 14 series, and the US phone maker decided to add BOE to its new iPhone supplier list.
This is the first time that BOE manages to become a new iPhone supplier (the company already produces AMOLED displays for refurbished iPhones). According to the latest report, Apple ordered a total of 90 million OLED displays: 60 million from Samsung, 25 million from LGD and 5 million from BOE (which will so supply 5.5% of the total orders).
SAIC's Zhiji L7 uses a 12.8" AMOLED produced by Everdisplay
In 2021, China-based SAIC launched the Zhiji L7, an electric sports sedan that offered 615-1,000 Km range (depending on the model), wireless charging, side-view mirrors semi-autonomous driving.
The Zhiji L7 has a center AMOLED display produced by China's Everdisplay. This is a 12.8" 1728x1888 automotive-grade AMOLED, that offers a lifetime of over 10,000 hours (LT80).
Samsung to supply 5 million automotive AMOLED displays to BMW
According to reports, Samsung Display has been chosen by BMW to supply it with AMOLED displays for the company's high-end sedans. BMW will start adopting Samsung's AMOLEDs in 2024 and will buy a total of 4 million displays in about 6-7 years. We do not have any information regarding the display size and features.
Samsung has been a relative late comer to the automotive AMOLED market (the clear leader today is LG Display), and this is an important design win for the company. Samsung also supplied rear-view mirror displays for Hyundai's Ioniq 5 EV and for Audi's e-tron SUVs, but both these systems were optional and the BMW deal is the first major one for Samsung.
Apple finalizes its supply chain for the iPhone 14 AMOLED displays, starts ordering panels from BOE again
According to reports from Korea, Apple has started to sign agreements regarding the supply of OLED displays for the next iPhone model (iPhone 14). As always, the main supplier will be Samsung Display, which will supply 80 million units of its latest LTPO AMOLED display (M12 stack) to Apple.
Apple is set to release four iPhone models. The iPhone 14 (6.1-inch), 14 Plus (6.7-inch), 14 Pro (6.1-inch) and 14 Pro Max (6.7-inch).
India-based Rajesh progressed with its proposed $3 billion AMOLED fab, signs MOU with local government
Last month we reported that India-based gold-trading company Rajesh Exports has proposed to build a $3 billion 6-Gen AMOLED fab in India. It is now reported that the project is progressing, and Rajesh has signed an MOU with the local government of Telangana, a state in southern India.
Rajesh Exports established a subsidiary called Elest for this project. The plan is to build a 6-Gen AMOLED fab and produce displays for smartphones, tablets and laptops.
