OLED is an emerging display technology that enables beautiful and efficient displays and lighting panels. OLEDs are already being used in smartphones, laptops, wearables, tablets and TVs, and many of OLEDs are flexible ones.
A flexible OLED is based on a flexible substrate (usually polyimide). The first generation of OLEDs produced on these were not really flexible from the user perspective. The device maker bends the displays, or curves it - but the final user is not able to actually bend the device. These first-gen flexible OLEDs are adopted many premium smartphones, for example the Samsung edge-type Galaxy phones or Apple's latest iPhones. A plastic-based OLED has several advantages especially in mobile devices - the displays are lighter, thinner and more durable compared to glass based displays.
Second generation flexible OLED displays can be bent by the user - these can be used for example to create foldable smartphones - the first range of which started shipping in 2019. Rollable OLEDs are also now entering the market for both TVs and smartphones.
Where to buy flexible OLEDs?
While several companies (including Samsung, LG, BOE and others) are producing OLED displays, it is not straightforward to find a good and reliable supply of these displays.
If you are interested in buying a flexible OLED panel for your project or device, look no further. Our OLED Marketplace offers several flexible OLEDs, which can be ordered through us with ease.
The latest flexible OLED news:
Here is BOE's 12.5" flexible transparent OLED display prototype
BOE is showing a new flexible and transparent display prototype at SID Displayweek, this is something we did not see for several years.
The display on show is a 12.5" panel that offers a transmittance of up to 45%. The brightness is 700 nits, and the pixel density is 80 PPI. BOE says it developed a unique pixel scheme to enable the transparency of this display.
BOE demonstrates new OLED displays at SID Displayweek 2022, including a 95" 8K OLED TV
BOE demonstrated its latest OLED technologies and displays at SID Displayweek 2022. The most interesting display is a 95-inch 8K HDR OLED display, produced on an Oxide-TFT panel with a white-OLED CF structure. The panel was produced using an evaporation method.
This is the first time we hear of BOE's evaporation TV program, since around 2016. The company has an active inkjet printing OLED TV project, and in December 2019 it unveiled a 55" 8K (160 PPI) printed OLED TV prototype.
Samsung shows its latest OLED displays at SID Displayweek 2022
Samsung Display unveils new OLED displays at SID Displayweek 2022. First up is the Flex G flexible display, which folds inwards twice, and the Flex S, that can fold both inwards and outwards.
Samsung is also new rollable displays - a 6.7" slidable display that can expand and a larger 12.4" slidable OLED that can expand from both ends. When close, the display is 8.1" in size.
LG Display shows its latest OLED displays at SID DW 2022
LG Display has unveiled a new foldable OLED panel, that can fold 360-degrees - both inwards and outwards. The panel is 8.03" in size with a resolution of 2480x2200, and has been tested for over 200,000 folding cycles. LGD says it developed a special folding structure to minimize creasing.
LG is also showing other technologies and panels - a 17" folding display for laptops, a 97-inch OLED.EX TV panel, a bendable 42-inch gaming display and its 55" touch-enabled transparent OLEDs.
Apple drastically reduces its 2022 iPhone OLED orders from BOE
BOE has been aiming to supply OLED displays for Apple for a long time, and Apple also welcomed BOE as a supplier as it wants to reduce its dependence on Samsung and LG.
In 2020 BOE did not pass Apple's OLED quality test for the iPhone 12, but later it it did manage to enter Apple's supply chain, for aftermarket (refurbished models) 6.06" LTPS AMOLED displays.
Visionox plans to establish a $1.6 billion OLED module production line in Hefei
Visionox announced plans to build a new flexible and foldable OLED module production line, in Hefei. Total investment in the new project will amount to 11 billion Yuan (around $1.6 billion USD), and Visionox will receive financial assistance from the local government.
Visionox started trial production at its M4 flexible OLED module factory in Guangzhou in late 2020. The company's 2nd OLED line is located in Hefei and is already mass producing panels.
KAIST researchers develop a white OLED device on a fabric substrate
Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a white OLED device that can be deposited on thin fabrics. The researchers say that this is the world's first such device, as previous white OLEDs, made using a tandem structure, could not be bent on fibers.
For the new device, the researchers developed a single white light-emitting layer. The brightness of the device is up to 700 nits, with an efficiency of 10 candelas per ampere.
Samsung aims to reduce the thickness of its future QD-OLED panels by removing the QD glass substrate
According to reports in Korean media, Samsung is developing a new process which will allow it to reduce the thickness of its QD-OLED panels.
The current QD-OLED design uses two glass substrates, one for the TFT backplen (and the OLED frontplane materials), and one for the QD conversion layer. The new plan is to remove the QD glass substrate, and inkjet print the QDs directly on the OLED TFE encapsulation layer.
BOE shipped 60 million AMOLED panels in 2021, aims to ship over 100 million in 2022
BOE's chairment Chen Yanshun says that the company shipped almost 60 million AMOLED displays in 2021, and the company plans over 100 million such panels in 2022.
BOE also details that its AMOLED monthly output surpassed the 10 million unit mark for the first time in December 2021.
LG Display announces the 20 semifinalists in the 2nd OLED Go! design competition
LG Display, together with British design magazine Dezeen announced the semifinalists in the 2nd OLED Go! Design competition. LG says that there was high interest in this year's competition, with over 300 entries from all over the world, with many innovative ideas.
Many of the designs utilized future flexible, rollable and transparent OLEDs to create new innovative future products, for both residential and commercial applications. Click here to see all the semifinalist designs.
