Automotive OLEDs: an introduction and market status

OLED is a light-emitting technology used to create thin, efficient and flexible displays and lighting panels. OLEDs are useful in many applications, such as TVs, smartphones, wearables, laptops - and also automotive displays and lighting solutions.

Mercedes EQE 350 2022, interior photo

Where can you OLEDs in cars?

There are several possible (and existing!) applications for OLED displays and lighting systems in cars:

  • Dashboard displays (instrument clusters, navigation, media, HVAC...)
  • Heads up displays
  • Internal lighting
  • External lighting (tail lights, turn indicators)
  • Digital rear-view internal mirrors
  • And more application we cannot think about today!

    OLED displays for cars today

    Several car models already use OLED displays today. Simple PMOLED displays have been adopted by automotive makers for many years, for example the Lexus 2010 RX for example has a white OLED display, supplementing the main 8" display.

    Starting in 2021, automotive makers started to also adopt AMOLED displays in premium cars. The 2021 Mercedes S-Class for example comes standard with a 12.8-inch OLED, and the 2021 Cadillac Escalade sports a large 38-inch LGD P-OLED display (made from several displays).

    2021 Cadillac Escalade OLED display photo

    We expect this trend to continue, as OLED makers such as LGD, SDC, BOE and others accelerate automotive AMOLED development.

    OLED lighting in cars

    The automotive market is one of the most interesting markets for OLED lighting, and many believe this will be one of the first markets to adopt the next generation lighting technology. In 2016 Audi unveiled the 2016 TT RS, which sports optional OLED taillights - the first commercial car to sport the new lighting technology. Since then several models from Audi, BMW, Hongqi, Mercedes and others have adopted OLED lighting panels.

    OLED-Info's Automotive OLEDs Market Report

    If you're interested in this market, check out our market report on Automotive OLEDs. The report discusses the current OLED display and lighting automotive markets, with a complete list of OLED display and lighting makers that are involved with the automotive market, with personal contact details. Our market report is updated quarterly.

    The OLED Automotive Market Report explains:

    • What kind of OLED displays are currently adopted in cars
    • Why OLED lighting is exciting for car makers
    • The future of Automotive OLED display
    • OLED concepts and forecasts by BMW, Audi and others

    Read more here!

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    The latest automotive OLED news:

    Audi releases a video showing the Q6 e-Tron OLED taillights

    In July 2023, Audi unveiled the upcoming 2024 Audi Q6 e-tron, with its second-gen OLED taillight technology. The new taillight lighting system use a total of 360 individual OLED panels built into 6 different lighting panels (each made from 60 OLED panels, or segments as Audi calls them), and is able to show warnings and signals to other drivers. Audi now released a nice video showing the new OLED taillight modules in action:

    Audi will ship the cars with 8 pre-configured digital light signatures, and customers will be able to add their personal light signatures using the myAudi app. The OLEDs are likely produced by OLEDWorks, like all of Audi's recent OLED panels.

    Read the full story Posted: Mar 19,2024

    OLED-Info launches The OLED Toolbox, a revolutionary information product for the OLED industry

    We are happy to launch The OLED Toolbox, a new information product for the OLED industry that provides an unprecedented depth of OLED content, data, analysis and insights, written and compiled by the industry's leading portal, OLED-Info.com.

    The OLED Toolbox presents an unparalleled array of resources, including guides, projections, analyses, and profound insights into the world of OLED displays and lighting. Never before has it been so easy to gain access to a complete OLED industry resource!

    What you'll find inside

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    Read the full story Posted: Feb 14,2024

    LGD's Automotive OLED receive TÜV Rheinland Product Carbon Footprint certification

    LG Display announced that its automotive OLED displays (both its flexible P-OLED panels and its rigid ATO panels) received TÜV Rheinland’s ‘Product Carbon Footprint’ certification, a milestone marking compliance with emissions standards across the product’s lifecycle. LGD's automotive OLEDs are highly efficient, and both utilize the company's tandem OLED structure.

    LGD says that it recently introduced a new film to its automotive OLEDs, developed in-house, "Light Control Film Integration Technology" that enabled it to reduce its automotive OLEDs carbon emissions by up to 18% compared to its previous OLEDs.  This method also has the added benefit of effectively streamlining the manufacturing process, further reducing product weight, and improving power efficiency compared to conventional panels that use external films.

    Read the full story Posted: Jan 25,2024

    TCL CSoT showcases transparent, flexible and inkjet printed OLED displays at CES 2024

    TCL CSoT demonstrated several OLED displays at CES 2024. first up we have an automotive 10.1” transparent OLED display, that offers 52% transparency. CSoT says that this is a "Smart Transparent" display, although it's not clear what is meant by that exactly.

    The second display is a 14" 2.8K (2880x1800, 240 PPI) inkjet printed hybrid OLED. This is the first time that CSoT has printed a laptop AMOLED display. It uses an IGZO (Oxide-TFT) backplane, and offer a variable refresh rate (30-120Hz) to expand the battery life. This display was first shown last month, when TCL stated it is on track to start mass producing OLEDs using an inkjet printing process in the second half of 2024.

    Read the full story Posted: Jan 12,2024

    Samsung Display demonstrates its latest rollable and foldable automotive OLED panels

    Samsung Display is showing its latest rollable automotive OLED panel, at CES 2024. The company says that this display, still at a prototype-stage, incorporates new technologies that enables it to be 30% thinner compared to SDC's previous rollable OLEDs.

    Samsung is showing a wide of automotive OLEDs, including a display that is both rollable and foldable, check out the video above. There's also the round 9.4-inch AMOLED that will be used in the upcoming 2025 Mini Cooper.

    Read the full story Posted: Jan 11,2024

    OLEDWorks announces Atala - a new automotive OLED lighting brand

    US-based OLED lighting developer OLEDWorks seems to be focusing on automotive OLED lighting solutions for the last few years, and the company now announced a separate brand for automotive OLED lighting - Atala.

    OLEDWorks explains that the new brand will support a line of automotive qualified OLED lighting products designed specifically for Tier 1 suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The name Atala originates from an acronym for advanced technology for automotive lighting applications.

    Read the full story Posted: Jan 09,2024

    Nio announces its latest flagship sedan EV, the ET9, with two AMOLED displays

    China's EV car producer Nio announced its latest flagship executive electric sedan, the ET9. The car adopts several new technologies, in areas such as self-driving, sensing, first-class airline seats (it has a four-seat configuration) and more. Nio will ship the first ET9 cars in the first quarter of 2025.


    According to reports, the ET9 has two AMOLED displays. The main multimedia front-seat display  is a 15.6" AMOLED display. For the passengers, there's a central 14.5" AMOLED display (between the two seats, see image above). We do not have more details on these OLED displays yet.

    Read the full story Posted: Dec 25,2023

    Yeolight demonstrates new automotive OLED lighting prototypes

    China-based Yeolight demonstrated new OLED lighting taillights designs at the Automotive Lighting Exhibition in Shanghai. In the video below you can see some of the various prototypes:

    And in the photos below you can see some others. These are interesting prototypes. Some of these have been developed in collaboration with automotive makers, for example Geely-owned Zeekr.

    Read the full story Posted: Oct 14,2023

    TrendForce: the market share of OLED automotive panels to increase to 8.9% by 2026

    TrendForce says that the demand for automotive displays is stabilizing, and the company expects modest growth ahead. By 2026, the global automotive display market will surpass 240 million units. 

    TrendForce further sees an increased adoption of automotive OLED displays, and the market share of OLED panels will reach 8.9% by 2026. Demand for standard OLED displays is on the rise, and OLED makers are developing next-generation high-end automotive displays, including rollable, transparent and ultra-large panels.

    Read the full story Posted: Sep 26,2023