OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is a new technology that enables brighter, more efficient, thinner, faster and better looking displays. OLED panels feature better refresh rates and contrast than either LCD or Plasma - and can be made flexible and transparent.
Sony has been involved with OLED research, development and production for years, and can claim several OLED firsts: in 2004 they launched the world's first PDA with an OLED display (the 3.8" Clie PEG-VZ90), the world's first OLED TV in 2007 (the 11" XEL-1) and for a while they offered the largest OLED displays (the 24.5" BVM-F250 professional OLED monitors). Today Sony produces OLED TVs - using panels produced by LG Display.
In 2017 Sony introduced its first OLED TV, the XBR-A1E. These 55" and 65" used LG's WRGB OLED panels, and were very successful. In 2018 Sony introduced its 2nd-generation OLED TV, the AF8.
Back in 2007, Sony launched the "world's first OLED TV" (the XEL-1), although at 11-inch, it should not really be considered a TV - maybe not even a monitor. It was only made in small quantities and the price ($2,500) was very high. In February 2010 Sony stopped producing the XEL-1.
In the past Sony was collaborating with Panasonic on OLED TV production technology, but this collaboration was later canceled.
Sony offers several professional OLED monitors for the film and broadcasting industries, including the PVM 740 (7.4 inch), PVM 1741 (17 inch), and the PVM 2541 (25 inch) and the premium BVM F170 (17 inch) and BVM F250 (25 inch). Sony also offers OLED monitors for the medical market. In September 2012 Sony announced that they have sold over 15,000 professional OLED monitors, and in fact their Nagoya OLED production fab is running at "full capacity".
In past years, Sony released several mobile devices that adopted OLED displays. The original portable Vita gaming console is one example. Sony sold over 2 million Vita consoles. The Vita featured a 5" touch Samsung-Made OLED display (960x544), but Sony switched to an LCD in the newer Vita as they wanted to reduce the cost of the device.
In January 2009, Sony unveiled their 'X' series OLED walkman. They claimed it was the best sounding walkman ever, and it's got the best display, too: a 3-inch 432x240 touch AMOLED. Sony has also used a large AMOLED in their NW-A840 walkman.
Sony's main product line is now smartphones - but the company has yet to release an OLED smartphone.
In October 2016 Sony launched its PlayStation VR HMD. Sony's VR HMD uses a 5.7" FHD (1920x1080) AMOLED display (produced by Samsung Display), 360-degree tracking and 3D audio. Sony enjoyed strong sales of this VR headset.
Sony are also producing OLED microdisplays, and have several such displays on the market, including a 0.5" XGA (1024x768) panel for digital camera EVFs and a 0.7" 1280x720 microdisplay used in Sony's HMD products.
Latest Sony OLED news
Sony's long-awaited second-gen VR headset, the PlayStation VR2, is finally shipping. Sony is offering the new headset for $549.99 in the US, and it is also available globally.
The PlayStation VR2 is based on dual 120fps 2000x2040 OLED displays that provide a 110-degree FOV. This is the first major VR headset based on AMOLED displays for a long time.
Market analysts from Omdia say that the XR market (which they define as a combination of AR, VR and MR) will grow from 24 million units in 2023 to almost 90 million units in 2028, a CAGR of 67%. In terms of revenues, the market (XR displays) will reach $1.15 billion in 2023.
As you can see from the graph above, VR applications still take up most of the market, and Omdia does not seem to think AR technology will reach mass markets soon, maybe only in 2028.
Today we published a new edition of our OLED and MicroLED Microdisplays Market Report, with all the latest information. The new edition includes more than 12 new updates, new companies, new datasheets and revamped sections on Samsung, LG Display, Sony, MICLEDI, BOE and more.
This microdisplays market report provides a great introduction to OLED and MicroLED microdisplays, and covers everything you need to know about the current status of the market and industry. This is a great guide if you're considering to adopt OLED microdisplays in your product, if you're looking to learn more about next-generation micro-LEDs and if you want to understand this industry better.
Esteemed US-based A/V retailer Value Electronics conducted its latest annual TV shootout, with very interesting results. It is not a big surprise, but OLED TV won the first places in both the 4K and 8K shootout.
In the 4K category, VE tested five TVs, out of which 3 were OLED TVs: The LG G2 OLED TV, Samsung S95B QD-OLED, Samsung QN95B (QD miniLED), Sony A95K QD-OLED and Sony's X95K mini-LED. The winner of this year's shootout was Sony's A95K QD-OLED.
Today we published a new edition of our OLED and MicroLED Microdisplays Market Report, with all the latest information. The new edition includes more than 10 new updates, new companies, new datasheets and revamped sections on APS, Mojo vision, Porotech, PlayNitride and more.
This microdisplays market report provides a great introduction to OLED and MicroLED microdisplays, and covers everything you need to know about the current status of the market and industry. This is a great guide if you're considering to adopt OLED microdisplays in your product, if you're looking to learn more about next-generation micro-LEDs and if you want to understand this industry better.
2022 OLED KOREA CONFERENCE will be held at Shilla Stay in Busan from April 6-8. From smartphones business, Samsung Display is expanding into IT OLED business to products such as notebooks and tablet PCs. Samsung Display Vice President, Yongsuk Choi will kick off the conference with the theme, OLED Innovation for Post-Pandemic Era in his keynote.
Hyeon Woo Lee, Senior Vice President of LG Display will deliver the keynote on the ever-evolving large OLED for TVs and OLED.EX. Commonly know for growth in smartphone-oriented mobile products, the OLED market achieved impressive growth in the TV and IT markets in 2021. Choong Hoon Yi of UBI Research will give an overview of OLED performance in 2021 and market forecasts by application products. He will discuss investment prospects and business direction of panel makers and detail China’s rapidly growing OLED investment and business analysis.
Earlier this year Sony announced the world's first QD-OLED TV, the A95K. The TV is not shipping yet, but the first reviews are in - and the ones we have seen say that the display quality of Sony's new TV (and Samsung's new OLED panels) is superb.
A reporter from DigitalTrends, Caleb Denison, for example, spent some hours in front of an A95K, and says that the display is bright (the brightest he has seen in a consumer TV) and it offers the most accurate colors he ever saw. The colors are pure and "better than any OLED, and most QLED TVs, too".
Towards the end of 2021 we reported that Apple plans to launch its first AR headset in Q4 2022, powered by dual 4K OLED microdisplays, produced by Sony
According to Ross Young from DSSC, Apple first headset will actually be a VR headset, that uses a foveated display system. The headset will feature three displays - two 4K microLEDs (indeed produced by Sony) and one larger AMOLED display.
Sony announced its 2022 TV lineup, which includes three new OLED TV series, including the A95K, which is the world's first QD-OLED TV ever announced.
The Sony A95K Master XR TV will feature 55" or 65" 4K 120Hz QD-OLED panels (produced by SDC), Sony's XR cognitive processor, Acoustic Surface Audio, XR Triluminos Max and Google TV OS. It features HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision.
During Sony's Technology Day, the company unveiled a new VR headset prototype based on a new 4K OLED microdisplay panel, which was unveiled for the first time.
Sony reports that the new microdisplay features very low latency, with a response time of
