Aerospace OLEDs

As OLED technologies are making inroads into the aerospace industry, LG Display has teamed up with Boeing and LIG Nex1 to introduce a new aircraft smart cabin concept, utilizing the company's latest OLED displays.

The three companies started collaborating back in 2020, to realize how OLEDs can benefit aircraft interior design. For this project, LG Display developed aircraft-specific OLED panels, ensuring higher reliability and safety compared to regular OLED panels. The new smart cabin concept includes a 55" OLED panel that is installed at the aircraft entrance, curved OLED at the aircraft's ceiling, 30-inch transparent OLED panels placed in the cabin partitions, and a 27-inch OLED panel in the crew galley.

Collins Aerospace, and Panasonic Avionics Corporation have co-developed a next-generation business class suite, called MAYA, which combines the two cmoapnies expertise in design, technology development and integration into a singular integrated solution.

The MAYA suite's centerpiece is a 45-inch curved 4K OLED display, which according to the two companies, provide "users with unprecedented immersion, customization and feature rich personalized viewing experiences". The suite is packed with lot's more technology, of course, and it utilizes recycled, reusable and plant-based materials along with a composite structures to reduce production waste.

Panasonic Avionics announced that it shipped its first batch of the latest Astrova 4K OLED inflight entertainment monitors. These monitors will be installed on Icelandair's forthcoming new fleet of leased Airbus A321neo LR aircraft (due in Q4 2024).

Icelandair will install 16" panels in its business class seats and 13" panels in economy. The new Astrova 4K OLED monitors offer HDR10+, high-fidelity multi-channel audio, USC-C 100W fast charging ports, and an external processing unit that can be placed in the seat box for easier installation.

Aviation display technology specialist Rosen Aviation is increasing its line of high-end OLED displays, and is set to introduce a 97-inch WOLED panel, the biggest ever display in an aircraft cabin.

Rosen Aviation - future VIP cabin design concept

Rosen Aviation's 97" OLED is set to receive the supplemental type certificate for a VIP aircraft by the end of 2023. Rosen has already signed up its first customer. Rosen says that beyond the exception OLED display quality, this display is very lightweight compared to a comparable LED LCD solution.

United Airlines has ordered Panasonic Avionics' Astrova aircraft internal entertainment platform to be installed at United's new Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787, starting in 2025. 

Panasonic's Astrova platform is based on 4K OLED displays. United did not specify which OLED sizes will be used, but we know that Panasonic offers 13-, 16- and 22-inch options for regular (economy) passenger seats (while it offers 19-, 22-, 27-, 32- and 42-inch for business-class seats, these displays were just announced a few days ago).

In 2022 Panasonic Avionics launched its Astrova aircraft internal entertainment platform that is based on 13-, 16- and 22-inch 4K OLED screens. The company is now adding larger OLED screens to the Astrova lineup.

The new OLED displays, aimed for business-class and first-class cabins, will be available in five sizes 19, 22, 27, 32, and 42 inches. Beyond the increased performance, Astova also offers significant weight savings compared to other seat-end architectures.

US-based Jet Aviation announced that it has delivered its quietest and lightest cabin interior to date. The VVIP interior uses six 55-inch curved WOLED screens, three on each side above the window line.

The company says that the new OLED displays were installed as of to reduce the cabinetry required to house the screens, providing further opportunity for reducing the weight of the cabin and maximizing the floor space of the interior.

Panasonic Avionics launched off a new aircraft internal entertainment platform, called Astrova, that is based on OLED displays.

The platform includes three screen options: 13-inch, 16-inch and 22-inch 4K screens. All of these are OLED displays.

Airbus and Royole teamed up to demonstrate a digital inflight magazine - that makes use of a thin flexible OLED panel.

The two companies have been working together since 2018, and are now presenting a prototype device. The device looks like an iPad, but feels like a flexible magazine. The OLED display looks better than currently-used LCD displays in airplane seats, and also consumes less power and are also lighter.