AR

 Universal Display announced that it has signed an OLED evaluation agreement with Seiko Epson. Under the agreement, Universal Display will supply its proprietary phosphorescent OLED materials and technology to Epson for AR/VR microdisplay applications.

Seiko Epson is producing OLED microdisplays (branded as Si-OLED) for many years. It's latest announced display is a 0.453-inch 1920x1080 panel. The company's displays are used in its Moverio series of AR smartglasses. The company is also developing optical design engines (its 4th-Gen one is pictured above).

Kopin Corporation announced that it is sort-of spinning-off its OLED business unit. Some of Kopin's executive launched a new company called Lightning Silicon Technology, and Kopin licensed its technology to the company, and will also receive a 20% stake.

Lightning Silicon will focus on developing and supplying OLED microdisplays to the consumer AR and VR markets, and will produce its displays at China-based Lakeside Optoelectronics.

Earlier in 2022, Samsung Display confirmed it is developing OLED microdisplays. Samsung admitted it is still at an early stage of development, and it said it will start building its first line (with likely limited capacity) in 2023. By 2024 it will mass produce displays, and in 2025 it will expand capacity so that by 2026 it will achieve full commercialization.

Today we hear new reports from Korea that shed some more light on Samsung's OLED microdisplay fab status. The company has started to order equipment (from SFA Engineering and AP Systems, it seems) for a 300 mm pilot line that will be located at Samsung's existing A2 fab in Asan, Korea.

DSCC says that 2022 was a disappointing year for VR, as the market did not grow as expected - although it still expects the market to grow quickly in the near future. DSCC sees $942 million in display panel revenues in 2022, growing to $7.3 billion by 2027 (a CAGR of 50.7%).

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DSSC sees OLED microdisplays (OLED on Silicon, or SiOLED) leading the market from 2023 onwards, as producers start using these displays in VR headsets - including Apple's upcoming VR headset that will be based on dual 4K OLED microdisplays (in addition to an AMOLED display). Apple's VR headset is expected to be released in 2023.

On February 7th the MicroLED Industry Association will host a private webinar on microLED technologies for the AR market. The AR market is a very good segment for microLED developers, as it offers high performance requirements, relative microLED maturity and an excellent horizon.

The upcoming Seminar will feature four world-leading speakers, and will also be open to a Q&A session, to help increase microLED developers knowledge and involvement in the AR industry:

• Karl Guttag: a display systems engineer, one of the most respected experts on near eye displays and HMD designs
• Assaf Levy-Beeri: CEO at JoyaTeam, an optical design team focusing on AR solutions
• Soon-gi Park: AR specialist at LetinAR, a Korea-based AR optical system developer
• Reza Chaji: CEO at microLED microdisplay developer VueReal (and a microLED association member)

Reports from Korea suggest that Meta (Facebook) is in talks with both Samsung Display and LG Display, regarding the supply of OLED microdisplays and microLED microdisplays for its future AR and VR glasses.

According to the reports, dozens of executives from Meta have met with executives from LG Display and Samsung Display, and the discussions are still ongoing. According to other reports, Meta plans to use OLED displays in its upcoming VR glasses, and MicroLEDs in AR glasses that will hit the market at around 2026.

The OLED Microdisplay industry is enjoying increased interest in the last few years, as the world's leading device makers (led by Apple, Facebook, Sony, Google, Samsung and others) are all developing next-generation VR and AR devices that are based on high-end microdisplays. OLED is regarded as the most fitting technology to power these next-generation devices.

Up until a few years ago, there was only a handful of companies that developed and produced microdisplays - led by eMagin, Sony, OLiGHTEK and MicroOLED, and the combined production volume was very limited, as applications were mostly in the defense, medical and high-end cameras sectors. But the increased demand spawned many more companies, some of which have already started to sell displays in the market, which expanded the global supply dramatically.

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.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• The advantages of OLED and MicroLED microdisplays
• The microdisplays that are available on the market today
• Information on all companies involved in this market
• Future technologies and roadmaps

The report package also provides:

• A list of all OLED microdisplays on the market
• A list of all OLED and MicroLED microdisplays makers
• Microdisplays spreadsheet (premium edition)
• Over 25 datasheets, presentations (premium edition)
• Free updates for a year

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.

Samsung Display has recently launched an OLED microdisplay project, hoping to supply displays to Apple and other AR developers. Samsung is still at an early stage of development, aiming to start producing displays by 2024, with limited capacity.

SDC's first generation displays will adopt a WOLED-CF architecture, which uses a white OLED emission layer with color filters. This is the same design used by almost all OLED microdisplay developers, but one that seriously reduces the brightness and efficiency of the display.

Yang Joon-Young, a VP at LG Display, says that recent improvement in OLED technologies will cause an industry shift from LCoS devices to OLED microdisplays in AR systems. LCoS will find a market in low-cost AR headsets, but most AR solutions will be based on OLEDs.

Next-generation VR systems, which will require higher pixel densities, will also switch from LCD and mobile AMOLED displays to OLED microdisplays that will offer pixel densities of over 3000 PPI.