Panasonic OLED

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.

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.

Panasonic announced a new thermoset stretchable film for printed electronics, called Beyolex. Panasonic targets several applications for its new film, including OLED substrates and encapsulation film.

Beyolex is based on a proprietary non-silicone thermoset polymer chemistry developed by Panasonic researchers at the company's Electronic Materials laboratory in Osaka, Japan. The film features softness, conformability, high temperature resistance, and ultra-low permanent deformation after stretching.

Panasonic has been showing transparent OLED display prototypes and concepts since 2016, using panels produced by LG Display. Last year Panasonic said it plans to release its first transparent OLED product in 2020, and true to its word, today Panasonic launched the TP-55ZT110 and TP-55ZT100 transparent OLED modules.

The new transparent display is 55-inch in size, and offers a resolution of 1920x1080 (not a surprise as this is the spec of LG's and the world's only transparent 55" OLED panel in production). The whole display weighs just 1.75 Kg. Interestingly the operation temperature range is quite limited at 0-40 degrees Celsius.

According to Omdia, Samsung Display has started to provide QD-OLED TV prototypes to potential customers - including Samsung Electronics, Sony and Panasonic. Samsung Display is on track to start mass production in Q3 2021.

Interestingly, Samsung Electronics is still not sure whether it will adopt QD-OLED TVs in 2021, as the company aims to focus on mini-LED panels in 2021, and may only release QD-OLED TVs in 2022.

Panasonic developed HDR 4K VR eyeglasses that utilize Kopin's OLED Microdisplays. The microdisplay-based design enabled Panasonic to offer a smaller and lighter solution compared to current VR headsets that use large (usually around 3" per eye) displays.

Panasonic says that the new eyeglasses provide high-quality images without any screen-door effect. Panasonic is not releasing these as a product yet, but the company says that it will continue to further develop the new VR glasses for new applications.

Kopin Corporation announced that the company developed a new double-stack OLED architecture that enables brighter microdisplays with longer lifetime.

Kopin 1" 2k x 2k OLED Lightning microdisplay

Last week Kopin announced a new 1.3" 2560x2560 OLED microdisplay, and the company now reveals that this display uses the new double-stack architecture and achieves brightness of over 1,000 nits. Kopin also says that this display was co-developed with Panasonic and Lakeside Optoelectronic.

Both Sony and Panasonic announced new OLED TVs for 2020. First up, and most interesting, is Sony's Bravia A9S Master Series - the company's first 48" 4K OLED TV. The A9S is based on Google's Android smart TV platform and features Sony's Acoustic Surface and the company's X1 Ultimate picture processor among other features.

Sony also announced the A8H OLED TV range that come in either 55" or 65" sizes and support similar technologies to the A9S.

Panasonic announced that it will stop all LCD panel production by 2021. Panasonic already stopped producing LCD TV panels in 2016, and current produces LCDs for automotive and industrial markets.

Panasonic says that even though its panels are highly regarded for their quality, the continuation of the business is enviable, as there is a "tougher environment" in the global market.