OLED technology enables thin, efficient and bright displays and lighting panels. OLEDs are currently used in many mobile devices, some TVs and lighting fixtures. OLED displays offer a better image quality compared to LCD or Plasma displays - and can also be made flexible and transparent.
Transparent OLED displays
Several companies develop transparent OLED (also referred to as T-OLED) technologies. While there's no inherent technology barrier towards transparent OLED displays, finding actual applications for such displays is not easy.
As of 2021, LG Display is producing 55-inch transparent OLED panels (used mostly in signage and commercial settings) while other companies produce small (around 1-2 inch in size) transparent PMOLED display. In April 2013 we posted a review of Futaba's 2" 160x128 transparent PMOLED panel - which could be an interesting read even if this specific display is no longer in production.
Transparent OLED Lighting
OLED technology can be used to make lighting panels - these are thin, area-lit and efficient lighting panels, that can be made transparent. Unlike displays, transparent OLED lighting panels have more immediate applications (embedded in windows, for example). In April 2012 we posted our hands-on review with a transparent Tabola OLED lighting panel sample. As the OLED lighting market in general is still at an early stage, we do not see actual adoption and production of transparent OLED lighting.
OLED-Info's Transparent OLEDs Market Report
OLED-Info offers a comprehensive Transparent OLED Market Report which gives all the information you need to understand this market and the future of transparent OLEDs. The report explains:
- Transparent OLED properties and advantages
- What are the main challenges towards transparent OLEDs
- What kind of transparent OLED displays are currently on the market
- The transparent OLED lighting market
The report package also provides a complete list of transparent OLED developers and makers and their current (and future) products, and a lot more. Read more here!
The latest transparent OLED news:
LG Display shows its latest OLED displays at CES 2023
LG Display has an impressive presence at CES 2023, showing many OLED displays, products and prototypes.
The video above starts with LG's automotive displays, which include new 18" slidable OLEDs and some more OLED and LCD displays.
LG Electronics may launch a transparent OLED TV in 2024
LG Display is producing 55" transparent OLED panels for some years, mostly targeting signage (commercial) applications. According to a report from Korea, LGD is in talks with LGE regarding the launch of a consumer transparent OLED TV.
Xiaomi's Mi TV Lux Transparent Edition
The reports suggests that LGE does not see a large demand for such a TV, especially in the current market conditions, and if this will happen, it will only happen in 2024. LGE in addition would have to develop new technologies, including using reinforced glass to cover the whole panel.
LG Display installs 33 transparent OLED displays at a flagship K-Pop shop in Seoul
K-Pop powerhouse SM Brand Marketing has opened a new flagship store in Seoul, called KWANGYA. Teaming up with LG Display, SM installed 33 transparent OLED panels, spread out across the entire floor to show videos and images from KWANGYA's universe.
Various K-Pop items (autographed albums, light sticks, etc) have been placed under the transparent displays to match the videos.
OTI Lumionics raises $55 from Samsung, LG and UDC to bring its cathode patterning materials to market
Canada-based OTI Lumionics have raised $55 million in its latest round. This round included several strategic and financical backers - including LG Technology Ventures, Samsung Ventures, UDC Ventures, Anzu Partners and more.
OTI says it is close to commercialization of its technology and materials, but the company is still some years before this will reach products. Towards the end of 2022 OTI started shipping its 2nd-gen ConducTorr Cathode Patterning Materials (CPM) to customers, but perhaps these were only sample shipments. OTI materials are used to create OLED displays with under-the-display camera and face unlock technologies.
LG Display shows a new 30" transparent OLED display, suggests new transporation applications
LG Display has showcased its latest transparent OLED solutions for mobility applications at InnoTrans 2022, a trade fair for transport technology.
LGD shows its 55" 38% transparency FHD transparent displays, that actually has been adopted for subway windows before. Interestingly, LGD has also unveiled a new transparent OLED display - a smaller 30" display that offers higher transparency - 45%. You can see both of these displays in the video above.
LG Display equips a tour bus in Korea with transparent OLEDs to create an augmented reality tour
LG Display has equipped a tour bus in Korea's Suwon town with transparent OLED displays, to enable a sort of augmented-reality tour that overlays historic images that simulate life in Suwon in 1795.
LGD says that "historical figures come to life as animated scenes match up with the fortress walls to show them in their original setting. You get to sense what this city would have looked like centuries ago, and how people in traditional dress would have lived and celebrated major events. There’s even a demonstration of old technologies during the tour, with text in Korean and English to guide you along".
Samsung and LG demonstrate their latest OLED displays at K-Display 2022
Last week Seoul hosted the K-Display 2022 exhibition, Korea's largest display industry event, and both Samsung and LG demonstrated their latest display innovations.
In the video above, you can see LG's 97" OLED.EX CSO panel and its 55" transparent OLED panels. Samsung was showing its latest foldable OLED panels (that can be folded twice) and its QD-OLED panels.
LGD to start producing 20" OLEDs by the end of 2022, will also unveil a 77" transparent OLED
LG Display's VP Kang Won-Seok says that the company is working on several new panels and technologies, which it plans to announce soon.
First up is a 20-inch OLED, for applications in personal devices. This panel will be demonstrated before the end of the year. It is not clear whether LGD will adopt its WOLED technology or its RGB technology for such panels.
LG Display reports a loss in Q2 2022, to continue and unwind its LCD business
LG Display announced its financial results for Q2 2022, with a net loss of around $290 million (down from a profit of around $320 million a year ago) as the company's sales dropped 14.6%.
LGD says that the loss was due to weak demand for TV and IT displays, coupled with supply chain issues and the lockdowns in China. LGD says it plans to continue and reduce its LCD TV business, and to stop LCD production in Korea in 2023, earlier than expected before. The company will focus instead on OLED TV panels and the automotive market, and will aim to open up new markets for transparent and gaming OLEDs.
A new version of OLED-Info's Transparent OLED and MicroLED Market report released
Today we published a new edition of our Transparent OLED and MicroLED Market Report, with all the latest information. The new edition includes news from LGD, BOE, new microLED display prototypes and two new datasheets.
Reading this report, you'll learn all about:
- Transparent OLED and MicroLED properties and advantages
- The transparent OLED and MicroLED industry
- What kind of transparent OLEDs are currently on the market
- The transparent OLED lighting market
The report package also provides:
- Transparent OLED display product listing
- A guide into buying transparent OLEDs
- The main challenges towards transparent displays
- Free updates for a year
This transparent displays market report provides a great introduction to transparent OLED and MicroLED technologies and covers everything you need to know about the market and industry now and in the future. This is a great guide for anyone who's thinking about adopting transparent displays in their products or that wants to understand this industry and market throughout.
