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Why did Apple choose LTPO?

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  • Utilizing high refresh rate and reducing power consumption by up to 20%
  • but, 30% more complex process

LTPO (Low Temperature Poly-crystalline Oxide) is an Apple’s technology made by combining LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) and Oxide (oxide semiconductor, mainly IGZO) TFT technology. It is characterized by further improving power efficiency by using LTPS with fast electron mobility and oxide with less leakage current.

LTPS TFT with fast electron mobility is applied as a driving role, and oxide TFT with low leakage current is applied as a switch.

LTPO was first applied to smart watches before smartphones. The first device to be applied is the Apple Watch Series 4, released in 2018, and was supplied exclusively by LG Display. Samsung Electronics also applied LTPO to the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in 2019.

Apple Watch with LTPO applied       

     Galaxy Watch Active 2

LTPO technology, which is characterized by low power, is suitable for 5G smartphones that consume more power than existing LTE and is in high demand from major smartphone manufacturers. Samsung Display launched the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the first smartphone to which LTPO technology was applied.

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra with LTPO applied

It is expected that Samsung Display will dominate the market as it is leading in technology of LTPO OLED panels for Smartphones, and as a latecomer, LG Display is known to develop panels to be applied to the iPhone, which is scheduled to be released next year.

LTPO technology does not only have the advantage of low power. Because masks are added during the process, the unit price is increased due to the complexity of the process. Manufacturing methods are completely different from existing LTPS and Oxide TFT, and processes are more than 30% complicated. Complex manufacturing processes lead to higher unit prices.

From a manufacturer’s perspective, LTPO application effect must be as large as the increased process unit price. Considering this, it is analyzed that the need and effect of LTPO application are greater (because of the always-on display function) than smartphones. Smartwatches also had a greater effect on lowering power consumption than smartphones. If LTPO is applied, the refresh rate can be lowered, which reduces power consumption, because smartphones require a high refresh rate. The refresh rate is a figure that shows how many scenes are shown per second, and the higher the refresh rate, the smoother the screen transition.

In the case of smartphones, if you play games or watch videos, you can quickly switch to the screen with high refresh rates, allowing you to experience smooth and smooth gaming. Recently released flagship Smartphones are currently supporting 120Hz refresh rate. Considering this trend, LTPO technology, which can reduce screen conversion, is not very suitable for smartphone utilization.

However, in a still picture, LTPS requires a driving of 60Hz to maintain the brightness of the screen due to a high leakage current, but the oxide TFT can be driven at 1Hz because of a low leakage current, so there is no decrease in brightness.

As a result, the LTPO TFT has the effect of reducing the total power in mobile devices by 10% to 15% compared to the LTPS TFT.

To take advantage of LTPO’s technology, new applications and services that consumers want are needed. If it is always turned on and has a function to flow information or a service function to view information by turning on only a certain part of it, OLED and LTPO technologies will be combined and used as an advantage.

 

PMOLED and Micro OLED Stand Out In the Wearable Device Market

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At the 4th wearable expo being held from January 17th in TOKYO BIG SIGHT -Tokyo International Exhibition Center, many companies attracted the attention of participants by exhibiting OLED wearable devices and OLED panels. Particularly, at this exhibition, many wearable devices with PMOLED and micro OLED were displayed, which proved once again infinite possibilities of OLED.

First, ColorLink Japan unveiled its VR and AR devices with micro OLED. Micro OLED is a panel that can realize high resolution in small size by reducing OLED panel to micro size. “The micro OLED applied to ColorLink Japan’s VR equipment is 0.7-inch in size with FHD resolution, and we were able to manufacture more compact and scarce VR device by applying micro OLED”, said an official from ColorLink Japan.

<ColorLink Japan’s Micro OLED VR and AR>

In addition, Fitbit and iWOWNfit exhibited smart bands with PMOLED. PMOLED refers to a passive matrix OLED that does not use TFT, which is a switching device, and is mainly applied to low resolution devices that display numbers or characters rather than high resolution-required devices. In relation to the reason for the application of PMOLED, both companies explained that they have been able to significantly reduce power consumption by applying PMOLED, and the OLED prices have fallen considerably so that they have sufficient price competitiveness.

Meanwhile, OLED panel makers also exhibited a number of OLED panels for wearable devices. Pioneer, which firstly produced mono color PMOLED for FM character broadcast in 1997, attracted participants by introducing a number of PMOLEDs and devices using this. Pioneer announced its goal to diversify its business centering on PMOLED, introducing PMOLED-applied Bluetooth speakers, smart watches, and AR devices.

<Pioneer’s PMOLED Panel and AR>

RiTdisplay also attracted attention by exhibiting a number of wearable appliances and panels with many PMOLEDs. RiTdisplay said, “Since the AMOLED market is already occupied by Korea, it is inevitably lagging behind its productivity and price competitiveness”. “Instead, PMOLED enables easy customization with less production cost than AMOLED so it is competitive in the wearable device market.” Also, they announced that since smart bands will be more aggressive in this market due to lower ppi than smart watches and mobile devices, they will actively target the market.

<RiTdisplay’s PMOLED Panels & Applications>

In addition to AMOLED which is leading the mobile device and TV market, various methods of OLEDs such as PMOLED and micro OLED are being actively applied to wearable devices, thereby expanding its influence. The future of OLED, which is being increasingly utilized, is expected.

Kopin, entering OLED microdisplay market for mobile VR and AR with new technology and business model

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Kopin, mobile VR and AR wearable technology development company, announced on December 21(local time) that they will enter OLED microdisplay market for mobile VR and AR application. This company’s very first OLED microdisplay is expected to be tested during CES 2017 held next month.

Kopin mentioned they developed a new silicon backplane structure which can implement OLED-on-silicon microdisplay without restrictions of size, weight, and power of the direct view products. The characteristic of this microdisplay is the ultra-high resolution, low power, and small form factor which provides excellent user experience in mobile and wearable system.

Kopin mentioned OLED-on-silicon microdisplay consists of two main factors, silicon backplane and OLED release layer. What is special of Kopin’s business model is that, where the expert knowledge is in Kopin, both of the two manufacturing operations are the very first full fab-less OLED microdisplay business model which is outsourced in private foundry. The main reason that Kopin got involved in this fab-less is that they expect the demand of OLED microdisplay will largely increase along with VR and AR, MR market, and also they think utilizing investments from other companies seems to be the best way to be prepared in the market because there is burden in capital investments in OLED foundry.

Kopin’s CEO, as well as the founder, Dr. John C.C. Fan said “Kopin is one of the biggest and successful suppliers of microdisplay system where more than 30 million of AMLCD and LCOS products are shipped”, and “by adding OLED microdisplay and module in product portfolio, Kopin provide various display technology and optics technology where customers evaluate various designs, and based on that, we were able to manufacture the product where the application is optimized.”

Lastly, Dr. Fan said “Kopin’s OLED microdisplay is specially manufactured so that the improved technology can be utilized well that are being improved in virtual and reinforcement, mixed reality applications field”, and mentioned “Kopin’s target is to occupy a portion where they can grow in the OLED microdisplay market”. Along with competing companies such as eMagin and Sony, what new type of OLED microdisplay panel will Kopin introduce is expected attract attention in CES 2017.

<Kopin’s world’s smallest smart glass display publicized in January 2016, businesswire.com>

BY HYUNJUN JANG, HANA OH

AMOLED Growing in Chinese Wearable Market

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GEAK Watch 3rd at SID 2016

Hyunjoo Kang / jjoo@olednet.com
 While most of wearable products including VR (virtual reality) device and smartwatch within Chinese market are equipped with LCD display, AMOLED’s presence is growing. Although the quantity is still low, several Chinese companies are presenting AMOLED equipped new wearable products such as VR and smartwatch, fast joining the general trend.
 GEAK, a Chinese smartwatch company, is expected to release new GEAK Watch which is equipped with both AMOLED and e-ink. GEAK exhibited GEAK Watch in the CES Asia 2016 which was recently held in Shanghai, China. In CES Asia 2016, GEAK explained that the new GEAK Watch is the 3rd generation product that utilizes AMOLED in dark and e-ink display such as Kindle in bright conditions. According to the personnel the AMOLED used for the product is produced by Truly, and the release date has not yet been confirmed.
 An expert of Chinese key AMOLED panel company told OLEDNET that while there were PMOLED equipped smartwatch products in China, not many used AMOLED. It was explained that this is due to higher price of AMOLED compared to PMOLED.

DeePoon`s New VR Device ‘M2’

DeePoon, Chinese VR market leader, is expected to release new AMOLED based VR M2 soon. M2 was presented in CES Asia 2016. At the event, DeePoon explained that the company is the only one to release AMOLED VR and AMOLED can actualize higher Hz figure compared to LED installed LCD panel, and has better visual experience when playing games etc.
 Chinese key mobile AMOLED company EverDisplay (EDO) is also releasing AMOLED panel for VR from this year. This company is planning to increase ppi of VR panel each year, and produce flexible AMOLED panel for VR with over 800 ppi before 2020.
 An industry expert explained that although Korea is leading the wearable AMOLED sector, Chinese market is also recognizing that compared to LCD, AMOLED has many advantages such as faster response time and better for human eye due to lack of backlight and blue light.