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OLED TV, leading a new paradigm in the display market

‘2016 OLED accounting seminar was held by Ubi industrial research on Dec 2nd in the Small& Medium Enterprise Hall. Lee, ChungHoon, the president of Ubi industrial research said, “OLED is leading a new paradigm in the display market, advancing a perfect black color and fast response rate compared to LCD. Most LCD manufacturers have introduced QD-LCD with the enhanced color reproduction, compared to the existing LCD. However, OLED is also in the evolution of display technology ”

LG electronics set up dark light at the booth in CES 2016; but later in IFA 2016 it displayed OLED TV, brightening the booth to show the confidence in luminance of OLED TV. Via CES 2016 and IFA 2016 the luminance has been improved from 600 nits to 800 nits, and next year OLED TV with higher than 1,000 nits will be launched.

The president Lee said, “In the current TV market, the unit price of OLED panel is triple the price of LCD and QD-LCD is double. If LG display reduces the OLED panel price, LCD manufacturers will be threatened due to the competitive pricing and technology of OLED panel.”

LCD manufacturers need to prepare marketing strategy for QD-LCD to be distinguished from OLED. Certainly there has been a market interest increased in QLED which seems, however, to be at a very early development stage like an embryo in the product life cycle. The soluble OLED will be introduced in the market earlier than QLED, the development of which prospectively takes at least 10years.

The primary issues of OLED TV can be summarized in three elements-size, price and luminance. The current OLED TV size is mainly 55”, but it is important to form a market for 65” and larger. The investment in Gen 10 line is necessary but has not been well established yet. As far as the price is concerned, if the ink jet technique is implemented in a new production line the price can be significantly reduced. The luminance can also be improved by 3-stack and top emission structure.

The shipping amount in 2016 is 390million, and will reach 1.5billion in 2020 in prospect. Flexible OLED panel will lead the high-end market while a rigid OLED panel for the mid-end market. The revenue will grow from 17trillion in 2016 to 60trillion in 2020. The estimate can be accomplished if Chinese manufacturers such as BOE, Tianma and GVO successfully advance and continue to grow in the market.

The current OLED market is growing in the mobile-oriented market, however, since 2018 TV will be stably settled and well established in the future.

[OLED summit 2016]AMOLED panel Application, will it succeed in extension to PC?

On the first day of OLED Summit 2016, presentations on Intel and OTI Lumionics for PC AMOLED panel were held. Both of these two companies presented on topics of current situation analysis for PC AMOLED panel and upcoming opportunities, and noted that there is a long way to go for AMOLED panel for PC.

On January 2016, Lenovo presented the introduction of world’s first OLED laptop ‘X1 Yoga’ with 14-inch 2550×1440 resolution AMOLED panel, and HP also presented the introduction of 13,3-inch 2560×1600 resolution OLED laptop ‘Specter X360 hybrid laptop/tablet’. Also in CES2016 held early this year, Samsung introduced ‘Galaxy Tab Pro S’ where they seem to prove the possibility of AMOLED panel for PC.

However, both Intel and OTI Lumionics explained AMOLED panel lacks in power consumption, brightness, lifespan, and price compared to LCD. OTI Lumionics showed the results of three products, Galaxy Tab Pro S, X1 yoga, and Mac book, emphasizing the need for improvements in AMOLED panel for PC.

Especially, OTI Lumionics CEO Michael G. Helander said, “as a result of burn-in test of AMOLED product for PC, it decreased to under LT97 in 80 hours, and it is an especially important factor for office PC which runs daily average of 7 hours. Considering that products with AMOLED panel are at premium level, it must be improved 10 times better compared to now”, emphasizing the reduction of burn-in phenomenon after the lifespan of PC AMOLED panel being improved.

Intel John F. Jacobs said “although OLED has big issues in lifespan and power consumption in white environment, the recent trend of PC tend to utilize contents with various color compared to existing office or internet-based white environment where the white background tend to decrease. It can be a new opportunity for OLED”, emphasizing the opportunity of OLED.
In order for white realization, AMOLED panel must drive all sub pixel of RGB. So in regular PC environment where white background is normally used such as office program or internet browser, AMOLED panel is mainly applied in special monitors such as medical and broadcasting due to issues of increasing power consumption and comparatively decreasing lifespan.

However, as Intel presented, considering that the PC environment is gradually changing and the lifespan of OLED is continuously improving, it is expected that AMOLED panel will have a bright future with PC as well.

While emphasizing high contrast range, fast response speed, wide viewing angle which are the strength of OLED, it is analyzed that the development of OLED luminescent material must be the main point in extending the OLED industry.

<Intel’s John F. Jacobs>

<OTI Lumionics’s Michael G. Helander>