You probably know that OLED screen technology has the prerequisites for significantly better quality than LCD thanks to a much faster response and the fact that the backlight does not spoil the contrast and black is really black. Unfortunately, unlike LCD technology, OLED technology suffers from a limited lifetime of pixels, which lose their brightness during operation and the image can burn in them. But the latest innovation in OLED production promises a big improvement that could eliminate the problems for practical purposes.
The American company Applied Materials, which is a major supplier of machines and technologies for the production of chips and other products, including displays, is launching a new generation of production process for OLED screens, which, according to its statements, is intended to “transform” the industry and the resulting OLED panels.
MAX OLED
This technology or production platform is called “MAX OLED” and its most important component seems to be the transition to the new (eighth) generation of glass substrates, while the current production processes should be based on the sixth. These improved glass substrates are supposed to provide better production yield and allow more displays to be made from the input glass sheets. One of the improvements should be a lower price of the resulting monitors or TVs (or the possibility of selling larger screens for the same price).
However, the more interesting part of this news are the qualitative improvements that MAX OLED is supposed to bring, as they are supposed to help with OLED’s most pressing drawbacks – screens produced with this technology are said to have five times the lifespan. It should be noted that this may not translate into a similarly large difference in practice, it is not entirely clear how this figure was arrived at, according to Applied Materials it is compared against some “traditional OLED displays”. However, a significant improvement in service life should occur according to this.
MAX OLED is also supposed to enable higher brightness, with up to three times the values compared to older OLEDs, which will allow, for example, better HDR display. When used in notebooks, the panel could be better read in strong sunlight during outdoor operation due to the higher maximum brightness. According to Applied Materials, the consumption of the panel should be reduced by 30% (if it is at that higher brightness, then it would be an extreme improvement, it is probably a reduction in consumption at a given constant level of brightness).
These improvements achieved by the new substrates are based on the application of new materials and precise manufacturing processes, including a special process of evaporation (physical deposition) of multiple materials. According to Applied Materials, the leading manufacturers of OLED panels – Samsung, Japan Display and the Chinese Visionox – should become users of this technology.
How big a divide it will be from a consumer perspective remains to be seen. Hopefully, these improved technologies, in addition to cheaper OLED TVs, will also bring further expansion of OLED screens in notebooks and desktop monitors. This has already started in the last few years, but so far LCD panels in computers are becoming many times more common.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Source: www.cnews.cz
