EMagin in Talks With Tier 1 OEMs for AR/VR Headset Microdisplays

AMOLED microdisplay supplier eMagin is in “active discussions” with several consumer tech companies, including Tier 1 OEMs, about “potential applications” of its direct-patterning display technology for augmented- and virtual-reality headsets, said CEO Andrew Sculley on a Q1 earnings call Thursday. The technology enables direct-patterning of “primary RGB” color emitters on a silicon backplane, rendering “ultra-high-brightness light output at ultra-high resolution, with brilliant colors,” he said. The 10,000 nits of full-color peak brightness, plus high resolution and high contrast, “that we have achieved is beyond the threshold requirements for immersive AR and VR devices, and will help to overcome inefficient optics and alleviate motion artifacts,” he said. The company is “on a path” to double its peak brightness to 20,000 nits in “about a two-year program,” he said. EMagin recorded a 15% product revenue increase in the quarter on higher shipments of enhanced night vision goggles to customers in NATO countries, said Sculley. “We can't say how much is due to the Russian invasion,” but the orders it accepted in April included a “very large percentage of bookings for NATO,” he said.