OLED is gradually becoming mainstream for smartphones, but it still has many challenges to overcome to expand to other applications that involve larger display sizes, said a Thursday TrendForce report. TFT-LCD as a traditional display technology is almost at full maturity in terms of product design, said the research firm, creating an opportunity for OLEDs to be used in larger displays. The penetration rate of OLED panels in IT products will reach 2.8% by 2025 on gradual deployment of panel production capacity, then nearly doubling to 5.2% the next year, TrendForce said. The migration of OLED technology to larger generations is being driven by improvements in process technologies and materials, it said, but challenges remain. Some panel suppliers are hopeful vertical evaporation will solve the problem of sagging of the fine metal mask, if technical challenges are addressed, it said. Apple is considering adopting a two-stacked tandem structure that can extend the lifespan of OLED displays, it said. Larger generation fabs offer a higher glass utilization rate, with Generation 8.7 having a 10% gain in production efficiency vs. Gen 8.5, it said. To be adopted for foldable notebook computers, companies will have to find the right material for the cover lens. Samsung has adopted a color filter on encapsulation solution for its foldable smartphones, but notebook PCs' larger screen size is susceptible to glare, it said. Touch functionality is more susceptible to environmental noise interference as display size increases, said the research firm. In addition, burn-in on an OLED display occurs where static app icons are located. Anti-aging tech such as pixel shifting and the tandem structure can reduce pixel current by half, it said. In the future, OLED development “could reach the point where burn-in could be effectively resolved."

LG Business Solutions gave a peek into its healthcare aspirations at the Radiological Society of North America Monday, previewing display technology tailored to the segment. Its prototypes included a 32-inch diagnostic monitor with an 8-megapixel in-plane switching (IPS) display with 1,000 nits’ brightness and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Features in development include an integrated front sensor and luminance sensor, swivel and tilt adjustments, built-in calibration software and a “screen manager” that enables on-board control and 17 languages for on-screen menus and tools. It also showed prototypes of a 55-inch 4K IPS display with multiple inputs and outputs, plus a 14-inch portable, battery-powered digital X-ray detector that can connect wirelessly to a PC. Features in development include built-in auto-exposure control that provides readings of total radiation received and an auto-shutoff for when thresholds are reached. The monitors aren't currently for sale in the U.S., LG said.

Amazon’s 65-inch QLED 4K Fire TV ($799) with Dolby Vision IQ and Alexa voice control, due for release Oct. 27, will ship with over 1,500 free “gallery quality” images “to transform the TV from an inert blank box into an intelligent and interactive canvas that can display photos and art,” said Chris Turkstra, Amazon general manager-Fire TV Products, in an Amazon post Tuesday. The TV offers the digital art display capability first promoted by Samsung with The Frame -- and more recently adopted by LG -- but at an Amazon-esque price. LG’s G1 65-inch OLED Gallery Design smart TV was selling on the TV maker’s website Wednesday for $2,399; the least expensive Samsung 65-inch Frame TV at Amazon’s Prime Early Access promotion Wednesday was $1,597, marked down from $1,997. Available digital art for the Amazon Fire TV includes landscapes, motion visuals, impressionist pieces and “photography curated from museums and artists around the world,” Turkstra said. Users can ask Alexa for more information about artwork in what Amazon is calling “the Ambient Experience.” The Fire TV can also give users access to widgets, Amazon Photos and Music, smart home controls and other “glanceable information,” said Senior Product Marketing Manager Dan Tuckman. The TV has adaptive brightness to adjust picture brightness to a room’s ambient light level. “We want to shift the baseline of what people expect from their televisions,” said Turkstra. A 75-inch version ($1,099) is also due for release Oct. 27.

OLED smartphone panel revenue is expected to decline 5% in 2022 to $31 billion, and unit shipments will fall 13% to 554 million panels, reported Display Supply Chain Consultants Monday. “As a result of the continued macroeconomic environment, persistent supply chain issues and weakened consumer demand, major smartphone brands continue to reduce their OLED smartphone panel procurement for 2022 by double-digit percentages,” it said. For 2022, rigid OLED smartphone panel revenue is expected to decline 39% for a 13% share, down from 20% in 2021, said DSCC. Flexible AMOLED smartphone panel revenue is expected to remain flat and increase to a 79% revenue share in a smaller market, it said. Foldable AMOLED smartphone panel revenue is expected to increase 55% with an 8% revenue share, up from 5% in 2021, it said.

TCL began selling a $1,999 85-inch mini-LED TV at Best Buy, it said Monday. The 6-Series quantum dot TV, optimized for gaming, has 120-Hz variable refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium. Additional features of the 85R655 QLED TV are HDR Pro Pack with Dolby Vision IQ and AiPQ Engine technology, which uses machine learning to enhance color, contrast and clarity, TCL said. The mini-LED backlight technology powers 448 contrast control zones, the company said.

Planar introduced a fine-pitch, high-brightness LED video wall designed for “up close” viewing, the company said Tuesday. The displays support comfortable viewing from as close as 6 feet for applications including outdoor residential, entertainment, transportation signage, retail exteriors and hospitality, Planar said. Coated LEDs provide ruggedness and enhanced image detail for high-ambient light environments, the company said. The Planar Luminate Ultra series is to ship this month.

LG Electronics is using the CEDIA Expo to stage the first demonstrations of its LG Magnit 4K 136-inch micro LED residential display, said the company Wednesday. The display has LG's webOS smart TV platform, plus popular streaming apps, screen sharing and the company’s Alpha 9 AI-enhanced processing, said LG. The display’s 2,000 nits of peak brightness helps promote better performance and visibility even in rooms with higher ambient light, it said: "Micro LED is a relatively new technology for residential displays, delivering superb performance with exceptional brightness, years of lifespan, incredible viewing angles and excellent color gamut even in rooms with lots of windows and high ambient light."

Q2 shipments of OLED and miniLED panels for tablets declined 23% quarter on quarter to 1.9 million units, but rose 10% year over year, reported Display Supply Chain Consultants Monday. It was the lowest quarter for shipments since 2021's Q2, as the iPad Pro “is getting long in the tooth, ready for a refresh in Q4,” it said. DSCC is forecast a rebound in Q3, when shipments are expected to rise 14% quarter on quarter and 12% year over year to 2.1M units, helped by the launch of the under-$500 OLED Huawei Mate Pad Pro 11-inch tablet and the ramp of a new 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro expected to launch in October.

Brooklyn, New York-based sculptor Barry X Ball is using an LG outdoor digital display to exhibit his studio’s work and processes to the public in 24 hours a day, even in direct sunlight, said the display company Tuesday. Ball noted passersby looking in the studio’s windows to see what was inside and decided to give them a peek via the OLED display: “It’s wonderful to share my work and the work of my team with the local community in a more direct way, and it adds to the experience of visiting here without expressly advertising my name or sales -- the art itself is the point,” he said.

All Corning businesses are “continuing to perform well” in the current quarter, “in line” with expectations, except for display technologies, Executive Vice President-Chief Strategy Officer Jeff Evenson told a Goldman Sachs investor conference Tuesday. Panel maker output declined in August “from already low levels” due to “rolling power outages” in China, he said. “This reduces our outlook for display glass volume in the quarter,” he said. “Consequently, we now anticipate the third quarter coming in at the bottom or slightly below” the guidance Corning gave July 26 when it said display glass volume would decline by a mid-teen percentage sequentially from Q2, he said. Corning thinks the outlook for the display market is positive over the “medium and long term,” said Evenson. “As people are doing more things at home, as they're looking to upgrade to better entertainment experiences, the use of larger, more lifelike displays, we think, will continue to be a priority.” The COVID-19 pandemic “induced a lot of advanced purchases, probably accelerated those trends, and pushed us up above the normal range of large TV units,” which customarily number between 225 million and 235 million sets a year, he said. Corning’s view is that TV unit sales for 2022 will be “in the vicinity of what they were last year” but “could be a little down,” he said. Optical communications was Corning’s “biggest growth driver” in Q2, rising 10% sequentially and 22% year over year to $1.3 billion, said Evenson. The world has installed enough glass “to go to the sun and back about 20 times” since Corning invented “low-loss optical fiber” in 1970, he said. Yet only about 19% of Americans “connect through fiber in their homes,” he said. “We believe that the industry is at the beginning of a large multiyear wave of growth.” The combination of private network and public infrastructure investments “will create double-digit market growth for passive optics over the next few years,” he said.