In an OLED display, two blue LEDs are better than one, suggests LG Display in a U.S. patent (9,305,979) granted April 5 for an “organic light emitting diode display device and method of fabricating the same.” That deceptively simple title is for a patent that covers LG Display’s discovery that OLED displays look and work better if two blue LEDs are used in each pixel -- one for handling light-blue light, the other deep-blue -- but with the same fluorescent material used to make both diodes. This improves power efficiency because materials conventionally needed to produce deep-blue light were inefficient, the patent said. The method also reduces production costs because constructing each pixel from four different fluorescent sub-pixel materials (red, green, light-blue and deep-blue) is more difficult that using three materials -- red, green and single-blue -- to produce the four sub-pixels (red, green, light-blue and deep-blue), it said. Making one type of blue fluorescent material generate two quite different shades of blue is done by depositing a very thin extra metal layer over just half the area of the blue material, the patent said. This extra layer creates a “micro-cavity effect,” which bounces the blue light repeatedly to amplify it at a specific wavelength, it said. The wavelength depends on the thickness of the reflective layer (on the order of 100 angstroms) and its distance from the blue fluorescent material, it said. Essentially, this means half the blue pixel is tuned to a deeper blue, it said. The result is a display with four sub-pixels, instead of three, for better blue light balance, the patent said. The method also creates a display that's easier and less costly to produce, has better power consumption and lasts longer because of lower wear and tear, it said. LG Display representatives didn’t comment Tuesday on commercialization plans.

Unit demand for LCD display glass used for TVs, monitors, laptops and other “major large-panel applications” will decline in 2016, IHS Technology said in a Wednesday report. But average screen sizes for each application are expanding, “which means display glass area demand will continue to increase, even as unit shipments decrease,” it said. IHS sees “area demand” for glass used in LCD panels rising 13 percent from 2015 to 2018, it said. It also sees average LCD TV screen sizes increasing to 40.8 inches in 2016 from 39.3 inches in 2015, it said. “Because manufacturing LCD glass requires special tanks for the LCD substrates used in processing, the manufacturing cost of LCD glass is higher than for other materials, and tank investment can be a risky proposition for glass makers,” IHS said. “For these reasons, LCD glass manufacturers are looking to increase the capacity of existing tanks, rather than making additional investments in new tanks.” As LCD glass competition intensifies, “panel makers are suffering from module price reductions,” IHS said. As profits decline, major large panel makers “are pressuring vendors to reduce the costs of materials and components,” but also trying “to save on glass costs by manufacturing thinner LCD glass,” it said. Between 2012 and 2014, major panel makers successfully reduced glass substrate thickness to 0.5 millimeters (0.02 inches) from 0.7 millimeters (0.03 inches), it said. Panel makers are now trying to create display glass that is even thinner, it said: “Samsung is the first company out of the gate with these new efforts, but other major panel makers will soon follow.”

LG is shipping 21:9 and 4K curved and flat-screen monitors it previewed at CES, the company said Wednesday. The widescreen 34-inch 34UC98 curved monitor ($1,199) has Quad HD resolution (3440 x 1440 pixels), and the 27-inch 4K 27UD88 ($699) is the first DisplayPort over USB-C-certified display to meet VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) standards, said LG. USB Type-C connectivity allows users to transfer data, charge the battery of a connected device over 60 watts and substitute for an HDMI cable, it said.

LG Display will build the world’s first fifth-generation OLED light-panel manufacturing facility in Gumi, South Korea, with a starting capacity of 15,000 glass substrates per month, the company said in a Friday announcement. LG Display expects the increased production from the new facility will promote economies of scale for better price competitiveness, it said. Output from the plant will go toward decorative lighting in high-end retail stores and in luxury hotels, with expansion to the general lighting market to follow later, it said. LG Display also will focus on automotive and “convergence applications,” such as OLED light panels “merged with furniture, architectural materials, electronic devices and more,” it said.

The Philips 276E6ADSS is the world’s first quantum dot-based monitor, said Envision Peripherals, which is licensed to sell Philips-brand monitors in North America. The 27-inch 1080p monitor delivers 99 percent of the Adobe RGB color range, 50 percent more color than conventional LED-backlit displays, using Color IQ quantum-dot technology from QD Vision, Envision said in a Tuesday announcement. The $299 monitor is available for sale at Amazon, it said.

OLED technology supplier Universal Display thinks that for 2016, OLED panel makers “are in a capacity-build mode,” CEO Steve Abramson said on a Thursday earnings call. “As these capacity builds come online, we see substantial growth momentum for 2017 and beyond,” he said. “We believe 2017 revenues can grow significantly based on new production capacity growth of at least 50 percent from 2015.” Universal thinks the OLED “design pipeline is growing robustly, and that is driving new capacity for 2017, 2018 and beyond,” he said. “As a key enabler and partner in the OLED industry, these additional capacity plans bring new revenue opportunities for us, and overall, a positive growth trajectory for years to come.” Universal is encouraged that 2015 “also ushered in a multitude of first-time OLED adopters,” including the introduction of the Apple Watch, a “plethora” of OEMs adopting OLED for their smartphones and Panasonic’s introduction of its first commercial OLED TVs into the marketplace (see 1509020025), he said. “The consumer OLED landscape has expanded, and with OLED panel pricing becoming more competitive with LCDs, we expect the proliferation of OLEDs in the marketplace to accelerate.”

Shipments of materials used to produce OLED displays grew 12 percent year over year in 2015, reaching 26,000 tons, IHS said in a report. With “rapid growth” expected of white OLED TV panels, shipments of materials for OLED displays are forecast to reach 100,000 tons in 2018, it said. Revenue from materials used to produce OLED displays also grew 12 percent year over year, reaching $465 million in 2015, and is expected to top $1.8 billion in 2018, it said Thursday. Revenue from white OLED materials, which made up 31 percent of the market in 2015, will account for 55 percent of the total organic light-emitting materials used to produce OLED displays in 2016, it said.

Factory spending this year on flat-panel display production equipment will reach its highest level since 2011, IHS said in a Tuesday report. The “rush” among South Korea manufacturers to expand capacity of flexible active-matrix OLED panels for smartphones is helping drive the trend, IHS said. Another growth driver is the move among Chinese panel makers to build new factories “to produce a varied portfolio of flat panel display technologies and panel sizes,” it said. IHS forecasts flat-panel display equipment spending will reach $11.2 billion in 2016 and $11.6 billion in 2017, nearly four times the amount spent in 2012, it said. Now that Samsung Display has made rigid AMOLED displays “highly cost competitive” with LCDs, “many leading smartphone brands are showing strong interest in adopting the technology,” IHS said. Although plastic-based flexible AMOLEDs are still more expensive than rigid AMOLED displays, “they offer the extra benefits of being more rugged, thinner and lighter than glass based panels,” it said. “Combined with better image quality and design flexibility, both glass and plastic based AMOLED displays are expected to rapidly gain market share in the high-end smartphone market.”

For LG Display, Q4 ended Dec. 31 was the 15th straight quarter of operating profits, it said in a Wednesday earnings announcement. “Despite the significant panel price decline resulting from global economic recession and the expanded supply by Chinese panel makers,” LG Display was able to turn another quarterly operating profit “through expansion of differentiated products,” such as Ultra HD TV panels, advanced in-cell touch panels and in-plane switching panels, it said. “Given the continuing economic uncertainty, we are not in a favorable situation to expect demand to recover in the first quarter of 2016,” the company said. “However, the company aims to sustain market credibility and create value focusing on differentiated technology competitiveness. We will continue preparing for the future of OLED and invest in differentiation including in new OLED facilities.” LG Display is investing about $1.6 billion to build a new OLED panel plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, with production expected to begin in the first half of 2018, the company said in a late-November announcement (see 1511290002).

Connectivity, infotainment and safety will propel global automotive display systems revenue to $18.6 billion by the end of 2021, nearly a $9 billion increase from this year, said a Wednesday IHS report. More vehicles will debut new displays or standardize larger ones in the instrument cluster, center stack and head-up areas, said analyst Mark Boyadjis, saying lower volume growth opportunities also exist for rear-seat entertainment, HVAC control panels and smart mirrors. Sales of factory-installed center stack and instrument cluster display systems are each forecast to grow by more than 40 percent, passing 60 million units by 2021, while head-up display systems will exceed 6 million units in the same time frame, IHS said. Factors driving growth include more adoption of smaller displays in the instrument cluster and center stack by Chinese OEMs and falling prices globally for head-up display systems designed to reduce driver distraction, IHS said. At least two TFT-LCD or AMOLED displays will be in all new cars produced in 2021, it said. Displays 7 inches and larger are forecast to reach 33.5 million units by 2021, driven largely by the 8-inch class, it said. Automotive display sizes are expanding to help support multiple infotainment, safety and vehicle system functions requiring more screen real estate, said analyst Hiroshi Hayase. Global shipments for instrument cluster displays are shifting from 3-inch and 4-inch sizes to more than 5 inches, while center stack displays are shifting to 7 inches and larger, IHS said. Center stack displays between 8 and 10 inches are common among high-end vehicles and luxury brands and are starting to be introduced in high-volume sedans and crossovers, it said.