Samsung Display will showcase a new OCF (on-cell film) OLED panel with a peak brightness of up to 5,000 nits at MWC25, achieving this level of brightness when the on-pixel ratio (OPR) is at 10%. Under typical viewing conditions such as watching videos, it maintains over 3,000 nits. By eliminating the conventional polarizer layer, OCF OLEDs lose much less brightness, making them up to 1.5 times brighter at the same power consumption. They also use only about 63% of the energy generally required by standard OLED panels to attain similar brightness levels.
Because the polarizer has been removed, these panels can be up to 20% thinner, allowing for sleek, durable designs with better visibility and enabling cutting-edge form factors like rollables and foldables. Samsung Display positions OCF under the concept it calls “L.E.A.D.” (Low Power Consumption, Eco-Friendliness, Augmented Brightness, and Designed to be Slim and Light). OCF technology was first introduced in the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in 2021 and is now expanding to bar-type smartphones, meeting the increasing power demands of AI-driven tasks on mobile devices.
The elimination of the polarizer is central to this innovation. A polarizer normally reduces reflections but also blocks more than half of the light emitted by each pixel, diminishing overall brightness and energy efficiency. Samsung Display overcomes this challenge by integrating anti-reflection capability directly into the panel using specialized films and materials. This approach, sometimes referred to as Color Filter on Encapsulation (COE), replaces the traditional circular polarizer with a thin color filter structure and a black PDL (Pixel Define Layer) that helps absorb ambient light. Early versions required additional photolithography steps to ensure good yield rates and consistent viewing angles. In more recent iterations, low-cost polarizer-less methods simplify the manufacturing process by removing color filter and black matrix layers and relying on low-transparency over-coating. While this cut in complexity reduces costs, it can slightly affect power efficiency and reflectivity.
