At the 2018 OLED Korea event recently, JOLED of Japan explained its progress in developing inkjet printing of displays. It can achieve, it says, 300 ppi or more on G8 substrates. Samples of a 21.6″ UltraHD monitor panel have been shown by Asus (Asus OLED Monitor is Previewed) (it also is shipping to Sony JOLED Starts Commercial Shipments Printable OLEDs).
However, the mass production of this panel is uncertain because of the difficult situation that the company is in, from an investment point of view (Denso Looking at JOLED Investment).
A report in the ET News also said that TCL, with its CSOT subsidiary, has developed a 31″ UltraHD OLED using inkjet in a project between TCL, CSOT and Tianma. (LG Display Plans Pilot Production of Inkjet OLEDs). The paper predicts that TCL will give more details at the International Conference on Display Technology, which will be held in Guangzhou next month.
As we reported in 2016 (link above), LG Display is piloting inkjet OLED production and ET News said that the equipment used is from Tokyo Electron. On the other hand, Samsung is trying to develop production based on inkjet technology from Kateeva and SEMES. Tt already uses Kateeva technology for encapsulation (BC13 Kateeva Still Working on Deposition by Inkjet). Samsung is an investor in Kateeva (Kateeva Raises $38 Million in Series D Round).
The paper highlights comments from delegates at the event that there is concern in Korea that Chinese makers may be able to ‘jump in’ directly to inkjet printing to get ahead of Korean makers.
Asus showed this inkjet OLED prototype at CES. Image:Meko
