Mercedes-Benz will begin rolling out vehicles with OLED dashboard displays, rear-seat monitors and the like, using panels supplied by LG Display, according to Business Korea. The publication noted that the company is also supplying OLED panels to Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors. Citing industry sources, Business Korea revealed that the first vehicle set to feature LG’s OLED displays will be an upgrade of the Mercedes E-Class, due for release during the first half of 2020.
Sources also revealed the form that these new OLED displays would take, including a combined, wide-screen dashboard and central display in E-Class and S-Class vehicles. Despite the launch of these vehicles being a couple of years away, Business Korea’s sources still believe that Mercedes-Benz will be the first car-maker to make vehicles with OLED displays available to consumers.
Analyst Comment
This is something of a breakthrough for OLED and is, I think, the first time that we have seen a report that OLEDs have been qualified for automotive use. Daimler is not known as a company that takes technology risk, so it is clearly sure that OLED will be good in terms of quality and lifetime. There has never been a doubt about the desirability of OLED for automotive makers, who like the resolution, colour, deep black and flexible form factors of OLED. Added to the news that Denso is investing in JOLED, as we reported last week, this month looks like a significant one for the future of OLED. (BR)
