Samsung OLED TV Update
Way back in 2013 when both Samsung (005930.KS) and LG Electronics (066570.KS) showed OLED TVs at CES, it looked like it was going to be a two-man race for dominance in the space, however in one of the more significant decisions in the display space over the last twenty years, Samsung decided that they would not pursue OLED TV production, citing what it called the inferior quality of the WOLED process and the lack of a cost-effective process for producing OLED TVs using the RGB process. Samsung remained the biggest proponent of small panel OLED, which uses the RGB FMM (Fine Metal Mask) process to create three color pixels, but left the OLED TV space to rival LG, who is the dominant producer (essentially the only producer) of OLED TV panels.
As we have noted many times, Samsung’s affiliate, Samsung Display is pursuing the development of an alternative process for producing large size OLED TV panels (see above), but is still in the development stage and will likely not begin mass production until next year, and then on a relatively limited basis.But it seems that SDC is not putting all of its eggs in one basket and while working toward the finalization of its QD/OLED project, is exploring another alternative that could change Samsung’s attitude toward OLED TV by allowing it to produce large panel OLED TVs using the FMM process they use when producing small panel RGB OLED displays.
Using fine metal masks to produce small panel OLED displays on Gen 6 fabs works, but while the masks are extremely rigid, when they are used in larger generation fabs, they sag enough that the sub-pixels do not align properly, which has limited their use to Gen 6 fabs or smaller. That said Samsung and tool supplier Ulvac (6728.JP) have developed a deposition system that rather than sits horizontally (where gravity works against the larger FMM) the deposition system is vertical, which negates the gravitational effect on the fine metal mask, and according to our friends at OLED-A, would allow fine metal masks to be used in a Gen 8.5 OLED fab.
Currently Samsung is evaluating the tool (produced by Ulvac) which would not only allow them to produce RGB OLED large panels but would ween them from deposition tool supplier Canon Tokki (7751.JP) who controls the OLED deposition tool market. What makes this more interesting, if it pans out, is that the process, which mirrors SDC’s small panel OLED display process, would not require a color filter, which would reduce brightness, would not require quantum dot color conversion, would not require a ‘cut’ process[1], and would likely be cheaper than QD/OLED, and SDC has idle Gen 8.5 capacity that it could more easily convert to such a process than building greenfield lines for other large panel display modalities.
Of course, this is all based on considerable conjecture as the heart of the project, the deposition tool, is under evaluation, and if acceptable, would be quite expensive given its one-off nature. That said, if, and there are still many potential ‘ifs’, Samsung is able to bypass the FMM issue and is able to produce large panel OLED displays using the RGB process, it will represent a big challenge for LG Display and could be a boon for OLED material suppliers, but we expect that we are still quite far away from this potential process being used in a mass production setting. That said, it seems that SDC is serious enough to have worked with, and likely funded some of the new tool’s development, and while that does not guarantee its implementation, it certainly gives it a way in a very large door.
[1] When large OLED panels are produced, while the substrate is Gen 8, the deposition steps require the panel be cut in half or in quarters, which means more expensive deposition tools or slower and therefore more expensive processing.
As we have noted many times, Samsung’s affiliate, Samsung Display is pursuing the development of an alternative process for producing large size OLED TV panels (see above), but is still in the development stage and will likely not begin mass production until next year, and then on a relatively limited basis.But it seems that SDC is not putting all of its eggs in one basket and while working toward the finalization of its QD/OLED project, is exploring another alternative that could change Samsung’s attitude toward OLED TV by allowing it to produce large panel OLED TVs using the FMM process they use when producing small panel RGB OLED displays.
Using fine metal masks to produce small panel OLED displays on Gen 6 fabs works, but while the masks are extremely rigid, when they are used in larger generation fabs, they sag enough that the sub-pixels do not align properly, which has limited their use to Gen 6 fabs or smaller. That said Samsung and tool supplier Ulvac (6728.JP) have developed a deposition system that rather than sits horizontally (where gravity works against the larger FMM) the deposition system is vertical, which negates the gravitational effect on the fine metal mask, and according to our friends at OLED-A, would allow fine metal masks to be used in a Gen 8.5 OLED fab.
Currently Samsung is evaluating the tool (produced by Ulvac) which would not only allow them to produce RGB OLED large panels but would ween them from deposition tool supplier Canon Tokki (7751.JP) who controls the OLED deposition tool market. What makes this more interesting, if it pans out, is that the process, which mirrors SDC’s small panel OLED display process, would not require a color filter, which would reduce brightness, would not require quantum dot color conversion, would not require a ‘cut’ process[1], and would likely be cheaper than QD/OLED, and SDC has idle Gen 8.5 capacity that it could more easily convert to such a process than building greenfield lines for other large panel display modalities.
Of course, this is all based on considerable conjecture as the heart of the project, the deposition tool, is under evaluation, and if acceptable, would be quite expensive given its one-off nature. That said, if, and there are still many potential ‘ifs’, Samsung is able to bypass the FMM issue and is able to produce large panel OLED displays using the RGB process, it will represent a big challenge for LG Display and could be a boon for OLED material suppliers, but we expect that we are still quite far away from this potential process being used in a mass production setting. That said, it seems that SDC is serious enough to have worked with, and likely funded some of the new tool’s development, and while that does not guarantee its implementation, it certainly gives it a way in a very large door.
[1] When large OLED panels are produced, while the substrate is Gen 8, the deposition steps require the panel be cut in half or in quarters, which means more expensive deposition tools or slower and therefore more expensive processing.
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