Considerable talk was generated when China’ largest panel producer BOE exhibited a 95” 8K OLED panel at the SID show last month, giving rise to speculation that BOE intends to both produce that panel commercially and also to produce a line of 4 additional large panel OLED panel sizes starting at 55”.  The panel shown was produced on a pilot line at BOE’s B5 fab, using a WOLED (White OLED) process similar to that used by LG Display and an IGZO backplane.  The pilot line and the remaining B5 fab is set up as a Gen 8.5 line using a half cut process, which means the system can deposit OLED materials on half of the Gen 8.5 sheet and must process the other half separately.  Given that 2 95” panels can be cut from a Gen 8.5 substrate at an efficiency of 90%, the half cut process is ideal for this panel size, but half cut processing is more difficult than the ¼ cut processing used for smaller IT panels and making that transition can bring down yield.  It would seem that BOE has mastered that change, at least on it pilot line, allowing it to produce large OLED panels on a Gen 8 line.
The ability to process ½ cut OLED panels on a full 15,000 sheet/month line, such as exists at the company’s B16 fab in Chengdu, BOE must be able equip the line with ½ cut deposition equipment, which is typically produced by Canon-Tokki (CAJ).   Those tools are both expensive and have an extended lead times, which means ordering the equipment to get into the queue is essential for timely production and the cut status of BOE’s Gen 8.5 lines at either B5 or B16 is unknown.  We estimate that based on a 15,000 sheet line at 100% yield, BOE could produce ~60,000 OLED panels each month, which when using a more realistic yield of 75% becomes ~45,000 units monthly, and we believe that a 75% yield for a new producer and a new process is generous, and while we have already seen headlines predicting the rapid share loss of South Korean OLED producers, we expect the impact of BOE’s push toward large panel OLED commercialization will take some time to materialize.
The good news for BOE is that relatively few OLED TV panels are produced each year, with an expected 10m panels this year, and therefore a relatively small production line will have an impact on share of the market.  That said, we believe the biggest issue facing BOE in this situation is yield, which, at times, has been a limiting factor for LG Display, who has had more experience producing large panel WOLED displays than any other producer, especially when opening a new line or fab.  Producing a few ultra-large panels on a pilot line is one thing but producing high volumes is another and much of BOE’s OLED experience in in small panel OLED production.  As a public company in China, BOE does have to work within certain financial norms, and is expanding its OLED production to meet Apple’s (APPL) needs for small panel OLED displays, while developing production infrastructure for IT OLED products to try to capture Apple’s iPad business in the future.  Running what would likely be a money losing fab for many months puts additional pressure on the company’s profitability, especially during a period when LCD panel prices are declining.  We would expect BOE to sample large panel OLED displays to all of LGD’s customers, and would likely be the lower cost alternative, but both the ability to meet volume targets and reliability of product will take time to become established, so our expectations are that BOE’s impact on the large panel OLED space will be modest this year and will take time to build in 2023.
Based on our calculations, we would expect BOE to be able to produce 473,400 units during the 1st 12 months of production on a 15,000 sheet line, against LGD’s estimated 10m units this year.  Impact yes, ‘glorious revolution’ maybe less so.

In the US (2020) Christmas is the biggest spending holiday, generating ~84% of yearly retail sales, with Labor Day a distant 2nd at 3.66%, but that does not preclude retailers from offering financial inducements to encourage shoppers during lesser holidays, especially when demand has been weak in previous months and inventories are high.  With Memorial Day coming up on Monday, retailers, both brick & mortar and on-line, are beginning to offer discounts to grab some attention and stimulate CE sales.  We went back to Samsung’s (005930.KS) Mini-LED/QD TV line to see if there have been significant price changes in both the older 2021 line and the new 2022 line.
For reference Samsung introduced its 8K/4K Mini-LED/Quantum Dot TV line in May of last year, offering two categories of 8K Mini-LED/QD TVs, two categories of Mini-LED/QD 4K TVs, and three lines of Quantum Dot only TVs, for a total of 35 different models.  This year they updated those lines and brought the model count down to 33, eliminating some models that had very similar features, but continued to sell much of the 2021 line along with the newer 2022 models.
 As we have been collecting pricing data on the 2021 line since its release, the latest round of discounts has now brought the price of last year’s Mini-LED/QD and QD only line down from 29.2% early this month (from original price last May) to down 34.2% currently, although only 24 of the 35 models were at their lowest price point, down from 27 earlier this month.  8K Mini-LED/QD sets have declined the most since last year, down 41.7%, while 4K Mini-LED/QD sets have declined 39.9% over the last year, with QD only sets down 28.1% in the aggregate.
Since the Samsung 2022 Mini-LED/QD line was released in April today’s readings are the first to show discounting from those original prices, with an overall decline of 7.0% from initial April pricing, andthat includes one model set (4K Mini-LED/QD) that was just released.  8K Mini-LED/QD sets declined 8.1%, while 4K Mini-LED/QD sets declined 5.3%, and QD only sets dropped 8.3%.  In order to illustrate the price path of the 2021 models and the staring points of the equivalent 2022 models we have the price charts for the various models below.  W note that while the 2021 timeline is accurate, we have added the 2022 models as if they followed the same 2021 timeline to see how they track against last year’s price reductions and starting points, with the 2022 models represented as dotted lines. 
In most cases the 2022 line initial prices were lower than those in 2021, with the average 2022 starting price for the entire line 6.7% below the initial price of the 2021 line, which would portend interim and holiday pricing for the 2022 line below that of last year.  LCD TV panel prices have certainly come down on a y/y basis and we expect Mini-LED backlight arrays have also been reduced in price as new suppliers enter the market, but other components, raw materials, and transport costs have increased, offsetting some of those panel and backlight price declines.  Chinese brand TCL (000100.CH), the first TV brand to offer Mini-LED TV sets, has just released their 2022 (4th generation) Mini-LED/QD set line, which is priced considerably below the Samsung line, which would likely account for Samsung’s first round of price cuts (see Table 1 ), although Samsung considers its TV line to have more sophisticated features and a higher quality than Chinese brands and therefore deserving of a premium.  Consumers will determine if that is true for this line….

China’s TCL (000100.CH) was the first major TV set brand to release a mini-LED based TV and is now on its 4th generation of such devices, while major competitor Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has recently released it 2nd generation Mini-LED TV lineup.   TCL has approached the Mini-LED/QD TV market differently than its competitors, pricing its sets considerably below major brands to generate high unit volumes and the most recent additions are more of the same.  While we don’t yet have full specifications to compare against for the TCL line, we can give some approximation as to the comparable sets in the Samsung line, which points out that price difference.  Again, the TCL and Samsung sets do not have the same feature sets so a point-by-point comparison is not being made here, just a rough idea as to the price points and the TVs have yet 

China is the largest market for TV sets so growth and prospects for the country’s TV set business is a significant data point toward understanding the global TV market, a cornerstone of the CE space.  2020 was a good year for TV set sales overall as COVID-19 kept viewers indoors and more deeply interested in watching TV.  China saw TV set shipments of 44.5m units that year, generating TV set sales just under $17.95B us, however last year the price of LCD TV panels continued to climb and took a toll on China’s TV set unit volume, which declined by 13.8%.  While this was bad news for China’s TV set brands, the value of those TV set sales increased by 6.6% last year as panel prices increased in 1H ’21 along with average TV set prices.  That said, as TV panel prices declined in 2H ’21, TV set prices remained relatively high, with Chinese TV brands trying to gain margin in what is a low margin business. 
But it seems that the relatively high TV set prices and a less onerous COVID infection rate have begun to take a further toll on TV set shipments in China, with 1Q ’22 TV set unit volume down 10.8% y/y and sales down 11.0% y/y.  Given the strong 1Q seen last year weaker results in 1Q this year should not be a big surprise, but more telling will be 2Q results in China that would be more indicative of a trend, but while TV panel prices are still declining, component shortages and price increases will likely push unit volumes lower.  The good news for TV set brands in China however is that unit volume comparisons will become easier in 2H while sales comparisons should be a bit more difficult. 
Chinese TV set brands are a bit slower to reduce the aggressive unit volume targets that they set toward the end of the previous year and sometimes do not publicly make those changes known, although leaks from suppliers now tend to eventually reveal same, but Chinese TV set brands are facing a difficult problem in that set prices are still relatively high giving little incentive for Chinese consumers to upgrade.  Some of the higher price points are due to component and transportation costs, but the Chinese set market is proving to be a bit less elastic that brands might have assumed, with the average price of a TV set in China falling by 7.5% q/q in 1Q this year while both unit volume and sales dollars both declined. 
The problem seems to be that from a consumer’s standpoint, the average price of a TV set in China is basically flat y/y, after peaking in 2Q last year, so there seems to be little incentive to trade up currently.  If Chinese brands are willing or able to bring TV set prices down further, there is some chance that Chinese consumers could see value later this year against last year’s higher ASP’s, which is what both Chinese TV set brands and panel producers are counting on, and likely the reason volume targets have not changed in light of the 1Q weakness.  The May 1st 5 day Labor Day holiday in China is expected to show weaker sales than last year despite aggressive promotions but many expect it to be the turning point for the CE space in China, with 2H pulling Chinese CE brands back into a more positive zone.  Seasonally that would be the obvious bet but much will depend on how stringent the Chinese government is concerning further COVID lockdowns and how flexible CE brands will be toward lowering prices if raw material and component prices begin to ease, and those are much less tangible situations.

​We have noted the ongoing negotiations between OLED TV panel producer LG Display (LPL) and Samsung Electronics that have been the fodder for headlines citing “Signed, Sealed, & Delivered” to “Still Very Far Apart” over the last few months.  As the days pass, it gets more difficult for Samsung to gain enough momentum to establish an OLED TV presence, with a Chinese firm indicating that it believes Samsung will not offer an OLED TV line this year, other than its own QD/OLED sets produced by affiliate Samsung Display (pvt). 
Citing a number of factors the Chinese firm RUNTO has lowered its forecast for global OLED TV shipments  from 10m units this year to between 7.9m and 8.1m, reducing its growth rate expectations from 53.8% to 23.0% based on 6.5m units shipped last year and also lowered its forecast for TV shipments overall from 219m to less than 210m units.  With the negotiations still not final, and TV panel prices moving further in Samsung’s favor, it gets progressively harder for Samsung to avail itself of the ~4m total OLED sets it needs to represent 10% of its TV sales according to RUNTO.  With expectations that Samsung Display will be able to produce between 750,000 and 1.4m QD/OLED units this year (We expect between 700,000 and 725,000 units – as per our 04-18-22 note) that would leave Samsung with the need for purchasing between 3m and 3.6m WOLED panels from LG Display this year to meet RUNTO’s 10% of total TV sales target. 
With RUNTO’s 11m unit expectations for LG Display’s WOLED panel production and using the same percentages purchased by LG Electronics, Sony (SNE) and other customers last year, leaving ~1.5m units for Samsung to purchase.  When added to the QD/OLED sets purchased from Samsung Display, the total of 2.25m to 3m units falls short of the 10% of TV sales RUNTO feels is necessary for Samsung to initiate an OLED line this year.  Based on that conclusion, the war in Ukraine, the COVID outbreaks and lockdowns in China, and inflation, the company makes the assumption that Samsung will not purchase WOLED panels from LG Display this year.
Again, these are not our assumptions or numbers but we present the concept as a possible outcome (one of many) that are possible given the current circumstances surrounding the display business.  While we do not agree with some of the estimates, not would we assume that unit volume share allocations would be identical to those made last year, the above is certainly possible, although such a decision by Samsung would put the introduction of the expected QD/OLED TV product in a different light.  As part of an overall OLED TV strategy QD/OLED can be offered as the ‘top tier’ of OLED TVs, while on its own it is more of a curiosity than a full product line. 
While we value the scenario noted above, we expect there are many more variables that play into the Samsung LG negotiations and delays have been working in Samsung’s favor.  If Samsung can negotiate a long-term unit volume based contract with LGD at a lower price than late last year, it would serve them well over the next few years, and if that means postponing the full OLED line this year, we expect Samsung’s TV marketing department will find another hook to attract customers during the holiday season.  Regardless, it is interesting to hear what is in our mind a more radical view of the situation, rather than the daily “We know the answer” headlines that tend to appear after an influencer speaks with a low level supplier...

8K TVs are a difficult sell to consumers and rightly so as there is little 8K content that would allow consumers to take advantage of the increase in resolution that 8K TV sets provide.  However each year TV brands offer the public 8K sets, promising that they will be able to watch their favorite 4K (or less) programs using the upscalers built into 8K sets, while waiting for the world to catch up to 8K broadcast and content standards.  The problem is that by the time there is enough 8K content to make a difference to TV purists, the 8K set you just purchased will be either outdated or unable to display the then current content, which would cause considerable consternation from past purchasers.
There are lots of reasons why 8K broadcast content is not available (other than in Japan in limited quantities), but the bottom line is cost for broadcasters and bandwidth for streaming services, so unless you are satisfied with watching a few travelogues and animals in the wild, 8K TV set purchases should be put on the back burner.  We have watched a continual decline in 8K set unit volume estimates over the last year, although brands themselves don’t seem willing to make an estimates of where the 8K TV set market will be over the next few years, so we have put together an aggregation of those estimates we have found, excluding those that we know have been updated during recent reality checks.  We note that assuming a steady-state 220m TV sets sold each year shows that even the most aggressive estimates in 2025 show a penetration rate below 2%, so we would not be expecting TV brands to be adding significant 8K capacity, other than as demo units or for sales to China where 8K seems to be growing the fastest, but with Samsun owning some 65% of the 8K TV market recently, there js little left for others and producing such 8K sets in small quantities is a costly process.  Here are the aggregated estimates:

Estimating production goals is like herding cats; when you think you’ve got them rounded up, you notice that some of the ones you counted are now missing, so we give credit to those who make such attempts, especially knowing that they are moving targets that have the potential to change a number of times during the year.  OMDIA has made such predictions for the top three TV set brands, with the caveat that purchased panels and goals do not always translate into actual TV set sales, and in the hope that they remain unadulterated for at least a few months, we review them here.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is the most aggressive in its panel purchase expectations for this year, up 16.1% over last year’s purchase estimate and up 31.6% over last year’s estimated TV shipments, while TCL’s panel purchase plans are up 12.7% over last year’s plan and up 48.6% over last year’s TV shipments.  LG Electronics is only expecting to increase TV panel purchases this year by 3.9%, which would be an increase of 25.5% over last year’s TV set shipments.

As to the sources for these panels, most TV brands use multiple sources to secure TV panels, both for price and to ensure that disruptions at a particular supplier will not impact the entire TV set production process.  That said there are some changes this year, particularly Samsung Electronics’ TV panel purchases from Samsung Display, which are expected to decrease from 7.1m units last year to ~4m units this year as SDC winds down it final large panel production fab.  Much of that difference will be made up by LG Display who will see their large panel LCD shipments increase from .9m last year to ~4.2m this year, including ~2m OLED panels, over which the two companies have been in negotiations for some time.  Samsung will also procure 1m QD/OLED panels from SDC this year.
LG Electronics (066590.KS) seems to be taking a different tact toward TV set sales this year, which is reflected in its panel ordering plans.  LGE is concentrating more on profitability than volumes by focusing more on the premium TV set segment and less on generic TV models.  It is expected that they will be purchasing ~5m premium TV panels consisting of ~1m Mini-LED TV panels (up from .9m) and 4m quantum dot panels (up from 3m), increasing their focus on the premium LCD segment and also increasing their purchase of OLED TV panels that also contribute to the premium TV product tier.
The change in focus by LGE leaves room for China’s TCL (000100.CH) to push forward and potentially become the 2nd largest TV set brands globally.  While this would certainly be headline producing, especially in China, while units are commendable, sales leadership and profitability are more so and TCL’s emphasis on undercutting both competitors on price will be a challenge should LGE be successful in building its premium TV business further.  That said, TCL will also increase its LCD TV panel purchases from affiliate Chinastar (pvt) from 18.4m units last year to 22.5m units this year, a portion of which will come from the LCD fab it purchased from Samsung Display in 2020 for $1.08b (Samsung used some of the capital to buy a 12.3% stake in TCL at the time).  In theory this should help TCL to be competitive as it uses more of its own capacity to fill its panel needs.
While all three TV set brands roll the dice each year in reference to panel prices, Samsung has the most leverage, in both directions.  When Samsung Display was a major LCD TV panel supplier, positive panel price movements caused SDC to see higher utilization rates and become more profitable, while Samsung’s TV business struggled with weaker demand and an inability to completely pass on those higher prices.  When panel prices declined, SDC saw low profitability while Samsung’s TV business saw stronger demand.  While that balance was never perfect, it no longer exists for the LCD TV category at Samsung as SDC will be out of the LCD TV panel business entirely this year, meaning Samsung will be buying almost all of its TV panels from outside panel producers.  If TV panel prices rise, TV set sales will weaken but will have less impact on SDC, with small panel OLED displays being their primary product, while Samsung’s TV segment will see lower profitability, however if TV panel prices remain low or weaken, Samsung’s TV segment should see better shipments without the negative offset of weakness at SDC.
Again, no scenario is perfect but it seems that Samsung has made the bet that overall it can do better by purchasing LCD TV panels in the open market than it can by producing them itself, which would indicate that Samsung’s long-term picture for LCD TV panel prices is down, while TCL seems to be going in the opposite direction by increasing its own panel production capabilities.  There is validity in both theories, although we favor the Samsung scenario a bit more when looking at the 10 year price chart for 32” TV panels, which represent ‘generic’ TV sets, but the bigger question is whether the panel procurement goals set by these major TV set manufacturers are realistic or will be subject to change during the year. 
We are perhaps a bit less optimistic about how the TV set space will play out than the three brands, but we also have no vested interest in the actual results, other than from an intellectual standpoint, but lower large panel TV prices have been the reality since August of last year, giving some hope toward  those purchase goals, but we still see some cannibalization of demand last year eating into unit demand this year, which we expect will cause those procurement goals to be lowered at least once this year.  That said, the dollar value of TV set sales should increase a bit this year, at a rate greater than unit volume, as the premium segment grows, so while units might be a focus point for headlines in the trade press, again the winner will be the most profitable, which we expect will be one of the South Korean brands, depending on promotional spending and component availability.

​For those too young to know, this is a roof antenna, similar to those that were used to receive television signals before cable and satellite TV were possible.  TV broadcast stations had transmitting antennas on towers, usually at the highest point they could find near the broadcast facility, and signals were transmitted to rooftop antennae like the above so we could watch out favorite programs, as long as the weather was good and the station was broadcasting (many stations ended broadcasting in the evening).    When satellite dish service became available and then cable, US households began to transition away from OTA (over-the-air) service.
Estimates for antenna households can be a bit shaky considering that some have both an antenna and other TV viewing sources, but a study done in 2020 indicated that 40% of TV content viewers over the age of 18 reported owning an antenna, which was up from 29% in 2019.  This translates to ~48m households based on Neilsen’s (NLSN) 121m TV household estimate for 2021.  That same survey indicated that 5% of TV content viewers also indicated that they were planning to get an antenna in the next year and 9% said they were ‘very likely’ to get one after being presented with details of what is called NextGen TV, and another study, connected with a promotional campaign to let potential viewers know about NextGen TV indicated that 40% of consumers were aware of the technology, up from 25% the year earlier.  Even more amazing was that the same survey indicated that 74% of those who viewed ads for NetxGen TV were likely to purchase a TV set from the manufacturers mentioned in the ads, up from 60% the year before, although ~30% actually made such a purchase.
Surveys and promotions aside, what makes NextGen TV so attractive (at least to survey participants)?  ATSC 3.0, which is the technical name for NextGen TV can deliver 4K HDR video, enhanced dialog, on-demand viewing options and better overall reception, all for free (if you have an antenna) and is now available in 46 US markets, which is said to cover roughly half of the US.  That said, there is a catch.  You need to have a TV that can receive ATSC 3.0 signals, otherwise you remain with the old standards that have been around for years.  A number of TV brands introduced ATSC 3.0 compatible TVs at CES 2022, with China’s Hisense (600060.CH) being the first Chinese brand to join Samsung and LG (066570.KS) in providing ATSC 3.0 tuners in their TVs.
That said, when we said TVs, those with NextGen tuners tend to be high end TVs, with Sony (SNE) the only company offering ATSC 3.0 tuners in all of its TV products.  Mediatek (2454.TT) has made an agreement with a broadcast industry trade group that will help to bring down the cost of ATSC 3.0 component development but that will not happen until 2023, with much of the momentum in 2024 and 2025, but there are alternatives, such as an external tuner that can accept those signals, even if your TV cannot, although they start at ~$200 and can  be a bit difficult to set up, or you can try an ‘OTA DVR’ (~$300) but that has to be hard wired to the TV and would not make the OTA 3.0 signal available to others in the household.
All in, while NextGen TV is eventually going to give a select group of potential users a step up I their TV quality, it is certainly not going to happen overnight and will take a few years before it will become inexpensive and commonplace and while the surveys and data from industry groups promoting the technology will continue to espouse the enthusiasm that participants say they have toward the technology, coverage, cost, and content (there is little 4K OTA content available currently) will make the reality of NextGen TV a bit less than the surveys might indicate.  We are all for it, but as always, we are a bit careful about the path toward consumer acceptance.  It will eventually help those that cannot afford the myriad of streaming or fiber-based services, but its going to take time before it has real traction.

LG Electronics (066570.KS) has announced prices for its 2022 OLED TV line, or at least some of it.  What they have released is the pricing for the “C” series and the “G” series OLED TVs, which are the top two price tiers,  and the “B” series, which are mid-range models,  leaving the “A” series, which is the low-end of the OLED line undefined.  In the table below we compare current (2022) TV set initial prices with last year’s initial prices and where they are currently to give some idea as to how they might decline over the coming year.  We note that the "B" series was not expected to be released in the US last year but eventually made it way to the states as a special offer on the LG website only, which is why that data is omitted.
The “B” series 2022 pricing is 4.6% higher than the 2021 “B” series, while the “C” series is 5.1% lower and the “G” series is also 5.1% lower.  A smaller size (42”) was added to the “C” series this year as was a 97” model to the “G” series, although the 97” model has yet to be priced.  When comparing 2021 initial pricing against where the sets are selling today, the “B” series is down 32.6% from initial pricing, the “C” series is down 29.9% from initial pricing, and the “G” series is down 25.8% from initial pricing.  We note at the bottom of the table is the pricing for Samsung’s (033570.KS) QD/OLED TVs for comparison and are 9.1% (55”) and 16.7% (65”) more expensive than LG’s most expensive “G” series 2022 OLED TVs, less than we had anticipated given the relatively early stages of QD/OLED panel production.

​Display technology continues to improve, adding a diverse cadre of technology types and ever more sophisticated techniques for delivering the best possible image for the lowest price.  That said, there are certainly times when new technology does not always have a practical application, at least for consumers.  One such development is transparency, or the ability to create an image that does not block what is behind the screen it is displayed on.  There are certainly uses for such displays, particularly HUDs (Heads-Up-Displays), which are beginning to appear in automotive applications, in digital signage, where they are the most useful, providing images and information without blocking product or store real estate, and in AR (Augmented Reality), where images are superimposed on a transparent glass or plastic lens.  Some transparent-like systems are not truly transparent in that they project an image on a transparent optical member or in front of your eye using mirrors, but what we are speaking about here are transparent displays, ones that generate images using LCD or OLED technology but have a transparent rather than a solid (black) backplane.
The degree of transparency is a key factor in determining the effectiveness of such displays, with transparent LCD displays having considerably lower transparency than those using OLED technology.  As OLED is a self-emissive technology, it requires no backlight and can therefore contain less material that would block light passing through the display.  Transparency between 35% and 40% is not unusual for transparent OLED displays while transparent LCD displays, because of the backlight, have lower transparency metrics.  There are other important factors in evaluating transparent displays, such as the accuracy of color, viewing angle, and brightness, but these are common to almost any display, with transparency making some of them a bit more important.
Given that LG Display (LPL) is the sole producer of mass produced large panel OLED displays, the company has produced a number of transparent models that are used primarily in signage applications, however, the South Korean trade press is citing an alleged proposal LG Display has made to its parent LG Electronics (066570.KS) to launch a retail oriented transparent OLED TV.  The proposal is said to be based on a fixed 55” transparent OLED display to be released next year, with a few modifications to the ones used in commercial applications (Figure 2), such as a strengthened glass cover.  That said, we find it a bit difficult to pinpoint residential applications where constant transparency would be useful.  Perhaps in the kitchen while watching a recipe video and monitoring kids playing near-by, but its difficult for us to come up with applications on a residential level that would benefit from transparent TV technology.
Xiaomi (1810.HK) released a 55” transparent OLED TV in 2020, with the display produced by LG Display, which sold for $7,200 but while generating considerable excitement among electronics influencers, sold very few units and not surprisingly so.  We are not surprised that LG Display is pursuing such a device in order to further fill its large panel OLED fabs and justify the expense of past transparency R&D, but we would be surprised if LG Electronics would take on such a project as the end market would be rather small.  We are sure there are other residential applications that we have not thought of that LG marketing will tick off in their proposal, but as a mass market device, we would rather see the time spent on other developments.