OLED will be widely used in wearable devices in the future

Imagine if you hold your mobile phone in your jeans pocket, you don’t have to pull it out even if you sit down, because it’s not afraid to fold, it can be straight even if it bends. Is it very handsome? If your cell phone is strongly impacted It doesn't matter if it's even hammered, because it's soft, and it's cool to pick it up. Isn't it cool? It's not just a scene in a sci-fi blockbuster movie. A flexible screen phone might work wonders.

Not long ago, LG and Samsung launched a flexible screen mobile phone almost at the same time. Nokia recently applied for a patent for bending a folded battery. It is self-evident to take the lead in the mobile phone rivers and lakes, from the touch screen boom set off by Apple, and Samsung's opening of the big screen is evident. In this way, the flexible screen mobile phone seems to be going hot.

However, the flexible screen is currently based on OLED technology, in addition to Samsung, LG, who is still emboldened on this site? Moreover, to do a flexible screen mobile phone can not get a screen can be made, but also to see the battery, glass, etc. Can a series of key devices support it? Therefore, the flexible screen mobile phone is very beautiful to think of, but you really have to do it, or do not "click".

"Screen" neck out of the way <br> <br> flexible displays based on OLED technology to do mainly traditional TFT panel can not achieve flexible, and domestic enterprises in the relevant technical reserves is still relatively weak.

Currently, most mobile phones on the market use TFT-LCD screens, some high-end products use IPS technology, and some mobile phone applications AMOLED screens that target “tall”. Compared with OLED, TFT-LCD technology is more mature and the products are more marketable. However, flexible screens are precisely based on OLED technology.

In October this year, LG Display announced the mass production of the world's first flexible OLED panel for smart phones. At about the same time, Samsung also released the first flexible OLED screen mobile phone Galaxy Round. DisplaySearch analyst Terry told reporters that at present, China has not yet achieved mass production of flexible displays, even Samsung and LG's capacity planning is not high. However, according to his understanding, Samsung will increase its flexible display capacity next year.

“Flexible displays are mainly based on OLED technology. Traditional TFT panels cannot be flexible, and domestic companies still have relatively weak technical resources. This is why domestic manufacturers have not yet done flexible displays,” Terry said. A few months ago, the first domestic color-flexible AMOLED display was successfully developed at Guangzhou New Vision Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. At the just-concluded 15th Hi-tech fair, BOE related person in charge told reporters: "BOE does not have a flexible screen yet. After the production line of Ordos 5.5 is put into operation, it will use it to produce flexible screens."

As the leader in the domestic panel industry, BOE’s response seems to have brought the domestic flexible display industry to light. However, considering the process from production to mass production of the production line and the current status of OLED technology in China, this seems to be a little far.

In Terry's view, Samsung's production of flexible screen mobile phones is mainly a manifestation of its market strategy, and he hopes to further expand his leading position in the OLED field. However, for the moment, even the flexible screen mobile phones that Samsung has demonstrated are still not really flexible. Samsung Galaxy Round and LG G Flex are only equipped with curved screens, which are of little significance in actual use. In the future, flexible screens should be free to bend and fold. It is only the initial stage of development.

The key is not to force the device to produce a flexible <br> <br> screen phone, in addition to the screen, but also needs to support a material to match the fuselage, a power supply, battery or the like, which are key devices is still difficult to meet the requirements.

From an expert's point of view, the flexible display industry has not yet developed, and it has faced many problems in terms of process technology, equipment commissioning, and yield. To produce a flexible screen mobile phone, in addition to the screen, it also needs matching body material, power supply, and battery support, so it is difficult for the flexible screen mobile phone to form a climate in the short term.

First of all, mobile phone materials, the screen is soft, how to do the fuselage? Now the mobile phone, whether it is plastic or metal shell, it is difficult to flex with the performance of flexible screen or fold, but also continue to find new materials.

Look at the glass again, the current mobile phone basically uses the glass screen as the outer layer protection, if the flexible, folded glass screen is rubbed away for a long time, it is inevitable to wear out and break. So now the flexible screen device has chosen a plastic screen. LG Display's flexible OLED panel uses a plastic screen rather than a common glass screen, making the panel flexible and difficult to break. At the CES earlier this year, Intel also showed a flexible tablet PaperTab, which also used a flexible Plastic display. However, plastic screens are inferior to glass in terms of permeability, sensitivity, etc., and related technologies are not yet mature.

There are batteries, and the lithium batteries used in mobile phones are large and hard, which guarantees long-term battery life. To make the battery bend with a soft mobile phone, I am afraid it is difficult to achieve, and we need to study new solutions.

From this point of view, the mobile phone is really not what you want.

Wearable device widely applied <br> <br> flexible AMOLED screen lighter, if capable of being folded, bent will be more portable and easily broken. These characteristics determine its wider application space on wearable devices.

It is understood that Samsung has confirmed that it will release a flexible smartphone in 2014 or 2015 and classify curved display, flexible display, and foldable display. LG Display also told reporters that it will introduce new products with more powerful performance and differentiated design next year, so as to achieve the goal of taking the initiative in the flexible display market. Terry believes that flexible screens must be a trend for the future. Even if it is not applied to smart phones, it can also be applied to wearable devices such as smart watches. "How to show its advantages in the future, it also requires enterprises to further explore its application space." He said.

LG Display expects that the flexible display market is expected to achieve rapid growth as flexible display technology is further expanded to include automotive displays, tablet PCs, and wearable devices. Indeed, the flexible AMOLED screen is lighter and more portable if it can be folded and bent, and it is not easily broken. These characteristics determine its wider application space on wearable devices.

Imagine if you wear a wristband or wristwatch equipped with a flexible OLED screen that not only fits perfectly with your wrist, but you can also make phone calls, surf the Internet, or hang a curtain made of a flexible AMOLED display on your home. Rolling up during the day does not affect daylight. At night, it can be viewed as a TV screen. It can be considered as both convenient and dazzling. If the future can achieve such a flexible screen, then companies want to know what they are.