After the calendar year is almost overrepresented, throw thealready their shadows. It is not yet clear whether the following advances in manufacturing technology will also be seen next year - but it could definitely be groundbreaking.
Like the company “Applied Materials”, after all one of the world’s largest manufacturers of OLED production systems, in onePress releaseexplains, a breakthrough in the monitor market is expected to occur with a new manufacturing process called “MAX OLED”.
- As a result, the MAX OLED panels produced using this method are said to be up to three times brighter compared to the previous process. The resolution can also be increased by a factor of 2.5.
- At the same time, those manufactured using MAX OLED are significantly more durable and economical: Applied Materials cites a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption and a five times longer lifespan.
To achieve these results, Applied Materials says it is taking a “radically different approach” to producing the OLED panels.
The usual method for this has so far been »Fine Metal Masking« (FMM): For this purpose (greatly simplified) the necessary organic materials for the different colors of the respective pixels are attached to the glass substrate using a mask.
Applied Materials, however, does not use this mask. Instead, the organic materials are “evaporated” using a proprietary system. The company promises “excellent accuracy in pixel placement,” which will also result in a reduction in production costs for the manufacturers themselves.
This should also eliminate one of the biggest disadvantages of producing large panels: Compared to small devices such as smartphones, producing larger screens is significantly more expensive.
MAX OLED, on the other hand, is much easier to scale because the material area per pixel is larger. The new manufacturing technology is particularly aimed at tablets, monitors and ultimately also TVs.
Even if it is still unclear when the first monitors with MAX OLED panels will come onto the market, at least one of the first buyers has already been determined. According to the press release, Samsung Display is one of the first contractual partners to acquire manufacturing equipment for the new technology.
