As reported by South Korean media, display and semiconductor equipment supplier APS Holdings has disclosed that the South Korean government has selected one of its Micro OLED display project, where APS will be co-developing a 4000 PPI AR glass prototype with other developers of the project.

As reported, a display that contains a high level of brightness is difficult in development for AR glasses as they are often used in outdoor environments, whereas the prominent challenge for suppliers in VR equipment lies on thin and lightweight displays.

The existing AR and VR equipment adopts white light OLED with color filters on silicon substrate, and the usage of color filters impedes the realization of high brightness.

APS believes that RGB OLED is the optimal choice for AR/VR equipment of high brightness due to advantages such as hight brightness, low power consumption, low heat generation, and rapid response time, as well as the lack of white light pixels and color filters.

However, APS also pointed out that the fine metal mask (FMM) required by OLED deposition is still relatively difficult to produce, and only a maximum of 600 PPI display resolution is possible based on the exiting technology.

Data shows that FMM is a consumable core component in OLED evaporation, which primarily deposits RGB organic substances during the production process of OLED and forms pixels.

APS commented that the current technology mostly produces FMM through the wet chemical etching method, and the company plans to adopt the laser patterning method to implement precise hole punching on the mask.

Micro OLED is derived from the OLED display technology, and possesses an apparent advantage in small-sized fields. Owing to its excellent display effect, Micro LED has become one of the research emphases for the display industry in recent years, and several suppliers have magnified on the R&D intensity on the product, such as MicroOLED from France.

MicroOLED announced in 2020 to have received a growth investment of EU€8 million from two pan-European high-tech investors Cipio Partners and Ventech, which is used to actuate the development in AR modules, as well as further enhance on the production capacity, in order to fulfil the perpetually growing demand from global clients in its Micro OLED displays.

In addition, several Micro OLED products with more than 3000 PPI were displayed at various exhibitions last year, and managed to arouse the public through the phenomenal display effect. Despite not being able to compete with Micro LED in large-sized fields, Micro OLED is constantly making a name for itself in small-sized products. (Author: LEDinside Janice)