LG Display starts under display camera tech development
Also working on hole-in display tech Company aiming for transmittance of 20% for UDC by 2024
LG Display has begun development of its own under display camera technology (UDC), TheElec has learned.
The South Korean display panel maker was also currently developing hole-in display technology, sources said.
Hole-in display punches a hole on the top side of OLED panel so that the front camera module can be placed there.
It removes the notch on the top, allowing the screen to cover more of the front face of the phone.
UDC removes the hole entirely and shows the camera hole only when the user is taking pictures with it. As the hole isn’t visible while the camera is not in use, it allows the front face of the smartphone to be entirely covered up in screen.
LG Display is aiming to secure a light transmittance rate of 20% for the surface area above the front camera by 2023 and 40% from 2024 and beyond, the sources said.
The surface area covering the front camera needs to have high transmittance so that the image sensor can absorb much light as possible.
For UDC to be achieved, the surface area above the front camera needs a resolution of 200ppi and other areas over 400ppi.
LG Display is planning to use a transparent polyimide substrate for the OLED panel that has UDC, instead of the conventional polyimide substrate it uses for the OLED panel it currently supplies to Apple.
Samsung Electronics’ smartphones already has hole-in display technology __ which is called punch-hole by affiliate Samsung Display, which supplies the OLED panels.
Meanwhile, for foldable OLED panels, LG Display current offers a 13.3-inch panel. It is planning to offer a 17-inch foldable panel by 2023 and one that is 20-inch or larger from 2024 and onwards.
The 17-inch panel will have the same curvature as the 13.3-inch version of 3.0R. The 20-inch or larger panel will have 1.5R. A smaller curvature means it can be folded more.
Lenovo used LG Display’s 13.3-inch foldable OLED panel for its Thinkpad X1 Fold that launched last year.
Samsung Display also supplied its own UDC panel this year for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. It calls its own technology under panel camera.
The display maker August last year also unveiled its 17.3-inch foldable notebook prototype called Flex note at IMID 2021 tradeshow, which had a curvature of 1.4R.