A Samsung Display executive said on Friday that MicroLED displays will likely be used over OLED display panels in augmented reality (AR) devices.
Samsung Display group leader Kim Min-woo said at MicroLED Display Workshop industry event in Seoul that this was because high luminance, or brightness, was needed to realize AR.
This will require the development of new light-emitting diodes and won’t be possible with OLED.
Display panel makers like Samsung Display are developing On Silicon panels that use silicon instead of glass to make the microdisplay needed in AR devices.
Sources have previously told TheElec that the company was developing both OLEDoS and LEDoS technologies.
The long-term aim of the display panel maker was to develop a LEDoS with 6600pixels per inch resolution.
During the event, Kim also said that AR, virtual reality and mixed reality had all different specific needs.
The executive said AR needed more brightness than VR as it interacted with the real world.
This also means it needs to be lighter and the panel smaller comparatively, he said.
OLED has conventionally lower luminance levels compared to LED. LED also uses inorganic material and doesn’t need encapsulations.
Kim said that an AR display will at minimum require 5000ppi and the pixel pitch, or the distance between the pixels, must be 5 micrometers or below and the red, green and blue subpixels must be 3 micrometers or smaller.
The LED chip said must also be 10 micrometers or smaller, he added.