LG Display has become the world's first company to successfully verify a 'dream OLED' with blue PHOLED for mass production. The first panels will be unveiled this month.
Blue phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) – unlike the blue fluorescent OLED used in all OLED displays today – has remained one of the biggest technical challenges for more than 20 years. The red and green OLED pixels are already phosphorescent.
- "In the display industry, “dream OLED” refers to an OLED panel that achieves phosphorescence for all three primary colors of light (red, green, and blue). OLED panel light emission methods are broadly categorized into fluorescence and phosphorescence. Fluorescence is a simpler process in which materials emit light immediately upon receiving electrical energy, but its luminous efficiency is only 25%. In contrast, phosphorescence briefly stores received electrical energy before emitting light. Although it is technically more complex, this method offers luminous efficiency of 100% and uses a quarter as much power as fluorescence," explained LG Display.
Dream OLED is ready
LG Display has now verified the commercialization stage of blue PHOLED panels, meaning that they are essentially ready for mass production. The company referred to this as the "final step".
LG Display has partnered with Universal Display Corp (UDC) for the blue PHOLED material, and the two companies have been collaborating on the project for eight months.
- "In particular, LG Display is the first to succeed in reaching the commercialization stage of blue phosphorescent OLED panels, where performance evaluation, optical characteristics, and processability on actual mass production lines should all be confirmed."
First panels to be showcased this month
LG Display will showcase its first blue PHOLED panels at SID Display Week 2025 in San Jose, California, beginning May 11.
These will be small and medium-sized panels for smartphone, tablets and similar devices. While LG Display expects blue PHOLED to "expand rapidly" to other display types, it has not commented specifically on TV or monitor panels just yet.
LG Display's first dream OLED panel with blue PHOLED. Photo: Company
The panels use a hybrid two-stack tandem structure, where the lower layer emits blue light through fluorescence and the upper layer through phosphorescence. This design initially enables about 15% lower power consumption while maintaining similar stability, i.e. lifetime. LG Display has not shared specifications yet, but more information is expected at SID.
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LG Display supplies OLED panels to major consumer electronics brands including Apple, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony, Panasonic, Philips and others.
The commercialization of blue PHOLED is great news for consumers as it will offer OLED displays with improved picture quality and energy efficiency, though likely at a higher cost initially.
- "The successful commercialization of blue phosphorescence technology, which has been called the final piece of the ‘dream OLED’ puzzle, will become an innovative milestone towards the next generation of OLED," said Soo-young Yoon, CTO and EVP, LG Display. "We expect to secure a leading position in the future display market through blue phosphorescence technology."
