Samsung Display announced that it has acquired eMagin which develops and produces white OLED and RGB OLED on silicon (OLEDoS) for use in VR and AR headsets.

The acquisition of eMagin will cost Samsung Display $218 million. eMagin describes itself as the "leading US producer of OLED microdisplays" for extended reality (XR), an umbrella term for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets.

- "We expect XR (Extended Reality) devices to have significant potential of growth in the future, and eMagin’s technology in this space will enable Samsung to offer innovative products to more customers and strengthen its XR-related business," said Joo Sun Choi, President & CEO of Samsung Display.


OLED on silicon (OLEDoS)
OLED microdisplays are produced on silicon rather than more conventional methods meaning that they can have very high pixel density and over 10,000 nits brightness. 

For example, eMagin is selling a 1.07-inch OLED microdisplay with a resolution of 2072x2072 pixels (9.3 µm pixel pitch).

- "The South Korean display panel maker is planning to develop both W-OLED and color filter method as well as RGB OLEDoS. It will be supplying the former to parent company Samsung Electronics and the latter to Apple," reported Korean newspaper The Elec.


 One of eMagin's high-resolution OLED microdisplays. Photo: eMagin

With OLED produced on silicon, resolution can be much higher, but for now it sounds like Samsung Display is planning to use eMagin's ressources only for microdisplays.

- "By teaming with Samsung Display, we will be able to achieve the full potential of our next-generation microdisplay technology with a partner that can provide the resources and expertise we will need to scale production. Moreover, our customers will benefit from resulting improvements to our production capabilities in terms of yield, efficiency, and quality control," said Andrew G. Sculley, eMagin CEO.

- Source: eMagin, The Elec