Recently, display technology has evolved beyond simply viewing screens, offering an experience akin to scenes from movies unfolding right in front of our eyes. Captivating with vivid colors and brightness, it continues to advance into smarter technologies. LG Display’s recent unveiling of the 4th-generation OLED has garnered significant attention from the industry and global media. Let’s uncover the stories behind the innovation with LG Display’s product planners and developers.
Evolution of OLED Technology: Primary RGB Tandem
Q: What is the most significant feature of the 4th-generation OLED?
A: The most notable feature of the 4th-generation OLED is its industry-leading brightness, achieving 4,000 nits, a 33% increase from the 3,000 nits of the 3rd generation OLED. “Nits” measure light intensity, where 1 nit equals the brightness of one candle. Imagine the brightness of 4,000 candles—this allows for perfect blacks and brighter whites, delivering more vivid visuals.
Q: Can you explain the ‘Primary RGB Tandem’, which is key to brightness improvement?
A: In OLED displays, a “Tandem” structure refers to the connection of individual pixels in series. The “Primary RGB Tandem” describes a structure where the primary colors—Red (R), Green (G), and Blue (B)—are stacked independently to produce light. While the 3rd-generation OLED featured three layers (two for blue and one for red and green), the 4th-generation OLED separates red and green into their own layers, resulting in a total of four layers. This separation allows each color to emit light more independently, enhancing brightness. In addition, separating red and green into individual layers improves color purity, resulting in a 40% increase in color brightness (2,100 nits) and a color reproduction rate of 99.5% based on DCI standards. This allows for richer and more accurate colors across all content.
Q: Doesn’t adding a layer consume more energy?
A: Surprisingly, the 4th-generation OLED has actually improved energy efficiency by 20% compared to the 3rd-generation OLED. Improved efficiency means that the energy extracted is much higher compared to the energy input. So, this technology allows us to achieve higher brightness with the same amount of power.
Q: Were there challenges during mass production?
A: Scaling a new technology for mass production always presents challenges. Transitioning from R&D to large-scale manufacturing involves adapting equipment and conditions for each layer. Ensuring stable thin-film characteristics as the deposition environment changes was a significant task. It required extensive research and adjustments to stabilize the process, which was eventually successful, leading to global acclaim for the 4th-generation OLED technology.
From Perfect Picture Quality to Human-Friendly Technology
Q: How do you think the 4th-generation OLED would be for people who watch movies on their TVs at home?
A: When we watch TV, sometimes light causes surrounding objects to be reflected on the screen or black areas of the display to appear washed out and hard to see. It can also lower the color accuracy and color gamut of many displays. However, our 4th-generation OLED featuring ultra-low reflection technology blocks 99% of internal and external light, so even when watching TV in a bright room, you can enjoy clear, sharp picture quality without any distractions.
One of the biggest advantages of the 4th-generation OLED is its ability to achieve perfect blacks. It clearly distinguishes between dark and bright areas, maintains color accuracy (100%) without significant color shift, and provides a cinematic feel even when you’re not in a completely dark environment. Additionally, with today’s high-quality gaming graphics like movies, LG Display plans to apply Primary RGB Tandem technology, which is used in our 4th-generation OLED, to not only our high-end TV panel lineup that will be mass produced this year but also gradually to Gaming OLED products.
Q. For people who are exposed to displays all day, how about the blue light emissions of LG Display’s OLED?
A. In our OLED panels, it has been significantly reduced to about 45%, which is therefore about half that of LCDs. This means that the 4th-generation OLED helps reduce eye strain and support better sleep quality, making screen time more comfortable.
Moreover, considering the growing focus on eco-friendliness, LG Display’s OLEDs use 90% less plastic compared to LCDs, and the recycling rate of components during disposal is over 92.7%.
At the Center of Innovation: 4th-Generation OLED
LG Display’s 4th-generation OLED represents a leap beyond previous limitations, setting new standards in the TV and display market. With its brighter, more vivid, and greater energy efficiency, this technology promises to enrich our daily experiences with unprecedented innovation. Don’t you think this advancement in OLED technology is exciting for what’s to come?
