LG Display Advances FLiPP OLED Manufacturing Technology
LG Display plans to introduce its FLiPP (Flip) OLED manufacturing process in IT products, starting with laptops and monitors. The method is intended to support brighter, longer-lasting displays, while the company also reports potential reductions in power consumption. Choi Young-seok, the company’s chief technology officer, discussed the process at an online technical seminar on the 8th. LG Display says it could also apply the manufacturing method to other product categories. The change affects pixel formation, substrate size and material-use efficiency.
One reported change concerns the aperture ratio, which measures the share of a screen that emits light. LG Display says FLiPP increases this ratio from 42 per cent to 65 per cent. The company links the higher ratio to three possible results: brightness can reach 1.6 times its former level, lifespan can extend to 2.4 times its previous duration, or power consumption can fall by 13 per cent. The figures are alternatives, not a claim that all three benefits occur together. They use different measures: brightness and lifespan are expressed as multiples, while the power saving is given as a percentage.
OLED screens have traditionally been produced using a fine metal mask (FMM), a metal plate pierced by small openings. Red, green and blue light-emitting materials pass through those openings to form the pixels. The method depends on the plate maintaining its shape and on its holes being arranged closely enough to create the required pattern. As the mask grows, its centre can sag. There are also limits to how densely you can pack the openings. These physical constraints are among the restrictions FLiPP is designed to remove.
Rather than directing light-emitting materials through a perforated plate, FLiPP applies them across a broader area. Light-patterned etching then leaves the sections needed to form pixels and removes material from the other areas. Because the process doesn’t rely on a metal mask to define the deposition pattern, it can reduce the gaps between pixels. Smaller gaps increase the share of the display surface available to emit light, as reflected in the company’s aperture-ratio figures.
The process also changes the glass format used during manufacturing. The older method used half-sized substrates because the fine metal mask could sag. FLiPP works with full glass substrates measuring 2.2 metres wide and 2.5 metres long. Using the full sheet helps minimise production waste. LG Display also reports that the efficiency of light-emitting material use rises from approximately 40 per cent under the conventional method to 74 per cent with FLiPP. This material-use figure is separate from the aperture ratio, which concerns the light-emitting area of the screen.
The potential applications cover a wide range of display sizes. LG Display says the process could theoretically be used for devices ranging from one-inch smartwatches to televisions larger than 100 inches. The company also identifies ultra-high-resolution augmented-reality (AR) and virtual-reality (VR) devices as possible applications. Despite that broad theoretical range, the company’s rollout plan names laptops and monitors first.
