Samsung SDI Develops World's
Largest AMOLED Panel Using LTPS

Almost ready for the mass production of its latest breakthrough product

Samsung SDI has developed a 31-inch (79-cm) Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) panel, the world's largest, using the Low-Temperature Poly-Silicon (LTPS).
A TV set adopting the latest next-generation AMOLED panel was released at the annual 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from Jan. 7-10. Samsung SDI's development of the 31-inch AMOLED panel is expected to bring a step closer the arrival of an era when the revolutionary panel will replace the existing liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panels (PDP), industry analysts say.
The LTPS technology gives AMOLED panels a longer life and greater stability compared to another type of amorphous silicon (a-Si) and they use less electricity, but there is a drawback: making them in large sizes is not easy.
However, Samsung SDI has succeeded in the development of large-sized AMOLED panels using the LTPS technology by capitalizing on the experience and expertise it has accumulated in the PMOLED field.
Samsung SDI will soon begin the mass production of the large-sized AMOLED panels using the LTPS technology. To this end, it has developed its own technologies, such as the Fine Metal Mask and a low-resistance metallization process.
The 31-inch, full HD-class AMOLED panel measures 550 cd/m2 in brightness and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio with a 35,000-hour lifespan.
In particular, Samsung SDI has a light-emitting diode to realize the color reproduction range of about 100 percent, much higher than the 70 percent of existing products.
The thickness of the module is 4.3 mm, one-tenth that of the normal LCD panel and the latest AMOLED panel uses half the average electricity of a 32-inch LCD panel.
You Ui-jin, vice president at Samsung SDI in charge of the AMOLED business, said, "It is significant to overcome the difficulty in making bigger AMOLED panels using the LTPS technology."With the development of the latest AMOLED panel, Samsung SDI can prove that it has the capability to develop both small and large-sized AMOLED panels, he said.
Samsung SDI, one of the world's pioneers in the production of next-generation displays, is accelerating its bid to jumpstart activity in the AMOLED sector.
AMOLED is dubbed a "pie-in-the-sky"display with a response time in the range of a microsecond, 1,000 times faster than the conventional LCD. It is super-thin at one-third that of a LCD panel and consumes half the power, since it does not require a backlight.
Mobile products equipped with AMOLEDs, ranging from deluxe DMB handsets and WiBro phones to personal multimedia players, have the potential for explosive growth and will most likely be recognized as premium-class products. nw

Models show off the world's largest AMOLED panel using the LTPS technology, developed by Samsung SDI.

Samsung SDI CEO Kim Soon-taek