LG Display purportedly devoting new etching tech for OLED panels

LG Display has begun developing a new etching technology for OLED panels that will be supplied to Apple for use in upcoming iPads, according to TheElec. This makes sense as Apple is rumored to release iPad Pros with OLED displays next year.

TheElec says that the technology is being prepared by the company to launch a so-called hybrid OLED panel, which uses a glass substrate like a rigid OLED panel but uses thin-film encapsulation (TFE) like that of a flexible OLED panel.

Currently, Apple sells a 12.9-inch mini-LED ‌iPad Pro‌ and an 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ with a traditional LCD display, as mini-LED has continued to be reserved for the higher-end ‌iPad Pro‌ model. 

The biggest technological difference between OLED and LCD displays relates to how the pixels are illuminated. LCDs rely on an LED backlight for illumination while OLEDs provide individual pixel illumination to offer better color contrasts and viewing angles. 

However, these advantages come with drawbacks. Two distinct factors have hindered OLED adoption in the past. First is the large cost disparity between OLED and LCD panels. OLED panels are considerably more difficult to produce and are yet to reach the manufacturing scale of LCDs, leading to a higher cost per unit. 

Second is the reliability of OLEDs, as burn-in and pixel wear are more prevalent compared to LCDs, making them less suitable for the longer lifespan of tablets. However, Counterpoint Research says these two issues are likely to be resolved in the near future with falling manufacturing costs and the introduction of new technologies, like the two-stack tandem OLED structure that provides 4x durability and 2x brightness when compared to existing OLED displays.