Press Releases

November 8, 2019

Sharp Develops 30-inch 4K Flexible OLED Display

Color-filter-less OLED display using 30-inch-diagonal film substrate is world’s largest of its kind*1

Expected to be used in displays that roll up into a compact case

(From left) The flexible display rolls down to fit into its case (Note: Each image is scaled differently)


Sharp Corporation and Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) have co-developed a 30-inch 4K flexible organic LED (OLED) display.

The OLED display, with light-emitting elements formed onto each of the RGB subpixels (RGB light emission method) of a 30-inch-diagonal (approx. 76 cm) flexible film substrate, is the largest display of its kind in the world. The light-emitting elements are formed with ultra-high precision onto each of the RGB subpixels using the vapor deposition method. This renders a color filter unnecessary and gives high light-use efficiency. The use of a film substrate means the display part of the panel is approximately 0.5-mm thick, and this allows the display to be rolled into a cylinder approximately 2 cm in radius that fits neatly in a storage case.

The display employs IGZO*2 thin film transistors (TFTs) to drive the OLED elements. NHK’s proprietary signal-processing technologies and panel drive technology were used in order to improve brightness uniformity and the sharpness of moving objects.

In June 2018, Sharp began mass production of flexible OLED displays for smartphones, the first company in Japan to do so. Sharp will continue to develop cutting-edge technologies that will pave the way for the displays of the future.

Sharp’s 30-inch-diagonal 4K flexible OLED display is featured at the joint booth of NHK and the Japanese Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) at Inter BEE 2019 (International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition 2019), held at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan from November 13 to 15, 2019.

Main Features

1. At 30 inches diagonal, the world’s largest color-filter-less (RGB light emission method), high-definition 4K flexible OLED display incorporating a film substrate.

2. Color-filter-less panel construction achieves high light-use efficiency.

3. Flexibility of the film substrate allows the display to be stored as a compact roll (approx. 2 cm in radius).

4. NHK’s proprietary signal-processing technologies and panel drive technology improve brightness uniformity and the sharpness of moving objects.

*1 For displays with light-emitting OLED elements formed onto red, green, and blue subpixels (RGB light emission method) on a film substrate and using no color filter. (As of November 8, 2019; according to Sharp.)

*2 An oxide semiconductor comprising indium (In), gallium (Ga), zinc (Zn), and oxygen (O). It is used as semiconductor material for TFTs that drive OLED and LCD displays.

Main Specifications

Screen size

30 inches diagonal (approx. 76 cm)

Aspect ratio

16:9

Number of pixels

3,840 (W) x 2,160 (H) pixels (4K)

Frame rate

60 frames/sec.

OLED element structure / Deposition method

Top emission type*3 / RGB side by side*4

Driving transistor

IGZO-TFT

*3 Method in which light emitted by OLED elements is extracted in a highly light-use-efficient manner from the side opposite the TFT substrate.

*4 In this side-by-side method, the material that emits light is deposited side-by-side through a mask onto the RGB (red, green, blue) subpixels of the substrate using the vapor deposition method. The other deposition method is called white OLED, in which a color filter and an OLED element emitting white are used.

See the following website for a video of this product.

https://youtu.be/Jzr7208A-os

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