The competition for ultra-high resolution of OLED that led virtual reality was started.

Recently, set makers are introducing VR devices with higher resolution OLED than mobile devices, and OLED panel makers are focusing attention on developing ultra-high-resolution OLEDs designed for VR devices.

VIVE PRO, which was unveiled at CES 2018, was officially launched in Korea through a new product presentation. VIVE PRO is equipped with 3K resolution and 615ppi OLED, which are upgraded 78% from 448ppi of the previous HTC VIVE.

<HTC VIVE Pro, Source: vive.com>

In addition, OLED panel makers has introduced a number of ultra-high-resolution OLEDs for VR devices. In SID 2018, LG Display unveiled an OLED for 1443ppi VR device, jointly developed with Google. The resolution of conventional OLEDs was at 538ppi level, but LG Display accomplished UHD (3840 x 4800) resolution by applying WRGB + CF.

<LG Display’s 1443ppi OLED, introduced in SID 2018>

Samsung Display also exhibited VR devices made with two 2.43-inch OLED panels at 1,200ppi resolution in SID 2018. The resolution of this VR device, applied with RGB OLED, is much higher than the previous year’s 858ppi.

Sony also announced the commercialization of ‘ECX339A’, a micro OLED for 4,032ppi VR devices, in May. It is also possible to support a frame rate of up to 240fps at 0.5 inches in size. The mass production schedule is November 2018.

Since the distance between the eyes and the display is very short, a VR device shows a ‘side door effect’ in which the pixel patterns of the display are displayed in a lattice form when the resolution is low. As this problem increases eye fatigue and diminishes the reality, panel makers are focusing on high-resolution OLED development, and set makers such as Sony and Facebook (Oculus VR) are applying high-resolution OLEDs to the VR devices.

Recently, not only set makers but also OLED panel makers have introduced a number of high-resolution OLED and VR devices, which have been upgraded more than ever before. Attention is growing whether higher resolution VR devices will be commercialized in the future.