TCL plans to reduce the cost of OLED displays dramatically, with inkjet printing

Recently, we reported a pretty impressive figure showing that OLED shipments, that is, displays with OLED panel technology, had increased 181% year-over-year in a recent quarter. It's a trend that is set to continue, and for PC and gaming enthusiasts, it makes a lot of sense. From response times to color accuracy to the near-infinite contrast levels that deliver perfect black levels, OLED displays feel like the next level after traditional LED or LCD technology.

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One reason for the dramatic shift toward OLED is that production costs have come down, which has seen companies like MSI capture a large portion of the market share with competitive and affordable products. OLED displays in 2024 are also brighter, and long-lasting measures are in place to combat burn-in and overheating.

That said, OLED panel technology is still expensive to produce compared to non-OLED display technology. The manufacturing process, which includes organic materials, is still quite complex. TCL, a company making waves in the display market, plans to improve and make OLED affordable. Inkjet-printed OLED - just like that Canon printer you used to print school reports back in the day.

This differs from current OLED display production because inkjet printing deposits the organic material directly onto the display.

At the recent Omdia Korea Display Conference, TCL's manufacturing subsidiary CSOT noted that it's ramping up production of monitors and laptops with inkjet-printed OLED displays. "TCL CSOT has achieved comprehensive breakthroughs in image quality, power consumption, and lifespan, elevating its performance to the level of mainstream display technologies," the company announced.

Printed OLED uses less power, doubles material efficiency, and even improves the display's brightness by around 50%. It will dramatically reduce production costs and make it easier to develop new OLED panels. It's a bold claim, and if it all pans out, we could see OLED displays on all devices become the new standard.

TCL will begin limited inkjet OLED production at the end of this year. Budget OLED monitors and TVs is something we can all get behind.

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