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In the realm of OLED technology, there are two primary types of OLED materials: fluorescent and phosphorescent. Traditionally, fluorescent OLED has been easier to work with; however, it falls short in efficiency compared to phosphorescent OLED. This discrepancy has driven the display industry to pursue advancements aimed at producing hybrid phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) panels. LG Display recently announced a significant breakthrough, having validated the commercial viability of blue phosphorescent PHOLED panels for the first time, allowing for mass production across all three primary OLED colors: red, green, and blue.
Hypothetically, a fully PHOLED panel could achieve an impressive 99% efficiency, converting nearly all consumed energy into light with minimal heat output. Although LG Display’s PHOLED technology, based on a dual-layer tandem OLED structure, does not yet reach this pinnacle, it employs fluorescent blue OLED in the bottom layer while integrating blue PHOLED in the upper layer.
The company claims a 15% increase in energy efficiency compared to panels utilizing fluorescent blue OLED, a promising indicator that PHOLED technology could eventually meet its high aspirations.
LG Display plans to unveil its new blue PHOLED panels at SID Display Week 2025, taking place in San Jose, California, on May 11. These panels are currently designed for small to medium-sized devices like smartphones and tablets. For portable, battery-operated gadgets, any reduction in energy consumption—especially from displays, which are generally the largest power drain—is a beneficial change.
The movement to make blue PHOLED commercially available began in 2023 when Universal Display Corporation (UDC) announced its successful development of blue phosphorescent OLED material suitable for mass production. Although no companies initially committed, it was generally thought that both Samsung Display and LG Display were interested. By 2024, LG Display had entered into collaboration with UDC on this initiative, a decision made eight months ago. In the immediate future, the focus will be on ensuring these new panels deliver the expected benefits. Over the long term, it will be intriguing to see if LG Display can produce a tandem panel entirely made of PHOLED material and scale up the technology to fit today’s large OLED televisions.
For TV-sized displays, energy efficiency becomes less critical than heat management. An OLED panel that operates cooler can achieve higher brightness levels and theoretically maintain that brightness longer without compromising the OLED materials. Fully PHOLED displays may prove equally effective in well-lit environments, potentially overcoming one of the few advantages that QLED technology currently holds over OLED.
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