[News] Apple Considers Color Filter for OLED Panel in Budget-Friendly MR Device

---

---

According to a report from TechNews, citing Korean media outlet The Elec, Apple was exploring two options for applying the color filter to the OLED panel intended for the more affordable Vision Pro device.

The report from The Elec indicates that this yet-to-be-named MR device from Apple will use a panel that is based on a glass board with white OLED deposited on it, topped by an RGB color filter to create various colors—a method known as W-OLED+CF. For resolution, Apple is thinking about 1,500ppi.

The report points out that since this device will use a glass board, it is not OLEDoS (OLED on silicon), different from the current Vision Pro that uses Sony’s OLEDoS technology with a resolution of 3,400ppi.

The report mentions that Apple is considering two approaches to apply the color filter
for this new device. The first approach is to directly form the color filter on the thin-film encapsulation (TFE) that covers the panel. The second, more standard approach, involves forming the color filter on a glass board and then combining it with another glass board with W-OLED deposited on it, making the W-OLED glass board the base and the color filter board the top.

Apple is leaning towards the first approach—forming the filter directly on TFE—as it would require only one glass board, making the MR device thinner, according to the report from The Elec.

However, the color filter formation of TFE demands a low-temperature process to avoid damaging the OLED, which makes it more challenging, as the report from The Elec mentions. Samsung currently uses this technique of directly forming the color filter on its foldable phones, which is known as color filter on encapsulation (CoE).

However, according to the report, Apple aims for a resolution of 1,500ppi, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 inner panel has a resolution of just 374ppi. To achieve such high resolution, additional technological costs will be involved.

The report indicates that Samsung remains the most likely supplier of W-OLED+CF panels for Apple’s new MR product.

Read more

• [News] Foxconn Likely Wins Order for Apple’s Rumored Cheaper Vision Pro
• [COMPUTEX 2024] VR and AR Devices Undergo Further Transformation to Shape a New Vision for Virtual-Real Integration

(Photo credit: Apple)