TCL showcases 65" 8K OLED and 75" microLED panels

TCL showcases 65" 8K OLED and 75" microLED panels

17 Nov 2021 | Rasmus Larsen |

At an industry conference in China, TCL CSoT has showcased its newest display advancements in OLED and microLED as part of its efforts to move beyond traditional LCD technology.

Printed 8K OLED

CSoT is short for China Star Optoelectronics Technology, known locally as TCL Huaxing, and is TCL's subsidiary for display panel production and development. Its panels are used in popular TV models from TCL, Samsung, and other TV brands. At DTC 2021 in Shenzhen, China, the company showcased an inkjet-printed 65-inch 8K OLED panel, according to a report by EET China. This is the result of 7 years of research into OLED inkjet-printing and TCL's partnership with the JOLED company, which was announced last year. TCL has invested 20 billion Yen in JOLED with a stated goal to "start joint-development of large-sized OLEDs for TV". It is the third OLED panel type in play for OLED TVs, with the other two being LG Display's current WOLED and Samsung Display's upcoming QD-OLED.

TCL CSoT's 65-inch inkjet-printed 8K OLED panel. Source: TCL / EET China

75-inch microLED

TCL also showcased a 75-inch microLED prototype with 600 nits brightness and high contrast ratio. The company said that resolution can reach 2400x1440 pixels which is well short of 8K and even 4K that would be required to commercialize the panel on the consumer market. Samsung is reportedly facing the same challenges, which is why it has put plans for smaller microLED TVs on ice.

TCL CSoT's 75-inch microLED panel. Source: TCL / EET China

Other panels and prototypes unveiled at the show include a 125-inch glass-based transparent microLED (below), a 49-inch miniLED backlight with 5000 dimming zones for LCD panels, a 14-inch inkjet-printed OLED, and an 8-inch 360-degree folding OLED display. In 2016, TCL CSoT announced plans to invest almost $7 billion dollars in the world's most advanced display manufacturing facility – a 11G factory – to produce LCD panels and later OLED panels. We would not expect the new panels to show up in next year's TCL TVs but it is still exciting to see more companies invest in OLED and microLED.