Wesley Hilliard
Apple has reportedly asked Sony to supply half-inch microOLED displays for "Apple Glass," which could be launched in the first-half of 2022.
Ross Young, founder and CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, claims multiple sources have told him that Apple is pursuing Sony for AR/VR glasses displays. The requested displays are half-inch microOLED panels with a 1280x960 resolution.
This corroborates the earlier report from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, which indicated Sony would be re-entering Apple's supply chain. Sony has experience making tiny displays for head-mounted units like PlayStation VR and the Personal 3D viewer. The Personal 3D viewer in particular utilized separate OLED displays for viewing content, similar to how "Apple Glass" is expected to work.
Sony's website describes a half-inch microOLED display just like the one described by Young. It's the ECX337A model with a 100,000-to-1 contrast ratio, and Sony describes the product as suitable for AR/VR experiences.
Ross Young has reported on Apple before, citing that the iPhone 12 would not have 120Hz refresh rates due to missing technology. He was correct, but his reasoning was for LTPO not being available for the iPhone, while other sources state battery life issues as the reason.
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2 Comments
Two things.
1. The tech isn't called MicroOLED display. Ross made up that terminology himself. Not really sure why. It's called OLED Microdisplay. To phrase it the way Ross does makes it seem as if it's MicroLED... just minus the extra "O". :)
2. This tech is rumored to be for AR only, not AR/VR combined. Ross has since issued clarification to his original tweet.
Well 3 things.
Even though Ross clarified his claim, according to Sony, it seems the tech can be used in AR and VR applications. Not really sure if that means it can be used in a combined application though. https://www.sony-semicon.co.jp/e/products/microdisplay/oled/technology.html
The tech comes in 2 flavors. OLED Microdisplay and Liquid Crystal Microdisplay.
If we can get an update to the article, my comment can be deleted.
Plenty of people say microOLED. I can't take the credit. Also, the comments about Apple not having 120Hz being different by calling out LTPO vs low power is not correct. LTPO is lower power and is the lowest power way to implement variable refresh rate up to 120Hz. Given the small batteries on the iPhone 12, LTPO would definitely be the best way to implement it. I also tweeted pre-release the small batteries were a concern if planning to implement 120Hz and always said it was unlikely. Why was my 120Hz rumor "sketchy" by the way? Maybe you can change that term in your article since it turned out to be correct. Thanks.