LG says it plans to invest billions of dollars in OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display technology, in an effort to take the lead in developing a new-generation of displays for a broad range of devices. As Reuters reports, LG Display will invest at least $8.5 billion over the next three years, focusing investment on large OLED TVs, and flexible displays for mobile devices.
LG also hopes to generate interest in other uses for its OLEDs, including in-car displays – such as those used across the dashboard or center console – and public signage, such as advertising boards or information displays at public transit terminals.
LG has been a tireless champion of OLED, and has already invested heavily in developing the technology. It will no doubt be hoping that the latest injection of funds into its development efforts will help the company to established a lead over its rivals as the technology becomes more widely used.
LG revealed an 18-inch flexible OLED prototype last year | Image via LG Display
OLED displays are becoming more common in high-end smartphones and other devices with smaller form factors, but larger panels are still expensive. A large OLED TV can still cost thousands of dollars more than a similarly-sized LCD model, and it may be a few more years before the cost of producing these larger OLED displays falls to mass market levels.
But LG is also hoping to establish itself as a leader in the production of truly flexible displays – a technology that we’ve often been promised, but which still isn’t market-ready. LG showed off a bendy 18-inch OLED display last year, and part of its latest investment will fund efforts to develop this technology to bring real-world products to market.
