Kopin Corporation just announced it has produced the world’s first ultra-high-brightness (> 35,000 nits), high-dynamic-range (HDR), green Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) microdisplay on silicon, designed for high-performance Augmented Reality (AR) applications. This superbright HDR 1”-diagonal SXGA (1280 x 1024 resolution) OLED microdisplay is currently in development, with performance data measured on initial engineering samples.

The OLED microdisplay incorporates Kopin’s duo-stack OLED structure for ultra-high brightness and a unique patent-pending pixel structure and backplane architecture for super-high dynamic range operation (14 bits). Combined with superhigh contrast, this new HDR OLED microdisplay is ideal for use in ambient scenes ranging from very dark night to very bright daylight. The duo-stack structure provides increased current efficiency, which leads to much higher brightness, lower power consumption (about half of that of LCD displays of equivalent brightness), and longer lifetime compared to conventional single-stack OLED devices.

“The achievement of very high brightness and long lifetime coupled with an extremely wide luminance range is a culmination of the OLED technology we have been developing over the past several years,” said Dr. John C. C. Fan, CEO of Kopin. “The performance levels of the initial builds of this display, which we believe have never been achieved before in OLED microdisplays, is a major milestone in the development of our displays targeted for emerging AR and VR applications. We are working to achieve much higher brightness approaching 100,000 nits.”

“Our OLED microdisplays have reached, for the first time, the luminance levels of current LCD displays used in high-brightness AR applications. In addition, these new displays offer 14-bit HDR operation that has never been achieved in either OLED or LCD microdisplays,” stated Bill Maffucci, Kopin’s GM for Government and Professional Products. “These displays represent a major part of our high-performance AR/VR display technology platforms and will strengthen Kopin’s industry leading position on advanced display products.”