Race to ultra-high-resolution displays accelerates XR era

Samsung Display Vice President Lee Chung

The introduction of mixed reality (MR) displays that blend the physical and digital worlds has heightened expectations for extended reality (XR) experiences in the market. With advanced devices like Apple Inc.’s Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 already making waves, anticipation is now turning towards Samsung Electronics Co., which is expected to unveil its XR devices later in 2024.

Speaking at the MK CES Forum held at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Las Vegas on Tuesday, industry experts predicted that innovative technologies such as RGB OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon) would accelerate growth in the XR market.

Samsung Display Vice President Lee Chung, took the stage as a keynote speaker at the forum saying, “Technological advancements are occurring in the display field, a core element in the implementation of mixed reality and augmented reality.” Lee confirmed that Samsung Display would start mass production of ‘OLED-based RGB OLEDoS’ from 2025, describing it as a revolutionary ‘micro display’ technology enabling ultra-high resolution on a small screen.

The distinct feature of XR devices lies in having the display directly in front of the user’s eyes. As the display needs to shine brightly even on sunny days, a high resolution is crucial to prevent user discomfort and motion sickness while wearing the devices, unlike traditional smartphone displays.

“What we need to make this happen is RGB OLEDoS,” Lee stressed, explaining that Samsung Display not only altered the display substrate to achieve this but also acquired eMagin Corp., the only organic light-emitting diode (OLED) manufacturer in the United States, in 2023.

Maryam Sabour, General Manager and Head of Business for the AR Headsets group at Niantic Inc., the company behind AR game Pokemon Go, also stressed that the XR era with technological advancements is near.

“MR devices finally emerged in 2024, and we expect smart glasses from Meta and Snap by 2025.” Predicting the ultimate evolution, she envisioned “3D immersive AR glasses that can be worn outdoors and project displays onto the lenses for a three-dimensional immersive experience.”