TCL showcased an inkjet-printed OLED TV at CES 2023
The tech could change the game for OLED manufacturing
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: A new way to make OLEDs
📺 TCL showed a TV that was created by printing OLED RGB pixels
🤝 The 65-inch 8K panel was made in partnership with JOLED
🫰 This tech could make manufacturing more efficient and cost-effective
👀 So far, only one other prototype inkjet printing OLED has been shown
TCL CSOT, a subsidiary of TCL, showcased its first inkjet printing OLED TV at CES 2023 on Friday, January 6. The TV, which uses a 65-inch 8K panel, was developed in partnership with JOLED, the Japanese OLED manufacturer that has been a leading pioneer in the fabrication technology.
What is ‘inkjet printing OLED?’
And no, it’s not a combo TV and printer that lets you print up what you’re watching (though that would … be cool? Maybe?) – calling it an inkjet printing OLED is just unfortunate terminology. It’s actually a new approach to OLED production that involves printing OLED’s organic materials directly onto the panel substrate (or sub-surface layer) in individual red, green and blue light-emitting layers.
This is said to be much more efficient than the current preferred manufacturing method of vacuum evaporation, which is costly and wastes more material.
To date, we’ve only seen one other inkjet printing OLED TV prototype: a 32-inch 4K model produced by AU Optronics that Tech Radar noted was spec’d more like a gaming monitor than a TV.
When can I buy one?
No release date or pricing was given for TCL CSOT’s new TV, but this is now the second time it’s has seen the light of day (it showed up in May 2022 at SID Display Week) and it was reported by OLED-info in late 2021 that the company would be ready for mass production of TVs created with the tech by 2023.
However, an August 2022 report detailed a failed Lexus display project and noted that JOLED hasn’t managed to secure necessary funding since its last injection of $187 million from TCL in 2020. Doubtless we’ll see the tech eventually, but JOLED may not live to see it.