The race to develop the next generation of smart glasses i XR device it is not only conducted in the field of artificial intelligence and software. One of the most important battles takes place behind the lenses themselves. There, Samsung and other manufacturers are trying to make sufficiently small, bright and sharp screens that will enable a truly convincing experience of augmented and mixed reality.
That’s exactly why the company’s latest demonstration Samsung Display is attracting significant industry attention.
The company presented a new RGB OLEDoS microdisplay intended for XR devices, a technology that could represent an important step towards lighter and visually better smart glasses. According to the published specifications, the screen reaches a maximum brightness of more than 20,000 nits with a density of about 5,000 pixels per inch (PPI). Such values far exceed the capabilities of classic displays used in phones, tablets and laptop computers.
The new technology is based on the OLEDoS concept, i.e. OLED screens made directly on a silicon substrate. Unlike conventional OLED panels, which are intended for larger devices such as phones and televisions, OLEDoS microdisplays are designed to be used only a few centimeters from the user’s eye.
That is why the requirements are much stricter. In order for the image to look natural through the optical system of the XR glasses, the display must be extremely dense, very bright and energy efficient. These are precisely the areas in which Samsung sees the potential of its new technology.
The transition to the RGB OLEDoS architecture is particularly significant. Many of today’s microdisplays use additional color filters or other compromise solutions that can reduce efficiency and brightness. With the RGB approach, each pixel generates red, green and blue light directly, which enables better image quality, greater brightness and more accurate color display.
Such features are especially important for future AR glasses.
Samsung
Samsung
SamsungUnlike closed VR headset devices, AR i XR glasses they have to deal with outside light which can be extremely intense. If the screen is not bright enough, digital content simply becomes difficult to see in real conditions of use. That’s why in the industry it has been considered for years that precisely microdisplays are one of the key technological challenges that slow down the mass adoption of lightweight AR glasses.
Samsung is not the only company trying to solve this problem. Apple is using advanced micro-OLED panels in the Vision Pro device, while companies like Sony, Boe, JDI and eMagin are developing their own microdisplay variants for future XR devices.
However, Samsung’s demonstration comes at a time when interest in smart glasses is growing again.
After an initial wave focused on VR headsets, the industry is increasingly turning to lighter glasses that combine augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Meta, Google, Apple, Samsung and numerous Chinese companies are investing billions of dollars in the development of devices that they believe could one day become the successors to smartphones.
Microdisplays are one of the key components in that vision. It is not enough to have a powerful AI model or an advanced operating system if the user cannot see the digital content clearly and naturally.
That’s why the presentation of the new RGB OLEDoS panel is much more than just another technology demonstration. It shows that manufacturers are slowly solving some of the biggest hardware obstacles that have so far limited the development of smart glasses.
Of course, the road to the mass market is still long. In addition to display quality, the industry needs to improve batteries, reduce device weight, improve optics, and find compelling enough applications to get users to wear these products every day.
However, every advance in the field of microdisplays brings that goal closer. And when the world’s largest manufacturer of OLED screens shows technology with more than 20,000 nits of brightness and a density of 5,000 pixels per inch, it is clear that the foundations for the next generation of XR devices are already being actively laid, writes AndroidAuthority.