STMicroelectronics, MicroOLED Move to Revolutionize High-Resolution Micro-Displays for Consumer Applications

STMicroelectronics announced a strategic agreement with MicroOLED, a Grenoble, France-based company dedicated to the development and commercialization of state-of-the-art organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as a minority equity investment of approximately €6 million in the company.

With exceptionally high resolution and extremely low power consumption that is the most power efficient on the market, OLEDs are ideally suited to micro-displays in a wide range of portable applications, spanning from camera viewfinders and video goggles to medical and security applications.

At about half the power consumption of competitive displays, MicroOLED’s cutting-edge technology provides superior pixel density for enhanced image quality. The technology produces OLEDs with pixel densities double those of alternate displays and contrast ratios 10 to 100x better. To complement these technology advantages, ST brings its outstanding manufacturing machine, broad consumer-market expertise and deep IP portfolio, in the form of design, development and supply services for new micro-displays, targeting a broader range of customers and applications with the next generation of the technology.

ST owns several fully integrated CMOS processes that will be used to develop a complete product roadmap. ST’s experience in designing for low-power is key to enabling applications like video goggles.

“In recognition of the substantial growth opportunities for Electronic View Finders in digital still cameras and other applications, and in line with ST’s strategy to diversify and enhance our offerings in Imaging, we sought and found in MicroOLED the high-resolution OLED micro-displays with the best performance/quality and lowest power consumption on the market,” said Eric Aussedat, corporate vice president and general manager of STMicroelectronics’ Imaging, BiCMOS ASIC and Silicon Photonics Group. “Bringing ST’s deep manufacturing and technology expertise, customer relationships and IP portfolio will accelerate adoption of OLEDs and significantly expand the market.”

“Dramatically increasing the pixel density and the picture quality while cutting the power consumption in half has greatly impressed customers,” said Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO and co-founder of MicroOLED. “By establishing our strategic relationship with ST, and being in a position to leverage their strong manufacturing capabilities, we’ll be able to bring the technology to the next step, expand the potential market, and help consumers see the world through amazing low-power micro-displays.”