Panasonic Adds Transparent OLED To Product Line

November 23, 2020 by Dave Haynes

Panasonic has announced plans to start marketing a 55-inch transparent OLED display, first in Asia/Australia/NZ and then globally, beginning next month.

The company has been showing prototypes at trade shows for a few years (seems to me I have seen them at Panasonic’s ISE booth in the past) but this marks commercialization of the display.

It is likely, though the Panasonic PR doesn’t say it, that this originates from an LG factory. Lots and lots of commercial displays and TVs start their lives at one manufacturer’s facility but ship with another manufacturer’s logo on them. This news story from Korea says it is LG.

Says the PR:

As the display panel is see-through, objects behind it are still visible allowing a variety of image presentations such as display of images over actual objects in the background. With such a unique feature, the transparent OLED display is attracting a great deal of attention as a next-generation visual display device capable of enhancing the value of spaces.

The new product uses a self-illuminating transparent OLED display panel that does not require a backlight. Measuring less than 1 cm in thickness at the display section, the ultra-thin display panel offers high transparency and renders high-quality pictures with vivid colours. The dimming unit originally developed by Panasonic adjusts the amount of light passing through the panel in order to maintain high contrast and clearly display images even in an environment brightly lit by outside lights (TP-55ZT110).

The product is provided in a highly versatile modular specification to enable flexible installation not only in homes but also in various other places including commercial complexes, transit advertisements and public facilities. What’s more, multiple panels can be adjoined to display images on a larger screen.

From 2016, Panasonic showcased prototype transparent displays at trade shows and exhibitions held in various countries around the world, such as IFA (Germany), CES (U.S.A.), Milano Salone (Italy), China International Import Expo (China) and CEATEC (Japan). During those years, the company continuously evolved the technology whilst also exploring marketability. Panasonic has decided to commercialize this transparent display module in response to positive feedback and expectations that that such a transparent display would bring breakthroughs to image expressions and presentations against the backdrop of advanced communication infrastructure, such as 5G, and accelerated diversification of content.

Panasonic hopes to bring new value to public spaces which customers encounter in their daily lives and is challenging to create a new visual culture by leveraging its picture technology and knowhow which has been accumulated over many years.