Apple patent shows Apple involved in work on “hybrid” displays, mixing OLED and quantum-dot LED technologies

A recently-published Apple patent filing indicates that Apple may be working on a “hybrid” display that mixes both OLED and quantum-dot LEDs.

The U.S. filing, no. 20,190,131,356, describes a “tandem hybrid pixel” with an OLED subpixel and a quantum dot subpixel, plus various needed transport layers and cathodes. 

Quantum Dots are photoluminescence particles embedded in an LED-backed TFT display, and are capable of producing brighter and more vibrant colors, the colors produced depending on their size. The technology is available in current QLED televisions, but is currently only really being used to enhance the backlight, rather than being used to illuminate individual pixels. 

The technology could theoretically create an even thinner display than OLED, and feature a more streamlined manufacturing process. True Quantum Dot displays are capable of pixel densities as high as 1,000ppi, which are multiple times the density required for a Retina-quality display.

The patent notes that in spite of OLED’s current advantages, quantum-dot LEDs, or QD-LEDs), can offer advantages such as faster response times and greater power efficiencies.

Apple’s latest submission notes that while OLED on its own offers advantages like fast response and power effiency, quantum-dot LEDs (QD-LEDs) are potentially even more efficient. 

The patent was originally submitted in December 2018, and credits several inventors whom were based in California at the time.

Apple’s latest patent on the subject was originally submitted in December 2018, and credits several inventors, all of them based in California at the time.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via AppleInsider and the United States Patent and Trademark Office