Samsung Display Launches Premium Tech Brand ‘QD-OLED Penta Tandem’
Organic material layers increased from 4 to 5… Leading high-picture quality technology with 1.3x higher luminous efficiency
□ Energy dispersion via 5-layer stack structure… Significantly improves efficiency, lifespan, and brightness
□ Core technology for realizing high-definition products such as ‘Industry’s only 27-inch 160PPI’
□ 31.5-inch UHD monitor with Penta Tandem is the only one of its size to receive ‘True Black 500’ certification
□ Expanded application to all flagship models this year… “Best technology to prove QD premium”
Samsung Display announced on the 12th that it has released ‘QD-OLED Penta Tandem™’, a trademarked brand for its unique 5-layer stacking structure of QD-OLED. Samsung Display is applying an organic material light-emitting structure consisting of 5 layers to QD-OLED panels mounted on premium monitors and TVs, and has launched a new technology brand and completed trademark registration to publicize the unrivaled value of this technology. ‘Penta’ means the number ‘5’ in Greek.
QD-OLED expresses colors using Quantum Dots that react to light, utilizing blue OLED, which has the strongest energy among visible lights, as the light source. Since last year, Samsung Display has innovated the stacking structure of this blue OLED from the existing 4 layers to 5 layers and applied the latest organic materials to complete high-definition, high-efficiency, and high-brightness QD-OLEDs.
In particular, organic material stacking technology is attracting attention as a key factor determining the fierce high-definition competition in the recent monitor market. To implement higher resolution within the same panel size, increasing pixel density causes the light-emitting area of individual pixels to become smaller. To stably achieve high brightness even under these technical constraints, technology that effectively disperses energy applied to organic materials is essential. The pixel density of the 27-inch UHD (3840×2160) monitor product launched by Samsung Display last year reaches 160 PPI (Pixels Per Inch), the highest among self-emissive gaming monitors, and Penta Tandem technology served as the core foundation for this product development. Currently, Samsung Display is the only company mass-producing self-emissive displays with 27-inch UHD and 160PPI specifications.
Furthermore, increasing the number of stacked organic material layers improves luminous efficiency, allowing for higher brightness with the same power or the same brightness with less power. It is similar to five people sharing a load that four people used to carry, allowing them to carry it longer or lift a heavier load. Penta Tandem has 1.3 times higher luminous efficiency and 2 times longer lifespan compared to the previous year’s QD-OLED developed with a 4-layer structure. As a result, the maximum screen brightness of products applied with Penta Tandem technology reaches the industry’s highest level of 4,500 nits for TVs and 1,300 nits for monitors, based on 3% OPR (On Pixel Ratio, the ratio of operating pixels among total pixels constituting the screen).
Panels applied with Penta Tandem technology support clients in obtaining VESA’s ‘DisplayHDR™ True Black 500’ certification. True Black certification is an indicator evaluating the HDR performance of displays capable of expressing deep blacks; to obtain the True Black 500 grade certification, a display must express black at 0.0005 nits or less while simultaneously achieving a peak brightness of 500 nits (based on 10% OPR). Among the currently released 31.5-inch UHD monitors, the only product that has received True Black 500 certification is equipped with Samsung Display’s Penta Tandem panel.
This year, Samsung Display plans to expand Penta Tandem to product lines of all sizes and supply them to flagship products of major clients. Following the 27-inch UHD last year and the 31.5-inch UHD and 34-inch WQHD products early this year, it is scheduled to be expanded to 49-inch Dual QHD (5120×1440) products in the second half of the year. For TVs, it has been mounted on the top-tier products of major clients’ OLED lineups since last year.
Jung Yong-wook, Vice President and Head of the Strategic Marketing Team for Large Display Business, stated, “Organic material stacking technology is not simply about increasing the number of layers, but is completed only when know-how on which materials to stack, at what thickness, and in what combination is integrated.” He added, “Penta Tandem technology, which integrates about 5 years of QD-OLED mass production experience since ’21, will be the best choice for customers who want to prove the premium value of QD-OLED.”
