TCL CSOT to announce investment in 8th generation OLED inkjet production line soon_ Inkjet printing equipment expected to be supplied by Panasonic

At the business forum of K-Display 2025, held from August 6-9, China’s TCL CSOT said it will announce its investment plans for an eighth-generation inkjet OLED production line. The project, dubbed the “T8 Project,” is planned to begin trial production in June 2027, with equipment delivery targeted for September 2026. The initial production capacity is expected to be 15,000 sheets per month in the first phase. The investment is seen as a significant move to challenge the dominant position of South Korean companies in the large OLED panel market.

 The Inkjet Printing method adopted by TCL CSOT has a number of advantages over the Vacuum Deposition method currently used for large OLED production.

• Cost and energy efficiency: The process can be completed in a low vacuum environment, significantly reducing equipment costs and energy consumption.
• Material utilization: Since the organic material is ‘printed’ directly onto the substrate, there is less material waste, resulting in high material utilization.
• Large substrate production efficiency: It is especially economical for large TV panels such as 65-inch and 77-inch.

One of the main technical challenges with inkjet OLEDs has been the lifetime of blue OLEDs, but TCL CSOT has made significant improvements. The company says its blue lifetime, which was just 40 hours in 2020, is now 400 hours, a tenfold improvement. In addition, the resolution has exceeded 350 PPI, which can meet the needs of high-performance tablets and laptops; the aperture ratio has been increased to three times that of conventional FMM (Fine Metal Mask) OLEDs to reduce power consumption; and the size of blue subpixels has been reduced to be similar to red and green, improving display quality.

Meanwhile, the printing equipment for the 8th generation OLED inkjet line is likely to come from Panasonic Production Engineering. Panasonic Production Engineering announced at SID 2025 that it has developed an 8.5-generation machine with a 1 pL (picoliter) inkjet head and 350 ppi resolution. The machine achieved an accuracy of 4.6 µm, exceeding the target accuracy of 5.8 µm, demonstrating the possibility of stable mass production of large substrates. The expected equipment configuration will consist of a Hole Injection Layer, Hole Transport Layer, and printing equipment for RGB pixel printing, as well as equipment for tandem OLEDs.  Panasonic’s equipment enables the production of high-resolution displays through high-frequency jetting (20 kHz) and droplet volume control as fine as 1.0 pL, which are key technologies for improving the productivity of the inkjet process. The company also reports that production stability is enhanced through a sophisticated system that compensates for thermal deformation and micro-alignment errors.

Inkjet OLED technology still has many challenges to overcome. While current technology has improved device lifetime, there is ongoing debate about whether it has achieved sufficient lifetime for commercialization. There are also limitations that make it difficult to implement tandem structures for high brightness and low power consumption. These challenges are directly related to the yield of the production line and require continuous technology development for successful mass production of inkjet. Nevertheless, TCL CSOT’s technological advancements show that inkjet OLEDs are getting closer to reality.

If TCL CSOT’s eighth-generation inkjet OLED investment materializes, it will pose a direct challenge to the mid- to large-sized OLED market dominated by South Korea’s Samsung Display and LG Display. Currently, these two companies rely on a costly vacuum deposition process, which keeps OLED TV prices high. Mass production using inkjet technology can bring cost competitiveness, which will significantly reduce the price of OLED TVs and increase market penetration. Furthermore, the technology is expected to impact not only the TV market, but also the laptop, tablets, and professional monitor markets. Inkjet technology can become an important steppingstone for China’s display industry to secure technological leadership in the OLED field, following LCD.

Changho Noh, Senior Analyst at UBI Research  (chnoh@ubiresearch.com)

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