Sony to Release 1.3-type 4K Microdisplay that Reproduces Realistic Spaces for AR/VR headsets.
Atsugi, Japan – Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (SSS) today announced the upcoming release of the ECX344A, a large-size, high-definition 1.3-type OLED Microdisplay with 4K resolution (1: 3,552 horizontal pixels x 3,840 vertical pixels) which will contribute to more realistic recreations of spaces.
The new OLED Microdisplay is mainly intended for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display applications. It delivers 4K resolution with a 1.3-type large-size display by employing miniaturization processes that SSS has achieved while developing camera electronic viewfinders (EVFs), as well as its own pixel drive circuits. A new high-speed driver circuit is included in the microdisplay to enable a high frame rate even at 4K resolution, allowing for smooth image quality with an enhanced sense of reality. Moreover, SSS’s original pixel structure makes it possible to achieve both a wide color gamut and high luminance performance.
By providing this new microdisplay, SSS will help support new experiences with VR/AR head-mounted displays that deliver an incredible sense of reality immersion.
1.3-type OLED 4K Microdisplay
| Model name | Sample shipment date (planned) | Sample price (excluding tax) |
|---|---|---|
| ECX344A 1.3-type 4K (3,552 × 3,840) OLED Microdisplay | November 2023 | 150,000 yen |
Main Features of 4K Microdisplay
Smooth image quality at 4K resolution thanks to original miniaturization process and pixel drive circuit
At higher resolutions and pixel counts, display devices typically show variations in characteristics such as luminance across individual pixels, resulting in image quality degradation. This new microdisplay, however, is made with optimized manufacturing processes and transistor layout, and also features a unique variation compensation circuit. This design helps address transistor characteristic variations, delivering uniform luminance even at 4K resolution to ensure excellent image quality. This new microdisplay also employs a new high-speed driver circuit which delivers smooth moving images at a frame rate of 90 fps.
Integrating this kind of high-quality performance onto a 1.3-type, large-size microdisplay allows for imaging with wider viewing angles on targeted products.
Wide color gamut and high luminance thanks to original pixel structure
With conventional technologies, there was a tradeoff between color gamut and luminance performance, but the new microdisplay solves this by employing an original pixel structure that offers improved light-use efficiency while still expanding the color gamut. This design enables not only a wide color gamut that covers 96% of DCI-P3 (DCI-P3: An RGB color space standard established by Digital Cinema Initiatives, an American consortium that works on standardizing digital cinema systems) color space but also a high luminance level, delivering a more immersive experience with realistic images when combined with high-definition pixel design.
Enhancing the characteristics and functions required by the targeted products
The new 4k microdisplay features the following expanded characteristics and functionality specifically designed to improve the experiential value of VR/AR head-mounted displays.
When looking at the surrounding scenery in virtual spaces, latency and residual images can disturb the sense of immersion, making the brain feel like something is out of place. To provide smooth, clear graphics with minimal residual images, this microdisplay delivers a 90-fps frame rate and shortens the image illumination time by 1/5 (20% duty drive) compared to an existing product.*3 Meanwhile, it employs SSS’s original technology to offer a 5,000 cd/m2 high luminance level, helping to achieve a brightness of 1,000 cd/m2 even with 20% duty drive, which is typically required by the targeted products, thereby ensuring both reasonable brightness and reduced residual images.
To display in 4K resolution, the targeted products employing this microdisplay must have high-level data processing capabilities. To reduce this workload, the microdisplay offers three display modes that can be selected to suit the application.
- Normal mode: Displays 4K resolution input data as is.
- Upscale mode: Upscales 2K to 2.5K resolution input data to 4K for display. Lowering the amount of input data reduces the data processing workload of the product on which the microdisplay is used. It also eliminates the need for the product to have high-level data processing capabilities, making it possible to support a wide range of application processors.
- Foveated scan mode: Displays images in the center of the human range of vision at high resolution, lowering the rendering resolution toward the outer edges of vision. This helps maintain a sense of visual immersion while reducing the amount of transferred data by approximately 60%*4, reducing the workload of the image processor on the product using the microdisplay.
Key Specifications
| Model name | ECX344A | |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 1.3-type (33.0 mm diagonal) | |
| Resolution (horizontal x vertical) | 4K（3,552×3,840） | |
| Pixel pitch | 6.3µm | |
| Maximum frame rate | 90fps | |
| Video interface | MIPI® D-PHY | |
| Maximum luminance (20% duty drive) | 1,000cd/㎡ | |
| Contrast | 100,000:1 or higher | |
| Color gamut | DCI-P3 coverage ratio: 96% | |