Lei Technology AI Hardware Group | Editor: TSknight | Supervisor: Luo Chao
Recently, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) attended three consecutive exhibitions: BiliBili World, WAIC, and ChinaJoy. At these events, many exhibitors were PC-related brands, all bringing their latest monitors for on-site hands-on experiences.
As a digital and gaming enthusiast, Xiao Lei naturally seized this opportunity to observe, only to find that the OLED monitor display areas always attracted the largest crowds. This is hardly surprising; as the mainstay of the current high-end monitor market, the display performance of OLED is indeed much more stunning compared to conventional LED monitors.
Of course, current mainstream OLED monitors are not without flaws. For instance, their text rendering performance falls short of LED monitors, so they are primarily positioned for gaming and multimedia consumption. Many netizens have also complained about the mediocre experience of using OLED monitors for office work.
However, this issue may soon be resolved. At ChinaJoy, Xiao Lei experienced a Printed OLED monitor co-developed by TCL CSOT (China Star Optoelectronics Technology) and MSI. Even when viewed from an extremely close distance, issues like color fringing around text, common in traditional OLEDs, were virtually invisible.
During the on-site experience, Xiao Lei also heard someone curiously ask: "What is Printed OLED?" Having watched Printed OLED evolve from a panel film at the IFA exhibition a few years ago to a full-fledged monitor, Xiao Lei feels it is time to explain the differences in the manufacturing processes behind these OLED monitors.
How Difficult Is It to "Print" an OLED?
First, it needs to be clarified that Printed OLED does not belong to the same category as terms we frequently mention, such as AMOLED, WOLED, and QD-OLED. The latter describe the driving modes and the light-emitting and color realization structures of OLEDs, whereas the former refers to panel manufacturing technology.
Inkjet Printed OLED, commonly abbreviated as IJP OLED in English. Simply put, the final product of Printed OLED can be WOLED, QD-OLED, or other panels. Therefore, more accurately, it is a "production method" rather than an OLED structure. Before discussing the advantages of Printed OLED, let us briefly review the current mainstream OLED production method: Vacuum Thermal Evaporation (VTE).
VTE places organic materials into a vacuum evaporation device, vaporizing them through heating. It then uses a metal mask filled with fine openings (when mentioning traditional evaporated OLEDs, we often encounter the concept of FMM, which stands for Fine Metal Mask) to deposit red, green, and blue light-emitting materials onto designated positions. The greatest advantage of this process is its maturity. After years of mass production and refinement, VTE can meet the demands of smartphones for high pixel density, high brightness, and flexible form factors.
However, its drawbacks are also evident. First, a significant portion of organic materials falls onto the mask and chamber during evaporation, leading to reduced material utilization. Second, the larger the metal mask, the more prone it is to sagging and deformation due to its own weight, causing deviations in pixel deposition positions.
Therefore, VTE is actually mainly suitable for small to medium-sized screens. As screen sizes increase, its costs rise rapidly. This is why OLED screens have been popularized in smartphones priced around a thousand RMB, yet OLED screens in laptops and monitors remain exclusive to mid-to-high-end categories.
What about Printed OLED? The production method of this technology is entirely different from VTE. It first converts a solution-processable organic light-emitting material into an "ink-like" liquid. Then, through high-precision inkjet print heads, it prints the red, green, and blue light-emitting materials respectively into the preset pixel areas on the substrate. Finally, the entire substrate undergoes leveling, drying, and film-forming steps to ultimately become the OLED light-emitting layer.
Does it sound a bit like the working principle of a printer? In fact, it is exactly the same, except that the precision requirements for Printed OLED are far higher than those for ordinary printers. To put it this way, if an inkjet printer is considered normal painting, then Printed OLED is equivalent to printing needle-tip-sized circular holes all over a canvas of the same size, and the printer needs to precisely "spray" the three primary colors into these holes. In this process, even a slight error can lead to color mixing issues.
To solve precision and other issues in Printed OLED, TCL CSOT has invested heavily in R&D resources over the past few years, emerging as a leader in the Printed OLED field. According to information disclosed by TCL in September last year, they hold over 1,200 Printed OLED patents.
This has made it the first domestic enterprise to mass-produce Printed OLED panels, and the first manufacturer globally to begin constructing a high-generation, large-scale Printed OLED mass production line.
Smartphones Are Saturated with It, So Why Are OLED Monitors Still So Expensive?
Having said all this, what are the advantages of Printed OLED? First is the improvement in material utilization. In the VTE process, a significant portion of organic materials is actually wasted, whereas Printed OLED sprays materials directly onto the corresponding positions. According to data published by TCL CSOT, its Printed OLED material utilization rate can reach over 90%, while reducing the demand for vacuum chambers by approximately 90%.
It is important to know that organic light-emitting materials themselves are not cheap. According to estimates in relevant reports published by Jingcheng Research, the cost of the materials alone may account for over 20% of the total OLED panel cost. This means that Printed OLED is significantly superior to VTE, at least in terms of material costs.
Second is the reduced demand for manufacturing equipment. VTE requires a large amount of vacuum equipment, which has very high requirements for maintenance and operating environments. Printed OLED, on the other hand, differs in that its production method dictates that environmental requirements are mainly focused on being dust-free. This creates a gap in the production line construction costs between the two.
Furthermore, as Xiao Lei mentioned earlier, VTE is severely limited in large-size panel production, with each size requiring a corresponding production line and mold. Printed OLED does not have this problem. Theoretically, as long as the movement range of the print heads supports it, panels of different sizes can be produced on the same production line simply by replacing the substrate.
For manufacturers, this also allows them to balance panel capacity across different sizes. For example, if tablets sell well, they can increase the capacity of 11-12 inch OLEDs; if PCs sell well, they can ramp up the capacity of 14, 16, and 27-inch panels. The main goal is to keep the production line from sitting idle, adjusting capacity according to market demand at any time.
Sounds great, so what is the mass production progress of this technology? According to queried information, in October 2025, TCL CSOT's Gen 8.6 Printed OLED production line project has already commenced construction in Guangzhou. According to information disclosed by the Guangzhou Municipal Government, this production line is planned to process approximately 22,500 pieces of 2290mm × 2620mm glass substrates per month, with products prioritized for the mid-size market including monitors, laptops, and tablets.
Barring any surprises, once this production line is completed, we can expect to see TCL CSOT's OLED panels disrupt the current PC market at lower costs. Xiao Lei estimates that there is a highly probable chance that the entry-level price of OLED monitors will drop below 1,500 RMB.
Besides cost advantages, TCL CSOT's Printed OLED panels also have advantages in display performance. If anyone has ever used an OLED monitor as their primary display, they definitely know that OLED monitors suffer from issues like blurry text and color fringing at the edges, and this problem has almost nothing to do with resolution.
Essentially, this is caused by the manufacturing process of traditional OLED panels. To ensure a certain level of rigidity and strength, the metal masks in VTE usually require a certain distance to be reserved between sub-pixels, which further limits pixel shape and aperture ratio, making it difficult for pixel arrangements to remain completely flat.
These subtle issues compound, ultimately leading to the appearance of color fringing, especially in high-contrast fine scenarios like displaying text in "black and white," where the problem becomes more pronounced. Printed OLED, however, is different. It can arrange the three primary colors into a standard state as needed and reduce the distance between sub-pixels. The final result is that, at normal resolutions and text sizes, there are virtually no issues like color fringing.
Xiao Lei experienced a Printed OLED monitor at the TCL CSOT exhibition area at ChinaJoy. To be honest, whether zooming in or out on text, its edges maintained consistent sharpness, completely free from the text rendering issues of traditional OLED monitors. For someone like Xiao Lei, who has both heavy text work demands and a passion for gaming, it was truly tempting to place an order on the spot.
If previous OLED monitors were mainly suitable for entertainment scenarios like multimedia and gaming, then Printed OLED elevates their office experience to truly meet the standards expected of high-end monitors. Moreover, it is foreseeable that the prices of these "high-end" monitors will soon be driven down.
From Monitors to AI Terminals, the Ambition of Printed OLED Extends Beyond PCs
As Printed OLED technology matures, it is not hard to foresee a significant impact on the OLED market. Although the final form of OLED products has not changed much in essence, with only the manufacturing process being altered, the cost advantages and versatility of Printed OLED are sufficient to drive down the prices of mid-size panels substantially.
To put it this way, many current smart cars use the inclusion of three, four, five, or six screens as a selling point, but the car prices generally reach over 200,000 to 300,000 RMB. After the Printed OLED production line is put into operation, cars priced under 200,000 RMB might also be equipped with four or five screens, turning smart cars directly into mobile "theaters."
Moreover, the characteristics of Printed OLED make its efficiency far superior to VTE in the manufacturing of niche screens like irregularly shaped screens and flexible screens. The rollable screen phones that Xiao Lei saw at CES previously are highly likely to become mass-produced products with the support of Printed OLED.
On the other hand, with the popularization of AI terminals, many netizens have actually complained that AI terminals either look like smartphones or can only use thick LCD screens. Although pure voice-type products can be purchased, when interacting with AI, the efficiency of text and images is undoubtedly far higher than pure voice, forcing users to choose between portability and experience.
The core of this issue lies in the fact that traditional OLED screen production lines are often benchmarked against smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Under the premise of cost control, terminal manufacturers can only buy off-the-shelf panels. If they want to customize special sizes, they must be prepared for a substantial increase in product costs.
To be honest, when AI terminals provide services based on cloud computing power, they do not actually need to be the size of a 6- or 7-inch smartphone. Instead, a size similar to early iPhones would be more appropriate. However, limited by the excessively high panel costs for this size, you can hardly see such products sold in the market.
I estimate that many people did not expect the form factor of AI terminals to ultimately be constrained by screen production lines, but that is just how the display industry works. Behind every smart device is a massive supply chain; as long as mass production is involved, it will inevitably be constrained by costs and technology.
Printed OLED can solve this problem. As the scale of production lines increases, panels of any desired size and shape can be scaled up in a short time. There will be no need to rely on VTE, where panel manufacturers won't even bother opening a mold if the demand does not reach a certain level.
Xiao Lei is already looking forward to seeing AI terminals made in the style of rollable phones. When not in use, they can be kept in a pants pocket like a pen, and when needed, simply pulled out and unfolded directly. Apps and AI run on the cloud, with the local device only needing a battery and a baseband.
It must be said that TCL CSOT's breakthrough in Printed OLED not only makes Xiao Lei look forward to the subsequent explosion of monitors and various terminals but also sparks greater anticipation for applying similar technologies to next-generation panels like MicroLED. After all, both display technologies require the deployment of light-emitting materials on substrates with extremely high precision, and the requirements at the algorithm level are shared. It might just become the key driver for MicroLED to fully achieve mass production.
#TCLCSOT #TCL #Display #OLED #PrintedOLED