The latest report published by CINNO Research shows that LTPO technology is expected to become standard in high-end mobile phones. Also, the penetration rate of OLED smartphones in the Chinese market is expected to reach 43% in 2025. This is really important but for most users, these terms might be unfamiliar. They even may not be aware of whether their smartphones use these technologies or not.
Last year, Apple introduced LTPO technology on the iPhone. It was welcomed warmly so many Android smartphone makers decided to release their own models powered by LPTO screens. At the moment, more and more Android smartphone OEMs are using this technology, increasing its penetration rate in the Android camp.
LTPO stands for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide. At present, the two main backplane technologies for small-size OLEDs are LTPS and IGZO, while LTPO can achieve a wide range of dynamic refresh rates. In other words, it combines the advantages of both LTPS and IGZO technologies.
To understand what this technology does, let’s imagine concrete situations. Let LTPS be used in the drive circuit to achieve a smaller drive current and drive voltage. Also, let IGZO be responsible for the switch circuit to achieve a lower refresh rate with its smaller leakage current. So the available refresh rate range of OLED becomes wider.
As we all know, a higher screen refresh rate and touch sampling rate can bring a delicate and smooth user experience. However, we also know that a higher refresh rate causes more power consumption. In some sense, LTPO screen technology emerged to solve this problem. From the initial global 90Hz and 120Hz to the later dynamic adaptation, it is also undergoing an iterative upgrade of technology.
When displaying low frame rate content such as videos, images, texts, etc., the screen refresh rate is automatically reduced. This will help the phone to save more power and last longer. When a high refresh rate is required, for instance, when playing games, the phone will switch to the corresponding mode. This will cause faster battery drainage, but for a concrete use scene, it will provide the best performance.
CINNO Research observed and analyzed that all OLED screen smartphones using LTPO technology support a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Plus, they found that it would become the mainstream feature of flagship phones in 2022. With the continuous increase of LTPO production capacity, LTPO is expected to surpass LTPS technology and become the standard configuration of high-end smartphones.
Also Read: Display Adaptive Refresh Rate Technology Explained
CINNO Research predicts that in 2025, flexible OLED products using LTPO technology in China’s OLED smartphone market will surpass those using LTPS technology.
