Dr. Karlheinz Blankenbach

The Automotive Display Race is On: LCD vs. OLEDs

Some premium OEMs ship today cars with OLED displays while LCDs are still the automotive workhorse. USPs of OLEDs compared to LCDs are no issues with response time at low temperature that is relevant for e-mirrors, perfect black at night ride and transparent versions. LCDs are superior in terms of highest luminance at acceptable halo by FALD technology and have a wide supply chain, which has also advantages in terms of cost. Well-known challenges of OLEDs deal with high luminance and temperature, which can result in reduced lifetime incl. Burn-In. Challenges and solutions for LCDs and OLEDs will be discussed. Micro-LEDs have the potential to outperform LCDs and OLEDs.

Karlheinz Blankenbach has three decades of experience in displays. From 1988 until 1995 he was with AEG-MIS (a Mercedes subsidiary) in Germany, developing display electronics, e-signage LCDs, and software. In 1995 he was appointed to full professor at Pforzheim University, Germany, where he founded the university’s Display Lab. His main R&D activities are (automotive) display topics such as optical measurements, display systems, evaluations, HMI, and LEDs, as well as display hardware and software. Blankenbach is a member of the Society for Information Display’s program subcommittee, Automotive/Vehicular Displays and HMI Technologies, and a member of SID’s International Committee for Display Metrology. He has served as a member of the board of the Displayforum (DFF) since 2000; after nine years as chairman, he was appointed to honorary chairman in 2020.