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Mercedes-Benz to Use OLED Displays in 2020 Models
April 02, 2018
 
Mercedes-Benz will roll out cars with OLED panels of LG Display starting in 2020 in dashboards and rear-seat monitors. LG Display is known to supply automotive OLEDs to Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors in addition to Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz is expected to use OLEDs to many of its models starting with the Mercedes E Class to be released in the first half of 2020. A 'wide screen' which combines a dashboard and a central display connected in the Mercedes S-Class and E-Class, will come out in the form of an OLED, not an LCD. Cars with OLED displays were unveiled at various exhibitions, but Benz is expected to be the first automaker to use OLEDs into consumer models. "As negotiations on the development and supply of parts began four to five years before new model launches, LG cut deals on display supply with many carmakers," said a high-ranking official in the industry. “We will see OLED displays in various brand cars beginning in 2020."
A source said that Mercedes-Benz already chose an OLED display as a display for the next models since the German automaker introduced a brand-new model of the E-Class in 2016. This is because Mercedes-Benz wanted to elevate the elegance of its new models with OLEDs with excellent picture quality and design as the company was bent on interior decoration enhancements. In fact, Mercedes-Benz is leading in applying exceptional display applications such as wide screens to models such as E-class, S-class and A-class models. A concept car with its doors loaded with displays was showcased by Mercedes-Benz at the CES in Las Vegas, the US and a press conference in Korea. The meeting between Mercedes and LG Display was already predicted. This is because a big spike in the amount of information that needs to be displayed on a car display has driven up demand for large-screen and high-resolution displays. Volvo, Land Rover and Tesla already have displays as large as those of the iPad. In addition, many automobile manufacturers are planning to expand internal spaces of their cars as they entered the development of autonomous vehicles. Without driving cars on their own thanks to autonomous driving, drivers and passengers will have much time to enjoy some contents in their cars, which will fuel demand for better picture quality of displays. "OLEDs have a better contrast ratio than LCDs and are suitable for internal spaces of vehicles that are frequently exposed to dark environments," an industry official said. The average size of car displays is expected to expand from 6.7 inches in 2018 to 8.3 inches in 2022. The OLED display market for automobiles is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 497%, from US$ 4 million to US$ 5,023 million. "By 2022, the proportion of LCD displays for automobiles will still reach 90% by 2022.