[The Korea Industry, 2016. 5. 27]

LG Display decided to adopt metal-mesh material for smartphone touch screen panels, replacing current mainstream ITO, or indium, tin and oxide film.

The metal-mesh film is faster in touch responsiveness, more resilient, and more importantly, cheaper to produce, compared with ITO sensor film.

LG Display’s 5.98-inch metal-mesh-type touch screen panel was put to the field test, and proves commercially viable. 

▲ Metal-mesh film. /Source: LG

The metal-mesh is also less vulnerable to the screen bending of folding, so that it is more fitted into a flexible and bendable OLED panel than ITO film. For example, the circuitry patterns on the ITO film are vulnerable to short-circuits, or distortions in case it is bended as frequently as more than 100,000 times. Yet, the metal-mesh’s electrode patterns turn out to stay intact even if it is exposed to the more than 100,000 times bending test.                    

The only one demerit of the metal mesh was ‘Moire’ phenomenon, under which electrode touch patterns on screen are vaguely visualized in circle shapes when embedded into the OLED panel. It has been working as a technology impediment against the widespread use of the metal mesh in the OLED.

As metal mesh technology is gradually evolving, LG has come halfway to minimizing the side effect of the “Moire” phenomenon         

LG’s backyard archrival Samsung Electronics is also aggressively carrying out its own R&D project in a joint research effort with two Korean companies.

 

by Brian Ahn

ahngija@kipost.net

translated by Taegeun Kim

ktg1130@kipost.net

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