Samsung Display will exclusively supply four types of OLEDs for Ferrari's new Luce model. Ferrari held a world premiere event in Italy on May 25 local time and fully unveiled the electric sports car Ferrari Luce. Samsung Display said on May 26 it will supply four OLED panels for the vehicle: 12.9-inch, 12-inch, 10.1-inch and 6.3-inch. The Luce interior includes three digital displays, including a driver binnacle, a central control panel and a rear-seat control panel.

An industry-first multi-layered display design, in which two OLED panels are stacked, was applied to the Luce driver binnacle. The 12-inch lower panel shows the background and index markings. The 12.9-inch upper panel has three circular holes to view the image on the panel beneath. The upper panel displays real-time torque figures, pop-up messages and warning lights. In the space between the two panels, a needle moves physically, creating an analogue sense of presence different from existing 2D digital displays.

The design is based on Samsung Display's Big Hole processing technology. While the diameter of a hole for a smartphone front camera is typically within 5 mm, the hole applied to the Luce driver binnacle is about 100 mm, or 20 times larger. As the hole grows, thin film encapsulation, which blocks contact between OLED organic materials and moisture and air at the cut section, becomes more difficult. Samsung Display addressed this by applying its own design tailored to the characteristics of each signal, the company said.

HIAA (Hole in Active Area) technology was also applied to the central control panel, which is equipped with a 10.1-inch OLED. The multigraph at the top of the panel is structured to switch among clock, stopwatch and compass modes. Through a hole in the panel, three fixed mechanical needles rotate 360 degrees. The 6.3-inch OLED is installed in the rear-seat control panel, allowing passengers to check driving information and operate the air-conditioning system. Samsung Display has registered more than 500 HIAA-related patents since commercialising the industry's first hole display in 2019.

Samsung Display processed the panels for this collaboration into free-form shapes combining straight lines and curves, rather than a square format, to increase Ferrari's design flexibility. It also said the thinner profile compared with LCDs worked in favour of design support. Because OLED lights up at the pixel level, only the part displaying an image needs to be turned on, which can also improve the vehicle's power efficiency, the company said.

Ernesto Lasalandra (에르네스토 라살란드라), Ferrari's chief research and development head, said, "Samsung Display fully supported the design philosophy of the Ferrari Luce, which pursues perfect integration of software and hardware." He said, "The next-generation display system implemented in the Ferrari Luce will deliver an unprecedented digital cockpit experience in which Ferrari's heritage and forward-looking technology come together in harmony."

Juhyeong Lee (이주형), head of Samsung Display's Small and Medium-sized Display Business (vice president), said, "Luce is a landmark vehicle that proves OLED's technological advantage of being able to realise any design and allows Samsung Display to present a culmination of its long-standing know-how." He said, "We will continue to introduce diverse solutions so we can expand the horizons of future vehicle design."