AU Optronics has announced that it will start supplying 8k (7680 x 4320) panels this year. These will be large image panels intended for use in televisions.
Deliveries will take place as soon as the first half of 2018, writes Digitimes . The panels will be made in 65 and 85inch sizes. The display technology used, however, is not clear, AU Optronics mainly focuses on LCD panels. AU Optronics (AUO) will begin to ship 8K TV panels in sizes ranging from 65- to 85-inch in the first half of 2018, while also ramping up shipments of all-screen displays for handset applications, according to Liao Wei-lun, president of AUO's video products business group.
Shipments of TV panels in 65-inch and above sizes will be a major focus of AUO as global sales of 65- and 70-inch TVs and display products are expected to grow 40% and 50% on year, respectively, in 2018, Liao reasoned.
The penetration rate of 65-inch and above sizes of 8K TVs will start gaining momentum in 2018 and reach 10% in 2020, Liao said, adding that AUO will begin volume production of 8K TV panels soon to cash in on the emerging trend.
Demand for 4K TV panels will also remain strong in 2018 as the penetration of 4K TVs is expected to hike to over 40% in 2018, from 30% a year earlier, with 4K displays becoming a standard for 50-inch and larger TV products in the year, Liao added.
Meanwhile, AUO will expand the applications of its LTPS panels from handsets and notebooks to non-consumer devices such as automotive and in-car infotainment devices, according Chen Hung-hsiang, president of AUO's mobile device business group.
AUO's shipments of all-screen handset panels are expected to register multi-fold increase in 2018, with all-screen models accounting for over 80% of its total handset panel shipments, Chen said.
AUO will begin to ship related panels for automotive-use interior rear view mirrors in the first half of 2018 and other panels for in-car infotainment devices before the end of the year, Chen indicated.
AU Optronics this year will start delivery of 8k panels
