WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.160 Nano-LED, mini-LED, Billy Jean. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:08.960 There's a veritable plethora of display types out there with names just like those, at least some of them. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:15.200 Unfortunately, there's a new one to keep track of called Micro OLED, not to be confused with Micro-LED. 00:00:15.200 --> 00:00:19.040 And it's been stealing headlines recently because it's the technology featured 00:00:19.040 --> 00:00:22.080 in Apple's new Vision Pro VR headset. 00:00:22.080 --> 00:00:26.400 That's not what they would call it, but they're not here right now. The main difference between Micro OLED 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:30.800 and the traditional OLED that might be powering your TV is that as the name suggests, 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.000 the Micro OLED pixels are much smaller. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.400 Think iMac versus iPod, shuffle. 00:00:37.400 --> 00:00:42.560 Apple is promising beyond 4K resolution for each eye in its new headset. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:46.840 And considering most full-sized OLED TVs are a lower resolution, 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.840 you need some serious pixel density. Micro OLED pulls this off by using silicon wafers 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.360 as a substrate, as opposed to the glass substrate found in your typical OLED TV. 00:00:56.360 --> 00:01:01.160 That's because silicon has special chemical properties that allow for smaller pixels, 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:06.000 one of the most important being that electrons move more quickly and easily through it. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.160 In fact, Apple is saying that the space that one pixel takes up on the iPhone 00:01:10.160 --> 00:01:13.720 fits 64 pixels on a Micro OLED display. 00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:18.240 Of course, OLED has long been notorious for being dimmer than other display technologies, 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:21.400 despite its sometimes jaw-dropping levels of contrast. 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:27.720 But the current word on the street in the display industry is that Apple is using Sony Micro OLED displays 00:01:27.720 --> 00:01:32.320 that feature two white OLED layers. The light from these white OLEDs 00:01:32.320 --> 00:01:36.360 are past-room microlenses to focus it and make it brighter. 00:01:36.360 --> 00:01:37.960 But you didn't hear it from me. 00:01:39.880 --> 00:01:44.960 These innovations mean that Micro OLED will probably show up in millions of individual devices 00:01:44.960 --> 00:01:48.160 over the next few years. But despite these advancements, 00:01:48.160 --> 00:01:52.960 there are some good reasons to think Micro OLED won't be the next big thing in display tech. 00:01:52.960 --> 00:01:56.560 You'll get to experience at home. While Micro OLED has big advantages 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.480 when used for very small displays, when it comes to larger panels, 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.120 it unfortunately has some glaring weaknesses. While you might expect that a display tech 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:09.240 designed with VR headsets in mind would deliver the highest quality possible, 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:14.120 Micro OLED is actually less efficient than a typical OLED display you'd find in a smartphone. 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:18.200 You see Micro OLEDs work using white light that gets sent through a color filter 00:02:18.200 --> 00:02:22.560 to form the images that you see. Instead of the traditional OLED smartphone method 00:02:22.600 --> 00:02:26.280 of just having RGB LEDs that don't require a filter at all. 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:30.760 Which means that regular OLEDs get brighter for the same energy consumption, 00:02:30.760 --> 00:02:34.000 so you don't need as much power to reach the same color gamut, 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.520 as higher brightness means a larger number of colors can be produced. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.120 And while Samsung is working on a form of Micro OLED that should be much more energy efficient 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:47.720 because it uses red, blue, and green pixels that light up directly without needing a white backlight, 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:52.320 that piece of tech needs a bit more time in the old slow cooker before it's ready for prime time. 00:02:52.320 --> 00:02:56.720 But what if we're not worried about power efficiency because we wanna make a Micro OLED TV 00:02:56.720 --> 00:03:01.160 that plugs into the wall, for example. Well, Micro OLED still doesn't make that much sense 00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:05.240 for larger displays. And a big reason is that current silicon wafers 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:10.040 max out around 12 inches in diameter. Meaning to make a display bigger than that, 00:03:10.040 --> 00:03:14.240 you'd have to attach multiple wafers together. And if you think assembling Ikea furniture 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.000 is a bit laborious, just try doing this, okay. 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:21.680 But even if you could easily do this because you wanna take advantage 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.040 of Micro OLED's greater pixel density and make TVs that offer higher resolutions, 00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:29.040 you'll soon run into the problem of diminishing returns 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:33.200 in terms of how many pixels you need to make a TV appear lifelike. 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:39.880 You only need to be sitting a little over four feet away from a 65 inch 4K TV powered by traditional OLEDs 00:03:39.880 --> 00:03:43.160 for your eyes to be unable to discern individual pixels. 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:46.520 Meaning a Micro OLED screen in such a large format 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:49.840 wouldn't really offer many advantages. Now throw in the fact that Micro OLED 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:54.000 is going to be at a price premium for years to come due to its limited applications. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.320 And I would pretty much only expect to see it in devices like the aforementioned VR headset 00:03:59.320 --> 00:04:02.320 or other limited use cases, such as camera viewfinders 00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:06.280 or heads up displays for the military. But if you are in the market for a headset, 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:10.360 Micro OLED should deliver an experience beyond current LCD tech. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:15.040 Just be prepared to pay the Apple tax that I'm sure all of you are used to by now. 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:18.720 Oh my gosh, it's over? Wow, thanks for watching. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.880 Like the video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it. Check out our other videos 00:04:22.880 --> 00:04:27.480 and comment below the video suggestions. And don't forget to subscribe and follow.