eMagin Corporation (eMagin) designs, develops, manufactures and markets organic light emitting diode, or OLED miniature displays, which it refers to as OLED-on-silicon microdisplays, virtual imaging products that utilize OLED microdisplays, and related products.
The company also performs research in the OLED field. The company is one of the leading the U.S. producers of OLED microdisplays and manufacture its products at its facility located in the Hudson Valley of New York State. The company’s...
eMagin Corporation (eMagin) designs, develops, manufactures and markets organic light emitting diode, or OLED miniature displays, which it refers to as OLED-on-silicon microdisplays, virtual imaging products that utilize OLED microdisplays, and related products.
The company also performs research in the OLED field. The company is one of the leading the U.S. producers of OLED microdisplays and manufacture its products at its facility located in the Hudson Valley of New York State. The company’s virtual imaging products integrate OLED technology with silicon chips to produce high-resolution microdisplays which, when viewed through a magnifying headset, create virtual images that appear comparable in size to that of a computer monitor or a large-screen television. The company’s products enable its original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, customers in the military, consumer and commercial markets to develop and market improved or new electronic products. The company’s Direct Patterning Technology, or dPd, could significantly transform the way the world consumes information.
The company’s OEM customers incorporate its OLED displays in a variety of products, including military aviation helmets, military weapons sights and targeting systems, night vision and thermal imaging devices, training and simulation, visualization for ocular surgery, mobile ultrasound, and augmented reality applications.
The company has an intellectual property portfolio that includes 50 issued U.S. patents and 14 pending U.S. patent applications, and has over 20 years of manufacturing know-how and other proprietary technologies to create its high-performance OLED microdisplays. The company also has 22 issued foreign patents and 12 pending foreign patent applications.
The company has fabricated full color displays, including its 4kX4k and WUXGA displays using its dPd tool, which was newly upgraded and installed during 2021. In July 2021, using the company’s dPd technology it created full color WUXGA displays with a brightness of over 10,000 cd/m2, which it demonstrated to industry analysts in October 2021. The company’s high resolution and small pixel pitch are also important to eliminate the screen door effect that comes with expanding lower resolution displays over wide fields of view. The company continues its development work for a tier-one consumer electronics company customer and are targeting similar levels of brightness on proof-of-concept displays using its full color dPd process.
The company derives the majority of its revenue from sales of its OLED microdisplay products. The company also earns revenue from commercial, consumer product and government development contracts that may complement and support its internal research and development programs. In addition, the company generates sales from optics and microdisplays combined with optics.
Technology Platform
The company’s microdisplays are based upon active matrix small molecule OLED technology, which it refers to as active matrix OLED or AMOLED. The company’s AMOLED technology permits it to build millions of individual low-voltage light sources on low-cost, silicon computer chips to produce single color, white or full-color display arrays. The company’s technology allows many computer and video electronic system functions to be built directly into the silicon chip, under the OLED film, resulting in a compact, integrated system with lower overall system costs relative to alternative technologies.
OLEDs are thin films of stable organic materials that emit light of various colors when a voltage is applied to them. OLEDs are emissive devices, which mean that they create their own light, as opposed to liquid crystal displays, which require a separate light source. As a result, its OLED microdisplays use less power and deliver much higher contrast and fuller color than liquid crystal microdisplays. Unlike liquid crystal displays which use crossed polarizers to generate black level, OLED displays exhibit an extremely high contrast ratio which results in very vivid images.
The company’s technology is based on integrating a proprietary OLED device with a specially designed silicon backplane to produce efficient and high-performance AMOLED microdisplays. The company’s OLED displays incorporate a proprietary, top-emitting structure for its OLED devices that enables OLED displays to be built on opaque silicon integrated circuits rather than only on glass. The company’s OLED microdisplays emit full visible spectrum (white) light that is split with color filters to create color images. The company’s microdisplays’ performance meets or exceeds the requirements for a typical notebook computer or cell phone and is useful for a myriad of applications. New processes and device improvements, such as the company’s OLED-XLS and OLED-XLE technologies, offer even better performance, including brightness and efficiency.
The company has developed very bright OLED microdisplays using its patented dPd technology and has demonstrated color high resolution 4K x 4K displays and widescreen ultra-extended graphics array, or WUXGA, microdisplays with brightness in excess of 10,000 nits, which is the world’s highest resolution and brightness OLED microdisplay. In addition to its AMOLED technology, the company has developed compact optic and lens enhancements, which when coupled with the microdisplay, help its OEM customers provide a high-quality large screen appearance. In December 2022, the company took delivery of an R&D chamber for its OLED deposition tool that will enable it to further enhance this dPd technology. The design process for this R&D chamber has played a key role in defining the specifications for the large production-capable dPd organic deposition tool purchased under Title III funding, that passed acceptance testing at the vendors facility and will be delivered to it in the second quarter of 2023.
Products
The company’s first commercial microdisplay, the super video graphics array, or SVGA+, Active Matrix OLED, was introduced in 2001. In 2008, the company introduced engineering samples of its super extended graphics array, or SXGA, 120 OLED microdisplays and began selling significant quantities of the product in 2010. In 2010, the company introduced the VGA microdisplay. In 2011, the company began selling pre-production samples of its WUXGA OLED microdisplay which is now qualified and in production. In 2014, the company released its Digital SVGA, and in 2015, the company released its smaller pixel pitch SXGA096, as well as an upgrade to the SXGA120 and WUXGA displays. The company’s OLED display products are being designed in products to be manufactured by OEM customers for a wide variety of military, commercial, and consumer applications. The company offers its products to OEMs and other buyers as both separate components, integrated bundles coupled with its own optics, or complete systems. The company also offers engineering support to enable customers to integrate its products into their own product development programs and design customized displays with resolutions or features to meet specific customer requirements. In 2015, the company announced the development of a prototype immersive headset that uses its prototype 2K × 2K display. During 2017, the company developed prototype displays of its 2K x 2K display with an advanced backplane design and brightness exceeding 5,000 cd/m2. During 2018, the company continued to make improvements in the features and brightness of its displays and achieved over 7,500 nits in its WUXGA displays. The company has shipped sample high brightness displays fabricated using its dPd technology to numerous customers. During 2019, the company shipped its dPd tool to the vendor for upgrading to enable better performance and yield. Following the upgrade, the company received the tool back from the vendor and began fabricating dPd prototypes during the second half of 2020 and have sent samples to customers for evaluation. During 2021, the company achieved full color brightness levels of over 10,000 cd/m2 on WUXGA displays which were demonstrated to industry analysts, and exhibited at a tradeshow in customer headsets. After receipt and qualification of an advanced dPd tool which the company purchased with the help of government grants, the company expects to achieve a brightness level of over 22,000 cd/m2 ready for mass production of full color displays by 2024. During 2021 the company completed the manufacturing qualification process for its high-luminance and power-efficient XLE displays and began to ramp production to meet customer demand. The company’s XLE displays are qualified at over 1,500 cd/m2. These displays use eMagin’s existing backplane and are compatible with designs used by many customers, thereby providing an upgrade in luminance levels. Several of the display types listed below are available in XLE luminance levels.
SVGA+ OLED Microdisplay Series (Super Video Graphics Array of 852x600)
The SVGA+ OLED Microdisplay Series is a 0.62 inch diagonal microdisplay that has a resolution of 852x600 triad pixels (1.53 million picture elements). The display also has an internal monochrome video decoder for low power night vision systems. The SVGA+ Rev3 OLED-XL microdisplay is a power efficient OLED display solution for near-eye personal viewer applications which uses less than 115 mW power in monochrome for thermal imaging applications, and lower than 175 mW for full color video.
Digital SVGA OLED-XL (800x600)
The Digital SVGA or DSVGA OLED-XL is an 800 × 600 display with 15 micron pixels and a 0.6 inch diagonal. It has all the benefits of its other digital displays, including lower power (100 mW monochrome and 135 mW color), high (10,000 to 1) contrast, and also features a digital composite signal interface, enabling a minimal physical interface for color applications.
SXGA096 OLED-XL/XLS/XLE (Super eXtended Graphics Array, 1280 x 1024)
The SXGA096 display features a 9.6-micron color pixel and was designed with the same level of feature integration as the DSVGA microdisplay, as well as a low pin-count, high speed low voltage differential signaling, or LVDS, data interface. The compactness and high information content of the SXGA096 makes it ideal for small form factor applications such as commercial headsets and smart weapon sights. This microdisplay incorporates OLED XLS technology more than doubling the OLED XL brightness. This expands the range of optical solutions that can be used with this display to result in smaller and lighter display modules.
SXGA OLED-XL (Super eXtended Graphics Array, 1280 x 1024)
The company’s SXGA OLED microdisplay with a 0.77 inch diagonal active area provides 3,932,160 sub-pixels in an active area. The display’s pixel array comprises triads of vertical sub-pixels stacked side by side to make up each 12 × 12mm color pixel. The SXGA OLED-XL microdisplay offers digital signal processing, requiring less than 200mW under typical operation. The supported video formats are SXGA, 720p, DVGA (through 1280 × 960 pixel doubling), and both frame sequential and field sequential stereovision.
SXGA-120 (Super eXtended Graphics Array, 1292 x 1200)
The company’s SXGA-120 active array microdisplay consists of 1292 x 1036 square pixels with a 12-micron pitch and a 69% fill factor. An extra 12 columns and 12 rows (beyond the 1280 x 1024 main array) are provided to enable the active SXGA-120 display to be shifted by steps of 1 or 2 pixels in the X and Y directions for optical alignment purposes. The SXGA-120 is well suited to use in Weapon and Night Vision Systems using an FPGA and a SXGA or 720P camera source. It shares compatibility with the VGA display allowing for a common drive platform. It is also suitable for use in HMD’s requiring a balance between display size and FOV having a large pixel size making wider FOV easier to accomplish.
VGA OLED-XL (Video Graphics Array, 640 x 480)
The VGA OLED-XL microdisplay is its smallest (0.5 inches) and lowest powered (<60 mW monochrome/<100 mW color). The VGA OLED-XL utilizes the same voltage pixel drive architecture and deep black technology as the SXGA and WUXGA designs and includes motion artifact reduction technology like the WUXGA. The VGA interface is 30-bit digital RGB.
WUXGA OLED-XL (Widescreen Ultra eXtended Graphics Array, 1920 x 1200)
The company’s WUXGA OLED-XL microdisplay provides higher resolution than most high definition, or HD, flat screen televisions. Each full pixel is laid out as three 3.2 x 9.6 micron identical sub-pixels, which together form the 9.6-micron square RGB color group. The WUXGA OLED-XL is built upon the voltage pixel drive approach first developed for the SXGA OLED-XL, which provides improved uniformity, ultra-high contrast (measured at greater than 100,000:1) and lower power. The advanced WUXGA design features its proprietary deep black architecture that ensures that off-pixels are truly black, automatically optimizes contrast under all conditions, and delivers better pixel to pixel uniformity. The WUXGA OLED-XL includes a low-power LVDS, serial interface and the overall display power requirement is typically less than 350 mW running standard video. Also included is its proprietary motion enhancement technology which smooths video display and virtually eliminates unwanted artifacts. On-board circuitry ensures consistent color and brightness over a wide range of operating temperatures.
2K x 2K Display (2048 x 2048)
The 2Kx2K Reconfigurable Color OLED-XL (2K_CFXL) active array consist of 2072 x 2072 square color pixels with a 9.3-micron pitch and a 75% fill factor. An extra 24 columns and 24 rows (beyond the 2048 x 2048 main array) are provided to enable the 2K_CFXL display to be shifted by steps of 1 pixel in the X and Y directions for optical alignment purposes. Each full pixel is laid out as three 3.1 x 9.3 micron identical sub-pixels, which together form the 9.3-micron square RGB color group. Three primary color filter stripes are applied in alignment with the sub-pixels on a white-emissive OLED layer to form the color display. The 2K is intended for near-to-eye applications that demand high brightness, high resolution, high image quality, compact size, and low power, such as virtual reality and avionics systems.
Design Reference Kits
The company provides design reference kits, which include a microdisplay and associated electronics, to help OEMs evaluate its microdisplay products and to assist their efforts to build and test new products incorporating its microdisplays. Additionally, the company provides license-free source code for these kits (Firmware and FPGA Verilog) to enable its customer to accelerate their time to market.
Integrated Modules
The company provides near-eye virtual imaging modules that incorporate its OLED-on-silicon microdisplays with its lenses and electronic interfaces for integration into OEM products. The company has shipped customized modules to several customers, some of which have incorporated its products into their own commercial products.
Prism Optics
The company sellsa high quality, large viewing angle prism optics with a wide range for eye positioning which is essential for incorporating its displays in immersive near-eye systems. This is an advanced molded plastic prism lens that permits its AMOLED microdisplays to provide realistic images that can be viewed for extended periods with reduced eye-fatigue.
Drive Boards
Through an agreement with Bild Innovative Technology the company offers its line of OLED microdisplay compact driver boards to eMagin customers. Under this arrangement, customers have the option of purchasing eMagin OLED microdisplays together with compact drive boards, thereby streamlining their prototyping efforts. The initial boards available from eMagin will be for SXGA096, SXGA120, and DSVGA resolutions, with more to be added in the future.
Government Contract Revenues and Government Awards
The company derives a portion of its revenue from funding that the company receive pursuant to research contracts or subcontracts funded by various agencies of the U.S. government. In addition, the company has applied for and received U.S. government awards for the purchase of capital equipment.
The company earns revenue from contracts with the U.S. government, either directly or funded through contractors that require the company to conduct the research effort described in the statement of work section of the contract. These contracts may be modified or terminated at the discretion of the government and are subject to authorization, appropriation and allocation of the required funding on an annual basis.
Commercial Contract Funding
The company also derives a portion of its revenue from funding it receives from development work it performs on behalf of customers in both the military and commercial sectors. During 2022, the company’s efforts towards consumer AR/VR applications continued.
Strategy
The company’s strategy is to strengthen its technology leadership position and its expertise in active matrix OLED technology and silicon wafer design, including its dPd technology. The company plans to continue its participation in U.S. government funded, and commercial contract research and development programs, which allow it to continue to advance its technology. The company aims to provide microdisplays and complementary accessories to enable OEM customers serving a variety of markets, including military, commercial and consumer, to develop and manufacture new and enhanced electronic products. The key elements of the company’s strategy are to continue to be a valued supplier and partner to its military customers; strengthen its technology leadership; optimize microdisplay manufacturing efficiencies while protecting proprietary processes and partner with large volume manufacturers to bring its technology into high volume production; continue to build and maintain strong design capabilities; develop OEM and mass production partnerships in the consumer and commercial HMD market; leverage strategic relationships; and expand into new display markets.
Sales and Marketing
The company primarily provides its OLED display and optics components to OEMs to incorporate into their branded products and sell through their own well-established distribution channels. The company has traditionally marketed and sold its products to customers through targeted selling, promotions, and select advertising. The company identifies companies with end products and applications for which its products will provide a key differentiator.
The company markets its products in North America, Asia, and Europe directly from its sales office located at its Hopewell Junction, New York facilities. The company also utilizes distributors in Asia and Korea.
Trade shows the company has exhibited at, or plans to exhibit at include; Shot Show, the largest event for the recreational hunting and shooting market, Defense and Commercial Sensing Exposition sponsored by the International Society for Optics and Photonics, Army Aviation Association of America, Special Operations Force Industry Conference, Defense and Security Equipment International, Association of the United States Army, Eurosatory-France, Land, Naval & Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition, the Society for Information Display, Solid State Devices and Materials conference, and the International Meeting on Information Display and OLED World Summit. A key element of the company’s marketing is the expansion of its presence in new, high potential markets.
Customers
The company sells its products directly to military contractors and OEM’s who use its displays in a diverse range of applications encompassing the military, and commercial (in which it includes the medical and industrial market sectors). The company classifies revenues as either military, commercial, consumer or multiple based on its knowledge of the customer’s products and markets served by its displays. Revenues classified as multiple are for sales to customers that incorporate the company’s displays in products that could be used for either military or commercial applications. The company also performs funded R&D activities for both prime contractors, U.S. government defense related agencies, and non-military customers, which are classified as Contract revenues. Product and Contract revenues are disclosed on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The company maintains relationships with OEMs in a diverse range of industries encompassing the military, commercial, and consumer market sectors.
Research and Development
For the year ended December 31, 2022, the company’s research and development expenses included $5.4 million.
Intellectual Property
The company’s intellectual property includes 50 issued U.S. patents and 14 pending U.S. patent applications. The company also has 22 issued foreign patents and 12 pending foreign patent applications. In 2022, the company was awarded four patents related to the creation of high-resolution displays with unique pixel structures and proprietary fabrication methods.
The company’s intellectual property covers a wide range of materials, device structures, processes, and fabrication techniques, primarily concentrated in various areas, such as OLED devices, architecture, structures, and processes; display color processing and sealing; active matrix circuit methodologies and designs; lenses and tracking (eye and head); ergonomics and industrial design; wearable computer interface methodology; legacy field emission and general display technologies; and head-mounted display technology.
Government Regulation
The company is subject to certain export control laws, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
Competition
There are other non-U.S. based manufacturers of high-resolution OLED microdisplays that produce microdisplays that compete with the company’s microdisplay products. They are Yunnan OLiGHTECK Opto-Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. in China, SeeYA Technology in China, and MicroOLED in France.
History
eMagin Corporation was founded in 1996.
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