LG Display’s New FLiPP Manufacturing Process Promises Brighter and Cheaper OLED Panels
LG Display, the manufacturer of OLED panels including those used in the monitor market, announced today that it has successfully developed what they call “a dream OLED patterning method” that is free from the conventional fine metal mask (FMM) process that is currently used for panel production. Its ground-breaking proprietary FMM-less method promises much greater flexibility in mass production as well as expected brighter panels with longer lifespan and lower power consumption in the future.
Improved brightness, lifespan and power consumption
The company will unveil FLiPP (FMM-Less innovative Pixel Patterning) for the first time in the world at the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) 2026 in Busan, where LG Display will host a dedicated exhibition hall for three days from Aug. 19.
Compared with panels produced using FMMs under identical conditions, FLiPP enables displays to increase brightness by 1.6 times, extend lifespan by 2.4 times, and reduce power consumption by 13% LG Display say. This is because FLiPP improves the aperture ratio — the proportion of the total display area occupied by RGB pixels — by approximately 55%.
Eliminating the challenges with the current process
The current FMM method adds to manufacturing costs as expensive new FMMs must be produced whenever the panel size or resolution changes. In addition, due to the inherent properties of metal, large masks tend to sag in the centre under their own weight, causing misalignment and sometimes resulting in colour-mixing defects.
FLiPP eliminates the disadvantages associated with the metal plates used in the FMM process that has been the mainstream OLED manufacturing method for over a decade. The FMM process requires large mother glass substrates, such as 8.6th-generation or other 8th-generation (2,200 × 2,500 mm) substrates, to be divided and processed as half-cut substrates due to the limited size of FMM sticks.
After a year of concentrated R&D, LG Display came up with FLiPP as a new OLED manufacturing paradigm. Unlike the FMM method, which may be compared to a stencil art technique where red, green, and blue (RGB) organic materials are evaporated through tiny holes in metal plates, FLiPP coats RGB pixels in order, secures them in precise positions, and incorporates photolithography — employing precision UV light etching to erase unnecessary areas during OLED pixel patterning.
Leveraging its existing large-sized Tandem WOLED production infrastructure and technical expertise, FLiPP has allowed LG Display to become the first display company to manufacture FMM-less OLEDs using 8.5th-generation mother glass as a single whole piece. Compared to the production of OLED laptop panels of the same size made using FMMs or other FMM-less methods that require divided substrates, FLiPP delivers up to 64% higher mother glass utilization efficiency. As a result, less substrate material is wasted and FLiPP directly translates into higher productivity and lower manufacturing costs.
As the world’s only FMM-less manufacturing process for 8.5th-generation OLED panels, LG Display has filed trademark applications for FLiPP in Korea and key global markets.
FLiPP can be used for a whole range of panel sizes and types
One of FLiPP’s greatest advantages is that it is free from panel size and resolution constraints. In theory, it can be used to produce displays ranging from 1 inch to 100 inches and can be applied not only to conventional panels but also to VR and AR displays, making it a virtually universal, “ultimate technology” LG Display say.
Starting with IT applications such as tablets and monitors, it will expand its range of FLiPP-manufactured panels to cover a range of products from 1-inch wearable devices to ultra-large TVs — tailoring products to customer needs.
“We were able to successfully realize FLiPP, a next-generation OLED patterning technology referred to as a ‘dream technology,’ by bringing together our proprietary WOLED technologies and know-how,” said Choi Young-seok, CTO at LG Display. “Through our participation in IMID, we will lead next-generation OLED technologies and accelerate market differentiation.”
Meanwhile, LG Display’s next-generation OLED TV panel driving technology, Hyper Double Scanning (HDS), has been recognized for its technological excellence by winning the IMID “Display of the Year Award.” The award is presented to the most outstanding product among those commercialized each year. LG Display is currently mass-producing its entire line-up of OLED TV panels with HDS and plans to continue leading the global premium TV panel market.
More news on relevant FLiPP-manufactured panels as and when we get it.
Source: LG Display
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