Samsung wants to use new type of displays instead of OLED panels on AR devices: Here’s the reason

Virtual reality (VR) headset replaces the wearer’s natural environment with virtual content via high-quality graphics. Most high-end VR headsets, including Oculus Rift CV1 and Odyssey VR headsets, use OLED panels allowing for an immersive experience. However, Samsung thinks that OLED panels are not ideal to be used in augmented reality (AR) headsets and that’s why they are reportedly working on MicroLED displays.
As per a report by South Korean news outlet The Elec, Samsung Display is working on MicroLED displays that are likely to be used over OLED display panels in AR devices. Citing Samsung Display group leader Kim Min-Woo, the report highlights that the MicroLED offers high luminance (brightness) which is an essential for an AR headset.

Why AR displays need brighter displays
Unlike the enclosed displays used in VR headsets, AR headsets work in a real environment and need bright displays to show data/ content on the device. Samsung says that the current OLED panels are not capable of offering such high brightness (OLED panels offer conventionally lower luminance levels as compared to LEDs). And that it will require the development of new light-emitting diodes to make panels that offer high brightness.
Samsung OLEDoS and LEDoS
To mitigate the problem of low brightness displays in AR devices, Samsung Display is developing panels that use silicon instead of glass. These panels are called MicroLED on Silicon (abbreviated as “LEDoS”). Citing sources, The Elec says that the South Korean technology giant is developing both LEDoS and OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon).
Kim reportedly said that an AR display requires a minimum 5,000 ppi. Samsung aims to develop LEDoS displays with 6,600 pixels. The executive further said that the pixel pitch (distance between the pixels) of the displays must be 5 micrometres or below and the RGB subpixels must be 3-micrometres or smaller. He apparently added that the LED chip must be 10-micrometres or smaller.

In comparison, Samsung’s Odyssey VR headset gets a display with 615ppi. In June this year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased prototypes on VR headsets that the Facebook-parent is working on. He claimed that the prototype VR headset comes with a display that offers up to 20,000 nits brightness but will come with 10,000 nits brightness.