In mid-July Patently Apple posted a report titled "OLED Displays for iPad are being Delayed until 2024 due to a shift to an all-new ‘Dry Etching’ Process that will deliver thinner & lighter iPads." Today we learn a little more about these future displays. 

According to a new supply chain report published today, , Today, both Samsung Display and LG Display are currently developing an ultra-thin glass substrate for use in hybrid OLED panels.

At some point in the future, "Apple is expected to use these next-gen ‘hybrid’ OLED panels in its first OLED iPad. Hybrid OLED panels use a combination of rigid OLED panels and thin-film encapsulation of flexible OLED panels.

The issue with current premium OLED panels is that parts of the screen could appear to be crumpled on larger displays. This characteristic isn’t noticeable on smaller smartphone screens but is definitely amplified in larger screens in the 10 to 20 inch range.  

More specifically, the crumpling effect is caused in-part by how flexible OLED panels are made. During their production, glass substrates. Polyimide varnishes in liquid form are deposited on top of the substrate and the glass is later removed through lasers. The remaining solidified polyimide is the plastic substrate. During the laser removable, some parts of the polyimide may be warped from the heat.

For more on this, read the full report by The Elec.

Omdia, a company that provides industry technology research, published a report on the differences between rigid, flexible and hybrid-OLED panels here. However, keep in mind that the report is based on 2020 information and that Samsung and LG are developing a hybrid-OLED that overcomes some of the current hybrid-display issues in yield and more.