Samsung Display Developing 7-Inch OLED Prototype Without FMM

What happened

According to industry sources on Oct. 19, Samsung Display is developing a 7-inch-class OLED prototype that does not use a fine metal mask (FMM) and is preparing to produce an engineering sample (ES) using its proprietary Micro Patterned OLED (MPO) technology. The project has been running since March and, rather than targeting a specific customer, is being developed to near-mass-production standards based on hypothetical customer requirements; the initial target is the end of 2026, although development could extend into the first quarter of 2027 depending on the sample's readiness. MPO development had effectively been on hold until early 2026: in September 2025, Samsung Display installed a 5.5-generation quarter-size vertical deposition system from AKT, an Applied Materials affiliate, at its A2 production line in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, to evaluate FMM-free technology, but the technology reportedly did not align with its existing development roadmaps for small, medium and larger OLED panels and its commercialization direction remained unclear. Development gained momentum after Samsung Display obtained a smartwatch OLED panel using Visionox's FMM-free ViP technology in March and analyzed it — the analysis produced different findings from the company's initial belief that ViP offered substantially lower yields and device performance than conventional FMM, showing device characteristics comparable to FMM despite being a first-generation product; an industry source said Visionox is still struggling to secure adequate yields, but Samsung Display internally considered yield improvement an area of strength where it could make substantial progress. MPO forms red, green and blue (RGB) pixels without an FMM through microscopic isolation structures and photolithography, and is reportedly being developed to remove the isolation structures after manufacturing, unlike Visionox's ViP and LG Display's FliPP, which retain them; industry observers believe these differences in process sequence and final structure could allow MPO to avoid patents covering ViP, FliPP and Applied Materials' FMM-free technologies. The process is considered particularly advantageous for high-resolution OLED displays, making it easier to achieve tighter pixel spacing while reducing organic-layer damage and fine-process control complexity as pixels shrink, reducing material consumption and manufacturing steps, with eliminating the etching step potentially simplifying manufacturing and reducing costs. An industry source said MPO is being developed in a direction better suited to high-resolution OLED displays than medium- and large-sized panels, and that once a 7-inch-class sample is available it will be possible to assess how effectively MPO's technical advantages can be realized at an actual product size.

Impact and signal

Affected components and suppliers

Source and time

Source: The Elec · 10/19/2026 · View original source