LG Display unveiled FLiPP, a next-generation OLED patterning technology it has dubbed a "dream technology," at IMID 2026, the country's largest display academic conference, and filed trademark applications for the name in South Korea and overseas. [LG Display]
LG Display unveiled FLiPP, a next-generation OLED patterning technology it has dubbed a "dream technology," at IMID 2026, the country's largest display academic conference, and filed trademark applications for the name in South Korea and overseas. [LG Display]

LG Display has unveiled FLiPP, a next-generation OLED patterning technology widely described as a "dream technology," for the first time anywhere in the world.

The technology is a breakthrough innovation that forms red, green and blue (RGB) pixels without the fine metal mask (FMM) — a metal mesh that has served as the industry standard for OLED manufacturing for more than a decade — reducing both production costs and defect rates.

Because FLiPP carries no size restrictions, LG Display expects to apply it across a wide range of products — from 1-inch wearables to 100-inch televisions, as well as laptops and VR devices — helping the company extend its lead over Chinese competitors and further consolidate its position in the OLED market.

LG Display introduced the independently developed technology Wednesday at IMID 2026, the country's largest display academic conference, held at Bexco in Busan.

FLiPP is a next-generation OLED manufacturing process that forms pixels without an FMM. LG Display recently filed trademark applications for the name — FLiPP, standing for FMM-Less innovative Pixel Patterning — in South Korea and abroad.

LG Display's next-generation OLED patterning technology FLiPP incorporates semiconductor photolithography to achieve RGB pixel formation without a fine metal mask. [LG Display]
LG Display's next-generation OLED patterning technology FLiPP incorporates semiconductor photolithography to achieve RGB pixel formation without a fine metal mask. [LG Display]

The conventional FMM method works by pressing a metal mesh against a substrate and depositing red, green and blue organic materials through its openings in sequence to form pixels. Once deposition is complete, the mesh is removed, leaving the RGB elements in place on each pixel.

The drawback is that changing the panel size requires fabricating a new mesh to match, and increasing resolution demands a finer mesh — both of which drive up costs.

With large-format FMMs in particular, gravity causes the center of the metal mesh to sag, introducing positional errors in the openings and leading to defects where light-emitting materials bleed into adjacent pixels.

To prevent the sagging, Generation 8 (2,200×2,500 mm) mother glass — the large glass substrate from which panels are cut — had to be sliced in half before processing, an inefficiency long recognized as a fundamental limitation.

LG Display spent a year focused on solving these problems, drawing on its accumulated know-how in producing Generation 8.5 white OLED panels for televisions to successfully develop FLiPP, a process that uses a full Generation 8.5 mother glass without any cutting.

The key was incorporating photolithography, a process borrowed from semiconductor manufacturing in which circuits are drawn using light. RGB pixels are applied across the entire substrate in sequence, fixed precisely in position, and then ultraviolet light selectively removes unwanted areas to complete the pixel structure.

LG Display's next-generation OLED patterning technology FLiPP achieves an aperture ratio 55 percent higher than the conventional fine metal mask method, while improving brightness and lifespan by 1.6 times and 2.4 times, respectively. [LG Display]
LG Display's next-generation OLED patterning technology FLiPP achieves an aperture ratio 55 percent higher than the conventional fine metal mask method, while improving brightness and lifespan by 1.6 times and 2.4 times, respectively. [LG Display]

LG Display is the only company to have developed an FMM-free OLED patterning technology at the Generation 8 level. Chinese rivals, which have no experience mass-producing large-format OLED panels, are reportedly developing their own solutions using Generation 6 (1,500×1,850 mm) infrastructure — smaller than Generation 8.

LG Display's FLiPP technology, by contrast, uses a full Generation 8.5 mother glass without cutting, minimizing material waste and delivering meaningful gains in cost efficiency and productivity.

The company said the actual panel yield from a single Generation 8.5 mother glass is 64 percent higher with FLiPP than with the conventional FMM process.

The aperture ratio — the share of the total display area occupied by light-emitting pixels — is also 55 percent wider than with FMM. Brightness and panel lifespan improve by 1.6 times and 2.4 times, respectively, compared with FMM, while power consumption falls by 13 percent.

"We have succeeded in realizing FLiPP, a next-generation OLED patterning technology called a 'dream technology,' by concentrating our proprietary white OLED expertise and know-how," said Choi Young-seok, LG Display's chief technology officer. "Through our participation in IMID, we will lead next-generation OLED technology and accelerate market differentiation."


joze@heraldcorp.com