Take a bow, SID! Display Week 2022 was everything we hoped for and more. You took us “Back to the Future” with world-class speakers, dazzling new display technologies, thoughtful content, and high-quality networking. For Kateeva, it was also an opportunity to welcome out-of-town customers to our Bay Area HQ.

While the pandemic highlighted the essential role of displays in our lives, there is no substitute for meeting in person with industry friends. Thank you for making it happen, SID.

Our team at the show included Co-Founder Valerie Gassend who shared new print software innovations that equip Kateeva’s inkjet for emerging display applications. David Duke, President of Kateeva US & Korea was also there. Between customer meetings, David was eyeing trends that will inform Kateeva’s technology strategy and product roadmap. He shared his observations with Kateeva’s Blog Staff (KBS). Enjoy the read!

KBS: How was the show?

DD: Excellent. Display Week is a pivotal event for us. It offers a blend of innovation and market intelligence that support industry stalwarts like Kateeva in meaningful ways. While gathering live made this year’s event special, the hybrid set-up made it accessible to all. According to SID, the show drew 7,500+ attendees from 40 countries. China accounted for 60% of the audience, demonstrating the importance of the region to the global display industry.

The technical papers alone are reason to attend. They illustrate the abundance of talent in the industry — from research institutes to start-ups and global display leaders. It’s invigorating to hear bright minds discuss innovations in technologies like OLED, microLED, LCD, quantum dots, and more.

Multiple QD-OLED displays from Samsung were a highlight. These displays are very advanced and require new pixel control systems and special optical properties to expand the envelope for color gamut and dynamic range.

When it comes to QD-OLED, seeing is believing. Suffice to say we agree with the early rave reviews!

KBS: What trends caught your eye?

DD:  Displays are well established for viewing pre-recorded content and for computer and phone interfaces. Now, video + screens are starting to replace rearview and even sideview cameras in automobiles and home security camera systems with dedicated displays. These are just a few examples of proliferating single-use displays.

AR is another standout trend with tremendous potential. Especially as the components for AR glasses shrink to enable eyewear that is lightweight, elegant, and suitable for all-day wear.

Soon, AR will be integrated with deep data to enable unprecedented interactivity. For instance, in learning to fly gliders, I discovered that it’s a very complex task to integrate information arriving at high speed and in three dimensions. Before long we’ll be able to overlay pilot perception with air traffic, chart data, and projected flight path to make flying safer. Similar concepts are being explored for field service technicians, and for the military where knowledge is needed instantly at the point of use to be effective.

Such capabilities will enable non-experts to understand the world and operate in ways that only experts in their respective fields can today.

KBS: What new display technologies are needed to enable the trends?

DD:  Materials development continues to play a central role. As an inkjet equipment provider we’re constantly speaking to materials innovators. Display Week lets us meet locally with diverse materials companies that are pioneering innovations in high refractive index materials, quantum dots, and phosphors. These materials are critical to enabling thinner, brighter, longer-lasting displays.

KBS: How does inkjet enable the new technologies?

DD: Inkjet printing provides a platform for display manufacturers to rapidly innovate with new materials, shapes, and surfaces that were impossible with older deposition methods. This is because the process essentially digitizes material into a pattern that can be shaped in three dimensions at the micron level.

Adoption of the technology has accelerated since Kateeva installed the industry’s first inkjet system for mass production in 2014. Display leaders used the early systems for OLED TFE. Customers are now incorporating inkjet into their strategic roadmaps for multiple steps in the manufacturing process to enable their next-gen displays.

KBS: How do Kateeva print innovations advance the new applications?

DD: Kateeva unlocked the potential of inkjet for mass production by overcoming inherent variabilities and optimizing its use for electronics manufacturing at scale.

For example, we offer software for multi-layer printing and segmented edge control (MLP/MSEC) that provides 3D control over films without concern for bitmap-level implementation that has been a limitation of some inkjet systems in the past.

For pixel printing we enable higher resolution and greater control of pixel-to-pixel uniformity. This is achieved through algorithms that compensate for variations in velocity, direction, and volume across hundreds of thousands of individual print nozzles without any interaction from the user in continuous production.

These hardware and software innovations are possible because of the work done by Kateeva print experts to optimize inkjet at its most fundamental level.

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