We are a leader in the manufacture of microdisplays using organic light emitting
diode (OLED) technology. We design, develop, manufacture and market OLED miniature
displays, which we refer to as OLED-on-silicon microdisplays, virtual imaging
products that utilize OLED microdisplays, and related products. We also perform
research in the OLED field. Our virtual imaging products integrate OLED technology
with silicon chips to produce high-resolution microdisplays which, when viewed
through a magnifying headset, create virtual images that appear comparable in
size to that of a computer monitor or a large-screen television. Our products
enable our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers to develop and market
improved or new electronic products, especially products that are mobile and
highly portable so that people have immediate access to information and can
experience immersive forms of communications and entertainment. We believe that
a key growth area for us is the consumer electronic OEM market. Our potential
channels to this market include licensing our direct patterning technology and
partnering for the mass production of microdisplays. We believe that our direct
patterning (dPd) technology is a key differentiator for enabling next generation
augmented reality/virtual reality AR/VR hardware for the consumer and enterprise
segments because of the brightness and the pixel density afforded by the technology.
We also develop and manufacture night vision products for the consumer electronics,
recreational, law enforcement and first responder markets, including a smart
phone attachment and a wearable device.
We believe that our OLED microdisplays offer a number of significant advantages
over comparable liquid crystal microdisplays, including higher contrast, greater
power efficiency, less weight, more compact size, and negligible image smearing.
Using our active matrix OLED technology, many computer and electronic system
functions can be built directly into the OLED microdisplay silicon backplane,
resulting in compact, high resolution and power efficient systems. Already proven
in military and commercial systems, our product portfolio of OLED microdisplays
deliver high-resolution, flicker-free virtual images that perform effectively
even in extreme temperatures and high-vibration conditions. We also believe
that our direct patterning technology gives us a substantial advantage over
other OLED microdisplays because it allows us to produce microdisplays with
the high brightness required for VR and AR. Traditional OLED microdisplays utilize
white emitting OLED with color filters that lessen the intensity of emitted
light by as much as 85%, significantly reducing brightness. Microdisplays manufactured
by direct patterning do not require color filters to achieve color variations
and allow for the application of more efficient OLED structures which achieve
high brightness.
We have developed our own intellectual property portfolio that includes 34
U.S. patents and 28 U.S. patent applications, over 15 years of manufacturing
know-how and proprietary technologies to create high performance OLED microdisplays.
We believe our technology, intellectual property portfolio and position in the
marketplace give us a leadership position in OLED and OLED-on-silicon microdisplay
technology. We believe that we are one of only a few companies to market and
produce significant quantities of high resolution, small molecule OLED-on-silicon
microdisplays.
We derive the majority of our revenue from sales of our OLED microdisplay products.
We also earn revenue from commercial and consumer product and government development
contracts that may complement and support our internal research and development
programs. In addition, we generate sales from optics and microdisplays combined
with optics. Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017, we introduced two
consumer night vision products, BlazeSpark and BlazeTorch, although revenue
from these products to date has been minimal as ongoing development of these
products continues.
We were formed through the merger of Fashion Dynamics Corporation, which was
organized on January 23, 1996 under the laws of the State of Nevada, and FED
Corporation, a developer and manufacturer of optical systems and microdisplays
for use in the electronics industry. Simultaneous with this merger, we changed
our name to eMagin Corporation. We are incorporated in the state of Delaware.
A microdisplay generally has a screen size that is less than two inches in
diagonal. The miniature size enables them to be used in a wide variety of applications
that require a screen that takes up small space, such as head-mounted displays
(HMDs) and viewfinders of digital cameras. Microdisplays are used across various
industries including consumer electronics, enterprise/industrial, military,
defense, aerospace, and healthcare. Microdisplays provide many advantages over
other displays where small size is a requirement. Benefits include compact size,
high brightness and resolution, low power consumption, and high contrast. Devices
incorporating microdisplays include HMDs, smart glasses and headset products.
Our microdisplays are currently based upon active matrix small molecule OLED
technology, which we refer to as active matrix OLED (AMOLED). Our AMOLED technology
uniquely permits millions of individual low-voltage light sources to be built
on low-cost, silicon computer chips to produce single color, white or full-color
display arrays. Using our OLED technology, many computer and video electronic
system functions can be built directly into the silicon chip, under the OLED
film, resulting in a compact, integrated system with lower overall system costs
relative to alternative technologies.
OLEDs are thin films of stable organic materials that emit light of various
colors when a voltage is impressed across them. OLEDs are emissive devices,
which means that they create their own light, as opposed to liquid crystal displays,
which require a separate light source. As a result, our OLED microdisplays use
less power and deliver much higher contrast and fuller color than liquid crystal
microdisplays. Unlike liquid crystal displays which use crossed polarizers to
generate black level, OLED displays exhibit an extremely high contrast ratio
which results in very vivid images. Because the light they emit is Lambertian,
which means that it appears equally bright from most forward directions, a moderate
movement in the eye does not change the image brightness or color as it does
in other technologies.
Our technology is based on integrating a proprietary OLED device with a specially
designed silicon backplane to produce efficient and high performance AMOLED
microdisplays. Our OLED displays incorporate a proprietary, top-emitting structure
for our OLED devices that enables OLED displays to be built on opaque silicon
integrated circuits rather than only on glass. Our OLED microdisplays emit full
visible spectrum (white) light that is isolated with color filters to create
color images. Our microdisplays have a brightness that can be greater than that
of a typical notebook computer and can have a potential useful life of over
50,000 operating hours in certain applications. New processes and device improvements,
such as our OLED-XLS technology, offer even better expected performance for
brightness, efficiency, and lifespan. We have developed extremely bright OLED
microdisplays using our patented dPd technology and have demonstrated color
high resolution 2K x 2K and WUXGA microdisplays with brightness in excess of
5,000 nits, which we believe is the world’s highest resolution and brightness.
In addition to our AMOLED technology, we have developed compact optic and lens
enhancements, which when coupled with the microdisplay, provide the high quality
large screen appearance that we believe a large proportion of the marketplace
demands.
We believe that our AMOLED technology provides significant advantages over
other microdisplay technologies in our targeted markets. We believe these key
advantages include:
High brightness
Sharp contrast
Low power consumption for improved battery life and longer system life;
High-speed performance resulting in clear video images;
Compact form factor and light weight;
Wide angle light emission resulting in large apparent screen size and more
immersive experience;
Wide operating temperature range;
Good environmental stability (vibration and humidity); and
Anticipated low manufacturing cost at higher volumes.
Prism Optics
We sell high quality, large viewing angle prism optics with a wide range for
eye positioning, both of which are essential for using our displays in immersive
near-eye systems. We have developed advanced molded plastic prism lenses that
permit our AMOLED microdisplays to provide -realistic images that can be viewed
for extended periods with reduced eye-fatigue. We have developed an additional
prism optic for a project that will pair with our SXGA096 display.
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