Japan’s Eizo has launched a new professional monitor in Japan that boasts what it says is the world’s first printed 4K OLED panel.
Notably, the OLED panel was manufactured by JOLED, a joint venture between Japan Display, Panasonic and Sony. The panel was built using the “inkjet” manufacturing process, which refers to a form of computer printing that’s normally used to recreate a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper, plastic and other substrates. But the process can also be applied to TV displays.
It’s a completelty different technique to the White OLED (WOLED) method used by LG for its OLED TV panels, where repeating arrays of patterned green, red, and blue subpixels are placed on a fine metal mask to get an RGB coating of the organic materials.
"As a Visual Technology Company that creates new value for imaging solutions through the introduction of cutting-edge technologies and devices, we are excited to now provide the next-generation in content viewing by employing JOLED's high-definition 4K OLED," said Hiroshi Nagai, SM for Product Technology at Eizo, in a statement.
The Eizo Foris Nova boasts some impressive specifications too. It comes with 4K resolution, offers a 60Hz refresh rate, 10-bit colours and approximately 80% coverage of the BT .2020 gamut. The panel also supports High Dynamic Range formats such as HDR10 and HLG, though the limited brightness of just 330 nits suggests the HDR performance may not be the best.
The panel is relatively small, measuring at just 21.6 inches, but JOLED indicated it could well be the first of many OLED monitors the company produces. In a statement, it said it “hopes to continue working together with Eizo to strengthen product development, targeting high-end monitors.”
The Eizo Foris Nova monitor likely won’t come cheap. Although the company has yet to announce a launch date or pricing for the U.K., it currently retails at 350,000 Yen (Around £2,680) in Japan.
