The way forward for TV tech is just a single OLED pixel large

Researchers on the Pohang College of Science and Expertise (POSTECH) in Pohang, South Korea have unveiled a prototypical OLED show with a probably game-changing twist: the novel 13-inch panel is able to emitting not solely visuals, but additionally full-blown audio.

In a analysis article titled Localized Sound-Built-in Show Speaker Utilizing Crosstalk-Free Piezoelectric Vibration Array, published in Advanced Science again in April 2025 (via ScienceDaily), Inpyo Hong and Su Seok Choi define a display that may primarily convert electrical indicators into full-blown sound vibrations utilizing piezoelectric expertise.

“Piezoelectric speakers instantly convert electrical vitality into mechanical movement by way of the inverse piezoelectric impact, enabling environment friendly sound technology with a light-weight, versatile, and low-power design. Their easy layered development, consisting of electrodes and piezoelectric supplies, affords benefits similar to low value, excessive vitality effectivity, and compactness,” write Hong and Choi.

What’s Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound OLED expertise?

A conceptual multi-channel sound system the place every pixel emits its personal audio

Dubbed Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound OLED expertise by the POSTECH researchers, a central innovation employed on this idea is the embedding of Piezoelectric exciters instantly into the body of the 13-inch OLED panel in query. This circumvents the necessity for conventional audio exciters, which take up a considerable quantity of bodily house to provide sound via their driver aspect and different required speaker internals.

Piezoelectric tech itself is not new — we have seen client electronics manufacturers experiment with it prior to now, similar to with the Google Pixel 5’s grill-less front-facing speaker hidden behind its show. This all-new implementation of Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound OLED tech is distinct, nevertheless, with its pixel-like association and embedding instantly into the OLED panel {hardware} itself. The tip result’s an OLED display association that may produce audio at a per-pixel stage, very similar to how every particular person OLED pixel can already emit its personal gentle.

In accordance with Hong and Choi, these piezoelectric exciters will be demonstrably built-in into the body of an OLED show with out considerably impacting the form and dimension of the panel itself, all whereas eliminating crosstalk (sound supply leakage) and bolstering acoustic precision, positionality, and localization.

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Is Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound OLED expertise the way forward for TV?

Value, manufacturing, scaling, and high quality are all limitations that have to be labored via

Conceptually, Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound OLED expertise is an thrilling prospect. OLED panels are already thought-about best-in-class for his or her skinny and versatile design, their per-pixel management of sunshine emission, and their deep blacks and punchy distinction ranges. The addition of pixel-perfect audio emission has the potential to bolster the coveted ‘ 3D spatial audio‘ or encompass sound impact that some client manufacturers attempt to attain, whereas additionally obsoleting cumbersome speaker {hardware} within the course of.

“This expertise has the potential to change into a core function of next-generation gadgets, enabling glossy, light-weight designs in smartphones, laptops, and automotive shows – whereas delivering immersive, high-fidelity audio,” writes Hong and Choi within the analysis paper.

In fact, the findings of Hong and Choi are experimental and function a proof of idea — Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound is not a consumer-ready expertise that may be churned out on a manufacturing line, and it seemingly will not be for the foreseeable future. With a purpose to obtain the dimensions essential for mass industrial manufacturing, audio efficiency must obtain cost-to-performance parity with present client audio gadgets, and likely different hurdles will have to be conquered.

There’s additionally no telling whether or not this tech will scale nicely to larger-screened and smaller-screened gadgets, or whether or not piezoelectric exciters will finally be capable of obtain the audio outcomes shoppers count on out of their TVs, smartphones, and different tech devices (present implementations of piezoelectric tech, similar to on the aforementioned Pixel 5, have not precisely taken the world by storm).

Personally, I am hopeful of a future during which Pixel-Based mostly Native Sound not solely hits the patron house, but additionally achieves essential mass. Audio directionality and spacial contextualization can significantly elevate the expertise of consuming media, and that is double true in relation to augmented actuality (AR) and digital actuality (VR) headsets. If cumbersome traditional speaker hardware had been to at some point change into antiquated, it’d additionally open up the door for even thinner tech merchandise throughout the board, which is an thrilling prospect certainly.

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