AU Optronics Continue to Push Panel Development

As a brief intro summary, AUO continues to invest in several key areas. Of particular interest are the new gaming panels they are developing, with Full HD (1920 x 1080) options reaching up to 240Hz native refresh rate later this year and QHD (2560 x 1440) reaching the same 240Hz refresh rate during 2017. We will also see the emergence of 4K resolution 144Hz refresh rate panels by 2017 as well.

In addition to there are further developments with VA technology curved panels, now pushing the refresh rates up to 200Hz native and with resolutions up to 3440 x 1440. New panel sizes and formats will also be introduced.

Finally, an investment in 4K and 5K resolution screens for a variety of uses continues to be a focus with various options being considered.

Here are some of the specifics and highlights:

Full HD panels with 240Hz refresh rate - two gaming panels are in production offering 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution and a massive 240Hz refresh rate. They are available in 25" and 27" sizes and are TN Film technology. The 25" panel (M250HTN01.2) should be in production during June and the 27" (M270HTN02.3) will follow in August. The 25" sector is a new venture for AUO as well, as they've not produced panels in this size before. The 25" panel could well be the panel featured in the recently announced Asus ROG Swift PG258Qwhich was showcased at Computex. It remains to be confirmed, but that was advertised as having a 240Hz refresh rate and so the spec fits.

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Curved VA panels with up to 200Hz refresh rate - these are planned in various sizes, offering curved formats (1800R curvature) and VA panel technology.

Going into production in June/July is the largest size, which is a 35" 21:9 aspect ratio panel with 3440 x 1440  resolution. This will have options for a 100Hz (M350QVR01.0) and 200Hz refresh rate (M350QVR01.1) apparently. Back in January, we had information about this 35" panel which was listed with a 144Hz refresh rate, but it looks like AUO has now pushed this refresh rate even higher up to 200Hz. With a 3440 x 1440 res and that high refresh rate, DP 1.2 will not be sufficient but it remains to be seen how this screen will be connected.

In the same 35" size is another curved (2000R) VA panel but this time with a 2560 x 1080 resolution and 200Hz refresh rate (M350DVR01.2). This should go into production during June to complement the existing 144Hz version (M350DVR01.0) already used in various screens such as the Acer Predator Z35.

Then there's a new 31.5" sized 16:9 aspect ratio panel scheduled for some time in Q4, with 2560 x 1440 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. This is the first 31.5" sized panel we've seen mentioned by AUO up until now and will also mark the first high refresh rate VA panel we've seen in this size and resolution.

The planned 30" widescreen 2560 x 1080, VA technology,  21:9 aspect ratio panel (M300DVR01.0) has also now gone into production and the spec has been updated slightly now with a 1800R curvature (instead of 2000R expected before) and a boost in the refresh rate from 144Hz to 200Hz.

Finally, there's a 27" 16:9 aspect ratio VA panel also in the planning phase (no date or part number yet) with 2560 x 1440 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. Again the first VA panel of this size and resolution we've seen with a high refresh rate.

In fact, there's been very few high refresh rate VA panels ever released, only really the 23.5" 1920 x 1080 resolution 120Hz VA panel from Sharp (as featured in the Eizo Foris FG2421 back in late 2013), and more recently the 35" 2560 x 1080 resolution 144Hz native VA panel from AUO as featured in a few screens including the Acer Predator Z35 early in 2016.

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More 4K and 5K options - AUO will also invest in more high-resolution panels with 4K (ultra HD 3840 x 2160) and 5K (5120 x 2880) options available. A new line of 32" sized 'value' panels are expected to go into production in November 2016 based on TN Film and/or VA panel technology with 4K resolutions (no part numbers yet). At some point in late 2016, the 144Hz refresh rate 27" size AHVA (IPS-type) 4K panel showcased recently at Computex is expected to go into mass production as well which is bound to attract some attention for gamers (again no part number yet). Finally, a new 32" sized AHVA (IPS-type) panel with 5K resolution is expected to go into production in Feb 2017 with Adobe RGB colour space and will be aimed at higher-end use and graphic application (part number not known).

We have updated our panel parts database with all this new information as well where available