2025-04-13
When manufacturers of AR and VR devices are https://www.micro-oledtech.com/, they often look into a crucial technical parameter the driving technology.
Among them, digital driving technology and analog driving technology, as the two major mainstream solutions, each have distinct application scenarios.
Next, we will share some purchase knowledge of OLED microdisplays: Digital Driving Technology VS Analog Driving Technology. This article will deeply analyze the historical development, technical principles, advantages, and disadvantages of these two driving technologies in OLED display products, helping you make a choice that better suits your needs.
Analog driving technology originated in the era of electron tubes and transistors and was widely used in televisions and monitors.
Although it has undergone many years of technical improvements, it still has technical limitations. Currently, it is being replaced by digital driving technology.
According to the Omdia Display Technology Market Report, in the application of 4K displays, the market share of analog driving technology has decreased from about 35% in 2015 to less than 10% in 2023.
Analog driving technology is based on the principle of analog circuits, directly adjusting the input analog signals to drive the pixels of the display screen.
This technology is relatively simple, but due to its vulnerability to interference, its accuracy is low. Research shows that in a complex electromagnetic environment, the signaltonoise ratio (SNR) of analog driving signals decreases by an average of 1520dB.
In addition, there is a special factor of the times - the digital driving technology is also achieving greater efficiency with the help of other technologies. For example, some manufacturers will use laser equipment (such as Senfeng laser) in the manufacturing process of silicon-based OLED displays, including applications like high-precision substrate cutting, electrode patterning, and thin film annealing.
Among them, laser cutting can achieve precise cutting of silicon wafers with high precision and high speed. The cut is flat and smooth, which significantly improves the yield rate of the substrates. Moreover, for some highly advanced silicon-based OLED displays, laser lithography technology is required to create fine electrode patterns on the substrates, so as to meet the technical requirements for high-definition display.
Mature Technology: Due to the long development time of analog driving technology, it is mature, and there is rich experience in circuit design and debugging, so the cost is also lower.
Taking a 1.3inch OLED microdisplay produced by a certain manufacturer as an example, the production cost of the analog driving solution is about $12 per piece, while the cost of the digital driving solution is as high as $28 per piece (Data source: Display Supply Chain Consultants).
Good Compatibility: Since many traditional display devices use analog signals, OLED displays manufactured with analog driving technology have better compatibility. There is no need to make major changes to the hardware, reducing the cost of system upgrades.
Limited Grayscale Accuracy: In terms of grayscale control, analog driving technology cannot achieve sufficient precision, resulting in a lack of rich grayscale levels and grayscale distortion when the image displays low brightness. According to statistics, in the display of 16 grayscale levels, the grayscale error rate of analog driving is as high as 18%, while that of digital driving is only 3%; when it comes to 64 grayscale levels, the error rate of analog driving reaches 25% (Data source: SID International Display Symposium Report).
Difficulty in Resolution Improvement: With the increase in the resolution of the display screen, analog driving technology will encounter problems such as signal attenuation and interference when driving highresolution display screens.
High Power Consumption: Analog driving circuits require a relatively high working voltage, resulting in relatively high power consumption. This is a very unfavorable factor for portable electronic devices. The measured power consumption of a certain model of OLED microdisplay with analog driving is 1.8W, while that of a digital driving product of the same size is only 0.6W, seriously affecting the device's battery life.
Digital driving technology emerged at the end of the 20th century and was born with the development of digital technology.
In the VR device market, from 2018 to 2023, the shipment growth rate of MicroOLED displays using digital driving reached 127% (Data source: TrendForce). It has become the mainstream choice for highend display devices.
The binary encoded signals are converted into pixel control instructions through a digital signal processor (DSP), and it has strong antiinterference ability.
Actual measurements in a complex environment show that the signaltonoise ratio (SNR) of digital driving signals remains above 75dB, which is 4050dB higher than that of analog driving.
High Resolution Support: It is easy to drive displays with higher resolutions and can achieve good cost control when increasing the resolution, making it suitable for manufacturing highresolution display screens. For example, for the 1.32inch MicroOLED display with a resolution of 2560×2560 manufactured by MOT Company, the digital driving solution makes the pixel density per inch (PPI) reach 2143, far exceeding the limit level of analog driving technology (usually lower than 1000PPI).
Precise Grayscale Control: It can achieve more precise grayscale control, presenting rich grayscale levels and having better performance in all grayscale levels. For example, in the technical solution provided by MOT Company, all grayscale levels using digital driving technology can reach >85%, while for analog driving technology, it is <60% for 16 grayscale levels and <80% for 64 grayscale levels, with a significant gap.
Elimination of Motion Blur: Digital driving itself has the characteristic of eliminating motion blur, which can further reduce the phenomenon of motion blur when displaying moving images. The refresh rate of the siliconbased OLED display screen of MOT Company can reach 3600Hz, while the common refresh rate of ordinary analog driving is 120Hz.
Yield Improvement: Relying on a simple and stable structure, the yield rate of substrate chips can be increased to 90%. The improvement of the chip yield rate reduces the production cost and enhances the comprehensive competitiveness of the product.
Flicker Control: Using digital driving (above 1KHz) can reduce the flicker phenomenon, reduce the stimulation to the human eyes, play a role in protecting the eyes, and is suitable for longterm use.
Technical Complexity: The digital signal processing and control algorithms of digital driving technology are relatively complex, and the requirements for the integration of driving chips are high, increasing the difficulty of technical research and development. According to the person in charge of a certain manufacturer who did not want to be named, the development of a digital driving chip in the industry requires an investment of about $812 million, and the research and development cycle is at least 18 months.
Compatibility Challenges: There may be compatibility issues with some traditional display systems, and additional conversion circuits are required.
| Comparison Items | Analog Driving Technology | Digital Driving Technology |
| Historical Development | Originated from electron tube & transistor era, market share in 4K displays dropped from 35% in 2015 to <10% in 2023 | Emerged in late 20th century, Micro-OLED display shipments in VR market grew 127% from 2018-2023 |
| Technical Principle | Based on analog circuits, vulnerable to interference, SNR drops 15-20dB in complex environment | DSP converts binary signals, strong anti-interference, SNR >75dB in complex environment |
| Advantages | Mature tech, low cost ($12/piece for 1.3-inch OLED vs $28/piece of digital), good compatibility | High res support (PPI 2143 in 1.32-inch 2560×2560 display), precise grayscale (>85% all grayscale), motion blur elimination (3600Hz refresh rate), 90% chip yield, flicker reduction (above 1KHz) |
| Disadvantages | Limited grayscale accuracy (18% error in 16 grayscale, 25% in 64 grayscale), hard to improve res, high power (1.8W vs 0.6W of digital) | Complex tech (costs $8-12m, 18+mths R&D), compatibility issues |
| Application Tendency | Suitable for low-end products with low performance requirements | Will be widely used in more display devices in future due to excellent performance |
Although digital driving technology and analog driving technology are not at the same technical level, they are still suitable for different needs. However, in the next ten years, digital driving technology will, with its excellent performance of high resolution, high grayscale accuracy, low motion blur, and eye protection, be widely applied in more display devices, holding great market opportunities.
