Samsung has announced that they have developed active matrix OLED (AMOLED) screen with touch functionality built-in. Usually, to add touch input to LCD or OLED screens manufacturers add a transparent touch layer on top of LCD screen. This increases power requirements, dims or softens the image and adds bulk to the screen setup. Samsung has developed new AMOLED screen that adds touch sensors on each of the OLED cells. The new technology just adds 0.001mm to overall thickness, while maintaining the image quality.

Samsung claims that the new AMOLED screens are more power efficient and offer deeper contrast ratios than their predecessor. Samsung plans to start mass production of 3.3-inch 800 x 480 resolution AMOLED screens with built-in touch sensors in March. Smartphones based on the new screen technology should come to the market in second half of 2010.