Samsung SDI developed a tiny 300µm thin display but allowed for great color on the display for the e-passport. The display is made up of an active matrix display with organic light emitting diodes. This means that located behind every pixel of the display is an active electronic circuit with low power consumption. AMOLED displays provide color images and can be produced in much thinner formats than conventional LCDs. The materials used for the display are heat-resistant, so that the passport card can be laminated and hence protected against manipulation.

In this project, Bundesdruckerei contributed by developing the required contactless technology to power the display. The display is activated via the power provided by a contactless reader, so that the document itself does not require any batteries. It will be possible to retrieve all the information via the display, for instance, a moving passport image of the document holder, as well as text-based information, such as the passport holder’s address.

With this technology, future documents will be able to provide all the means necessary for authentication without being transmitted somewhere else. All the necessary information could be transmitted on the document.

The electronic passport with a slim and bendable AMOLED display is the first result collaboration between Samsung and Bundesdruckerei. The two companies are determined to increase their technological collaboration in the future.