New Samsung OLED line to start production mid-2011

SEOUL, June 22 (Reuters) - Samsung Mobile Display, a mobile screen venture of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), said on Tuesday it began construction of a $2.1 billion organic display line to start production from July 2011.

Samsung said last month it would invest 2.5 trillion won ($2.13 billion) to build a new production line for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) screens, a next-generation display with more vivid colour.

Using organic compounds, OLED screens produce crisp images without backlighting, making them slimmer and more energy-efficient than liquid crystal displays.

While Sony's (6758.T) trial with OLED TV failed to take off, Samsung is pushing for adoption of the pricey screens in mobile devices such as smartphones and portable media players.

Samsung Mobile Display, the world's largest maker of displays for mobile devices, said in a statement its new OLED production line, which would be the biggest of its kind, would have monthly capacity of 30 million 3-inch mobile screens.

Samsung Mobile Display is an equal joint venture between memory chip and LCD giant Samsung Electronics and rechargeable battery maker Samsung SDI (006400.KS). ($1=1175.9 Won) (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)