Researchers at Samsung and board members at LG Display have been charged over the theft of organic light emitting diode (OLED) display technology, according to reports.

Information related to the production of larger sized OLED displays leaked from Samsung in a series of emails. The leak centers around a former researcher who left Samsung and plotted the leak in an attempt to get a job at LG Display.

Six former or current researchers at Samsung and five executives at LG Display have been indicted, an Arirang report said.

Both LG and Samsung have been racing to apply OLED display technology to larger glass sizes economically to drive LCD out of flat-screen television applications.

OLED displays emit light rather modulating a backlight. As such the display is bright, shows rich saturated color and is thinner than liquid crystal display (LCD) as it does not need a backlight.