English translation of Chinese LEDInside article
Post# of 22454
Two key accelerate Micro LED commercial practical, TV applications are expected to be achieved in advance
2017-05-18 16:09 [edit: joeyho] Article here
Since the next generation of display technology micro-LED (Micro LED) for the industry since dawn, the relevant supply chain in the brand under the tandem gradually build shape, but also accelerate the development of product applications, including large-size TV is expected to achieve ahead of time Production. As to when there will be commercial and practical products, in addition to the current stage to overcome many technical problems, but also emphasis on two key elements.
Micro LED production process changes, process technology remains to be a breakthrough
Micro LED will be the traditional LED size miniature micron (micron, μm) level, so that even smaller than the sand, but also to ensure that the light, but the current process technology point of view, there are many technical problems to be resolved. In the LEDforum, the traditional LED size is about 100 μm to 1,000 μm and the thickness is about 100 μm to 500 μm. To achieve the Micro LED rating, the size of the LED is reduced to 100 μm , The thickness of only about 3 μm to 5 μm, due to micro LED volume shrink nearly a hundred times, so the current production process needs a considerable change.
From the epitaxial process, grain manufacturing, to transfer, bonding, color scheme and backplane material selection, testing, repair and redundancy (redundancy) mechanism, etc., each process has its technical limitations and challenges. Stored in the super mentioned, when the LED size to micro level, will not be in accordance with the traditional way in the grain process and then divided into bin, screening procedures, to be in the upstream epitaxial stage to control the wavelength of LED wafer uniformity, To achieve no particles (particle), do not have to divide the degree of bin; As for the back-end process how to detect and repair dead pixels, switching backup circuits, etc., are also very important technical issues.
TV production schedule is expected ahead of time, automotive and mobile phone applications for the development of the focus
Last year, LEDinside based on the size of the product and PPI requirements, calculate the size of LED and Pixel (Pixel) the number of LED size larger, the smaller the number of applications, to achieve commercial production speed is relatively fast. After a lapse of a year, the rapid implementation of mass production of Micro LED applications also have a little change, especially TV (TV) production schedule may be ahead of the original than expected.
Storage in the ultra-will pointed out that manufacturers in the early development of Micro LED products, generally start from the indoor display screen or wear device to start, and now some manufacturers choose to give priority to the development of Micro LED TV, can not help but surprising, after all, TV Need a considerable number of pixels, technical difficulty is also higher. However, he believes that because the TV specifications and diverse, if more than 60-inch TV with Micro LED to do Full HD or 4K analysis, PPI still able to reach the range, is expected to cut into the high-end product market and OLED TV competition match.
▲ Micro LED application production forecast time (Source: LEDinside)
Micro LED in the automotive field of application development has also been optimistic. Storage in the ultra-said, Micro LED can be combined in the soft substrate with the car structure integration, as a dashboard or control panel display to create a differentiated, but also enhance the overall texture. In addition, automotive lighting with Micro LED through a single point of independent control of each pixel, and then create a different light to deal with a variety of road environment, while avoiding the light on the car driving caused by glare phenomenon.
Mobile screen, the use of Micro LED as a self-luminous display screen will be one of the direction of development, but Micro LED size was reduced to 5 μm to 30 μm, according to the resolution requirements of the number of pixels used up to several million, So that the cost is not easy to lower, the production schedule will be too late. Of course, Micro LED can not only be used for display technology, the integration of the sensor "micro assembly" (Micro Assembly) technology, but also for mobile phones. Stored in the ultra-pointed out that another direction can also be Micro LED as a mobile phone backlight, different from the current common side into the type, and change the concept of similar straight-type backlight TV, you can support regional dimming (local dimming) , But also to enhance the color display performance, but in order to maintain the phone body light, shorten the optical distance (Optical Distance, OD) has become another problem to be solved.
In addition, applications with potential for development include AR / VR headset (HMD), digital signage (Digital Signage) and so on. "The future Micro LED product specifications will be very scattered, the application category will be focused," stored in the super-video wall (video wall) display applications or wearing devices will be relatively rapid production, "and the real mass will have Wait until after 2020 ".
Achieve mass production of two key: cost, added value
Although Micro LED applications imagine a wide space, unique development prospects, if you want to accelerate the commercial production of Micro LED production, or escape the most realistic cost considerations. Stored in a small pitch (Fine Pitch) LED with a dot pitch of P1.25 mm, compared to a traditional LED display screen with a pitch of P3.0 mm. The former because of the relationship between the point spacing miniature, LED use the number increased by 5.76 times, coupled with reduced LED size and increase the cost of the process, so that the cost per square meter area of about 12,000 US dollars, compared to the traditional LED display screen per square The size of the meter is $ 2,000, and the gap is quite obvious.
If the Micro LED with a small pitch LED display screen specifications to calculate, stored in the ultra-estimated Micro LED display screen costs only about a small pitch LED display screen about Qi Cheng, mainly because Micro LED chips do not need the traditional stent, Material costs will be reduced much. However, he stressed that Micro LED cost is not expensive in the material, but expensive in the process, especially the transfer, drive the program, as well as backplane (backplane) custom, new production equipment, etc. are the reasons for the increase in costs, so at this stage
Micro LED costs have to be higher estimates.
From the display price of the screen, the current 110-inch P1.25 mm small pitch LED display screen, the price of about 120,000 US dollars; Micro LED display screen if the SONY splicing display screen "CLEDIS" (Crystal LED Integrated Structure) Compared to 220-inch asking price of 120 million yen, equivalent to 1.2 million US dollars, 110-inch to half price of 600,000 US dollars compared to the difference between the two more than 5 times. Stored in the super that SONY will reposition their own products, cut into the traditional display screen does not have the market, in some areas also need to exist, so there are other manufacturers to follow the pace of development Micro LED Micro LED display screen. "With the future decline in costs, such a high-end niche market may also become the mainstream," said in the super said.
In addition to the key to realize the production of Micro LED in addition to breaking the breakthrough technology, materials, equipment, etc. to further reduce costs, how to increase the added value, hit the pain point is one of the key. Stored in the super-recommended through the integrated program or new product concepts, functions, etc., for the product to increase the added value to meet consumer demand. The future of Micro LED can be more commercial and practical, will depend on the technology mature speed, cost and product added value, I believe that over time, the market will appear Micro LED related product applications.
Text / science and technology new newspaper Yang Anqi
(Below is outline of a Pay Report on Micro LED--)
Micro LED Next Generation Display Technology Market Membership Report - 2Q17
Discussion on Micro LED Display and Small Spacing Display Technology
LED display market overview
The current large-scale display mainstream technology
Comparison of different display technology
Small pitch LED display market size forecast
Small distance LED display supply chain status
2016-2017 small pitch display segmentation analysis
Why Micro LED display ?
SONY CLEDIS Micro LED display to lead the market trend
SONY CLEDIS Micro LED display specifications introduced
Micro LED display with small pitch LED display - specification analysis
Micro LED display products
Micro LED display with small pitch LED display - cost analysis
Micro LED display with small pitch LED display - price analysis
From the niche into mainstream ? Micro LED display development prospects
LED chip solution
Micro LED with the traditional LED process is different
LED specifications - traditional LED display
LED Specifications - Micro LED display
Micro LED display of the basic structure and application model
Micro LED in the display application of technical challenges
Power drive solution
Affect the Micro LED power drive factor
Drive mode - active and passive analysis
Active drive - low power consumption, high refresh rate, large size and high resolution for full color display
Switching power supply control PWM technology on the LED color changes in depth
Scan mode and screen update rate
LED display vs Micro LED display power drive module differences
Micro LED display driver problem challenges
Integrated IC solutions and technical challenges
Circuit board solution
Impact Micro LED circuit board production factors
Printed circuit board production process classification
Comparison of Production Process Differences in Printed Circuit Board
PCB line width / line distance Micro LED specifications have not yet been met
Traditional display applications vs Micro LED application circuit board process differences
Micro LED application circuit board target specifications and to be overcome bottlenecks