Over the past couple of years, the spotlight in the display industry has clearly been dominated by OLEDs and quantum dots. Both large-screen innovations from major TV manufacturers and smaller applications like mobile phone screens have seen significant investments in these technologies. People have begun to anticipate that OLEDs and quantum dots will continue to lead the display sector over the next 3 to 5 years. However, a new display technology called Micro LED has recently surfaced, making bold claims to revolutionize the entire display industry and potentially outshine both OLEDs and LCDs.
One of the most enthusiastic supporters of Micro LED technology is none other than Apple. The interest in Micro LED truly gained traction when Apple acquired LuxVue Technology. Apple has a history of leveraging its product lineup to drive new display technologies forward, much like how the iPhone helped popularize Retina display technology. Rumors suggest that the upcoming third-generation Apple Watch could feature a Micro LED display, creating quite a stir within the industry.
Micro LED technology deep dive
Sony has always been at the forefront of pioneering display innovations. In the case of Micro LED, Sony has been actively involved in research and development. Back in 2012, Sony introduced the Crystal LED Display, marking the official debut of Micro LED technology. Last year, Sony unveiled a new generation of Micro LED technology with the CLEDIS product, which wowed the industry with its visual impact. Sony's approach to new technologies has historically been cautious. For instance, while Sony successfully developed OLED TVs in 2007, it took until now for the OLED supply chain to mature before Sony officially launched large-size OLED TVs. This demonstrates Sony's careful market evaluation. For Micro LED, Sony remains similarly cautious.
Will Apple's third-generation Watch adopt Micro LED?
Samsung’s connection to Micro LED stems from a rumored acquisition attempt. It was reported that Samsung had considered bidding $150 million for Micro LED technology, though the deal never materialized. Given Samsung's status as the world's largest display manufacturer, it would be unusual if Samsung were not interested in Micro LED. However, compared to Samsung's current focus on QLEDs for large screens and OLEDs for small screens, their interest in Micro LED remains relatively subdued.
Unveiling the Mysteries of Micro LED
Micro LED, or micro light-emitting diode display, consists of a miniaturized LED array. This involves thinning, miniaturizing, and arranging LED structures, transferring them onto a circuit substrate, and applying deposition techniques to create a protective layer of tiny pitch LEDs. Its size is approximately 1% of the current mainstream LED dimensions. Each pixel can be individually addressed and driven, with the distance between pixels reduced from millimeters to nanometers.
Advantages of Micro LED technology
Micro LED inherits the strengths of traditional LEDs, offering low power consumption, high brightness, ultra-high resolution, and color saturation, along with fast response times and long lifespan. Data shows that Micro LED consumes about 10% of the power of LCDs and 50% of OLEDs. Compared to OLEDs, which are also self-luminous, Micro LED boasts 30 times greater brightness and can achieve resolutions up to 1500 PPI (pixels per inch). These features alone make Micro LED's potential undeniable.
Micro LED Industrial Chain Development
When it comes to the overall industrial chain of Micro LED, Taiwan has shown the most enthusiasm. A Micro LED product typically includes a TFT substrate, ultra-fine LED dies, and driver ICs. These components share commonalities with LCDs and LEDs. Despite this, mainland China, Japan, and South Korea, which also possess strong industrial foundations, have not demonstrated similar proactive attitudes.
Mass transfer process is one of the key challenges in Micro LED production
Firstly, companies in mainland China, Japan, and South Korea are heavily focused on OLED development. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, Micro LED faces a significant challenge in the mass transfer process, often referred to as "giant quantity transfer." Taiwan’s Micro LED industry made a notable advancement last year with the formation of a "mass transfer" industry alliance with the Industrial Technology Research Institute. This move marks a substantial leap forward for Micro LED technology.
Mass Transfer Challenge
In simple terms, mass transfer involves evenly welding hundreds or even thousands of red, green, and blue primary color LED microcrystals onto a fingernail-sized TFT circuit board, adhering to specific optical and electrical specifications, with a process failure rate of less than a few hundred thousandths. Achieving this on a large scale is no easy feat.
If mass transfer isn't perfected, Micro LED success will be unlikely
Moreover, in a market dominated by LCD and OLED, Micro LED must offer economic viability. While Micro LED significantly reduces screen energy consumption, the resulting energy savings may inadvertently drive up costs. If these costs cannot be effectively managed, Micro LED’s competitive edge will remain elusive. Overall, mass transfer must not only address the challenge of transferring vast numbers of tiny grains but also ensure rapid standardization of process levels to establish a credible alternative to OLEDs and LCDs.
Full Color Challenges
Another major issue with Micro LED is achieving full-color capabilities with consistent emission wavelengths. Monochrome Micro LED arrays can be achieved through flip-chip packaging and bonding of driving ICs. However, RGB arrays require transferring red, green, and blue microcrystals, embedding hundreds of thousands of LED crystals, which demands high standards for light efficiency, wavelength consistency, and yield. Additionally, color inconsistency issues pose a significant obstacle to the technology's progress.
Quantum dot full-color light-emitting flowchart for Micro LED displays
Currently, Apple continues to invest in R&D for RGB tri-color Micro LED but has yet to resolve issues related to yield and cost, leading to slower-than-expected progress in the past year. Most trial products currently available are monochrome. Overcoming these technical bottlenecks in the future and developing a cost-effective full-color Micro LED will be crucial for its entry into the mainstream market.
Conclusion:
The display industry's current success is largely due to diverse technological experiments. Micro LED is undoubtedly one of those efforts. However, from an industrialization perspective, Micro LED is not as revolutionary as some media portrayals suggest. With OLEDs already maturing and capturing the market, showcasing business survival is key. While there are numerous startups in the Micro LED space, they function more as technical reserves rather than practical solutions. Therefore, claims that Micro LED will replace LCDs and OLEDs in a few years are likely overstated.
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