Until the third quarter of 2019, we have seen Micro LED products presented at several international events, marking the progressing maturity of the technology after years of development. Recently, companies of the Micro LED supply chain revealed that they are getting ready for mass production. Taiwan’s RiTdisplay and PlayNitride jointly developed two Micro LED displays for wearable applications. One is a 1.25-inch display and the other is a 0.94-inch flexible display. Both panels are featured with a resolution of 228 ppi. According to RiTdisplay, it has been ...

IFA 2019 opened on September 6 in Berlin and has attracted more than 1,000 exhibitors from across the world to showcase their latest products and technologies. Display technology has been a focus of worldwide big name recently and display products covering TVs and mobile phones are featured at the show. 8K TV is the battle field for global industry players. Samsung, Sharp, LG, TCL and others all brought their newly developed high end TVs adopting QLED, OLED, Micro LED, Mini LED technologies to the show. Korean giant Samsung announced its new 55-inc...

Patently Apple reported an Apple’s patent published in Europe titled “Display with Embedded Pixel Driver Chips” describing the method of fabricating Micro LED display panels with a display integration scheme that embed an array of LEDs on substrates with the front side up. In the description of the patent application, Apple used figures of flexible and foldable display to illustrate how the approach of LED pixel driver chips can be embedded on different display panels. (Image: World Intellectural Property Organization) With the patent app...

Innovative display technology is no longer a new idea in the industry with more and more Micro/Mini LED display products exhibited at major international events in the past two years. However, there are still several challenging bottlenecks within Micro LED and Mini LED manufacture process that block the way to product commercialization. Therefore, it is expected that more industry players joining the market will help to advance solutions for achieving technology breakthroughs. Flexible, Folding and Transparent Displays: Turning Points for the Oversupplied Displ...

Several exhibitors attending Touch Taiwan 2019 showcased their latest Micro LED displays and applications at the show including Taiwan-based panel manufacturer AU Optronics (AUO) presenting a 12.1-inch Micro LED automotive display. Paul Peng, chairman of AUO, indicated that commercialized Micro LED products will hit the market in one to two years. The panel market showed decline in 2019 due to soft global economy and the U.S.-China trade dispute. Despite that AUO has also been impacted by the slow growth, the company is pushing high value products deve...

A research team from the University of Waterloo published their result of a successful demonstration which integrates amorphous silicon TFTs and Micro LED on large-area flexible substrates. With the approach, manufacturing of flexible Micro LED for wearables and large size displays with lower cost could be achieved. Researchers combined conventional low-temperature amorphous silicon TFT fabrication process with a laser lift-off transfer process to integrate blue GaN-based Micro LEDs with flexible TFT pixel circuits. According to the study, the selective l...

Micro LED and Mini LED technologies and applications created a sensation at Touch Taiwan 2019. Exhibitors from the supply chain presented key materials, components, equipment solutions as well as products applications following the Micro LED and Mini LED waves. eLux and Epileds jointly demonstrate a 12-inch full color Micro LED automotive display. The display adopts Micro LED RGB chip sized 40-50µm by Epileds and active LTPS backplane drive solution, reaching 42 ppi and brightness over 1,000nits. The full color and high contrast display performan...

Touch Taiwan closed on August 30. Visitors at the show could find a wide range of display applications from wearables panel below 1 inch to large TVs up to 120-inch based on Mini LED and Micro LED technologies. One of the eye-catching products showcased by panel manufacturer AUO is the 12.1-inch Micro LED automotive panel that delivered vivid colors, high contrast and smooth display performance. At the same time, an AM Mini LED display flaunted an astonishing screen quality. According to AUO, since automotive verification takes long time, the company see...

Touch Taiwan 2019, the major business fair for the display industry, kicked off on August 28 at Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan. The event attracted around 300 suppliers from the supply chain to show their latest display technologies and products. AUO exhibited varios high-end displays Micro LEDs and Mini LEDs are definitely the spotlight of the show this year. Event organizer particularly arranged a zone for Micro LED and Mini LED products and solutions which attracted companies including Epistar, Lextar, Macroblock, TOPCO, ASM Paci...

As a driver IC design house with a special focus on power management and optoelectronic applications, Macroblock is not only devoted to LED display driver IC development, but also enthusiastic in new markets with innovated applications, such as: LED backlight driver ICs (Direct type LED full-array local dimming, called FALD), mini-LED backlight driver ICs and modules, Micro-LED backlight and display modules, and gaming keyboards. These are demonstrated at  at Touch Taiwan 2019.  Get Ready for HDR Macroblock demonstrates ‘Display&...

The annual Display International Touch Taiwan is taking place this week with exhibitors from all over the world showcasing their latest developments in display technology. Taiwan-based panel makers AUO and Innolux are both showing their innovative display products at the show including Mini LED backlight display, Micro LED displays and more. (Image: AUO) AUO announced that it will unveil several new display technologies covering Mini LED backlit 8K TVs as well as gaming monitors, notebook panels and VR wearable displays adopting Mini LED backlig...

Lextar will present Micro LED display and its Mini LED series products at Touch Taiwan during August 28 to 30. The vertical integrated LED company is also releasing a new series of Mini LED ready for mass production. The products include I-Mini Blue and UFP I-Mini RGB display with a pitch size of 0.7mm. Lextar will exhibit its latest development, a 5.1-inch transparent AM Micro LED display. According to Lextar, the Micro LED display can achieve a brightness of 30,000nits by assembling flip chip Micro LED on the transparent glass. Meanwh...

LED manufacturers all over the world have suffered from low profit and market uncertainty due to continuous price competition and on-going trade dispute. Besides cutting off lighting business, LEDinside observed the strategies developed by worldwide LED companies under the difficult circumstance to alleviate impacts on their business. Micro LED and Mini LED: the Turning Point for Taiwan LED Manufacturers Taiwan-based LED companies were challenged by Chinese competitors with their low price strategies in the past few years. However, Mini LED and Micro...

The 8th Touch Taiwan will begin next week on August 28 at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall. This year, with the expanding exhibition zone of Micro LED and Mini LED Product and Solution, many expect to see innovative technologies and applications at the show. There will be 37 exhibitors including Epistar, Lextar, Macroblock, ASM Pacific Technology, Tory, Topcon showcasing their latest development of Micro LED and Mini LED at Touch Taiwan 2019. Exhibitors of the supply chain will present their technology related to Micro/Mini LED from upstream ...

Many LED producers have turned their focus to automotive applications for higher profit. The ongoing development of autonomous driving technology and next generation automobile also creates new requirements for automotive lighting as well as automotive displays, leading to new opportunities for LED makers. Exterior lighting becomes even more important for driverless cars, as they need to pass information and communicate with each other as well as remind pedestrians of their movement. Deployment of advanced LED technology enables cars to provide details when they are about to ...

Automotive component supplier Magna announced the opening of a new electronics manufacturing facility in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, USA. The facility consolidates three nearby locations into a single site which occupies 21,367.7 square meters (230,000 square foot). (Image: Magna) With nearly US$ 50 million investment, Magna expects the new facility to accelerate large-scale deployment of future technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), advanced robotics and Micro LED lighting. Magna built partnership with Micro LED technology p...

Plessey, the British optoelectronic technologies developer who currently focuses on Micro LED technology for AR/MR display applications, announced the appointment of Dr. Edward H. Frank to its Micro LED advisory board. Dr. Frank joins Plessey’s advisory board as part of the rapid development of Plessey’s Micro LED technology. Dr. Frank was CEO and co-founder of Cloud Parity and had served as Vice President of Macintosh Hardware Systems Engineering at Apple as well as Corporate Vice President of Research and Development at Broadcom....

Luumii, a joint venture (JV) of Rohinni and KoJa, announced that its Micro and Mini LED-based solutions for notebook computer keyboard backlights and logo lighting are in mass production. These solutions enable notebook designers to take advantage of the significant benefits of incorporating Micro and Mini LEDs into products, including savings in size and power consumption and enhancing product features and user experience via colors and animation. Luumii’s initial monthly production output is 34,000 units. By the end of the year, the company will be operating fou...

When and in what product Apple will adopt Micro LED display technology has been an ongoing topic for the industry. Apple Watch and AR/VR smart glasses were the two products that are most likely to adopt Micro LED according to industry rumors as well as Apple’s revealed patents. On August 1, 2019, a new Micro LED display patent applied by Apple was published in Europe, reported Patently Apple. The patent abstract described that it states the structure and methods of Micro LED display fabrication, including how LEDs are transferred to a carrier subst...

Seoul Semiconductor revealed its consolidated revenues of 2Q19 which came to KRW 283.3 billion (US$ 233.16 million), which has dropped by 2% YoY. The gross profit was KRW 69.3 billion (US$ 57.03 million) and operating profit was KRW 6.6 billion (US$ 5.43 million). The company said the business performance has achieved its guided range for revenues of the quarter. In comparison to other LED companies who have suffered from drastic decrease due to the weak market impacted by the US-China trade dispute, Seoul Semiconductor said it was able to achieve stable rev...

Singapore-based Kulicke & Soffa Industries (K&S) and Micro/Mini LED technology provider Rohinni, announced that they have received initial orders of their co-developed PIXALUX™, a Mini and Micro LED placement solution. (Image: Rohinni) The two companies further noted that the PIXALUX™ advanced placement machine was honored with an Equipment of the Year Award by the Japan Electronics Packaging and Circuits Association (JPCA). The award was presented to K&S and Rohinni at JPCA’s annual trade show and conf...

In April, China’s Sanan Optoelectronics announced its plan to increase investment in Micro LED and Mini LED wafer production in Hubei, China. The company kicked off the project construction on July 29th. Sanan plans to invest CNY 12 billion (US$ 1.74 billion) in the Micro/Mini LED project which the production and R&D area will take about 478 thousand square meters. The company said that the new center will focus on GaN wafer and GaAs wafer of Micro/Mini LED and package products for 4K display. The location of the constructing site i...

Throughout the development of Micro LED, the next generation display technology, cross-industry integration has always been a key. Worldwide chip vendors, panel manufacturers, process technology providers and systems suppliers and others invariably sought collaboration with each other to fully leverage their technological strengths and accelerate their way along the roadmap of Micro LED technology. Among them, equipment solution providers are no doubt the unifiers of processes and technology in each stage along the chain, from upstream chip manufacturing all the way down. If c...

The rumors of Apple using Micro LED in its Apple Watch continue. This time, it was said that the strategic appliance of Taiwan’s PlayNitride and RiTdisplay will provide their Micro LED technologies including chips and display modules for the Apple Watch, according to the report of Taiwan’s Economy Daily News. PlayNitride’s expertise is Micro LED technology has been recognized by worldwide partners. At SID 2019, PlayNitride showcased a 7.65-inch full color transparent Micro LED display, a flexible Micro LED display and a wearabl...

Micro LED technology moved steps forwards since 2019 with worldwide companies showcasing their Micro LED products at big trade shows. LEDinside has noted in “2019 Micro LED Next Generation Display Key Technology Report” that featured with high brightness, high contrast, high response time and power saving, Micro LED technology would suppress other display technology such as LCD and OLED. A wider range of applications including watches, mobile phones, automotive displays, AR/VR devices, monitors, TVs and large displays can also develop toward...

Smart glasses and AR devices have been targeted by Micro LED display technology and were considered to be the first applications entering the market. Previously LEDinside has collected news about Apple’s patent applications related to Micro LED and AR smart glasses. However, rumors said that Apple might have dropped its AR glasses project. Apple’s project of AR/VR headset development might have been suspended due to immature capability of building 5G connectivity and data, according to the report of Digitimes. The report said that the team was dis...

A research team led by a professor from Department of Optics and Photonics at Taiwan’s National Central University revealed a new production method for Micro LED epitaxy wafer. The team developed GaN thin film wafer under low temperature via an approach of high-energy physic. According to the researchers, the method would cost only one tenth of the current Micro LED production cost and could be applied for mass production. (Image:NCU) By combining data analysis and semiconductor manufacture process, the researchers aim to find innovative approaches for M...

Micro LED technology breakthroughs continue to progress in order to tackle challenges occurred in different manufacture process. At Micro LEDforum 2019, professionals in industry introduced their progresses of various technologies for a wide range of Micro LED applications. Yen-Hsiang Fang at Consortium for Intelligent Micro –assembly System (CIMS) of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) presented the developments of the organization. ITRI began to build up its full color Micro LED display technology since ...

With its expertise in Micro/Mini LED display and fine-pitch display, LED driver IC company Macroblock sees profit growth in 3Q19 despite that tepid Chinese Market. The increasing demands of fine-pitch LED display and Mini LED backlight display pushed Macroblock’s revenue for 2Q19. With orders for niche products, profit margin of the company may come to 35 percent. For Mini LED backlight, Macroblock has expanded the product portfolio from driver IC to module, providing holistic solutions for clients. New equipment will be installed in 3Q19 and prod...

LEDinside’s annual event, Micro LEDforum, has again gathered many experts in the industry and academia to share about their technological expertise and provide penetrating insights of products and applications in the current Micro LED landscape. The event started with Roger Chu, Research Director of LEDinside, delved into the development of the panel industry. He pointed out that panel production has outpaced market demand, causing furious competition and pushing manufacturers to focus on developing new display technology or improving the functionalities of the...