1. Samsung Micro LED lack of competitiveness by the San'an supply optoelectronics;
Set micro-grid news, Samsung orders Mitsuwa Optoelectronics LED panel exclusive supply, triggering the Korean media side, that this move on behalf of Korea's competitiveness in this technology lost to Chinese competitors.
South Korean media etnews reported that Samsung dropped nearly 17 million US dollars in advance payment to the San An Optoelectronics Micro LED panel purchase, the two sides signed a three-year contract, the future San An will be the exclusive supplier of Samsung. Interpretation of the outside world is that Samsung LED panel in the competitive advantage as less security, can only bow their heads.
LED was listed in 2010 as one of the five powerful new technologies developed by Samsung, but China's manufacturers oversupply, disrupted the market, Samsung LED business into a loss, began to reorganization, the development gradually lagging behind.On the other hand, Chinese companies with government funding, Continue to grow strong, in the Micro LED R & D to obtain the preemptive position.
According to South Korean LED industry sources, Sanyo ordered 150 MOCVD equipment at the end of last year to produce LEDs and make preparations for the Samsung contract. South Korean manufacturers did not have the capital to make such a large-scale investment.
What is the difference between OLED and Micro LED? The Wired reports that the traditional LED panel needs backlight module, the light is easy to seep out, it is difficult to show the overall black ink, the color contrast will be disrupted. OLED discard the backlight module, Solve this problem.
Micro LEDs, like OLEDs, also deprecate the backlight module, but use minimal LEDs to create a screen color. DisplayMate president Ray Soneira said that OLEDs use aging organic materials, panel brightness diminishes over time, and may not age to the same degree In addition, another disadvantage of OLED is easy to have residual image. LED is inorganic, the brightness is better than OLED, and not easy to aging.
2. Foldable smartphone success or failure key - Japanese materials;
Japanese materials companies such as Sumitomo Chemical and Showa Denko will officially be involved in the field of flexible organic EL panel materials and will develop resin films that can replace glass currently covering the screen of smart phones and touch sensors using special inks. As the products are being renewed, Japanese manufacturers will provide new materials to the world, and Japanese manufacturers are clearly in a leading position in the field of flexible organic EL panels.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Chinese manufacturers are stepping up efforts to develop smartphones that fold and unfold on the screen and are expected to be available as early as 2018. The expanded screens will be available for video and web browsing, Can be folded in the redemption period of the smart phone industry, the so-called "folding smart phone," the new model is expected to become one of the main products in the future.
The materials used for organic EL display panels will be made from glass to resin and other materials will be able to be folded in the bendable organic EL panels, led by Samsung panel manufacturers are stepping up the development of the type of panels need to be able to bend 200,000 Times more durable, is expected to dominate the field of high performance materials Japanese manufacturers will undertake most of the panel supply.
Sumitomo Chemical has developed a screen saver resin that replaces screen savers, a resin that is hard-to-discolourize, highly transparent and hard to scratch, and Sumitomo Chemical strives to supply smartphones such as Samsung, which uses materials such as polarizers. Screensaver film is being developed.
Showa Denko is involved in the field of touch sensor films that can sense fingertip operation, and fine wiring is performed using silver ink, which is usually sensed using an electrode film called ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), but it is difficult Resistant to bending and folding.Japanese large touch sensor manufacturers NISSHA is also developing a thin film of silver ink, flexible electrode film, and strive to expand market share for Korean companies.
Ube Industries and Kaneka will formally enter the field of thin-film materials for circuit boards instead of glass and have started supplying prototypes to panel makers in Korea and China. High-temperature (heat-resistant temperatures of 400 to 500 degrees Celsius ), Polyimide (PI) resin with high flexural strength is processed into a film, and Ube Industries aims to expand its supply to its partner Samsung.
Whenever new technologies for electronic products such as LCD panels, organic EL panels and lithium batteries are born, Japanese material manufacturers have contributed to technological innovation by providing the most suitable materials, but in some parts and materials, , Profits showed a gradual downward trend.
For example, most of the materials originally used for domestic lithium batteries, such as electrolytes, are supplied by Japanese manufacturers and are now caught in fierce competition with Chinese companies, which are still dominated by Japanese manufacturers at a time when the market size Expand profits will also increase.
According to IHS Market, a British survey firm, the supply of small and medium size organic EL panels, such as smartphones and wearable terminals, will reach 921.5 million units in 2022, doubling the number of 2017. There are also instruments for automobiles Imagine the board carrying a whole panel is expected to be soft organic EL panel will account for more than half.
Nikkei Chinese network
3. Korea's semiconductor panel industry will invest 4.8 trillion yuan in the next 6 years;
South Korea's semiconductor and display manufacturers have all produced good transcripts in 2017, but as Chinese companies invest more in these two areas and continue to tap international expertise, South Korea's semiconductor and display manufacturers are solid Feel no small pressure.To this end, South Korea's major semiconductor and display manufacturers plan to 20.4 years ago, the total domestic market in South Korea invested 80.4 trillion won (about 4.8 trillion yuan), to ensure the technological superiority of South Korea's related industries At the same time, stimulate the domestic economy and create employment in Korea.
South Korea's "Asian Economy," February 11 reported that the 'Semiconductor Monitor Development Strategy Report and the Commission on the Establishment of Co-Development Ceremony' held in Seoul on the 8th, South Korea's Ministry of Industry and Commerce Resources (Ministry of Industry) and Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Display And other business leaders in the day's activities announced the plan.
Industry Minister Bai Yunti said that with the advancing of the 4th industrial revolution, the semiconductor and display manufacturing markets are ushering in a brand-new era and hope relevant enterprises can make preparations in advance. The government will also formulate policies to help R & D ensure that South Korea In the future the market can continue to dominate.
On the same day, the Ministry of Industry announced the 'GAP5' strategy to ensure that in the field of semiconductor displays, South Korea narrowed its five-year technological gap with developed countries while maintaining its five-year technological lead in developing countries.
Baiyunfang said that semiconductors and monitors need expensive equipment, and there is some difficulty in nurturing talent.Equipment companies had a talent gap of about 100 each year, the integrated semiconductor industry's talent gap is about 1,000 each year and the government will formulate assistance programs , Focus on training undergraduates, graduate students and other professional talents. Global Times
4. A new generation of television winning 8K new battlefield;
OLED television and QLED (quantum dot) television competition for many years, including AMOLED TV and QLED TV camp continued two battles this year and will continue the war from 4K resolution to 8K resolution due to benefit from SONY and other international brand response, making The recent OLED TV shipments than expected performance; the other hand, QLED TV camps such as Samsung, TCL and Hisense, due to pricing issues, in the promotion of high-level market encountered no small obstacle.
AMOLED and QLED two camp continued wrestling this year and will extend the war to 8K resolution.
Although the OLED organic materials have not had the problem of declining color, the residual image may appear after prolonged use, which has always been criticized by the OLED television. However, due to the current LCD panel in the specification has been difficult to have a more substantial breakthrough On the other hand, OLEDs can be continuously optimized in terms of color saturation, contrast and even the entire thickness of the machine. Therefore, OLEDs are still very attractive to international brands.
Although the QLED camp emphasizes that it is superior to OLED in color saturation and has no problem of service life, at this stage, the real self-luminous QD display is still difficult to reach the commercial level due to the poor external quantum efficiency and the inability to maintain long-term light emission. So in the short term, QLED camp will still fight with QD backlight products to stimulate the quantum dots through the light of LED to achieve the effect of high color saturation.But because the backlight board will increase the thickness of the whole machine, compared with OLED TV Under or more disadvantage, so a new generation of QLED TV may use the glass light guide plate solution to reduce the thickness.
This year, the AMOLED and QLED camps will extend the battle from 4K resolution to 8K. According to WitsView, as the pace of the Tokyo Olympics approaches in 2020, the formulation of video standards and the construction of ecosystems are gradually taking shape. At the same time, the TV brand manufacturers Sharp, Samsung and SONY have released 8K television's development plan, accelerating the pace of 8K panel supply chain development.But the 8K panel to produce a higher degree of difficulty, and secondly, also emphasis on 65-inch large size TV market, most of the products will be positioned at the top of the pyramid in the ultra-high-end market, for the initial rapid expansion of the market will have a certain degree of difficulty.
It is known that Samsung will launch a high-end 8K QLED TV set in 2018 and LG Electronics has also developed an 8K AMOLED TV panel to show that QLED TV will compete with the AMOLED TV camp in response to the future high-end TV market trend This year tends to white-hot.
CTIMES
5. 2019 iPhone will become an AR device Samsung, LGD no bangs OLED OLED panel research and development;
Apple seems to want to try another new challenge OLED display panel rumored Apple plans to iPhone X above the display groove partially filled, leaving only place the camera lens and speaker hole, the proportion of the phone's front screen to 99 %, Making it the best device to play augmented reality (AR) images with the fastest time to market in 2019. According to the bell reported by Korean media, the most recent Samsung Display and LG Display (LGD) Apple received the design idea to develop flexible OLED panels drilled in the middle.Previous IPhone X display concave above the receiver for audio and video and 3D image sensing lens position and the black shell to fill the remaining space, The industry dubbed the iPhone X. Apple's new design concept for the square-shaped display, the speaker is no longer a small space to place the speaker and the lens, instead of drilling holes in the square panel above, so that the monitor in addition to the speaker and the lens The holes are made entirely of panels, so panels need to be re-developed to ensure that OLED panels do not break when drilled and the holes drilled precisely, To this end may also need to purchase new machinery and equipment .Info sources said that in early January 2018, Japan's protective glass industry has completed the aforementioned product research and development required by Apple, looking for a new panel process required machine stage, South Korea has been received equipment industry To inquire. Mobile phone front screen ratio of nearly 100% is the original goal of Apple.In 2017 iPhone X conference at the meeting Apple had said that in the future hope to launch a true full-screen iPhone, with the rumors of this industry design concurrency.Korea Finance The industry said that if the mobile phone front screen close to 100%, AR image playback will be more realistic.Mobile phone market has become saturated, the specification style gradually increased, the iPhone can seek to break the margin of difference is not much, so that the screen ratio of nearly 100% is the minority One of the options.Thus, Apple can shape the iPhone image to play the best device for AR images.X iPhone X after the market came one after another product failure and a number of fault problems, so the industry believes that in 2018 Apple will focus on Improve product stability, minimize product appearance and design changes to the production of new OLED panels designed to be the fastest drilling possible in 2019 into In order to avoid problems to undermine the iPhone image.Industry rumored to be released in the fall of 2018, 3 new iPhone, including 6.04-inch LCD models and 5.85-inch, 6.46 inch OLED models which 6.04-inch LCD models iPhone will also use the same concave with the iPhone X Trough display design, the panel by the Japanese display (JDI) and LG Display (LGDD; LGD) production; the other two OLED iPhone will maintain the appearance of the iPhone X. On the other hand, LGD investment in small and medium size OLED panel business started Later, Apple has yet to really ship. 2019 iPhone OLED panel development for the LGD, is undoubtedly the opportunity to expand business with Apple great opportunity if LGD in the new OLED panel quality, yield, price competitiveness Beats Samsung monitors, will be able to narrow the gap with Samsung monitors
6. PI new generation LED driver IC to solve the power supply challenge, the unit price of 0.84 US dollars / piece
(MarketWatch) - LED market continues to heat up, some devices from the past year also appeared out of stock prices, including LED driver IC. Recently, at Power Integrations (hereinafter referred to as 'PI') media communication , I learned that a new generation of LYTSwitch-6 LED driver IC PI has begun to supply, based on the 10,000-sheet quantities per unit price of 0.84 US dollars.
PI's new LYTSwitch-6 family of safety isolated LED driver ICs delivers 65 W of flicker-free output with up to 94% efficiency and standby power as low as 15 mW with configuration options that support two-stage or single-stage PFCs, Add new options for smart lighting applications.
Solve the challenge of smart lighting power supply
According to the GGII data, the output value of smart lighting in China reached 14.7 billion yuan in 2016, up by 102.8% over 2015. It is estimated that the output value of intelligent lighting in China will reach 28.4 billion yuan by 2017, an increase of 93.2% %. GGII predicts that by 2020 China's smart lighting output value scale will reach as high as 103.5 billion.
The huge market space, coupled with smart home, Internet of Things and other application upgrades, LED intelligent lighting market to attract more recruiters, but as a practitioner in the industry, PI care more about how to solve industry challenges.
Nowadays, the challenges of power supply for smart lighting include: Auxiliary power supply for low power standby, efficient power supply in standby mode, auxiliary power supply needs to be always work, how to ensure that the auxiliary power supply has output when the main output is no load? The PI LYTSwitch-6 positive Effectively solve the power supply challenges facing intelligent lighting.
Jason Yan, senior technical training manager at PI, said the features and benefits of the LYTSwitch-6 are clear as one of PI's leading products. "The LYTSwitch-6 features ± 3% constant voltage and constant current accuracy to ensure that the LED lighting output Stability; at the same time, its no-load power consumption less than 15 mW (excluding the first-class PF correction circuit) to achieve a real saving energy consumption, while easy to achieve analog and PWM dimming, which is also LYTSwitch-6's excellent place. '
LYTSwitch- 6 IC integrates 650 V or 725 V MOSFET with secondary side FluxLink control, providing optocoupler better than 3% constant voltage and constant current regulation over all input voltages, loads and temperatures . With synchronous rectification and quasi-resonant switching, the power conversion stage with a flyback topology can exceed 94% efficiency and therefore provide high power output without the use of heat sinks. For example, a 35 W (12 V / 2.92 A), the efficiency of which can exceed 89%. The new device always has standby power less than 15 mW at universal AC input, even with input voltage detection circuitry Let the IC provide self-protection when the mains voltage surge and surge.
The LYTSwitch-6 integrates two 650 or 725V MOSFETs to support 308VAC industrial power supplies, providing additional safety margin even in areas with unstable grids. Of course, advanced thermal turn-back protection prevents the IC from over-temperatureing LYTSwitch-6 also meets this requirement, even under conditions of high temperature and under any elevated temperature and operating conditions, with guaranteed lighting conditions.
Reduce design and development costs
Designed for residential and commercial lighting and thin ceiling recessed lamp applications, the LYTSwitch-6 IC's fast dynamic response provides excellent cross-regulation for parallel LED string applications, eliminating the need for an additional secondary regulator. Easy to connect pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming interface.
The LYTSwitch-6 IC supports both constant voltage and constant current control, allowing lighting manufacturers to choose a solution for different design applications resulting in manufacturing and logistics savings. In addition, the LYTSwitch-6 family is available in an InSOP-24 C package.
Hubie Notohamiprodjo, director of marketing for LED lighting products at Power Integrations, said: "The LYTSwitch-6 IC is suitable for smart lighting applications with multiple outputs, eliminating the need for heatsinks and optocouplers, and drastically reducing the size of the output capacitor by 30% The number of components and system size will also be significantly reduced.
It is understood that, based on the LYTSwitch-6 powerful applicability, a design can be adapted to different applications, that is, it can be applied to the constant current application of a single lamp string, and it is also suitable for the application of constant voltage output characteristics of multi-lamp series and parallel connection (for example, Can change the RGB three-color lighting), thus reducing the design and development costs of manufacturers.
Currently, PI's LYTSwitch-6 is available in mass production for smart home and smart lighting, as well as commercial lighting for spot and ceiling lighting applications up to 65 W and other off-line LED lighting applications.