Judging from the spoiled news, the new iPhone, which is about to debut, does not seem to carry the rumored Micro LED display panel, but will adopt the OLED+LCD dual display panel strategy to launch the Chinese 'customized' version.
Sony, which first researched and commercialized Micro LEDs, was rumored to use Micro LEDs on its own BRAVIA TVs, but Sony executives said that Micro LEDs are not suitable for home TV at this stage. Sony is promoting it to the outdoors. Display and other commercial areas.
The time when the Micro LED appeared was not too late, it was always discussed, but it never found its whereabouts in the consumer field. What is it?
Micro LED is actually the ultimate evolution of LED
In the 1990s, TFT-LCDs began to flourish. Due to the high color saturation, power saving, and thinness of LEDs, some manufacturers used LEDs as backlights. In 2000, the process, efficiency, and cost of white LED technology began to mature. 08 The white LED backlight module has grown rapidly, almost completely replacing CCFL, and is widely used in mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, and televisions.
However, the display principle of TFT-LCD non-self-illumination, the photoelectric efficiency is low, and the color saturation of white LED is not as good as RGB-LED, and the active brightness is also difficult to reach 1000 nit required by the outdoor environment. At this time, the three primary color LEDs are directly used as self-luminous The displayed Micro LED technology is beginning to appear.
In 2012, Sony's 55-inch 'Crystal LED Display' uses Micro LED Display technology. It adopts a single Micro LED embedding method, which has no reaction time and service life problems, and has a color gamut of 140% NTSC.
Do you know why Apple is always rumored to have Micro LED phones? Because in 2016, Apple has acquired four companies with Micro LED patents.
Micro LED has these features
The longest discussion topic is OLED and Micro LED. Theoretical analysis, OLED has improved the need for backlight module for LCD, poor black level, and has higher contrast. But OLED also has a defect, that is, it must reduce the display of white screen. In order to save power, and the gamut gamut level is not much different from KSF or quantum dots.
However, the Micro LED is composed of a tiny LED array. In addition to high brightness, ultra-high resolution and color saturation, each pixel can be driven independently, and it also has the advantages of power saving and fast response.
But it is still on the road to commercialization. His technical bottleneck has two aspects. One is how to make LED particles of smaller units, and the second is how to transfer these micron-level LEDs to the substrate, how to bond , how the circuit is driven. Of course, the last is how to reduce the cost.
The most suitable application scenario for Micro LED at this stage
There are still many technical bottlenecks in the development of Micro LEDs, but in any case, he still has a direction of development and the driving force for progress. The most likely scenarios are widely used on wearable devices and virtual display devices.
Smart wearable devices. For example, smart watches, screens are relatively small, and then the density of the screen is relatively high. So it is in line with the characteristics of Micro LEDs. They have potential for differentiated functions, including extending battery life, reducing power consumption and more. High brightness, providing good readability in an outdoor environment.
AR, MR head shows that consumers who have experienced such products are sure to know the most. The biggest development bottleneck of head-mounted devices is the resolution of real-world screens. Higher resolution can make virtual pictures closer to the real world. There is enough brightness, enough true color performance. These panel qualities may be 10 times higher than the best mobile phones on the market, such as brightness up to 10000 nit. Only Micro LED has such potential.
In addition, Micro LED can also be used in head-up displays in automobiles and other environments, similar to the way AR displays.
Will the large-screen field be applied? Of course, its small size enables high-contrast display and is also suitable for future ultra-high-resolution large-screen TVs or monitors. If the cost is reduced, you can really kill all kinds of OLEDs. And LCD display device.
Summary: Micro LEDs are very versatile, but they are still in their infancy, and the birth of a new display technology is often accompanied by new supply chain relationships, including upstream material manufacturers, midstream panel makers, and downstream brands. Terminal. Every link is a process of upgrading, so this process is definitely not a quick way to get up. We can only wait patiently.