MicroLED may hit the market in 2021

Posted on Tuesday, September 18 2018 @ 12:09 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
EE Times had an interview with Yole Développement senior market and technology analyst Eric Virey and got to hear that the first products with microLED technology may arrive in 2021. That's later than previously anticipated, last year Virey predirected we could see wearables, like the Apple Watch, with microLED display technology in late 2019.

MicroLEDs are hard to make but offer several advantages. They feature wide viewing angles, high dynamic range, wide color gamut, fast refresh rates, high brightness, and low power consumption. The technology promises a total brightness that's up to 30x higher than OLED, while offering higher lux per Watt efficiency. With microLED, devices can offer excellent readability in any angle, even in direct bright sunlight.

At the moment, the technology isn't ready yet for volume production. Both Apple and Samsung are actively developing microLED technology.
One cannot overemphasize how genuinely small those microLED chips are. In order to build a 4K display based on microLED, for example, one must assemple 25 million LED chips — each individual chip is the size of "grains of pollen," according to Virey — with a positioning accuracy of ~1 µm, without a single error, noted Yole. That's no cakewalk.

Virey quickly added, “We are not there yet when it comes to volume manufacturing" necessary for commercial displays. The level of microLED technology, however, has improved to a level that allows the industry to deliver prototypes, he explained.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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