TO C's home LED large-screen market, micro LED display technology, is becoming active with the addition of more manufacturers. For example, local companies such as Leyard and Lehman Optoelectronics, and international display giants such as Samsung and LG have successively laid out this product line. Especially in 2022, Samsung proposed to lay out 80+ to 200-inch THE WALL products, in the size coverage of micro LED color TVs, further "falling" to civilian size, indicating "industry ambitions".
So, in the current color TV display technology has been diversified, including laser TV, LCD TV, OLED TV and other technologies including the supply line, micro LED display in the end what are the advantages, driving industry companies have been optimistic about their home market?
The wild hope of the micro LED display: TO C
In the display industry, home color TV display is undoubtedly the largest market segment. Even if it is only the calculation of more than 80 inches of color TV, this large-size application that has not yet fully popularized, its market size has been greater than the existing size of the "commercial small-pitch LED screen" market.
Therefore, the development of TOC business and entry into the home color TV market by micro LED technology is definitely a "strategic" decision that may double or even double the size of the "industry" in the future. This is probably the reason why color TV giants such as Samsung and international giants "deeply cultivate" the micro LED color TV market. Especially once it breaks through seventy or eighty inches, such a "size line that is easier to popularize" market, the "big space" of micro LED color TV is almost a "huge opportunity" to reverse the development structure of the LED large screen industry for decades.
However, from the perspective of technical advantages, micro LED display technology can not only theoretically meet the ultra-high-definition applications of color TVs of 70+ and 80+ sizes, but also meet the applications of large-size color TVs of more than 100+. The latter is currently impossible to do with liquid crystal displays and OLED displays using glass substrate technology. And micro LED display technology is manufactured in the form of splicing units, which may lead to secondary complex installation at the user end, but it also overcomes the transportation and household problems such as "large screen entry difficulties" - and the huge volume of flat panel display technology such as OLED and liquid crystal after more than 100 inches cannot enter the elevators and stairs of most ordinary residential buildings.
On the other hand, micro LED display technology also has a huge advantage in "visual effects". For example, in terms of color, color gamut and contrast, the self-luminescence technology is significantly better than the performance of liquid crystal display technology, and there is no liquid crystal display "reaction speed bottleneck caused by the movement screen tailing" problem; micro LED is an inorganic semiconductor light emitting technology, its material life and reliability are higher, and do not have the problem of OLED display technology "burning screen, uneven aging".
Especially in the indicator of "brightness", micro LED display technology has a "wide range of adjustable": micro LED, the highest brightness is significantly higher than OLED, and the lowest brightness of low gray level is also significantly lower than that of liquid crystal display technology - brightness performance is a combination of the advantages of liquid crystal and OLED. This makes micro LED display technology a special advantage in the home market - "the best viewing distance that can be controlled":
At present, the main display technology of color TV is liquid crystal. Liquid crystal displays rely on a backlight source to provide brightness, and the liquid crystal light valve layer controls the light output. This technical system, natural can not show "pure black" - that is, the liquid crystal molecules will have some light leakage problems, can not be completely closed. This makes it necessary for liquid crystal display systems to achieve higher contrast levels. The current nominal brightness value of LCD color TV is usually 500-700 nit (1nit= 1 cd/m)!
However, "higher brightness" for large-size color TVs can be a problem. For example, the display size increased from 60 inches to 100 inches, and the display area was almost tripled. When people watch the entire picture at the same distance, the energy entering the eye will also triple, and the eye will be more likely to fatigue - the "countermeasure" for this phenomenon is that larger TVs should be viewed at a longer distance, thereby reducing the incidence of partial labor and vertigo in the eyes.
For this viewing distance, people often think more about the "TV screen size" than the "TV brightness level", which is because if the color TV market has only one dominant technology, its unit display area brightness level is approximate. However, if the color TV market has other display technologies, then it is necessary to comprehensively consider the characteristics of different display technologies, brightness levels, and screen sizes to determine the "reasonable viewing" distance.
In this regard, micro LED technology can maintain a high level of color and contrast at lower brightness levels. That is, micro LED TV or will be a more suitable for home scenes, including the home environment brightness and viewing distance effect of the display technology. For example, the micro LED 100-inch TV brightness is technically adjusted to maintain at 300-400nit. Instead of LCD TV 500-700nit. The comfortable and healthy viewing distance required will also drop from 5-7 meters of LCD TV to 3-5 meters - that is, it is easier to meet the needs of the use distance in the living room of the home.
Therefore, micro LED display technology is used in the color TV market of TO C, which not only has the advantages of more realistic color, high color gamut coverage, large contrast, fast response speed, high life, no burning screen, high efficiency and green environmental protection, but also has the advantages of wide brightness adjustability, good transportation and accessibility to households. These advantages are undoubtedly the reasons for color TVs and LED display bigwigs to enter the "home appliance LED display" market first.
At this stage, the main "obstacle" of micro LED color TV
The advantages of micro LED display technology are very clear, and there are many household types of products launched, so why is the "color TV large screen market", micro LED products still have not become mainstream? The answer to this question is mainly two parts: price and technological maturity, which in turn highly affects the cost and selling price of the product.
In terms of price, for example, the price of the 110-inch Micro LED TV launched by Samsung in 2021 is about $140,000 (about 880,000 yuan). However, Samsung's 2022 products will have a large price adjustment, and it is reported that its 89-inch product is priced at $80,000, 101-inch is $90,000, and 114-inch is $100,000. However, with a price drop of 30%-40%, its actual price is still not cheap. For example, Leyard also said in response to investor inquiries, "Because the price of new products is relatively high at this stage, they do not have the conditions to enter the TO C market." However, with the maturity of technology and technology, after the cost price of Micro LED is reduced, gradually entering the consumer electronics market will be an inevitable trend and the direction of our efforts."
The price and cost of Micro LED TVs in the TOC market are still technical issues. For example, the current color TV generally requires a basic resolution of 4K, even if the pixel structure uses "sub-pixel multiplexing" and other technologies, which also makes a Micro LED TV have at least more than 10 million Micro LED bead structures. For example, there are media reports that Samsung's 89-inch MicroLED TV will install 11.3 million LED chips with a chip spacing of 0.44 mm - so many wick particles in such a small spacing and density, a large number of integrated "its reliability, stability, defect rate" control is a major technical problem: that is, the efficiency and quality of the huge transfer technology, greatly affecting the final cost of the product.
On the other hand, in order to give full play to the advantages of Micro LED display in display effect, viewing comfort, brightness adjustability, etc., color TV high-pixel density Micro LED display devices tend to use AM active drive circuit structure, rather than the PM passive drive structure of traditional LED screens. This change is also a "new technology" that the industry chain and the supply chain need to re-adapt.
At the same time, Micro LED display into the 80-120 inch color TV market, its higher pixel integration density, so that the traditional PCB backplane fineness must be greatly improved, the cost of a large increase - in this regard, the industry's adoption of the solution is COG technology: that is, the use of semiconductor TFT glass substrate instead of PCB board. Semiconductor TFT substrate, the cost per unit area under the 0.6 mm pitch index has been more than ultra-fine PCB has an advantage; at the same time, the TFT glass substrate itself is to meet the AM-driven architecture, and its smoother surface is also conducive to the success rate of "huge transfer" technology.
It can be seen that Micro LED display color TV products are not only the problems of MINIA of LED crystal particles, transfer integration and huge quantification, but also face "technological progress" such as "ultra-micro spacing integration", "AM active drive" and "TFT glass substrate new backplane material". Compared with the traditional LED display large screen and the traditional small-pitch LED display products, its technology, process, and material are hugely different, and it can be completely regarded as a new "display technology category". The maturity of these new technologies, materials and processes requires continuous research and development, innovation, exploration and practice, and more time, so as to drive down the price and cost of the product to the extent that the TOC market likes.
In summary, Micro LED display technology is a new display scheme and color TV technology selection that has performance advantages and industrial prospects from the perspective of technical principles. TrendForce Jibang Consulting Research estimates that micro LED large display Micro LED chips will reach $54 million in 2022; it is expected to rise to $4.5 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 204%. However, Micro LED color TV really enters thousands of households, but it still needs more industry technology accumulation and application practice. Micro LED's TO C market, can not eat a fat man in one go, step by step, respect for the maturity and development of new technologies, is an unavoidable proposition.