Mini/Micro LED "Boarding"

The wave of "new four modernizations" characterized by electrification, intelligence, networking and sharing is profoundly changing the face of the automotive industry. Among them, the evolution of intelligent cockpit in-vehicle displays has an extremely unique path.

Mini/MicroLED, as a new generation of display technology, has also entered the vision of various automotive brands and in-vehicle display panel manufacturers.

Ideal Auto's new large-scale SUV, the Ideal L9, which is expected to debut at the Beijing Auto Show, is equipped with a safe driving interactive screen with HUD (head-up display) design in terms of in-car display, which uses MiniLED technology and multi-touch technology.

At the same time, more and more Mini/Micro LED industry chain companies have begun to set their sights on the field of car display.

Shentianma has repeatedly stated that Micro LED has higher stability, longer life, and is suitable for automotive applications.

"The car display has become the output terminal of the entire information integration, and the display screen has also extended from the initial independent instrument, the central control to the panorama, the curved surface, the column to the column from left to right." Zhang Guangsheng, director of the Resource Development Department of Tianma Microelectronics Procurement Center, previously said publicly that the on-board display from the traditional buttons, knobs, contact touch to suspension touch to voice control, gesture control, biometrics, fingerprint voiceprint, forming an integrated control interface.

According to relevant statistics, the on-board panel is expected to grow from 163 million pieces in 2019 to 221 million pieces in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 5.9%.

With the increase in the number of displays, safety, comfort, personality and beauty in the limited space of the car will be the requirements and selling points of the car display. Zhang Guangsheng believes that these requirements and selling points are reflected in multi-screen, large-screen, high-definition, full-screen, thin and light, and differentiated.

The characteristics of mini/MicroLED display are undoubtedly more in line with the requirements of future intelligent cockpit car displays.

"At present, Mini LED is mainly for the backlight application of the display, and has the advantages of OLED and LCD in terms of display performance. The company has independently developed drive algorithms for different architectures to provide customers with a variety of solutions. When receiving institutional investors, Shentianma said that the company's Mini LED backlight is mainly for medium-sized (flat panel, laptop) and vehicle customers, and will be promoted according to the progress and needs of customers.

In fact, in addition to Shentianma, including BOE, TCL Huaxing and other panel manufacturers and Skyworth and other companies have accelerated their investment in the field of car display in recent years.

On July 15, 2021, BOE and Chery Group reached a strategic cooperation. The two sides said that they will establish a comprehensive strategic partnership based on their core advantages and deepen diversified cooperation.

At the signing ceremony of the cooperation, CHEN Yanshun, chairman of BOE, said that as an "important port" and "first contact" in the information age, display technology is empowering thousands of application scenarios with unprecedented vitality, of which the intelligent IoT solution represented by the smart cockpit is becoming one of the important areas of BOE's efforts.

It is understood that in terms of vehicle-mounted smart cockpit solutions, BOE and Chery will jointly build a joint innovation laboratory based on their respective industrial resources and technical advantages, focusing on the development of application scenarios and market demand. In terms of intelligent networked vehicles, the two sides will focus on promoting innovative research and development and in-depth applications such as liquid crystal antennas, thin-film antennas, dimming glass, and window displays.

At the 2021 International Display Technology and Application Innovation Exhibition (DIC2021), BOE also exhibited cutting-edge automotive display products such as OLED transparent display, curved Mini LED, and dual 12.3-inch micro-slit display.

Skyworth Digital also previously said on the investor interaction platform that the company is developing Mini LED in vehicles, displays and other products; in addition, the main products, at present, it is steadily supplying Korean customers, with sufficient orders.

In addition to panel companies, Mini/Micro LED industry chain companies have also begun to pay attention to the new golden track of on-board display.

"Mini LED chip technology is maturing, IT products (flat panels, laptops, displays) will drive the high demand for Mini LEDs in backlighting, and Mini LEDs will also be gradually introduced into automotive displays." Wang Jiangbo, vice president of HC Semitek, believes that the advantages of Mini LED backlight are gradually emerging, and the market will gradually grow.

Jinko Electronics currently has the ability to design and develop Mini LED backlight solutions, forming a series of MiniLED backlight solutions suitable for TVs and car displays.

Jingtai Co., Ltd. also released the first new Mini LED backlight at ICT2021. Gaogong new display learned that the Crystal Platform Mini LED backlight packaging scheme currently has two products, both to achieve OD>2.5, Pitch4-16mm and other advantages, but also has four or five sides out of the light, transparent packaging and other characteristics, can be applied to medium and large size TV, notebook computer, industrial control display, car display and other fields.

XinRuida also said on the investor interaction platform that the company has confirmed the solution with customers on a number of Mini LED in-vehicle display technologies.

"The industry's transition from small pitch to MiniLED to MicroLED has a clear path, and the gradual reduction of point spacing means that the size of products of the same resolution will drop significantly, and the application scenarios will gradually increase." Zhu Yuwen, secretary of the board of directors of Zhouming Technology, believes that this means that mini/MicroLED displays will be from the traditional 2B to 2C, and the application scenarios cover consumer electronics such as TVs, computers, tablets, car displays, and mobile phones.

The LED Research Institute (GGII) also believes that whether it is a Mini backlight with LCD or Micro LED, its product characteristics are very compatible with the on-board display, and this high gross profit market will maintain a high growth rate in the future.