"If you only think that semiconductors such as lasers in the projection market replace mercury lamps, it is the projection industry's own business. That underestimates the inevitability of this change: in fact, including incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, mercury lamps, halogen lamps, xenon lamps and other traditional light source technologies, in all application scenarios, there is a trend of being replaced by LEDs and lasers! ”
That is, from a future perspective, the "victory" of semiconductor light source technology in the projection industry is at least divided into two levels: the first is the sense of "light source revolution"; the second is the sense of projection display innovation.
The light source revolution is happening
From 2010 to 2020, in 10 years, the penetration rate of LED light sources in the domestic lighting market has risen from only 3% to more than 99% of the demand for newly installed lighting sources. This is the "future answer" given by the largest independent market "lighting" industry in the light source revolution.
Why does the light source system inevitably turn to the semiconductor industry chain? Because whether it is incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, halogen lamps, xenon lamps, or ultra-high pressure mercury lamps applied by projectors and other products, the luminescence method is "continuous spectral thermoluminescence". The way semiconductor light sources, LEDs and lasers emit light is "effective and precise spectrum luminescence". This difference makes the "effective electro-optical conversion efficiency" of semiconductor light sources have high theoretical potential in specific applications.
The use of energy by human society is moving towards green, efficient and low-carbon. Only the lighting market has fully turned to semiconductor light sources, and the energy consumption under its equivalent function has been reduced by half, and there is room for further sharp decline in the future.
That is, the new light source revolution is a low-carbon revolution, a revolution of lower energy costs, and a revolution of higher light source efficiency. Projectors will have the same "future significance" when they switch more from mercury lamps to lasers and LEDs. As an "efficient and low-cost solution" for large-screen displays, projector products will inevitably require more efficient light source technology to continuously improve their "green" connotation: high-efficiency, long-life, low-pollution semiconductor lighting will be the only choice.
Product form innovation, the home of new light sources such as lasers?
Even in the sense of innovation in the projector product itself, the value of the semiconductor light source is "great". In recent years, innovative products such as "small size, differential shape, and embedded application" in the domestic projection market have emerged in an endless stream. Among them, the most fundamental reason lies in the characteristics of semiconductor light sources such as lasers and LEDs:
First of all, the bulb and bulb holder of the mercury light source must be a "cube" shape. It occupies more space inside the projector. Considering the luminous characteristics of mercury lamps and the working state of their high-pressure mercury vapors, mercury light sources also need shock absorption protection, which further increases the disadvantage of their product volume. On the contrary, LED and laser light source chips are very small semiconductor particles, and the package structure is also a "chip" product. Its own volume space occupies a very small space, and the length and width dimensions can be more flexible design. In particular, the flexible combination of multiple groups of light sources can form the characteristics of different brightness, which increases the flexibility of the internal space design of the projector.
Second, the auxiliary system of the projector light source, that is, the "thermal management" system, is one of the most important product components in the projector. This structure will not only occupy a lot of space in the machine, but also be a source of noise. In this regard, the laser and LED light sources with semiconductor chips as the core materials can use semiconductor heat dissipation materials, heat pipe heat dissipation, liquid cooling heat dissipation and other technologies, as well as the "contact" thermal management structure that closely follows the heat dissipation of the light emitting chip to achieve higher heat transfer efficiency. On the contrary, the heat dissipation of mercury lamp products must be "non-contact" and must also be "multi-angle blowing". This greatly reduces the flexibility of the thermal management technology of the mercury lamp system, which in turn significantly affects the thermal management efficiency and increases the system noise level.
Third, the longevity of mercury light sources also affects the integrated design of the product – that is, the space and mechanism that the projector must be designed to replace the lamp easily. This part of the design reduces the spatial density of the overall integration of the projector, significantly affecting the appearance and styling, especially the "innovation margin" of embedded product design. On the contrary, long-term and high-life LED and laser products can achieve a "compact non-replaceable" design, especially the laser light source can also achieve "redundant integration of array chips", further improving the reliability of long-term use of products.
Based on the above three points, it constitutes the endless innovation in projector modeling design and the continuous development of embedded projector product design after the rise of semiconductor light sources. This is in stark contrast to the traditional mercury lamp projection of a large, rectangular shape. In the future, with the further improvement of the efficiency of semiconductor light sources, its advantages in product form design will only become greater and greater, which will also promote the further development of the embedded projection market.
With performance and function upgrades, the laser will surely dominate
The advantages of semiconductor light sources, especially laser light sources, in the innovation and evolution of projector products are not only in the plastic arts or embedded design. In the performance of projector products, especially in emerging intelligent application products, the advantages of laser light sources are more obvious.
For example, the three-color laser light source projection is currently the only display technology that can meet the 100% BT.2020 color gamut standard in the ultra-high-definition era. At the same time, the laser light source is also the main "technical force" that raises the projector's ultra-high brightness display technology to more than 50,000 lumens. The high accuracy of the laser light source is also the basis for the large-scale popularity of 10,000 lumen engineering models and the realization of compact design without relying on external large-volume light source systems.
At the same time, the contact heat dissipation structure of the laser light source and the long-term high life without replacement also allow the laser optical engine to achieve a truly high-reliability closed design. This further improves the applicability of the projector in high dust, high humidity, and even underwater environments. Designs for special projector applications and embedded projections offer unprecedented feasibility.
In addition to the improvement in performance, projectors are also ushering in "function" upgrades in the era of laser and LED light sources. The two most typical products are: laser TV and smart projection. Both categories are products that take full advantage of the characteristics of semiconductor light sources. Laser TV takes advantage of the high reliability and high color rendering of the laser light source, and cooperates with the anti-light screen in the home environment to realize the application of color TV home large screen.
Smart projectors combine intelligent systems with projection systems. Higher integration of internal functions means higher thermal management and EMC management requirements. In this regard, the natural advantages of semiconductor light sources are further reflected, bringing more flexibility to product design.
Moreover, as the application of projectors becomes more and more popular in the direction of anti-light curtains and intelligence, the consumer market's requirements for product image quality will become higher and higher. That is, the functional upgrade and the display performance upgrade are complementary. For example, most laser TVs have built-in high-end intelligent systems, better sound systems, and high-end optical anti-light curtains on the outside... Such a "product created by multiple black technology" will inevitably require the continuous improvement of the performance level of the light source system.
Because of this, in the past seven or eight years, the application scope of laser light sources has continued to penetrate from the earliest engineering projection to more innovative categories such as business education, home, laser TV, intelligent micro-projection, embedded projection, etc., and has become a "full-form, all-scenario all-you-can-eat" light source choice.
Aiming for the future, the potential of new light sources is endless
In today's projection market, new semiconductor light sources such as lasers and LEDs have shown an "extremely strong" trend towards mercury lamp substitution. Mercury light sources are already in the final stages of their life cycle: however, this is not yet the real glory of the new light source.
The reason why the new light source technology has attracted much attention is that it is a new technology, and it is still evolving and innovating. From the principle, material, preparation process, and packaging technology of electro-optical conversion semiconductors, to the design of finished light sources, the design of optical engines, and the design of the whole machine of projector products, there is a huge room for progress.
For example, Yu Zhitao, vice president of Hisense, pointed out that in 2024, the cost of laser TV will be reduced by more than 40%; Liu Jianping, a researcher at the Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nanobionics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that the use of InGaN quaternary alloy and ITO restriction layer increases the flexibility of laser epitaxial structure design and the compatibility of preparation, and greatly improves the luminous uniformity of the quantum well gain region. The slope efficiency of green lasers will be increased to 0.67; Sanan Optoelectronics will mass-produce 4W blue laser display chips in the fourth quarter of 2021, and will trial production of 1W green laser display chips and 1.5W red laser display chips in the first quarter of 2022...
Better color, lower power consumption, higher brightness, more stable materials, more efficient packaging... "The advancement of semiconductor light sources will continue to promote "innovative upgrades and cost reductions" for products including laser displays and laser projection." This is the "most fundamental advantage" of the new light source to the mercury light source: the future is unlimited and the potential is endless.
In summary, the rise of emerging semiconductor light sources in projection products and larger-scale applications are the resonance of continuous innovation in the industry and the continuous upgrading of the upstream industry chain, and also a strong backing for the continuous expansion of the future applicable scenarios and application space of projector products. Brands that intend to implement the new light source in the projection industry in the future must adhere to the new light source innovation - this has become the industry consensus: embracing the new light source is to embrace the future, and the projection industry continues to move forward.