The beauty of BOE's TFT-Micro LED display

The future picture of Micro LED is becoming clearer and clearer. Because more giants have entered this market: BOE, China Star Optoelectronics, Samsung, Innolux, and other global display panel giants have launched TFT-Micro LED technology products-these four giants occupy 7- of the world's large-size display panels. 80% of the share. This is the well-deserved giant "advancing into the big battle."

Especially at the CES exhibition in 2021, BOE regards TFT-Micro LED as an important "future product" with a separate display and separate public relations. CES2021 BOE (BOE) was awarded the "Top 10 Consumer Electronics Leading Brands in 2020-2021", and its self-developed glass-based active drive Micro LED won the "Annual Innovative Display Application Product Award".

"Slightly different" TFT-Micro LED display products of the giants

At the CES exhibition in 2021, the TFT-Micro LED products displayed by BOE adopt a glass-based active driving method, with a peak brightness of more than 1500 nits, and a contrast ratio of 1 million:1. It has no screen flicker, low power consumption, uniform brightness, and high efficiency. Drive, health and eye protection, etc., can realize splicing of any size, and successfully apply the side line technology, achieving a breakthrough in zero splicing of the product. The distance between the two products displayed is P1.8 and P0.9.

Unlike BOE’s direct layout of three primary color TFT-Micro LED products, Samsung and Innolux have taken a new approach in Micro LED display products on TFT glass substrates: At the end of 2020, Innolux will display the "AM miniLED COB (Chip on Board) splicing" in Taiwan, my country. Technical 55-inch AM miniLED COB public display, 120-inch 8K miniLED display". The essence of these products is also TFT-Micro LED, but Innolux uses the term miniled.

Different from the three-primary color LED large screen display, Innolux's products use the "coated colorization" technology. That is, "exclusive retinal light conversion AM-Micro LED spliced display". Similarly, Samsung also proposed in 2020, QD-micro-led technology, which uses "QD material conversion film" to achieve colorization on a blue micro-led active drive array. ——This kind of LED array only needs a technology of blue LED particles (non-standard three-primary color mode), which will greatly reduce the difficulty of the mass transfer process of the LED array.

Unlike the above three companies that directly display pixels with micro LEDs, the Xingyao screen displayed by TCL Huaxing Optoelectronics in 2019 mainly uses a mini LED array actively driven by a TFT glass substrate as the backlight of LCD TVs. Compared with direct LED display products, as a backlight component, the required "LED array PPI density" is several orders of magnitude smaller. However, this product is also the TFT substrate LED screen, the world's first mass product category.

Regardless of the scale and size of the front-end LED crystal, whether or not to achieve colorization, and how to achieve colorization, display panel giants seem to have a "soft spot" for the LED array molding technology of TFT glass substrates. This is significantly different from the PCB substrate technology used in traditional LED large screens.

On the one hand, for ultra-high PPI micro led displays of several inches or even smaller, almost TFT glass substrates and flexible substrates are the best base choices. Panel companies who want to enter the small-size micro LED market cannot bypass the micro LED mass transfer technology on the TFT glass substrate. On the other hand, for a 100-inch 8K-level display screen, the density of micro LEDs is extremely high, the line width of the drive structure is thinner, and the cost advantage of the PCB board is not obvious or even disappears. At the same time, from the perspective of the mass transfer process, the surface of the glass substrate is much smoother than the PCB board and has better corrosion resistance, which is more conducive to improving the efficiency and accuracy of the mass transfer process.

Formally because of these benefits, the micro led of the TFT glass substrate has become an innovative direction of the panel manufacturers in recent years, and it has also opened up a new "world" of micro led display.

What is the strategic goal of BOE's TFT-Micro LED

In the draft of BOE's TFT-Micro LED products, "seamless splicing" is particularly emphasized. Obviously, its product target is not the "color TV" market, but more the "traditional application scenario" of small-pitch LED large screens.

From the perspective of specific products, the BOE TFT-Micro LED of P0.9 basically corresponds to the "top resolution" level of the current small-pitch LED real commercial application products, and the target is obviously large-screen applications such as "high-end conferences and high-end smart dispatch centers". . For P1.8 products, the pixel density is reduced by three-quarters compared with P0.9, and the product cost must be lower. Its goals are mainly focused on large-scale commercial advertising, digital signage, and even the security display market.

From a historical perspective, BOE LCD screens are not small in the digital signage and security splicing market. With the help of the new TFT-Micro LED technology, it is eager to break through the two major bottlenecks of the splicing gap and the large size limitation of liquid crystal products. It can be said that the target market is very clear.

BOE’s TFT-Micro LED target market also reflects the development direction of small-pitch LED products in recent years: replacing DLP and LCD units in splicing display projects, replacing large LCD screens in digital signage and advertising applications, and in meeting The indoor market has become a larger screen replacement for interactive LCD flat panels... and, in the future, may become a technology choice for home color TV giant screens. Obviously, these existing small-pitch LED large-screen markets and possible future markets have put pressure on the "traditional space" of BOE and other LCD panel companies.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Samsung, China Star, Innolux, and BOE have entered the TFT-Micro LED field: not only the technical feasibility, but also the "defense and offense" in the market. However, perhaps LCD panel companies think that their innovation is a "market alternative defense" to the existing LCD splicing and large LCD screen scenes, but LED large screen companies may see that their own territory has been violated!

First of all, from the perspective of the "upstream" status of Innolux, BOE and other companies, its micro led products are unlikely to rely mainly on independent brands to market. It will inevitably recommend to the previous commercial large LCD screens and LCD splicing companies, the brand-new TFT-Micro LED technology display module-this business model is similar to what the previous LED large screen "package companies" are doing.

Secondly, with the TFT-Micro LED products supported by the LCD panel giants, LCD commercial display companies and manufacturers can more easily launch a variety of small-pitch LED large screens-this undoubtedly provides additional LCD advertising machines and LCD splicing companies. With its competitiveness and market expansion dimensions, it forms more "competition" with the existing LED large-screen terminal enterprises. The mixed business situation of LCD commercial display and LED commercial display will quickly change the pattern of "well water does not violate river water" of the previous two major technology flows.

Of course, for the traditional LED industry chain, the most upstream wafer companies must be "very happy": because, in the context of display panel giants getting more and more involved in micro products, the scope of downstream partners of LED wafer companies has broadened . The increase in the LED display terminal supply camp is also conducive to accelerating the marketization of micro LED products and raising the future expectations of the LED upstream market.

Intensified competition in the middle and lower reaches and profits from the upstream": This is the basic impact of BOE’s strides into the micro led display camp, which has brought to the traditional industrial chain of LED large screens. This will also promote a new round of industry "combined vertical and horizontal" drama. Unfold.

For example, Leyard Group announced the signing of the "Framework Agreement on Mini LED and Micro LED Display Project Cooperation" with Taiwan Epistar Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. (Yuanfeng New Technology Co., Ltd.); Lianjian Optoelectronics and Chongqing Konka Optoelectronics Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. The "Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement"; BOE announced the establishment of a Micro LED joint venture company BOE Pixey with American company Rohinni; Guangdong Everbright Group has included the well-known domestic small-pitch LED brand AET in the layout; Sanan Semiconductor and TCL Huaxing signed a "joint development agreement" and "Shareholder Agreement"...

A series of big capitals, big groups, and big moves further demonstrate that the future of the Micro LED industry is bright. Industry experts pointed out that Micro LED technology is expected to unify the future wearable, automotive, engineering and commercial large screen markets, and occupy a place in the demand for home giant screen color TVs. This technology has become a battleground for future displays and is a domestic display. After LCD and OLED, the industry has one of the largest investment segments. The high-profile display of TFT-Micro LED by BOE at CES2021 is just an appetizer for this industry.