Chinese display maker HKC announced that it is set to launch a new LCD monitor panel, that is backlit by RGB mini-LEDs. The company promises that this new monitor will offer superior on-screen color reproduction, compared to white-backlighted LCDs, or blue-QD LCDs.
In the past few months, we have seen Samsung announce the first RGB MicroLED TV, and we expect Sony and LG Electronics to follow suit. HKC is looking at a different market segment, and is utilizing mini-LEDs. Samsung's solution (and likely LG's and Sony's too) is extremely expensive, it will be interesting to see how HKC prices its RGB mini-LED LCD monitor.
HKC recently announced that its direct-view LED fab in Mianyang is starting operation. The company says that this is a significant milestone for the company and its long-term strategy in the large-area display industry sector.
It is our understanding that currently the new fab will produce LED direct view displays that utilize mini-LEDs, which makes sense following HKC's new announcement. In the future it will also produce microLEDs. In fact, HKC announced that "in the face of the rapid growth of the global MicroLED technology market" it will expand the microLED capacity in 2026. In the long-term its main application targets for its direct-view LED displays are commercial screens, home theaters, and automotive displays.
HKC's new fab will have the capabilities to produce displays with pixel pitches ranging from 2 mm down to 0.4 mm, based on seamlessly tiled modules. The Mianyang fab also doubles as HKC's microLED R&D hub, as the company develops new technologies to improve performance and efficiency, together with its suppliers (of epiwafers, drivers and system integrators).
In addition to large-area displays, HKC is also developing smaller microLED display panels, In December 2024, HKC unveiled its first microLED display prototype, a 6.67" 1000 nits 100 PPI panel. HKC's display was produced on the company's high mobility oxide (HMO) backplane. The company says that its HMO material offers an electron mobility that is 20 to 50 times higher than that of amorphous Silicon (a-Si).
In addition for its next-gen microLED project, HKC is also aggressively progressing towards its goal of becoming an AMOLED producer.
