Flexible MicroLED

In September 2024, OTFT developer Smartkem, a MicroLED Industry Association member, announced that it has entered into a 12-month paid proof-of-concept agreement with a global consumer electronics leader to develop next-generation smart wearables that incorporate a conformable microLED display utilizing Smartkem’s proprietary OTFT backplane technology and its "Chip-first" architecture.

Smartkem says that the collaboration is expected addresses some of the most difficult challenges in wearables: extreme miniaturization, low power consumption, outdoor visibility and high impact resistance.

Researchers from Korea's Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) developed a stretchable QD color conversion layer, that offers high performance even when stretched by over 50%.

The researchers applied this new QD-CCL film to a microLED device, thus enabling a high resolution (313 PPI) full color stretchable microLED display.

During the K-Display 2025 conference, Samsung Display unveiled a new flexible wearable microLED display. This new panel offers a brightness of 6,000 nits, and a density of 326 PPI. 

Samsung says that this new display has 700,000 microLED chips, each 30 um in size. This means the resolution is likely to be 640×360. The size, in that case, will be about 2.25 inch diagonal, which is quite large for a smartwatch.

AUO is showcasing its latest microLED technologies at CES 2025, focusing on automotive solutions, under the Smart Cockpit 2025 platform. The company is demonstrating several novel applications, enabled by the transparent and flexibility of microLED displays.

So first up we have the Virtual Sky Canopy, and XR Interactive Window technology - both of these adopt the use of tiled transparent microLED displays to embed within the car windows and windows, and extend the display beyond the normal instrument cluster and information displays.

UK-based OTFT developer Smartkem announced that it has partnered with AUO to jointly develop rollable transparent microLED displays, based on Smartkem's OTFT backplane technology. The project will be based on a novel OTFT production process developed at ITRI.

Smartkem believes its technology will not only enable high-end rollable transparent microLED displays, but it will also enable drastic cost reduction that will bring costs down to mass market prices. Smartkem's low-temperature processing enables the use of low-cost and flexible plastic substrates rather than glass, which the company says will be a decisive factor in bringing production costs down.

LG Display demonstrated a new stretchable microLED display, that can expand up to 50% of its size. LGD says that this is the world's first stretchable display that can do so.

The display is 12" in size, and can stretch up to 18-inch. It offers 100 PPI (probably at its relaxed state), and is made from 40 micron microLED chips.

LG Display is showcasing its stretchable micrOLED displays at the Seoul Fashion Week, taking place at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). The company's stretchable displays are presented as part of clothing and bag concepts crafted by leading Korean designers Youn-Hee Park and Chung-Chung Lee.

The displays are 12" in size, and they can stretch up to 20% (14-inch, 40 um pixel pitch) while still showing full color images. The resolution is 100 PPI. These are the same displays the company demonstrated back in 2022. 

Samsung Display is showcasing its latest display prototypes and technologies at the International Meeting on Information Display (iMID 2024) conference on Jeju Island, Korea. One of the displays is a new stretchable microLED display.

While we know that SDC is developing stretchable microLED display technologies, this is the first time it has demonstrated a prototype publicly. Samsung did not detail much about the display, beyond saying that it has a 120 PPI and can stretch up to 125% of its original size (i.e. a 25% increase in size). The company says that this is the highest resolution stretchable display ever demonstrated, and the one that has the highest elongation rate.

Innolux showed several new microLED display prototypes at Displayweek 2024, as it focuses on microLEDs as its next-generation display solution.

First, the company showcased a large 106" tiled microLED TV display, build from 96 12.3" modules. The display uses 20x40 um blue microLED chips (with QD color conversion) and an LTPS backplane.

AUO had an impressive booth at Displayweek, showing some of its latest microLED prototypes. It is clear that the company is highly focused on microLED technology as its next-gen display strategy.

First up, with a 31" large area single-panel microLED, which AUO says is the world's largest. The display is produced on a single glass LTPS backplane, and offers 120Hz and a brightness of 500 nits. AUO calls this a Large Size A.R.T. MicroLED display.