Mini-LEDs

In 2019 San'an Optoelectronics announced that it is planning to build a $1.78 billion miniLED and microLED production site in Hubei. The plans, originally, was to start production in March 2021. The construction was delayed, though, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a few years later San'an delayed its plans and aimed to start producing LEDs in Hubei in 2026.

Today San'an announced that it is delaying the production of miniLED and microLED at the Hubei plant - to June 2028. San'an said that the decision to delay was due to macroeconomic volatility, sluggish markets and slower-than-expected progress in critical microLED processes. So far the company invested 51% of the $1.78 billion, and as it "aims to avoid premature capacity buildup amid market uncertainty".

Last year we reported that India's Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is considering supporting the construction of a microLED production line in India, or to support the establishment of a supply chain for microLED development and production.

Yesterday the Indian government has approved a new project in Gujarat, by Crystal Matrix Limited, to establish a microLED and mini-LED production facility. The new fab, to be located in Dholera, Gujarat, will produce 6-inch GaN microLED and miniLED wafers, and will also produce mini-LED and micro-LED displays. The project's total cost is estimated at 3200 Cr INR (or about $336 million USD).

In March 20256 Sony announced that it has developed an RGB LED backlighted LCD technology, with plans to release the first such TV in 2026. The company filed to trademark "True RGB".

The company now formally announced its True RGB TVs, and reveals that the backlighting is actually made from RGB miniLEDs, not microLEDs. The company plans to release the first such TV soon, saying that it will have an extremely well color reproduction.

Last year Sony said that its new technology can enable brighter (up to 4,000 nits) displays with an increase color gamut and wider viewing angles. The company already demonstrated a 75-inch RGB LED LCD display that uses 96,000 LEDs to create 32,000 dimming zones. Each dimming zone is made from 3 LEDs (RGB), and the zones are controlled in clusters of 8, which in reality means there are only 8,000 different zones.

TCL CSOT announced that it has acquired 80% of Fujian Zhaoyuan Optoelectronics, for 490 million Yuan (around $70 million USD). TCL hopes that this acquisition will strengthen its in-house miniLED and microLED capabilities and technologies.

Fujian ZhaoYuan Optoelectronics (also known as Fujian Prima Optoelectronics) develops and produces LED epitaxial wafers and LED chips. It operates a mass LED production facility, and focuses on miniLED direct-view displays, automotive lighting and LCD backlighting units.

As we reported last week, China-based display and device maker HKC announced that next year it will ship the world's first RGB mini-LED backlit monitor, the M10 Ultra. This will be a 31.4-inch 4K panel, that will have 4,788 dimming zones (so a total of 14364 miniLED chips).

HKC says that the M10 Ultra will offer a 165 Hz refresh rate (or 330Hz at FHD resolution) and a wide color gamut, 100% BT.2020, sRGB, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB. The company did not release the expected price of its new monitor, or any exact shipping dates.

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.

India-based Titan Intech announced plans to build a display facility in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, India. The company did not share any details on the facility type - but it did say that it signed an MoU with the local government, and it has also signed up a South-Korean OEM partner that will support with technology transfer and assistance. The total investment in the project is around $28 million USD, and it will employ 200 people directly.

Titan further said that in the future it plans to expand into new display areas, including miniLEDs and microLEDs. Titan Intech, established in 1984, is involved in many fields, including software development and telecommunication - and is also a designer of LED video screens and LED luminaires. 

Last year, we posted that adhesive developer and MicroLED Association member DELO has conducted in-house feasibility studies, that shows that their directional conductive adhesives can be used to replace soldering in miniLED, and microLED displays. The bonding was found to be reliable with high yields.

DELO has continued its miniLED project, and has now announced that it has examined their durability over extended test periods. The company says that it has shown that directional conductive adhesives are not only technically feasible for miniLEDs but also reliable in long-term conditions that realistically reflect industrial environments. The company believes that adhesives could play a role in microLED display production as well.

During CES 2025, Samsung Electronics demonstrated a 98-inch 8K microLED-backlit LCD TV, branding it as RGB MicroLED TV. This is not a true microLED TV, as it is not emissive, but unlike other LED- and miniLED- backlit LCDs, this one uses smaller red, green and blue microLEDs.

Samsung now says that it plans to launch this new TV, at a size of 115-inch, later in 2025. This will be Samsung's most premium LCD TV. One of the main advantages over its current miniLED-backlit LCDs, is the use of red, green, and blue microLEDs, rather than blue miniLEDs and color-conversion (QD and phophors) technology to create white-emitting LEDs. This should enable a larger image gamut. The microLEDs may also contribute to a higher contrast compared to the bigger miniLEDs, as there will be better dimming zone control.

Sony has announced that it has developed a new next-generation display technology, which it refers to as RGB LED backlighting, which basically uses red, green and blue mini-LEDs to drive LCD displays.

Current mini-LED backlighting units use blue LEDs, color converted into white color, to form the backlighting of LCD displays. In its new technology, Sony uses three different miniLEDs in each dimming zone, which removes the need to color convert. Sony says that its new technology can enable brighter (up to 4,000 nits) displays with an increase color gamut and wider viewing angles. The company demonstrated a 75-inch RGB LED LCD display that uses 96,000 LEDs to create 32,000 dimming zones.