Passive Matrix MicroLEDs

Taiwan-based MicroLED developer PlayNitride (a MicroLED Industry Association member) has demonstrated its latest microLED displays at Display Week 2023.

First up we have the company's tiled large-area microLED displays, called PixeLED Matrix. The company showed a 166" vertical installation, that is made from 324 modules. The total resolution is 1440x4860 (30 PPI, or a pixel pitch of 0.833 mm). This was a very nice looking demonstration.

Driver IC developer Solomon Systech launched what it says is the world's first PM-MicroLED display driver, the SSD2363. Solomon Systech targets applications such as wearables, home appliances and industrial applications.

The SSD2363 supports a range of resolutions up to 256x256, full-color, with 768 segments and 256 common output, SPI and MIPI interface and sizes up to 3-inches. The company is now sampling the new driver.

PlayNitride demonstrates its latest microLED display prototypes and technologies at SID Displayweek 2022.

At the entrance to PlayNitride's booth, you can see a long 132-inch tiled microLED display, made from 192 modules (each 5" in size). The 7680x1080 59PPI display is completely seamless and offers 3,000 nits and a 116% NTSC color gamut.

According to reports from Taiwan, PlayNitride is planning to IPO in 2022. PlayNitride started to sample micro-LED at the end of 2017, and in 2018 PlayNitride demonstrated its first Micro-LED prototypes. PlayNitride has a pilot production facility at Hsinchu Science Park. In 2020 PlayNitride started constructing a second production line that will start mass producing in H2 2021.

The company is also showcasing new microLED displays at Opto Taiwan 2021, which started today. The most interesting display is a 1.58" 256x256 Passive Matrix display. The company collaborated with Solomon Systech to develop the IC for this display. PlayNitride says that this display could be commercialization in 2022. PlayNitride have demonstrated PM-MicroLED displays before, together with RiTDisplay.

This article is the second article in a short series of articles that discuss the efficiency of microLED displays. Our previous article discussed the quantum efficiency of microLED chips - with a conclusion that these can be quite efficient.

This article will look at the entire microLED display, and also compare it to current LCD and OLED displays. After all one of the main advantages of microLED displays is the increased efficiency (and brightness) compared to current displays. Most people assume that indeed microLEDs are much more efficient than OLEDs and LCDs.

In December 2019 Taiwan-based PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay announced that it plans to launch its first MicroLED displays in 2020. Last week during SID Displayweek 2020 the company demonstrated its first prototype, as can be seen in the video below.

The company did not reveal any technical specifications or discuss any commercialization plans.

MicroLED microdisplay developer Plessey Semiconductor announced that it has developed new passive-matrix monochrome microLED microdisplays. Plessey says it can customize the resolution and color of its PM displays to the customer requirements.

Plessey demonstrated its first such PM microdisplays with the 48x36 blue panel you see above. The company says it plans to introduce 384x128 monochrome and 128x128 RGB passive matrix microdisplays by the end of 2020.

In May 2019 PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay announced a strategic partnership and share swap with MicroLED developer PlayNitride, and RiT later said it aims to release its first product to the market in 2020.

RiT announced today that its revenues for the year (to date) were $47.1 million USD - a decrease of 32.4% compared to last year. The company's CEO says that its PMOLED sales has been affected by e-cigarette bans in the US, and the company is now shifting its focus to develop micro LED displays (and also mini-LED ones).

Taiwan-based PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay announced that it plans to launch its first MicroLED displays in 2020. RiTDisplay aims to mass produce wearable displays and hopes for receive meaningful revenues already in 2020.

In May 2019 RiTDisplay announced a strategic partnership and share swap with MicroLED developer PlayNitride. In June 2019 it was reported that a US-based smartwatch brand will start a design process in Q3 2019 using a micro-LED display that was co-developed by RiTDisplay and PlayNitride. RiT was reportedly to start shipping samples in Q4 2019.

PlayNitride demonstrated its latest Micro-LED displays at SID DisplayWeek 2019, and the following recently-published video shows the company's booth and prototypes:

So first up we have a 7.56" 720x480 (114 PPI) transparent MicroLED display, which looks very impressive. This is the same Micro-LED display that TianMa demonstrated at its own booth. Interestingly, under direct light from it seems that the display is made from tiles - but PlayNitride says that the squares are made from the stamping process, and the company is developing technology that will remove these marks.