Tiled microLEDs

LG Electronics announced a strategic plan to focus on its Business Solutions division, with an aim to double its sales to $7.5 billion by 2030. The division is in charge of businss-to-business (B2B) and signage displays, commercial TVs, IT devices such as laptops and monitors, robots and EV chargers.

LG says that for its commercial and signage displays, it will focus on premium fine-pitch LED displays, which include its microLED Magnit models. Indeed LG says that "MAGNIT Micro LED display will be at the forefront of this expansion".  The company reveals that its annual MAGNIT sales grew almost 2X since introducing them in 2020 (though sales are still likely very low). LG plans to launch its next-generaiton AI-powered microLED TVs by the end of 2024. 

In June 2022, Tianma Microelectronics announced plans to establish a 1.1 billion Yuan ($164 million USD) full-process microLED pilot line, in Xiamen. A few days ago, Tianma announced that its production line has commenced trial production. The new production line is co-located with a 8.6-Gen LCD fan at the Tongxiang High-Tech New Town in Xiamen.

Tianma also detailed the first microLED display is produced at the new plant, a 7.5" module aimed towards tiled displays, that offers a brightness of 600 nits and a low 5% reflectance. This is the first time we hear of a tiled microLED display from Tianma, and hopefully Tianma will soon show a large-area TV based on these modules.

Samsung Electronics launched two new MicroLED TVs, in sizes 89-inch and 101-inch. Samsung's "consumer" microLED TV range now includes 89", 101", 110” and 114" sizes.

The price of the 89-inch model is $110,000, and the 101-inch model costs $130,000. Samsung's largest consumer MicroLED TV costs $150,000 at 114-inches.

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.

Visionox showed a large 88-inch tiled microLED display, with a pixel pitch of 0.5 mm, based on 25 micron LEDs and an LTPS backplane. The display feature low (<5%) reflectance and a brightness of up to 1,200 nits.

Vistar also showed a 14.5" panel, a single module that is used to build the 88-inch TV. Visionox says that it developed a dedicated microLED driver IC, that enables 10-bit color depth and "True Color" presentation. Vistar says that it reaches production yields of 99.995% in its mass transfer process, and a repair process that enables perfect displays.

At Displayweek 2024, TCL CSoT demonstrated its impressive 163-inch 4K (0.9375 mm pitch) tiled MicroLED display on show, that offered very high brightness (10,000 nits).

TCL says that the display has a 'nanosecond' response time, and its lifetime rating is over 100,000 hours. This is TCL's X11H Max commercial MicroLED TV, priced at $110,000.

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.

Researchers from HP propose a new composable monitor design - that is based on microLED display modules (tiles) that can connect together to construct complete monitors. The researchers explain that microLED is a key technology as it enables a bezel-less design.

The main idea is to create Lego-like building blocks, both flat and curved, that can connect in both horizontal and vertical configurations. 

An interesting video surfaced, showing a small (reportedly 38-inch) microLED monitor prototype by Samsung, shown at a trade show:

We do not have any more information, but this is an interesting demo by Samsung. It is estimated that the monitor has a resolution of FHD (1920x1080), if Samsung is using the same tiles as the ones used in its TVs. It could be that this is not a tiled display, but we simply do not know at this stage.

Taiwan-based Innolux demonstrated new microLED display prototypes: a wide 187-inch microLED tiled display, a 9.6" flexible automotive microLED prototype and a transparent microLED.

Innolux did not detail much about these new prototypes. All of its microLEDs are based on blue microLEDs with quantum dot color conversion, and LTPS backplanes on glass substrates.