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Emerging Display Technologies for the AR/VR Market

11/17/2021

The AR/VR Display Forum, the virtual conference by DSCC on November 3rd and 4th focused on emerging display trends that are shaping the market. There is a surge of interest in AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Realty) market due to the recent focus on the Metaverse by industry leaders such as Meta (the new name for Facebook), Microsoft and others.
Metaverse incorporates AR/VR, holographic avatar, video and other means of communications. Some see AR/VR as the next generation communication platform. To make it a reality, there is a need for many technological developments and multiple challenges need to be resolved. Emerging display technologies are an integral part of AR/VR market development.

Battle of Display Technologies for the AR/VR market

According to Guillaume Chansin, Director of Display Research at DSCC, Meta (Facebook) is betting on AR/VR with a $10 billion investment in 2021. Its Oculus Quest 2 is the fastest selling headset, and the company is planning a 'project Cambria' (high-end VR headset, with pancake optics in 2022) and 'project Nazare' (thin and light see-through AR glasses). Apple is expected to launch a high-end VR headset in 2022 (with dual smicroOLED CMOS Si+ one other OLED displays and Sony will be bringing in its second Gen VR headset for PlayStation 5. Companies such as Magic Leap, Snap, ByteDance (Tiktok), Nreal and others are all investing in AR/VR this year.

Technology developments, product introductions and higher investment will drive AR/VR growth in the next few years. DSCC's forecast shows that revenue for AR/VR displays will grow at a CAGR of 51.6%, from $0.3 billion in 2020 to $4.2 billion in 2026. VR (including pass-through AR) will be a much bigger market segment for display suppliers, generating 4.2x more revenue than see-through AR by 2026. According to the presentation, the display requirements are different for VR (and pass-through AR) and see-through AR.

For VR (and pass-through AR) most displays are based on TFT LCD and AMOLED. VR needs high pixel density to reduce or eliminate the screen door effect, as optical lenses magnify the image. Also it requires high refresh rates and a short duty cycle to reduce motion sickness. There is a need for smaller lighter headsets.

For see-through AR, all headsets are currently based on microdisplays (DLP, Micro-LCD, LCoS, Micro OLED) or laser beam scanner (LBS). They need very high brightness displays to match the ambient light; display needs to be small and power efficient to make headsets thinner and light-weight. DSCC forecasts that OLED on Silicon will capture the largest share of shipments from 2025 for AR/VR display market with LCD in second place. AMOLED will lose share due to limitations of pixel density. MicroLED with higher potential brightness will have an advantage for see-through AR but will be less important for VR.

LCD: Strong presence through high pixel density, global blinking and MiniLED

According to a JDI presentation, LCD is leading the VR market with technology advancements such as high PPI.

The company announced its latest high PPI LCD for VR at the forum. It's a 2.88-inch 1201PPI LTPS TFT-LCD (120Hz refresh rates, global blinking backlight). JDI used advanced LTPS (LTPS+Oxide backplane) to produce the display and it contributed to a higher aperture ratio (30% higher than before) which is essential for VR. The use of local dimming technology achieved higher contrast and lower power consumption.

An impulse display is also realized by applying a global blinking backlight and by shortening the display “on” time and minimizing “ghosting” to provide a clearer image. The company uses SLC-IPS technology for fast response LC (3msec B/W). By combining the backlight blinking (impulse display) and fast response LC, it can achieve 'no blur' and 'no ghost image'. According to the presentation by JDI, LCD is the best technology for 2-3-inch size displays for VR-HMD as it provides a wide field of view (HFV), which is a critical factor for an immersive VR-HMD. For future VR LCDs,

JDI is planning a 4Kx4K 2.x-inch display with 1700-2000PPI, 1000 cd/m², contrast ratio of >100,000, color gamut of >DCI-P3 95% with local dimming. JDI has also developed a prototype HMD using a laser backlit LCD of 2.89-inch diagonal, with 1058 PPI. The lasers proved for a wider color gamut of BT 2020 (97%).

Companies are also starting to use miniLEDs backlight for LCD for higher contrast and lower power consumption. A DSCC presentation showed two products - the Varjo Aero($1900) with two miniLED LCDs (Varjo Gets Aero) and the Pimax Reality (12K QLED) ($2399) with two miniLED LCD panels (200Hz refresh rates and QD layer for high color gamut, 6K per eye resolution with 1200PPI) (Pimax’s New Headset Boasts '12K' & MiniLED - WBS subscription required).

Lynx announced a $500 headset with full color pass-through AR which is versatile and covers mixed reality. In its presentation, Stan Larroque, CEO of Lynx said their product is using JDI’s LCD display due to low BOM costs and high refresh rates. They are considering other displays for future products also.

Micro OLED: Poised for dominance with very high resolution & high luminance

OLED micro-displays (microOLED) are viewed through an optical system and generally have higher pixel densities than AMOLEDs. OLED on silicon is the most common technology used to implement microOLED. It can be used both for VR and see-through AR.
MicroOLED displays can be generally categorized into RGB OLED and White OLED (WOLED) classes. However high resolution RGB OLED microdisplays still face challenges due to a shadow effect during the deposition process using a FMM (Fine Metal Mask). White OLED uses a color filter to generate the image and can achieve high PPI (4000PPI). However the color filter absorbs a very high percentage of the emitted light that limits maximum brightness for microOLED.

Sony has been using a microLens to increases peak brightness of its OLED micro-display. Kopin has developed a trio stack architecture to increase brightness. According to the presentation of Andrew Sculley, CEO of eMagin, there are four major challenges for the AR/VR market: Displays, Optics, Content and Price.

Display: high resolution, high brightness, high contrast, low power, no screen door effect, high fill factor
Optics: large FOV (Field of View), no distortion, high efficiency, light weight, small form factor
Content: games, movies, live events, etc and graphics processing speed
Price: has to be right

The human eye’s resolution capability is 60 Pixels/degree (PPD). eMagin's OLED microdisplay demo has 40PPD compared to the Oculus Quest 2's PPD of 20. For microOLED, its higher PPD, high luminance (to eliminate motion artifacts), high resolution (to eliminates screen door effects), high fill factor, higher efficiency and longer life time capabilities result in increased demand for the VR applicatrion.

See-through AR also requires very high brightness, very high resolutions and very high contrast. These requirements make OLED microdisplays more applicable for both AR and VR. eMagin has achieved 10,000 nits brightness in a 1920 X 1200 4K OLED microdisplay, made by direct patterning (eliminating the color filter) of red, green, and blue (RGB) sub-pixel emitters on the backplane. The red and green emitters were made from phosphorescent materials and the blue from fluorescent material. This has enabled a significant improvement in efficiency and lifetime. eMagin has a roadmap to develop 30,000 nits full color peak luminance.

Chinese Developments
A DSCC presentation by Chase Li about microOLED capacity development in China showed that nine companies have plans for constructions including BOE, Lakeside, SeeYa, Sidtek, Jicui. Most of them will adopt a white OLED+ colour filter approach. By 2025, 81% of the capacity will be from OLED microdisplays made in 12-inch (300mm) fabs. BOE is expected to ramp up production in next two to three years. According to DSCC’s Chansin, BOE’s 0.71inch displays are in a Qualcomm reference design for Smart Viewer glasses. SeeYa’s 1.03-inch display is being used in the Arpara VR headset in 2021. LG display from Korea has demonstrated a 0.42" micro OLED display (3500PPI) at SID Display Week 2021.

MicroLED: Emerging presence with ultra high brightness, high reliability and small form factor

MicroLED’s very high brightness, high reliability (inorganic LED display) and ability to create ultra compact form factors will have major advantages for the see-through AR market. As presented by DSCC, many companies including Vuzix, Snap, Xiomi, TCL and Meta are introducing microLED display based AR/VR headsets. Vuzix’s next gen smart glass uses Jade Bird Display's (JBD) microLED. Waveoptics (Snap) announced a developmental kit and projector using a JBD display and Kopin has announced collaboration with JBD to develop monochrome microLED displays. Xiaomi and TCL both introduced microLED-based smartglass prototypes in 2021.

Applied Material’s presentation by Nag Patibandla showed that they have demonstrated microLED direct view display using single wavelength UV-A microLED and CD free Quantum Dot technology in an innovative pixel architecture (reducing and simplifying mass transfer and repair). They have achieved higher efficiency, higher resolution (high EQE uvMicroLED + Quantum Dot technology) (inkjet printing + self aligned curing) and higher yield (one time mass transfer). The company has demoed two displays: one with microLED, 433PPI, 1000nits, the second one with microLED, 318PPI, 10,000 nits. The company’s near-eye AR displays road map show of 1588 PPI and 3396PPI with uvMicroLED. (Applied Materials Overcomes Some Challenges in MicroLED for VR)

A presentation from JBD's Leon Baruah showed that JBD is focusing on commercialization of microLED-based microdisplays. It is boosting its current pilot fab capacity in Shanghai and will start its Hefei fab in 2022 (operation will start in Q1 2023). JBD microLED microdisplays have achieved high brightness (up to 4.5million nits), power efficiency (6mW for 10K nits), small form factor (pixel pitch from 2.5micron to 5micron) and more than 100,000:1 contrast, deep black and 125Hz refresh rate. The company has introduced a very small (0.35cc in volume) monochrome microLED projector and a polychrome projector (1.35cc in volume).

A Mojo Vision presentation from Naamah Argaman showed that they have created a smart contact lens with built-in microLED (nanoLED) display (with1.8 micron pixel pitch, monochrome green, 14,000 PPI) that gives information to users without interrupting their focus. They are building prototypes. They are also working on Quantum Dot color conversion from blue to get brighter pixels. MicroLED displays have great potential in AR/VR due to their high brightness and high contrast. (Mojo Vision Developing NanoLEDs)

Companies such as CEA-Leti, MICLEDI, and Coherent LaserSystems participated and presented in the AR/VR forum’s microLED manufacturing session.

Technology developments, product introductions and higher investments will drive AR/VR growth in the next few years. Display technology developments will be an the integral part of AR/VR market growth. (SD)

Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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Advances in OLED display @ OLEDs World Summit 2021

10/19/2021

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OLEDs World Summit in September this year gave a glimpse of advances in OLED display technology that will shape next generation products. Flexible AMOLEDs continue to gain significant shares in the smartphone market. Large size OLED has also achieved strong position on premium TV market.
Foldable OLED smartphones are expected to gain strong market shares in 2021 due to aggressive pricing by top brands. New form factors (foldable, rollable, stretchable) combined with better materials, process and designs will create new usability of products in future, opening up new application opportunities for OLED display technology
.
Flexible, Bendable, Stretchable
Flexible OLED form factors are shifting from foldable to rollable and scrollable. At CES this year suppliers such as LG Electronics and TCL/CSOT showcased rollable screens that can roll from smartphone to tablet. The introduction of 5G-based products needing slimmer displays to accommodate 5G-enabling components will increase flexible OLED demand. Integration of new technology such as fingerprint under display, touch display, power savings, variable refresh rates, and other features to reduce border & increased screen-to-body-ratio can make flexible OLED more critical for next generation products.

Royole (the first supplier of foldable phones): Peng Wei CXO from Royole, presented on “Advance in the development of flexible AMOLED display & End product innovations”. Flexible AMOLED is a complex system for display technology with several layers including: cover film, adhesive, touch, polarizer, display and support layers. Each layer needs to be designed to get higher performance and reliability. Flexible AMOLED module needs material innovations. The company uses an ULT-NSSP backplane instead of LTPS technology. This helps to simplify the process resulting in: ultra thin, higher reliability, higher yield and lower cost products with higher performance and longer lifetime. More advanced form factors (stretchable display) not only need flexibility but also needs to be pullable and twistable, enabling spherical and dome shapes that can have potential uses in automotive, public display, wearable and biomedical applications. Royole has demonstrated a 2.7-inch microLED stretchable and transparent display. According to the company, the ultra low aperture ratio and simple or non-encapsulation requirement lead to high stretchability, fine pitch and high transmittance.
EMD Electronics (OLED@Merck KGaA, Germany): For free form, bendable and stretchable products, new display materials are very important. According to Michele Ricks’ presentation, the company is developing state of the art materials for the full OLED stack addressing processing technology, vapor and printing. The presentation pointed out that, OLED Hole Transport Material (HTM) is a critical layer in the OLED stack to adjust energy barriers from the anode to the emissive layer. With a proper HTM, driving voltage, lifetime and efficiency can be significantly improved. The company said its (HTM+B prime) material combination results in strong performance improvement in lifetime and voltage combined with low lateral current for the best quality panel. EMD Electronics has developed “liviflexTM” a polymerizable hardcoat solution for flexible, foldable and rollable displays. The company’s “liviflexTM-H” solutions can be coated on to flexible substrate by a roll to roll coating process. The solutions are suitable for in-folding and out-folding, have high scratch resistance, tuneable thickness at high hardness level (2H to 9H), suitable for different substrates (colorless PI (CPI) or ultrathin glass (UTG)).
Ink Jet Printing: IJP for RGB OLED printing has been challenging due to material issues and manufacturing complexities. According to the EMD Electronics’ presentation IJP needs: “OLED material compatible with solution printing, ink formulation optimized for application and through understanding and optimization of full device stack. In 2020 the company achieved excellent performance in all three colors of an RGB ink set. Now, the new generation blue emissive layers (EML) are leading to significant performance improvement (lifetime & efficiency). For the new generation of Red EML, significant EQE increase is achieved with optical emitter orientation. Ink formulations for inkjet printing and a tailored ink formulation for flat, uniform film profiles can lead to excellent pixel homogeneities also for high resolution application”.
According to Barry Young’s, OLED Association presentation, OLED material performance is improving. Recent examples of performance improvements are:
LGD TV Panel Luminance with EVO 20% up,
Samsung Display (SDC) Smartphone panel luminance without a CP (circular polarizer) is 30% up
Apple's smartphone panel power consumption – using LTPO – is down 25%.

OLED Microdisplays (for AR/VR)
Amal Gosh, COO of eMagin Corporation presented on OLED microdisplays for AR/VR applications.
Microdisplays are very small in size (<1-inch in diagonal). Typically they are used in indirect view displays where a lens is needed to view them and are primarily used in near-to-the-eye applications. According to the presentation, “the company has the brightest OLED commercially available- monogreen with peak luminance over 40,000 cd/m². It als has a full color microdisplay with 7500cd/m² brightness, and target 10,000 cd/m² in 2021. Their micro display features: very high contrast (>1,000,000:1), low power consumption (longer battery life), compact form factor, light weight solution, field tested for reliability and performance, nausea-free operation, superior performance, and a competitive cost at higher volumes”.
Their OLED on silicon microdisplay is based on a CMOS backplane using white OLED with color filter technology. According to the presentation, it has been able to achieve brightness up to 3000 cd/m² (no tandem, no micro lens). AR/VR has four major challenges: display, optics, content and price. For the display the key requirements are the following: angular resolution to match the eyes, large field of view (FOV), no screen door effect, fast speed–no motion artifacts, high contrast, brightness to match the eye’s requirement, and realistic color. To fullfill all these requirements for a better AR/VR experience, microdisplays are needed, as high fill factor and high resolution eliminate the screen door effect, leading to a superior experience.
Very high resolution, very high brightness and very high contrast microdisplays are key to the success for AR/VR applications. In a device based on an OLED with color filter, there is a loss of brightness (the color filter absorbs 80% of the useful light). eMagin has developed a new direct patterned OLED microdisplay without the color filter. According to the company, direct patterned RGB microdisplays outperform white OLED with color filter versions: there is 4x more luminance at comparable current density, 15x more luminance at comparable voltage. The product has achieved 7500cd/mcd/m² maximum luminance. They are on target to achieve 10,000 cd/mcd/m² by the year-end 2021.

OLED for Automotive
Some premiums OEMs have shipped cars with OLED display in small quantities. The major issues for OLED in automotive are generally in luminance, temperature and lifetime. Prof. Dr.Karlheinz Blankenbach, presented “OLED on the passing lane of Automotive”.
Automated driving provides the freedom for radically different vehicle interiors transforming cars into locations for work and play. Still many challenges exist including high quality display and seamless integration. The automotive display is expected to grow in the next several years. The OLED working group of the Deutsche Flachdisplay Forum (DFF) is working on the standardization of OLED for automotive use.
According to the presentation, there are several fundamental requirements for automotive displays:

outstanding optical display,
outstanding display quality and reliability,
lifetime 8,000 to 30,000 hours over 15+ years,
readability (depends on luminance and reflection),
LCD viewing angle (luminance, gamma and color),
temperature characteristics (at high temperatures, OLED lifetime is reduced and there is polarizer degradation).

The presentation pointed out that lifetime & burn-in and viewing angle have been challenges for automotive applications. Flexibility, curved and transparent design can enable better integration for automotive displays. Flexible curved display also has challenges with small radius bends and plastic substrate. Transparent displays on windshields can provide information for drivers and passengers. That applications also has challenges such as a need for high brightness >2000 cd/m², >70% transparency and issues from a 'rainbow effect'. As the presentation pointed out, OLED has the potential to be the best display for automotive due to high image quality, perfect black, fast response time, flexibility and transparency. However, they need to be well engineered by manufacturer with sufficient lifetime, standardization and have competitive pricing.
Advances in OLED display technology will open up new opportunities for next generation products. (SD)
Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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The Future of QD display - Phosphors & Quantum Dots Industry Forum 2021

10/12/2021

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Quantum Dot display technology is continuously evolving with new materials, new processes and new devices while progressing towards becoming the ultimate next generation self emissive display solution. The recent virtual “Phosphors and Quantum Dots Industry Forum” from September 14-15 gave a glimpse of the future of this display technology.

Reinventing the Display Industry
Quantum Dot Display has established itself as a formidable force with lower prices, higher product availability and improved performance enabling strong growth in shipments.
The first generation QD enhancement film (QDEF) enabled LCDs to have better color purity, wider color gamut, and offer a brighter and more immersive HDR experience while maintaining power efficiency for TV applications. The technology has evolved during the last few years to improve or eliminate many challenges resulting in broader adoption of the technology. It has enabled LCD technology to reinvent itself and has created growth opportunities. This technology is expected to enter an expansion phase in next few years through technology developments that will enhance other display architectures such as OLED and MicroLED. Finally, it aspires to be a leader by offering the most cost effective, flexible emissive Quantum Dot displays in future.
According to Jason Hartlove CEO of Nanosys in his keynote presentation: Quantum Dots: Reinventing the display Industry.
“It has already changed the industry with QDEF. QDs will sooner deliver even more differentiated visual experience with QD-OLED, QD-MicroLED and QD-nanoLED”.

Enabling OLED & MicroLED
According to Hartlove’s presentation, Next-Gen Quantum Dot Colour Conversion (QDCC) will overcome OLED limitations in 2021.
“The future of OLED plus MicroLED success requires Quantum Dot color conversion. QD pairs seamlessly with OLED. It replaces inefficient, wasteful color filters and white subpixel and simplifies the manufacturing process”.
QDOLED could combine the best of OLED and quantum dot technology: it should provide very high contrast (due to the OLED sub-pixel), perfect black, wider viewing angles with better color gamut and higher brightness. It uses solution-printed QDs as the emitter material to make AM QLED displays. Printable, low cost QD materials with superior performance have the potential to directly compete with OLED displays even in the flexible segment. However there are still many challenges. Blue emitting materials still have efficiency and lifetime issues. Multiple layers of blue OLED can be used to reduce the problem. Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove said that he expect QDOLED to be available in 2021/22, QD MicroLED in 2023/24 and NanoLED in 2025/26. QD-OLED displays from Samsung Display are expected by the end of 2021 or early 2022.
The mass transfer process that requires bonding RGB (Red Green Blue) MicroLED to the display backplane accurately and efficiently is very challenging. Also different colors of LED need slightly different voltage and drive currents. Color conversion by Quantum Dots (QDs) (QDCC) or by phosphor provides another alternative. Using single-color (blue) MicroLED chips and color converting them with QD layers can help in the manufacturing process. According to Hartlove, QD MicroLED enables new markets such as Auto HUDs and AR smart glasses. There have been many announcements and prototypes but no mass production yet. Many things need to be resolved before commercialization of the product. MicroLED display needs a mature supply chain for high volume production. Nanosys has acquired the microLED company “glō” to improve the supply chain and accelerate product development and adoption.

Expanding Towards the Mainstream
Nanosys recently announced the aerobically stable xQDEF concept where no barriers are required and is expected to lower costs and increase manufacturability. The “air stable” QDs material from Nanosys (no extra protection required for oxygen or moisture) and innovative co-extrusion manufacturing technology by CYD has resulted in the xQDEF diffuser plate. The barrier film has kept the cost at a higher level and restricted the supply chain to only those with barrier film capabilities in the past. New products in films or diffuser plates will open up the supply chain with a greater possibility of lower costs. The diffuser plate can be added to any simple full array local dimming backlight type TV enabling lower cost mainstream product at <$500 with QD. This technology has been embraced by brand such as TCL, Hisense. It is already in mass production.
According to DSCC presentation by cofounder Bob O’ Brien,
“DSCC expects growth in TV using QD technology to grow to 18% from 2020 to 2026. QD will be the dominant configuration on MiniLED TVs. Samsung’s QD OLED will extend the technology further.”

Evolving to Next Generation Emissive Display: Sharp Display Technology
According to Dr. Yang Qu's presentation, next generation self-emissive displays based on QD LED combine the advantages of both LCD and OLED and is a game changer in the display industry (TV, mobile, auto etc) with its exquisite image quality, high device reliability, low cost manufacturability (existing LCD fabrication EQ available). Sharp has developed an Electroluminescence (EL) top emission structure. It has narrow emission spectrum combined with high emission efficiency that enables wide color gamut, high brightness, low power consumption and long lifetime. It has higher contrast compared to LCD and higher brightness compared to OLED and flexibility like OLED with the potential for lower cost. Samsung and Sharp have announced their plan to focus on Cd-free QDs. BOE and TCL have shown Cd-based demos. The ultimate goal of the industry is Cd-free QD emissive displays. As Sharp presented there are three major challenges for realizing QD-LED:

Material: Cd-free QD+ narrow FWHM emission (Sharp is developing it)
Process: RGB color Patterning (contact printing, Inkjet printing and photolithography).
Optical Design: highly efficient light extracting structure

There are several QD patterning methods currently being considered.

Contact printing: high resolution, low material waste, low productivity,
Inkjet printing: high productivity, low material waste, low resolution
Photolithography: high resolution low manufacturing cost but a disadvantage is that QD requires high process resistance.

Sharp is developing RGB color patterning QD LED via a photolithography process from LCD fabrication. Photolithography enables them to enlarge the emissive area (wider aperture, lower current density), which results in higher brightness, higher resolutions and longer lifetime. Also it enables the firm to divert existing LCD manufacturing equipment, which results in low cost production and easy to produce large size panels (OLED costs are higher due to the vacuum evaporation process). For optical design, you need highly efficient light extraction. Sharp is developing a new structure to satisfy both free viewing angle and high brightness by using QDLED narrow emission spectrum materials (using a reflective bank structure).

Samsung Advance Institute of Technology (SAIT)
Dr. Yu-Ho Won of SAIT presented on highly efficient and stable Cd-free QD LEDs and the recent research progress in InP-based Red QD-LEDs and ZnTeSe-based Blue QD-LEDs

QD superior optical properties for display applications enable high color gamut, high brightness, wide viewing angle and high contrast. RGB EL backlight and color filter free, charge transport layer.
The challenges for the QD LED application: High quality QDs, Shell Engineering, Ligand engineering and device structure
Shell engineering: Improvement of EQE, brightness and lifetime in QD with thick ZnSe shell.
Ligand Engineering: Improvement of EQE and lifetime of QD-LEDs (best performance of InP QD-LEDs)
Recent progress in InP and ZnSeTe: They have achieved excellent red and Blue QD LED by high quality QD and shell and ligand engineering. They have improved the performance of Blue QD ZnSeTe LEDs to achieve 20% EQE, 80,000 cdm² brightness, T50 15850h @100 nits for double layer EML.

TCL is focusing on Ink Jet Printed (IJP)-QLED display development and bringing it to commercialization according to Dr. Wenyong Liu’s presentation. TCL has demonstrated an IJP-QLED emissive device with a different structure (not Cd-free) in 5-inch and 31-inch sizes. High performance QLED device mass production at low cost is feasible. For that, QD cd-free materials (especially blue) and charge transports materials need to be developed. For inkjet printing IJP fabrication process flow, film quality evaluation, and inks and inkjet printing technology are very important.
A Nanosys presentation by Ray Ma, Senior Director indicated that controlled QD synthesis with shape engineering has resulted in a significant improvement un heavy metal free NanoLEDs. Performance is reaching the commercialization level. It has the potential to address all display application with low costs.
Quantum Dot display technology is continuing its journey along the path of innovation for next generation products. To make the future potential a reality, developments need to continue in terms of materials, printing, encapsulation processes, equipment and the supply chain. (SD)

Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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LCD TV Panel Prices – Declining in the Second Half of 2021

9/13/2021

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Large LCD panels have seen dramatic increase in prices in the first half of 2021 due to unprecedented tight supply that was impacted by component shortages. Panel prices have been increasing for more than a year starting from mid-2020 due to strong demand both in TV and IT market.
Tight supply and extremely high panel prices have resulted in LCD TV set price increases. Softness in demand (due to higher set prices and changes in the COVID 19 situation globally) combined with supply expansion will lead to panel price reductions in 2H 2021.

Dramatic Price Increase - Impacting Demand
An increase in demand for larger size TVs in the second half (2H) 2020 combined with component shortage (glass, driver ICs, Polarizers and other components) has pushed the market to unprecedented supply constraint and continuous panel price increase from end of Q2 2020 to 1H 2021 according to DSCC's blog in August this year,

“Prices increased in Q2 2021 by a double-digit percentage for all sizes of TV panels, with increases ranging from 11% to 22%. Also according to the company, “Comparing our forecast for peak panel prices (in June or July 2021) with the prices in May 2020, we see trough-to-peak increases from 32% for 75” to 175% for 32”, with an average of 106%. In comparison, the average trough-to-peak increase of the 2016 to 2017 cycle was 48%, and prior cycles saw smaller increases.”

Market demand for tablets, notebooks, monitors and TVs increased in 2020 especially in the second half of the year due to the 'stay at home' impact, when work from home, education from home and more focus on home entertainment pushed the demand to a higher level. With 'stay at home' continuing in the first half of 2021 and UEFA European Championship soccer and Olympics in Japan, TV brands continued to see strong panel demand in that period.

Dramatic panel price increases have resulted in higher costs for TV brands reducing profitability. Brands have increased set prices for their TVs. TV brands have also focused more on larger size higher specs products for better profitability moving away from small and medium sizes, which will impact shipments volume. Lower priced brands (Tier2/3) had a difficult time acquiring enough panels to offer lower priced TVs. Panel suppliers are also giving priority to top brands with larger orders during the supply constraint. In recent quarters, the top five TV brands including Samsung, LG, and TCL, have been gaining higher market share.

Countries with better control of COVID variants such as U.S and Europe are starting to open up offices, schools and increasing travel. Demand that surged during the stay at home economy, has slowed down as consumers spend more on other things. Countries like India and Japan continue to struggle with the variant. High set prices combined with changes in the stay-home economy will impact TV demand especially in 2H2021.

LCD Pain - OLED Gain
While LCD TV faced extreme tight supply and panel price increases, OLED TV has made capacity expansions and cost reductions as LG Display added additional capacity in its 8.5 Gen fab in Guangzhou (increasing to 90K/m up from 60K/m). Also TV brands are more focused on expanding their OLED TV product line as the cost gap between equivalent LCD and OLED panels has reduced significantly. OLED TV is also providing higher profitability for brands. OLED TV has gained higher market share.

According to data published by DSCC in August, OLED shares increased in booming advanced TV market in Q2 2021.
“While OLED TV share of all Advanced TV had declined during 2018-2020, the additional capacity from LG Display’s Guangzhou fab combined with rising LCD TV panel prices has helped OLED TV regain share in the premium category. OLED TV shipments increased by 169% Y/Y in Q2 2021, while Advanced LCD TV shipments increased by a more modest 36% Y/Y, and OLED TV share increased from 25% in Q2 2020 to 40% in Q2 2021.”

According to TrendForce’s data published in August,
“OLED panels expected to reach 3% penetration in TV panel market in 2021 owing to persistently narrowing price gap with LCD panels. The company also reported that high-end OLED TV panels and 8K LCD TV panels showed dramatically opposed movements in 1H21, while OLED TV panel increased market shares to 2.6%, 8K LCD shares fell to a mere 0.2%”. This is because as the company reported “panel suppliers’ concerns about profit and yield maximization resulted in their relatively low willingness to manufacture these products. On the demand side, clients were also unwilling to procure these panels due to persistently high quotes from suppliers.”

OLEDs are expected to enjoy continuous growth, as they take higher market share from TVs and smartphones as well as the IT market, benefiting from supply expansion and cost reduction.

LCD - Supply Expansion
According to an Omdia press release in May this year,
“tight supply, high factory utilization rates, and high profitability are encouraging many panel makers to increase their capacities. There were already multiple Gen 8.6 and Gen 10.5 factories in China that were accelerating capacity ramp-ups in 2021 and 2022 after COVID-19 delayed them in 2020”.
Chinese panel makers are incrementally increasing the capacity of their current factories through productivity enhancements and new equipment purchased for de-bottlenecking or creating capacity expansion according to Omdia.

TrendForce’s found in August this year,
“Chinese panel suppliers were able to achieve a 58.3% share in the TV panel market, which was nearly 5 percentage points higher than their 1H20 market shares, thanks to their growing number of production lines. Conversely, Taiwanese suppliers saw their market share drop by 2.2 percentage points from 1H20 levels to 21.1% in 1H21… Korean suppliers experienced a decline in market shares to 14.3% while Japanese suppliers’ market shares increased to 6.3% as a result of SDP’s Gen 10.5 capacity expansion”.

BOE and CSOT (China Star) have been the top two panel suppliers for LCD TV. They are expanding their production capacity. At the same time HKC is currently increasing its production capacity (4 Gen 8.6 fabs) and is expected to enter the top three rank of TV panel suppliers for the first time with 33.7% YoY increase in TV panel shipments in 2021, according to TrendForce.
The capacity ramp-up by panel suppliers in China and their strong dominance in the TV panel market combined with higher profitability and the need for new suppliers to increase their market share will result in supply expansion in the second half of 2021.

Price Decline - Second Half of 2021

The industry is already reporting some price reduction for TV panels. TrendForce reported in the beginning of August: 7.5% MoM decline for 55’ W UHD open cell TV panels in July. The Display Supply Chain Consultants LCD TV Panel Price Update in August 2021 confirmed LCD panel pricing peaking in June/July and starting to go down. DSCC forecasts price declines for LCD TV throughout the second half of 2021.
It seems that market has reached the end of the “up cycle” of the LCD crystal cycle ending the tight supply situation. The LCD crystal cycle generally creates a multiplier effect with each “up and down” cycle. During the “up cycle” with tight supply and panel price increases, panel buyers buy more, keep higher inventories and sometimes place orders with double bookings to ensure future supply, thereby pushing the market to an even tighter situation. In the “down cycle” when prices decline, panel buyers delay purchases and keep lower inventories to avoid holding higher cost inventory, resulting in a further reduction in demand. With the start of the down cycle, LCD TV panel prices will decline in the second half of 2021. (SD)

Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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MicroLED Display: Road to Commercialization

8/17/2021

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(Reprinted from Display Daily)

MicroLED display technology is making steady progress towards commercialization. The technology still faces several complex manufacturing challenges, which will take time to resolve. Display Week 2021, gave a glimpse of microLED technology developments by various companies to resolve the manufacturing issues.
MicroLED has the potential to outperform both LCD and OLED technologies in terms of color reproducibility, brightness, reliability and low power consumption. To compete with LCD (Quantum Dot & miniLED) and OLED in the consumer market, microLED products need to have zero defects, high performance, high uniformity, high volume scalability and cost competitive manufacturing. The success of commercialization and mass production will depend on the ability to scale up for volume production with competitive price performance.

Increasing Investments
According to Yole’s presentation at DisplayWeek 2021,
“more than 8900 MicroLED display patents have been already filed by 480 organizations. More than $5.1 Billion has already been spent on MicroLED. Start-ups raised more than $250 million in the last 18 months. Display makers dominate activity followed by start-ups. Chinese companies have been dominating activity (45%) and Korea came back strongly in 2020 (22%) driven by Samsung and LG. Samsung was most active in 2020, followed by CSOT, BOE, Visionox, Playnitride, Konka and Facebook. More than 50 prototypes of products have already been produced by more than 30 companies. Samsung has introduced a 4K 110-inch MicroLED TV (2021) but it costs $155K. Vuzix promised to ship the first AR device based on JBD (Jade Bird Display) MicroLED later this year”.

Complex Manufacturing
MicroLED is a self-emitting display consisting of arrays of microscopic LEDs each forming a pixel. It has a simple structure but a complex manufacturing process. The microLED supply chain consists of the following steps.

GaN epiwafer LED creation
Processing of thin film LEDs
Mass transfer of the chips to the display backplane
Inspection and repair processes

Display integration of MicroLED can be heterogeneous or monolithic integration. In the heterogeneous type, makers use pick and place process to make microLED arrays, and chips are transferred from an epiwafer or carriers to the display backplane (LTPS or Oxide TFT on a glass or flexible PI substrate). The monolithic integration process involves microLED array and backplane hybridization.

Chip Manufacturing
Companies are developing solutions to reduce costs and remove roadblocks for MicroLED commercialization. Saphlux has developed NPQD technology that integrates an RGB pixel within one chip. This process can reduce total system costs. According to DSCC's microLED presentation, at Display Week 2021,
“Triad chip (RGB sub-pixels built into a single chip)(offered by Seoul Viosys),

Pros: (a) reduced cost of mass transfer (b) larger chips: easier to handle during transfer/ repair.
Cons: (a) with native colors: increase complexity and cost of the LED manufacturing (b) with color convertors: QD material costs.

Smartpixel (microLED bonded on Microdriver IC)

Pros: removes the need for TFT backplane
Cons: cost of CMOS wafer and hybridization”.

Color Conversion: The mass transfer process that requires bonding RGB (Red Green Blue) MicroLED to the display backplane accurately and efficiently is very challenging. Also different colors of LED need slightly different voltage and drive currents. Color conversion by Quantum Dots (QDs) (QDCC) or by phosphor provides another alternative. Using single-color (blue) MicroLED chips and color converting them with QD layers can help in the manufacturing process.
Nanosys’s presentation at DisplayWeek 2021 showed
“a breakthrough of new heavy metal free green QDCC emitter that delivers product ready brightness, color accuracy and reliability. The microLED size needs to be below 7 micron to be cost competitive in future displays."
According to the company its color-converted red provides 3.5x better performance at an economical cost, and is crucial for emerging display applications. AR requires ultrahigh efficiency and brightness. QDCC microLEDs at 1.8 microns can deliver the resolution and energy efficiency required for the future of AR.
Nanosys has acquired the microLED display company “glō” recently to accelerate MicroLED development & adoption.

Inspection, Repair & Yield
Manufacturing and yield problems can become issue in epitaxy, chip, mass transfer, bonding, driving technology, backplane, inspection and repair. The integration of in-process test, redundancy and repair are used to improve yield. Also as display resolutions gets higher, pixels are getting smaller: the trend is moving from 50 micron to 5 micron to 1 micron. This requires development of inspection tools that can achieve sub-micron resolutions. According to an InZiv presentation, it has built high-resolution inspection tools that can inspect any size microLED and analyze defects to improve processes and accelerate time to market. InZiv makes high-resolution tools for OLED and QLED also.
MicroLED companies also need to use mass testing and repair methods to reduce the cost and time of assembly. Companies such as Toray are working on equipment for microLED wafer inspection, repair and transfer. Laser repair equipment can remove defective microLEDs. As a presentation by DSCC on microLED session explained
“redundancy is an alternative way to reduce number of defective pixels. However, redundancy is expensive as it greatly increases LED consumption and the number of transfers. If the speed of the repair process is high enough, redundancy should not be required.“

Uniformity: microLED chips need wavelength uniformity and thickness uniformity for display applications. Solutions from MOCVD suppliers such as Aixtron, Veeco and others are helping to resolve issues caused be poorer uniformity. According to an Instrument Systems (Konica Minolta Group) presentation, the uniformity analysis of displays requires accurate color and luminance measurements. A combination of a highly accurate spectroradiometer and a fast RGB camera can provide a fast and accurate solution.

Mass transfer & Bonding
Mass transfer is critical for cost competitiveness with TFT-LCD and OLED.

X Display Company (XDC) presented that mass transfer throughput and yield can be improved by using elastomer stamps. The company showed that for a 5.1" display, by using their PixelEngine and microICs, they are able to achieve functional sub-pixel yield of: red100%, green 99.996% and blue 99.998%. By using PixelEngine devices (microIC, RGB, All-In-One) they are able to increase mass transfer throughput. The company said elastomer stamp mass transfer is scalable using a conformable stamp with tunable short-range adhesion forces that achieved 99.99% transfer yields in R&D.
Recent news from Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) Korea showed that a new material, SITRAB adhesive, can be used to combine the transfer and bonding process into one process (applied homogenized laser to the SITRAB film attached to the MicroLED for a few seconds to develop the core process of simultaneous transfer and bonding). ETRI said this technology can reduce the high investment costs for transfer and bonding equipment and can also help to perform repair of defective pixels.
Coherent recently announced its new UVtransfer integrated laser system that performs three processes in MicroLED fabrication: Laser Lift-Off (LLO), laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT), and repair/trimming.
Vuereal presented its Micro-Solid printing technology that can overcome the limitation to throughput and yield challenges.
A collaboration of PlayNitride, Unimicron Corp (PCB backplane), and Macroblock (driver ICs) have shown the use of mass transfer of MicroLED onto a printed circuit board backplane, which can reduce production costs.
Compound Photonics has developed its IntelliPix end to end microdisplay platform for AR/MR. The company presented that it is well positioned to extend IntelliPix’s benefits and pixel array design expertise to direct view displays.

Supply Chain Development
There are many different options and processes to resolve microLED manufacturing issues for commercialization. A supply chain ecosystem is proving difficult to develop for mass production because of the many underlying issues.

There is no standard manufacturing solution for commercialization. Every firm has its own idea.
Start-up companies are mostly fabless with licensing capabilities, and they need partnerships for manufacturing. Large established companies are reluctant to depend on a single start-up for their supply.
Suppliers with LTPS-TFT capacity for backplane or other manufacturing capabilities need to invest capital for transfer, inspection/testing, and create a path to mass market.
Panel suppliers and set suppliers need to be confident about profit margins for on-going business to allow them to invest capital.

More partnership and collaborations among panel makers, set makers and MicroLED chipmakers are required. Major display suppliers - Samsung, LGD, AUO, Innolux, BOE, Tianma, CEC Panda, Visionox and others are all increasing their activities in microLED display, which will help to establish supply chains for volume production.

Application Market
There are already many microLED demonstrations in different applications, such as large-size TV, automotive transparent display, flexible display, wearable devices and as AR/HUD display source.

PlayNitride: has developed a selective mass addressable repair technology for lower cost. The company showed a 1.39" circular display for wearables and a 7.56" transparent display for photoframes as well as an 89" 5K ultra wide curved displays at DisplayWeek 2021.
Royole: A microLED with ultra low aperture ratio and simple or non-encapsulation requirements, can lead to high stretchability, fine pitch and high transmittance. Using 90x 150 micron LEDs, a 2.7" 42 PPI RGB stretchable microLED panel was also demonstrated.
Vuereal: its Micro-Solid Printing Technology has allowed the development of custom displays for niche markets such as high-brightness, high-transparency (>80%) display, wearable, and automotive. Samples will be available in Q4 2021.
Jade Bird Display: announced the mass product of 0.13" monochrome microLED microdisplay panels and optical engines and assemblies. These products enable ultra-compact AR glass designs.
AUO: received the best technology demonstration award at DisplayWeek for its integrated vehicle cockpit with microLED display after showing a 12" auto display, a 10.4" transparent display and a 1.4" round MicroLED display panel.

Companies are initially targeting digital signage, public display, AR/VR, wearable, and automotive (HUD) applications.

In Conclusion
High-speed transfer, assembly technologies, yield and defect management need to improve and supply chains need to be established before large volume commercialization in consumer products can be done. In the meantime, suppliers will focus on markets with higher priced, lower volume, value-based products. (SD)

Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insight.com

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NanoLED - Next Generation Display

7/12/2021

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Display industry is continuing its journey in the path of innovation for next generation products. Quantum Dots have become a technology platform from LCDs to OLEDs and MicroLED displays to printable electroluminescent displays. NanoLED is the new name for QDEL (electroluminescent) display.
According to Nanosys’s presentation at DisplayWeek 2021 Business Conference, QDOLED display is expected in 2021/22, QD MicroLED in 2023/24 and NanoLED in 2025/26. NanoLED, an emissive display, has the advantages of perfect black, better color, and wider viewing angle. It also provides true HDR luminance and higher reliability (inorganic materials). However the biggest attraction for this next generation display is the potential for ultra-thin flexible displays at low cost with its solution process printed manufacturing.

NanoLED: The Name Change
QLED was an early name of QD emissive technology. It is also called QDEL. However the name QLED has beed adopted for QDEF-based LED TVs. Nanosys has now re-named the QD emissive display technology as NanoLED. According to Jason Hartlove, CEO of Nanosys,
”we opted for the name NanoLED as all the materials in the stacks are “Nano” materials and it is a Light Emitting Device (LED)”.
NanoLED is the future emitter material for QD emissive displays. The new name seems to be getting traction. The purpose of this nomenclature is to enable the industry for technology development.

Display Advantages
Nanosys presented a paper on “Heavy-Metal-Free Electroluminescent Devices” at Display Week 2021 (by Diego Barrera and team). The paper pointed out that QD emissive displays have the advantage of spectrum engineering. Precisely producing the desired spectrum also leads to higher power efficiency (no waste). Quantum Dots also emit light with narrow spectral peaks. By just tuning synthesis conditions at manufacturing a wide range of colors can be created.
QD emissive displays are very bright: about 614,000 d/m² (sunrise is 600K nits) whereas OLED can reach only up to 10,000 nits. Being solution processable, QDs are very versatile. They have been formulated with solvents, monomers, polymer films, inks, photoresists; and are attached to biomolecules, cells and more. The paper specified that quantum dots are lower cost per gram than current phosphors. As QDEL are solution processable they can be transfer printed, solution printed or gravure printed in future.

The Blue Gap
Due to RoHS and other requirements on the industry, QD emissive display requires Cd-free (Cadmium free) QDs. Heavy metal free QDs are catching up to CdSe (Cadmium Selenide) QD in performance. They have been able to create InP (Indium Phosphide) QDs having a similar level of QY (Quantum Yield) performance as CdSe dots.
Nanosys’s “Heavy-Metal-Free Electroluminescent Devices..” presentation at DisplayWeek showed that controlled synthesis of QDs with cubic morphology has also resulted in significant improvement of heavy metal free QDELs. They have been able to achieve highly efficient InP QDs with narrow spectra for red and green. Red and Green lifetime and performances are very good.
However, they have a 'blue gap'. The blue target wavelength is 450-460nm and the InP QDs are efficient for >500 nm and ZnSe (Zinc Selenide) QDs are efficient at <440 nm. There is a gap between 440-460nm for efficient RoHS-compliant QDs. By modeling Nanosys has found ZnTeSe alloy QDs to fill the blue gap. They were able to get 'true blue; at 452nm. They have made great progress on true blue Cd-free material.
The firm has demonstrated high EQE (External Quantum Efficiency) for all colors: R/G/B = 21.0/17.6/14.1%. QD emissive lifetime for true blue is still lagging, though. While red’s lifetime is closer to 1,000,000 hours, green 40,000 hours, but blue is less than 1,000 hours. Researchers need more time to perfect their ability to customize the crystal to get emission character and lifetime. These are material challenges they need to overcome. According to Jason Hartlove,
“for blue material challenge, we will have linear rate of progress towards lifetime. It doesn’t depend on a breakthrough”.
They believe they can propose a timeline for the solution. They have started working on these new materials from 2019. According to Nanosys data they have made more than two orders of magnitude on lifetime improvements and 24% efficiency gain during the 2019 to 2021 timeframe. Time is needed just for blue. Red is ready for commercialization but not for RGB applications.

Scalable Manufacturing
The NanoLED manufacturing process is said to be very scalable with potential for lower cost. With a solution printed process you can break the paradigm of needing large substrates and multi-billion dollar investments like LCD or OLED. The economic argument is compelling.
According to Jason Hartlove,
“cost will be one tenth (1/10) of the equipment cost for factory for solution process vs. vacuum deposition. With solution printed process you break the paradigm that you need gigantic substrate, also yield management, size of tools, and size of the factory, all change dramatically”.
There is no need for minimum increment for fab size or production like high Capex manufacturing of LCD or OLED, to make it profitable. For solution-printed manufacturing, you can have a smaller factory with small footprint that can still produce larger size displays.
According to Nanosys, a $200 million factory can make large size products in small volume and with the potential for profit. This can open up opportunities to make products closer to the consumption location, resulting in an improved supply chain. Suppliers who couldn’t invest billions of dollars for 10.5 Gen LCD fabs or 8.5 Gen OLED fabs could manufacture this technology. They have to establish an appropriate supply chain. Solution process will develop much faster. Inkjet printing is already here but other printing technology can come in the future to make it faster.

Lower costs
This makes NanoLED emissive displays fundamentally disruptive. Unlike OLEDs or LCDs, QDEL devices can be made using only solution processing. This means devices can be significantly lower cost to manufacture, opening up many new applications for displays where today only printed materials are used. This kind of ultra-low cost printed display technology is making rapid progress towards commercialization.
Suppliers can still use their existing glass based backplane technology with LTPS, IGZO, LTPO or others. Glass is not a requirement. Makers can use other flexible backplanes; where they can print on flexible substrate directly with design dependent on panel width or panel length. Production can be based on continuous feed or semi-continuous feed 'sheet by sheet'. While backplane technology can stay the same, the frontplane technology will be solution printed. This process is new for display. Nanosys has made demoes in the lab and their partners have created prototypes and the technology can be scaled to mass production. A model cost calculation from DSCC showed that a 55-inch QDEL panel cost can be substantially lower than OLED.

Supply Chain Disruption
QD emissive display has the potential to disrupt traditional supply chain, as all the materials can be changed the players can also change. NanoLED display manufacturing will have substrate vendors, tool vendors, and material suppliers, display panel suppliers, and component suppliers, as well as open cell opportunities. Traditional suppliers can continue to innovate and be part of the new supply chain.
In an emissive QD display there can be 3 to 5 thin layers of QDs and needs semiconductor levels of purity. All stacks need to be encapsulated and thin film encapsulation (TFE) will be very important. While the encapsulation requirements for Quantum Dots have been lessening and materials are getting more robust, for the most part the narrow spectral emitting, non-heavy metal materials still require packaging and processing. This adds cost to a solution using quantum dots.
Over the next few years, advances in making quantum dots more environmentally stable, as well as progress in the availability of low cost encapsulation materials and technologies will help the industry. The supply chain for the display industry has been evolving with each new technology. It evolved when the industry shifted from LCD to OLED and it can also evolve again to get ready for NanoLED.

Traditional and New Application Market
Being able to print NanoLED to other substrate creates new paradigm opening up new substrate and new applications. Higher brightness, lower costs and new form factors can be big advantages for NanoLED. According to Hartlove,
“for future of NanoLED for direct view applications, we are focusing on, much lower cost, new substrate, new manufacturing techniques, that enables displays to be made and put on surfaces that so far we have not seen. Last time we had that breakthrough was flat panel technology.”
Looking at NanoLED display performance in terms of resolutions and brightness combined with its flexible conformable form factor and lower cost manufacturing capabilities, suppliers feel NanoLED can have an opportunity in all direct view display applications (smart phones, tablets, computers, TVs, Signage, retails and others) in future.
New application such as tables in the restaurants in wood or metal surface can be used for completely solution-based displays. NanoLED is inherently flexible. As a self-emissive display, it can also be transparent and has the potential to revolutionize the display market. For example it can be used in autonomous vehicles on the window shield. It can also be used in retail environments to enhance the shopping experience.
MicroLED with its much higher brightness (>1 million nits) and very high resolutions can be very successful for indirect display such as AR, HUDs and others. According to Russell Kempt, Nanosys’s Marketing VP,
“OLED has proven to be very valuable for many applications, however for very bright and very high PPI displays there is need for Micro and NanoLED.”
OLED is generally <10K nits brightness (although Kopin has said it has achieved 35,000 Nits). MicroLED and NanoLED can provide that.
To quote Hartlove,
“MicroLED is a superior technology for indirect display. Both Micro and Nano technology will bring new form factors to application developers and product developers. That is very exciting”.
Many suppliers are currently working on QD emissive display products. BOE, a partner of Nanosys has shown a prototype 55" TV at DisplayWeek 2021. Sharp has also shown a 6" mobile size QD emissive display with close to 200 PPI and full video capabilities.

Conclusion:

NanoLED with Cd-free, heavy metal free quantum dots has great potential to become a next generation display technology because of:

simple device structure,
higher performance,
higher brightness,
flexibility, and
low cost printing patterning scalable process.

Developments need to continue in terms of materials, printing, encapsulation processes, equipment and the supply chain to bring products to market. The success of NanoLED will depend on suppliers’ ability to produce higher performance and lower cost products to meet next generation product requirements. (SD)
Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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Next Gen Display Technologies Showcased @DisplayWeek 2021

6/14/2021

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An exuberant display industry showcased their next generation display technologies at Virtual DisplayWeek 2021 during May 17 to 21. The display industry is continuing along the path of innovations by bringing in new technologies, materials, and processes. The outlook for display industry revenue has never been better.
Unprecedented demand due to work from home and learning from home combined with supply constraint and panel price increases have resulted in record revenue expectations in 2021. That may have led SID to record >10,000 attendees for DisplayWeek conference this year.
LCD is reinventing itself with MiniLED and Quantum Dot, while OLED is evolving with better performance and new form factors. MicroLED is emerging as a next generation display product while Quantum Dot is enabling emissive displays such as QD OLED, QD MicroLED and NanoLED.

LCD: Reinventing with MiniLEDs

According to Ross Young’s DSCC Business Conference keynote presentation the FPD market before COVID was not pretty with declining revenue, declining prices, declining margins, companies exiting LCD-making, capex falling and little interest from Investors. Markets were also stagnant on a unit basis. Total industry fab utilization rates were on the decline, falling below 85% in Q4’19.
COVID-19 impacted display market with supply falling and demand rising. With units and prices rising, every major large display application is expected to grow at double-digit rates with TV revenues up over 50% on sharp panel price increases. According to DSCC, total display revenue grew 6% in 2020 and 2021 FPD revenue is expected to rise 29% to a record $152 billion. As the presentation pointed out, the best opportunity for growth in revenues is by minimizing over-investment and keeping supply tight while boosting display performance offering better value to end users with opportunities in OLEDs, MiniLEDs and microLEDs. MiniLED can boost LCD performance to OLED levels. A wide variety of MiniLED implementations are already available for TV, monitor and notebooks. DSCC expects MiniLED revenues to overtake OLEDs in TVs, monitors, notebooks and tablets. MiniLEDs are also a great opportunity for LCD suppliers to increase display performance, revenue and earnings.
BOE showcased its 75-inch 8K MiniLED product with >5,000 zones and a million-to-one contrast ratio using an active drive architecture and high-speed transfer technology. BOE also received a “best new display technology” award for its 0.9mm-pitch chip-on-glass active matrix miniLED display. TCL’s Q8 (Quantum Dot) 75-inch miniLED 8K TV received a "Display of the Year" award. AUO showed its A.R.T.(advanced reflectionless technology) with anti-glare and anti reflection features on a 32-inch 8K 4K professional monitor.
BOE also demonstrated a new 10.5" reflective LCD display. E-Ink has added writing functionality to reading devices. It also demonstrated color e-paper as well as flexible and foldable display.
According to FlexEnable's presentation, flexible LCD is needed for most segments of the display industry, but the stringent optical requirements for the substrate, combined with the high processing temperatures of conventional TFTs make this extremely difficult to meet with inorganic TFTs. OTFT with very low (sub 100°C) processing temperatures can be ideal flexible substrates. According to SmartKem's presentation, organic semiconductor inks can be used to fabricate flexible, active matrix OTFT arrays that are processed at temperatures as low as 80 degree C. These materials are being designed into flexible display applications.

OLED: Evolving

In his keynote speech JS Choi, President and CEO of Samsung Display said “consumers will expect quality displays on not only smartphones but (1) seamless displays in all shapes and sizes from 1″ to 200-inch devices, (2) borderless ‘New IT’ between all devices and (3) high mobility displays for electric vehicles”. Embracing this new digital era, JS Choi addressed four key technologies of self-luminous displays: (1) Form Factor Technology, (2) Full Screen and Under Panel Camera (UPC), (3) Window and Module Technology, and (4) New Materials.

With respect to form factors (foldable, rollable, slidable, stretchable and tiled) multi-folding designs will change the way we perceive life in the future with new usability that did not exist before. UPC will be an essential technology for full screen use. Implementation of UPC requires solutions to key challenges such as transparent plastic PI, pixel structure design (ex: transmission windows), and driving algorithms for display and camera. Samsung is the dominant supplier for flexible and foldable OLED. Samsung also showcased under panel cameras, slidable and 17-inch foldable and S-foldable displays.

According to DSCC's presentation, flexible AMOLED panels are gaining share in the smartphone market even though panel and phone prices are higher than rigid. This is due to more suppliers, narrower bezels, better for 5G, LTPO, and integrated touch. AMOLED smartphone panel shipments grew 5% in 2020 to earn a 34% share and are expected to rise 28% in 2021 to earn a 40% share. LCDs fell 14% in 2020 and are expected to fall 4% in 2021 to reach a 60% share. The foldable market should grow sharply in 2H’21 on new product launches from Samsung and the fact that SDC will begin selling UTG-based OLED panels to other brands.
Several OLED products were selected for best the technology demonstration at DisplayWeek:

Samsung Display for its S-foldable (7.2 inch multi foldable mobile display that can be folded twice-both in and out to be smartphone size).
BOE for its slidable, (flexible scroll–like display with thinner modules and a smaller bend radius that can be folded in and out to turn a mobile phone into a tablet)
LG Display for its 83-inch OLED with 20% improved efficiency,
Visionox for its flexible HIAA: focusing on Hole in Active Area (HIAA), under-display camera, and ultra narrow bezel solutions

Michael Helander from OTI described his firm's OLED materials called Cathode Patterning Materials (CPM). OLED panel makers can use CPM to pattern holes in the cathode. (see Materials Remain Important for Under-Display Cameras and OTI Lumionics Helping With Foldable OLEDs - Editor)
The technology has the potential for under display camera + IR to rapidly scale in mobile. Implementing CPM in mass production is a drop-in solution and doesn’t require costly downtime of the line, Helander said.
LG Display showcased its 65-inch rollable OLED TV. It also showed an OLED automotive display, that included a 12.8-inch rollable display, and ultra–large auto display that combined four displays into one T-form shape. Visionox also showed a 12.3-inch dynamic rollable display, a 7.92inch wrap- around display and a 14-inch flexible laptop display solution.

MicroLED: Progressing

MicroLED is making steady progress towards commercialization. Still there are many challenges especially the lack of a standard process for high volume manufacturing. According to Yole’s presentation, “there are more than 50 prototypes by more than 30 companies available today. Samsung has introduced a 4K 110" MicroLED TV (2021) but it costs $155K. For commercialization from lab to fab more improvement is needed: mass transfer and bonding, mass chip testing, high efficiency smalls chips, reduced sidewall damage, dedicated yield management and repair strategies.” Playnitride has showcased many prototypes in collaborations with many suppliers. According to Playnitride's presentation, the following things are needed to realize MicroLED displays in production

Very small LEDs
Very small size with very good efficiency
Every chip is very similar to each other (optical and electrical properties)
Cheap (but high precision) assembly technologies
Mass technology, including mass transfer, mass repair, mass inspection, etc.

There are already many MicroLED demonstrations in different applications, such as large-size TV, automotive transparent display, flexible display, wearable device, and AR/HUD display source. PlayNitride has developed selective mass-addressable repair technology at lower cost. The company showed a 1.39" circular display for wearables & a 7.56" transparent / HDR MicroLED display for photoframes and an 89" 5K ultra wide curved display.
Royole presented a paper. As MicroLED has ultra low aperture ratios and simple or non-encapsulation requirements, it can lead to high stretchability, fine pitch and high transmittance. Using 90x150 micron LEDs, a 2.7-inch 42 PPI RGB stretchable MicroLED panel was also demonstarted.
Vuereal presented its Micro-Solid Printing Technology that can overcome the limitation to throughput and yield challenges. It has developed custom displays for niche markets such as high-brightness, high-transparency (>80%) displays for wearables, and automotive use. Sampling will be available in Q4 2021.
Jade Bird Display (JBD) presented on its MicroLED microdisplays which are overcoming the technical barriers in near-eye and optical see-through applications. JBD announced the mass production of 0.13" monochrome microLED microdisplay panels and optical engines and assemblies. These products enable the design of ultra-compact AR glasses.
Kyocera presented its LTPS TFT full color microLED displays that have been developed by incorporating a redundant pixel design to increase the yield. It has a covering micro-reflector array for outcoupling the light emitted from the microLED, which is effective for improving the luminance.
InZiv presented its unique tools for the inspection, identification, and characterization of the increasingly smaller microLED pixels. AUO received best technology demonstration award for its integrated vehicle cockpit with microLED display.

Quantum Dot: Expanding

According to DSCC's TV presentation by Bob O’ Brien, Samsung plans to build 90K/m Gen 8.5 capacity for QD display. Samsung's QD OLED structure has three elements:

An Oxide TFT Backplane with reflective anode for top emission,
A blue OLED stack with 3 fluorescent blue emitting layers,
Quantum Dot Color Converters.

Two main challenges of QD OLED are getting enough brightness from blue OLED and making the Quantum Dot Color Converter (QDCC). Growth in TVs using QD technology will be 18% from 2020-2026, and QD will be the dominant configuration on MiniLED TVs. Samsung’s QD OLED will extend the technology further.
Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove said that they expect QDOLED to be available in 2021/22, QD MicroLED in 2023/24 and NanoLED in 2025/26. QDEF is currently the dominant technology for display color enhancement. The development of xQDEF Diffuser Plates improves light diffusion by as much as 2x compared to standard diffuser plates enabling tighter optical tolerances in the display stack, resulting in thinner, better performing devices.
Nextgen QDCC for OLED and MicroLED will drive future growth. AR requires ultra high efficiency and brightness and QDCC MicroLED can deliver that. Heavy metal-free electroluminescent Quantum Dots (NanoLED) have reached commercial requirements for color, brightness and lifetime. BOE has demonstrated a 55-inch 4K TV and Sharp has shown 6-inch mobile display.
Innovative technology developments with completive cost can drive display demand and industry growth. The future for the display industry looks bright with nextgen technology developments. (SD)

Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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LCD Panel Price Increase – Implications for the TV Market

4/12/2021

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Large LCD panel prices have been continuously increasing for last 10 months due to an increase in demand and tight supply. This has helped the LCD industry to recover from drastic panel price reductions, revenue and profit loss in 2019. It has also contributed to the growth of Quantum Dot and MiniLED LCD TV.
Strong LCD TV panel demand is expected to continue in 2021, but component shortages, supply constraints and very high panel price increase can still create uncertainties.

Low Panel Prices: Drive Demand/Adoption Rates
LCD TV panel capacity increased substantially in 2019 due to the expansion in the number of Gen 10.5 fabs. After growth in 2018, LCD TV demand weakened in 2019 caused by slower economic growth, trade war and tariff rate increases. Capacity expansion and higher production combined with weaker demand resulted in considerable oversupply of LCD TV panels in 2019 leading to drastic panel price reductions. Some panel prices went below cash cost, forcing suppliers to cut production and delay expansion plans to reduce losses.
Panel over-supply also brought down panel prices to way lower level than what was possible through cost improvement. Massive 10.5 Gen capacity that can produce 8-up 65" and 6-up 75" panels from a single mother glass substrate helped to reduce larger size LCD TV panel costs. Also extremely low panel price in 2019 helped TV brands to offer larger size LCD TV (>60-inch size) with better specs and technology (Quantum Dot & MiniLED) at more competitive prices, driving higher shipments and adoption rates in 2019 and 2020.
While WOLED TV had higher shipment share in 2018, Quantum Dot and MiniLED based LCD TV gained higher unit shares both in 2019 and 2020 according to Omdia published data. This trend is expected to continue in 2021 and in the next few years with more proliferation of Quantum Dot and MiniLED TVs.

Very Low Panel Prices: Can Reduce Production & Investment
Panel suppliers’ financial results suffered in 2019 as they lost money. Suppliers from China, Korea and Taiwan all lowered their utilization rates in the second half of 2019 to reduce over-supply. Very low prices combined with lower utilization rates made the revenue and profitability situation for panel suppliers difficult in 2019. BOE and China Star cut the utilization rates of their Gen 10.5 fabs. Sharp delayed the start of production at its 10.5 Gen fab in China. LGD and Samsung display decided to shift away from LCD more towards OLED and QDOLED respectively. Both companies cut utilization rates in their 7, 7.5 and 8.5 Gen fabs. Taiwanese suppliers also cut their 8.5 Gen fab utilization rates.
Some suppliers also shifted capacity away from TV to other applications. In summary, drastic price reduction resulted in a cut in utilization rates, delays in fab construction and ramp-ups and the closing down of older fabs, or conversion to OLED or QDOLED fabs. This helped to reduce oversupply.

Higher Demand: Can Cause Tight Supply & Panel Price Increase
An increase in demand for larger size TVs in the second half of 2020 combined with component shortages has pushed the market to supply constraint and caused continuous panel price increases from June 2020 to March 2021. Market demand for tablets, notebooks, monitors and TVs increased in 2020 especially in the second half of the year due to the impact of "stay at home" regulations, when work from home, education from home and more focus on home entertainment pushed the demand to higher level.
With stay at home continuing in the firts half of 2021 and expected UEFA Europe football tournaments and the Olympic in Japan (July 23), TV brands are expecting stronger demand in 2021. The panel price increase resulting in higher costs for TV brands. It has also made it difficult for lower priced brands (Tier2/3) to acquire enough panels to offer lower priced TVs. Further, panel suppliers are giving priority to top brands with larger orders during supply constraint. In recent quarters, the top five TV brands including Samsung, LG, and TCL have been gaining higher market share.
From June 2020 to January 2021, the 32" TV panel price has increased more than 100%, whereas 55" TV panel prices have increased more than 75% and the 65" TV panel price has increased more than 38% on average according to DSCC data. Panel prices continued to increase through Q1 and the trend is expected to continue in Q2 2021 due to component shortages.

In last few months top glass suppliers Corning, NEG and AGC have all experienced production problems. A tank failure at Corning, a power outage at NEG and an accident at an AGC glass plant all resulted in glass supply constraints when demand and production has been increasing. In March this year Corning announced its plan to increase glass prices in Q2 2021. Corning has also increased supply by starting glass tank in Korea to supply China’s 10.5 Gen fabs that are ramping up. Most of the growth in capacity is coming from Gen 8.6 and Gen 10.5 fabs in China.
Besides glass there have been other component shortages including driver ICs and polarizers. Component shortages are expected to continue in the first half of 2021.

Very High Panel Prices: Can Cause Cost & Set-Price Increase
Major increases in panel prices from June 2020, have increased costs and reduced profits for TV brand manufacturers. TV brands are starting to increase TV set prices slowly in certain segments. Notebook brands are also planning to raise prices for new products to reflect increasing costs. Monitor prices are starting to increase in some segments. Despite this, buyers are still unable to fullfill orders due to supply issues.
TV panel prices increased in Q4 2020 and are also expected to increase in the first half of 2021. This can create challenges for brand manufacturers as it reduces their ability to offer more attractive prices in coming months to drive demand. Still, set-price increases up to March have been very mild and only in certain segments. Some brands are still offering price incentives to consumers in spite of the cost increases. For example, in the US market retailers cut prices of big screen LCD and OLED TV to entice basketball fans in March.

Higher Panel Prices: Can Increase Production & Investment
Higher LCD price and tight supply helped LCD suppliers to improve their financial performance in the second half of 2020. This caused a number of LCD suppliers especially in China to decide to expand production and increase their investment in 2021.
New opportunities for MiniLED based products that reduce the performance gap with OLED, enabling higher specs and higher prices are also driving higher investment in LCD production. Suppliers from China already have achieved a majority share of TFT-LCD capacity.
BOE has acquired Gen 8.5/8.6 fabs from CEC Panda. ChinaStar has acquired a Gen 8.5 fab in Suzhou from Samsung Display. Recent panel price increases have also resulted in Samsung and LGD delaying their plans to shut down LCD production. These developments can all help to improve supply in the second half of 2021. Fab utilization rates in Taiwan and China stayed high in the second half of 2020 and are expected to stay high in the first half of 2021.

Higher Set Prices – Can Impact Demand
Price increases for TV sets are still not widespread yet and increases do not reflect the full cost increase. However, if set prices continue to increase to even higher levels, there is the potential for an impact on demand.
QLED and MiniLED gained share in the premium TV market in 2019, impacting OLED shares and aided by low panel prices. With the LCD panel price increases in 2020 the cost gap between OLED TV and LCD has gone down in recent quarters.
OLED TV also gained higher market share in the premium TV market especially sets from LG and Sony in the last quarter of 2020, according to industry data. LG Display is implimenting major capacity expansion of its OLED TV panels with its Gen 8.5 fab in China.Strong sales in Q4 2020 and new product sizes such as 48-inch and 88-inch have helped LG Display’s OLED TV fabs to have higher utilization rates.
Samsung is also planning to start production of QDOLED in 2021. Higher production and cost reductions for OLED TV may help OLED to gain shares in the premium TV market if the price gap continues to reduce with LCD.
Lower tier brands are not able to offer aggressive prices due to the supply constraint and panel price increases. If these conditions continue for too long, TV demand could be impacted.

Implication: Uncertainties in 2H of 2021
Strong LCD TV demand especially for Quantum Dot and MiniLED TV is expected to continue in 2021. The economic recovery and sports events (UEFA Europe footbal and the Olympics in Japan) are expected to drive demand for TV, but component shortages, supply constraints and too big a price increase could create uncertainties. Panel suppliers have to navigate a delicate balance of capacity management and panel prices to capture the opportunity for higher TV demand. (SD)
Sweta Dash, President, Dash-Insights Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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MiniLED Quantum Dot TVs - New Opportunities

3/18/2021

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The biggest advantage of miniLED Quantum Dot TV is that it takes LCD performance to a new height not possible before. MiniLED display technology can enable LCD to achieve high brightness, very high contrast, better HDR (High Dynamic Range), thinner form factor and higher power efficiency to compete directly with OLED.

QD enhancement film (QDEF) enabled LCDs to have better color purity, wider color gamut (WCG), and offer a brighter and more immersive HDR experience while maintaining power efficiency. MiniLED Quantum Dot TV combined with higher capacity and more efficient production of larger size LCDs (65-inch and higher), higher resolutions (4K, 8K) and broader price points can drive replacement demand. With top brands like Samsung and LGE joining TCL this year by adopting miniLED QD TV, 2021 is expected to be "the year of MiniLED".

Higher Adoption - by Top TV Brands
Top consumer brands Samsung and LG Electronics joined TCL in introducing miniLED-based LCD TV products combined with Quantum Dots (QDs) at CES 2021. Samsung, Vizio, TCL, Hisense, Konka and Xiaomi were already offering QDEF-based LCD TVs. QD TV set prices have reached below $1,000 enabling higher adoption, larger market share and stronger growth rates in 2020 in spite of market slowdown. The growth in the use of miniLED backlights combined with QDs will lead to higher picture quality enabling further growth driving an expansion phase in 2021.
The biggest news at CES was LG Electronics (LGE) embracing both QD and miniLED technology this year by introducing what it calls 'QNED' miniLED TVs after years of being the biggest proponent of OLED TV. (not to be confused with what the industry calls QNED. LG had its trademark application for the term rejected - editor)
The company combines Quantum NanoCell color technology with miniLED backlighting. LGE’s 2021 Quantum Dot TV line-up will include miniLED backlights in both 4K and 8K resolutions spanning sizes from 65 to 86". Samsung the top TV supplier in the world and most successful supplier of QLED TV introduced “Neo QLED” miniLED backlight-based technology to its flagship 8K and 4K models in a variety of sizes (55 to 85"), with a range of features, performance and price ($1,600 to $9,000) range.
TCL launched its ultra-slim TV third generation miniLED TV “OD zero”. By reducing the optical distance between the miniLED backlight layer and the LCD display layer (diffuser plate) to 0 mm, it created an ultrathin backlight module. (TCL Offers Cool Display Innovations at CES 2021) TCL offers a broad range of miniLED QD TV products. Its lowest price model is below <$1000 for 65-inch. Hisense launched its first 8K TV with miniLED and QD technology. More brands are expected to introduce miniLED QD products in 2021.

Bigger Share - Premium TV Market
According to industry data, more than 90% of the TVs sold in the world market are priced at <$1,000. Also the vast majority of the products on the market are sold at <$500. Massive LCD capacities, over-investment, fierce competition and lower panel prices (during over-supply) and low set prices have commoditized the TV market with low revenue and low profitability.
The premium TV market is generally considered to be at $1500 price. Even though it captures less than 10% of the market in terms of units it has significant share in revenue terms. Profitability is also higher. OLED has secured a strong presence in the premium TV market because of high picture quality, design differentiation, perfect black and an infinite contrast ratio.
LG Electronics is the most successful brand using LG Display’s OLED TV panels. Samsung has been gaining share with super-sized screens (65 to 98"), better features and better performance (higher luminance and color volume) with QD technology. The advanced TV technology of MiniLED with QD can provide higher display performance (very high contrast & WCG) with product differentiation (thinner form factors, no bezel) gaining higher shares in the premium market. It will also help panel suppliers and TV brands with higher revenue and profitability.

Drive - TV Replacement Demand
In recent years TV replacement cycles have been increasing to 7 to 10 years. MiniLED QD TV could drive more replacement demand with more advanced technology, differentiated product and visibly higher picture performance. In the past few years, resolution shift, curved form factors,WCG and HDR have not driven strong replacement demand. Historical data has shown that the TV market went through a major growth period when LCD backlight shifted from CCFL to LED offering thinner and better displays.
MiniLED backlight has the potential to offer stronger growth in future by offering thinner form factors and higher display performance in future years. Cost is still a major challenge. The technology is still evolving and the supply chain is still developing. If cost can significantly improve in future years it could trigger faster replacement cycles although low end miniLED QD TV has reached <$1000 price.

Enable - Higher Display Performance
By the use of multi zone blinking backlights (>10,000 zones), miniLED can enable LCD to have higher brightness (>1000nits), very high contrast (>10,000:1), excellent HDR, better color rendering, ultra thin form factor, superior power efficiency and display performance close to OLED. Due to miniLED’s small size, it can enable curved form factors and narrow bezels. MiniLED with multi zone blinking backlight can achieve better HDR with >100000:1 contrast ratio and higher peak brightness.
There are new requirements for Energy Star 8.0, which measures energy consumption in a dynamic display content mode, which can help to highlight the energy efficiency of miniLED backlights. MiniLED-based TV used less efficient passive matrix driving technology in 2019. With an increased number of zones, companies are shifting to active matrix driving technology in 2020, which is more efficient and cost effective. Panel suppliers such as AUO, Innolux, BOE and CSOT are all developing active matrix-based products, which will help adoption rates.
Smaller size miniLED chips, better die bonding and more efficient production, combined with lower open cell LCD TV panel prices could enable lower cost TV. Currently the TCL 75-inch 4K miniLED QLED TV price is lower than similar size OLED products. Many brands will pursue multiple TV technology strategies with LCD, OLED, QD and miniLED-based LCD TV together. With the right price/performance strategy MiniLED can drive better growth.

Improved - Supply & Supply Chain
Suppliers are now starting to increase capacities and investments. Major LED chip companies are increasing capital expenditure to increase capacity and installing equipment for high-speed transfer, die testing and sorting to improve manufacturing yield. The development of tools to increase throughput efficiently and handle smaller dies (<100 micron) can reduce manufacturing costs.
As miniLED technology uses a large number of small size LEDs, the process of testing and repairing is very important to reduce repair costs and improve yield. Driver IC companies are focusing on miniLED products this year. Higher miniLED capacity is expected to come in 2021. There is more collaboration among suppliers within the miniLED supply chain: substrate, LED epitaxial wafer, packaging, driver ICs, display suppliers and even consumer electronic companies.
Panel suppliers are collaborating with their LED subsidiaries: MiniLED supply chain companies such as BOE, China Star, AUO, Innolux, Epistar, Sanan, Lextar, Macroblock, ASM Pacific Technology, Nationstar, Refond, Yenrich, and many others are all working to develop better solutions. Consumer electronics companies are also joining in the collaboration and development.

Lower Cost - Still a Challenge
Cost reduction can be realized through advanced chip production and higher throughput for the transfer and assembly process and PCB and driver IC enhancements. Chip production can be improved through a reduction in chip size, improvements in uniformity and boosting luminous efficiency. Upgrading transfer and assembly efficiency and accuracy can also improve manufacturing yield. Panel suppliers are switching backlight connection backplanes to use glass with active driving solutions to reduce costs. Panel suppliers and component suppliers are expected to focus more on cost reductions in 2021 to support brands’ product introduction of miniLED-based displays to drive growth and expansion plans.
At the same time TV panel price increases in Q4 2020 and also the expected increase in 1H of 2021 can create challenges for brand manufacturers, reducing their ability to offer more attractive prices. Strong TV demand combined with higher IT demand due to work from home trends has resulted in supply constraint. Also shortages of LCD components and raw materials, including polarizers, driver ICs and glass substrate are expected to continue in the 1H 2021, impacting supply and prices. Top TV manufacturers also have aggressive plans for 2021 in expectation of sales around the Olympics and further market recovery.
Recent panel price increases have resulted in increased Capex and expansion plans from LCD panel suppliers such as BOE, ChinaStar and others. Samsung and LGD have also delayed their plan to shift away from LCD production. These factors could all help to improve supply in 2H of 2021. Currently low end MiniLED QD TV set prices are lower than similar size OLED TVs and high end TV prices are higher than similar sized OLEDs.
The addition of QDEF film to MiniLED backlight improves performance as well as costs. According to Nanosys, “Quantum dot has been a low cost adder for TV companies. Cost is about $15/$16 for a square meter”. Adding QD to miniLED enables higher performance especially 100% color volume, expanded range of color, peak brightness and contrast capabilities, which are very important for the premium market. This is leading to very high rate of attachment of QD with MiniLED.
Summary – MiniLED QD Growth Opportunity
Recent developments can help drive miniLED QD LCD TV to higher success.

Adoption of miniLED QD technology by top TV brands at different size, features, performance and price levels.
Need for higher specs and differentiated product to drive TV replacement demand
Need for higher value products to avoid commoditization to increase revenue and profitability.
MiniLED QD technology enables LCD with significant higher performance.
Enables ultra thin form factor, superior power efficiency and display performance close to OLED.
Development of cost effective volume production process with high-speed transfer, higher yield, integrated with better testing and repair
Higher collaboration, higher investment & increased supply for MiniLED
Higher competition and production from many suppliers can lead to price and cost reductions, helping adoption rates.
MiniLED backlight shift can drive higher replacement demand like the shift from CCFL to LED

(SD)
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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Flexible OLED Display Driving Next Generation Smartphones

2/23/2021

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The smartphone market has slowed down considerably in recent years. It was expected to recover in 2020 with 5G product introductions but the pandemic impacted both supply and demand side in the first half of the year. Smartphone shipments returned to positive growth in 4Q20 with the Apple iPhone 12(5G) introduction and its record performance.
Samsung has also introduced Galaxy 21 series with 5G capabilities and lower pricing than its previous series in January this year. The market is expected to recover with positive growth in 2021. Smartphones with 5G capabilities need slimmer, lighter, lower power consumption displays to accommodate 5G enabling components. Evolving flexible OLED display with new materials, breakthrough technology, higher integrations and lower power consumption can drive the next generation's smartphones with better features and functionality.
According to an IDC press release in January 2021, global smartphone shipments returned to positive growth in the fourth quarter driven by record performance by Apple.

“While the full year 2020 declined 5.9% compared to 2019, the progress toward market recovery has been impressive and IDC believes the momentum heading into 2021 will remain strong. There are a lot of elements at play that are fueling the smartphone market recovery-pent-up demand, continued supply push on 5G, aggressive promotions, and the popularity of low to mid-priced phones.”

IDC also noted that Apple returned to number 1 position in 4Q20 with 23.4% market share and Samsung moved to number 2 with 19.1% market share. All the products in Apple’s iPhone 12 series use flexible OLED displays. Samsung and Apple are driving flexible OLED demand and technology developments. Most brands are adopting flexible OLED for their high-end 5G flagship products. The need for affordable 5G products at less than $400 or even less than $300 is leading suppliers to use LTPS LCD at lower cost levels.

Gaining Share in 5G
DSCC published data in November 2020 that showed;
“5G accounted for 60% of Q3’20 AMOLED smartphone panels in Q3’20, up from 40% in Q2’20, and will rise in Q4’20 to over 70% on Apple's iPhone 12 launch”.
Premium 5G products are supporting demand for flexible OLED displays especially with Apple’s iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy products. Other brands such as Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo are also offering flexible OLEDs for their premium 5G products. The introduction of 5G-based products needing slimmer displays to accommodate 5G enabling components will increase flexible OLED demand.

Gaining Share in Smartphone
Data published from Omdia in January 2021, said
“smartphone display shipment is expected to be 2 percent down YoY in 2020 but flexible OLED displays are up 8 percent.”
Flexible OLED will continue to gain share in smartphone market in 2021. Samsung Display dominates the flexible OLED market but LGD and BOE are increasing production. More capacity came from companies such as Tianma, Visionox, China Star (CSOT) and others in 2020. Chinese OLED makers’ production grew substantially in 2020 with improvement in flexible OLED yield rates and customers adoption.
Samsung Display continues to be dominant in terms of OLED capacity, shipments, price, performance and technology roadmap. China suppliers are starting to gain share with more capacity investments. By 2022, there will be nine Gen6 flexible OLED fabs in China. Higher competition can help to reduce costs and improve adoption rates in future. Suppliers are hoping to gain share in mid-range products in 2021.

Reducing Power Consumption
Display with lower power consumption capability can significantly reduce overall power consumption for smartphones enabling increased battery life. Samsung Display is focusing on LTPO (Low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) technology (combination of LTPS + Oxide TFT) that enables variable refresh rates and lower power consumption. Many other companies are also working on this technology for next generation displays. Apple is expected to use LTPO in its future products in 2021. (and we have a Display Daily planned on this topic - editor)
The Galaxy S21 Ultra is already using Samsung Display’s LTPO-based flexible OLED panel. Samsung Display recently announced that it has developed an organic material whose luminous efficiency has improved dramatically by having electrons flow faster and more easily across the display’s organic layers. The new low-power OLED display for smartphone can reduce power consumption by up to 16% compared to previous panels. Due to the new process, the OLED panel can create brighter light while consuming less powers. The new panel is being used for the first time in the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Increasing Sunlight Visibility
Samsung Display also announced that its newest OLED display has been recognized by UL (the global independent safety science company) for its “Sunlight Visibility” performance. UL assessed the color gamut and luminance of the new display, both of which can impact outdoor visibility. Samsung’s new OLED panel achieved an “Ambient Color Gamut” rating of 73% of the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives)-P3 level and a peak brightness of more than 1500 nits. The organic material is helping to achieve significantly improved outdoor visibility.
Samsung display noted in its press release that its new sunlight-friendly display’s visibility benefits would be combined with its recently announced technology allowing for significant reductions in OLED power consumption. Samsung Display’s newest OLED panel is available for other smartphone manufacturers. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphone includes a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with variable refresh rates ranging from 10Hz to 120Hz that adjusts to the content viewing giving it better image quality while staying power-efficient. Compared with the Galaxy S20, the S21 Ultra offers a 25% brighter picture (1500 vs 1200 nits peak brightness).

Increasing Integration
Samsung Display has also developed on-cell touch Y-OCTA (Youm On-Cell Touch AMOLED) for flexible OLED technology. (So What is Y-OCTA?) In this process, the touch sensor is deposited directly on the thin film encapsulation (TFE) layer enabling thinner flexible OLED displays. Optical features also improve as the touch layer is below the polarizer allowing the use of non-ITO materials for the transparent conductive film. This structure has fewer layers compared to add-on type. Samsung has used this process in its Galaxy products for some time. Now Apple has started using it in Apple iPhone 12. LG Display, BOE, Tianma, and Visionox are all developing their own processes for on cell touch integration to reduce the layers and increase performance.

Evolving Form Factors
Flexible OLED form factors are shifting from foldable to rollable and scrollable. As announced at CES 2021, TCL CSOT launched a 6.7-inch rollable AMOLED display that can be extended to 7.8-inch size, turning it from smartphone to tablet. LG Electronics also received industry attention by showing a rollable screen that can roll from a smartphone to tablet.
According to DSCC data published in December 2020,
“Foldable panel shipments are expected to rise 454% in 2020 to 3.1M units in 2020. Samsung is clearly the dominant brand in 2020 with over a 90% share in Q3’20 and Q4’20 on a panel procurement basis and 87% share for the year.”
The DSCC publication also said,
“120Hz refresh rates led for the first time in Q3’20 as did LTPO backplanes. Also 5G accounted for a majority of foldable devices for the first time in Q3’20”.
With both larger display sizes and 5G, power consumption increases, if all other things are equal. LTPO with its capability of variable refresh rates can be used to reduce power consumption. DSCC forecast that in smartphones, foldables are expected to grow at an 80% CAGR to 59M panels with rollables growing at a 121% CAGR to 24M panels.
The introduction of 5G-based products needing slimmer displays to accommodate 5G enabling components will increase flexible OLED demand. Integration of new technology such as fingerprint under display, touch display, power savings, variable refresh rates, and other features to reduce border & increased screen-to-body-ratio can make flexible OLED more critical for next generation products. (SD)
Sweta Dash is the founding president of Dash-Insights, a market research and consulting company specializing in the display industry. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.dash-insights.com

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