April 2018

Digitimes posted an article on recent advances at Epistar, and according to the article Epistar has achieved a recent breakthrough in micro LED technology. Epistar will unveil the achievement in the second-half of 2018.

Last year Digitimes posted an interview with Epistar's president, Jou Ming-Jiunn, in which Jou says that the most optimistic scenario is for micro-LED displays to enter production by the end of 2018, with real devices appearing in 2019.

China-based CVD and plasma etching equipment maker AMEC has signed an agreement with the Nanchang city government to setup an MOCVD R&D and production base.

The new R&D center will focus on MOCVD technologies for applications such as power devices and Micro-LEDs. In collaboration with Nanchang University, AMEC will develop and commercialize silicon-based LED technology. AMEC will start producing in the facility next month, and the facility will be expanded in 2019.

UK-based Optovate recently announced that it has developed a parallel aligned Micro-LED transfer process. Today the company revealed more details about its Micro-LED technology.

Optovate p-LLO transfer process

Since 2008, Optovate develops catadioptric micro-optic arrays to enhance the benefits of micro-LED, mini-LED and OLED displays. The company also developed a patterned laser lift-off (p-LLO) micro-LED transfer process.

Today we are happy to publish this short Micro-LED explanation video, which we believe gives a nice introduction to Micro-LED display technology, production processes and to the current market status:

If you're interested in using this video in your web site, feel free to embed it!

Samsung already announced that it plans to ship its first Micro-LED TV, the 146" modular Wall TV, in August 2018, and today the company says it will reveal the prices of these TVs in June 2018. Prices are expected to over >$100,000 for the 146" model.

Samsung's Visual Display Business VP, Han Jong-hee, also revealed that the company has an R&D project that aims to use quantum-dots in Micro-LED arrays. The basic idea is to convert blue micro-LEDs to white light, which will enable easier production processes as the whole TV will use a single LED color.

Digitimes reports that Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology approved PlayNitride's application to setup a NT$500 million (US$17 million) production facility at Hsinchu Science Park.

PlayNitride aims to produce micro LEDs, display modules and panels at its new facility at Hsinchu. According to Digitimes, Apple is in preliminary talks with PlayNitride towards a possible Micro-LED technology cooperation.

OLED displays are currently the most advanced displays in production, offering superior image quality, efficiency, flexibility and more. Here's our new short video that introduces OLED display technology and the current market status:

Earlier this month Bloomberg reported that Apple is progressing with its Micro-LED development project, and has already managed to produce promising display samples. Now Taiwan's Digitimes reports that Apple is collaborating with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) towards mass production of Micro-LED panels.

Apple and TSMC are focusing on small-sized micro-LEDs on silicon based backplanes, targeting both wearable devices and AR applications. The Micro-LED microdisplays for AR applications will be around 0.7-0.8 inch in size, while the wearable panels will be larger at 1.3-1.4 inch.