September 2018

Korea-based analog and mixed-signal semiconductor product maker MagnaChip says that it plans to develop drivers for micro-LED signage displays. The drivers will be based on the company's latest 36-Channel LED driver.

MagnaChip says its multi-channel LED driver features high efficiency, high contrast, low temperature heat and highly reliable surge voltage characteristics. The company is looking to expand its product line to the fast-growing digital signage market.

UK-based GaN-on-Si MicroLED developer Plessey Semiconductor announced that it has placed an order for Aixtron's AIX G5+ C MOCVD reactor that will expand Plessey's production capacity for gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) wafers.

The new Aixtron reactor will be installed in the first quarter of 2019, at Plessey’s fabrication facility located in Plymouth, UK. The AIX G5+ C MOCVD system has two separate chambers, which enables to use either eight 6" wafers or five 8" ones. The system will be an addition to the company’s existing (and smaller) Aixtron MOCVD reactor

In July 2018 Samsung said it aims to launch its first "consumer" Micro-LED TV, based on its modular The Wall display in 2019. Yesterday Samsung launched a new home screen range in India - that could in fact be based on a Micro-LED display.

The new TVs are branded as Active LEDs (also "LED for Home") and are based on modular LED tiles. The TVs are offered in 4 sizes - 110-inch (Full-HD), 130" (Full-HD), 220-inch (UHD/4K) and 260-inch (UHD/4K). The prices range from 10 million Rs (around $137,000) for the 110" to 35 million Rs ($480,000) for the 260-inch TV. As Active-LED TVs are modular, consumers can choose different shapes (but only one of the available resolutions/sizes).

According to a new report from Taiwan, Samsung Electronics is planning to release a 75" consumer Micro-LED TV in 2019, using LED chips and technologies from Taiwan's PlayNitride. Samsung will also invest further in PlayNitride to help it increase its production capacity (Samsung's stake in PlayNitride will reach 30% following this investment).

In July 2018 Samsung Electronics video and display chief, Han Jong-hee, said that Samsung aims to release a Micro-LED consumer TV next year - The Wall Luxury that will be based on its Wall modular TV. It could be that this will be the 75" TV that will use PlayNitride's chips.

LEDs Inside reports that PlayNitride aims to release its first Micro-LED display products in 2019. In 2017 the company started to sample micro-LED panels and shipped samples to 10-20 potential customers. The company's chairman and CEO, Charles Li, said in June 2018 that 5-6 of these customers are continuing the developing of micro-LED modules based on these panels.

In May 2018 PlayNitride demonstrates two Micro-LED prototypes - a small 0.89" 64x64 (105 PPI) panel with a brightness of 800 nits and a larger 3.12" 256x256 (116 PPI) panel.

UK-based GaN-on-Si MicroLED developer Plessey Semiconductor announced a strategic partnership with Taiwan's Jasper Display Corp (JDC). Under the new partnership, Plessey will use JDC's silicon backplane to drive its monolithic micro-LED displays produced on the company's proprietary GaN-on-Silicon (GaN-on-Si) wafers.

In May 2018 JDC demonstrated its latest JD27E2 8" wafer, and a 0.7" Full-HD monochrome (960x540 color) microLED microdisplay that is said to be the world's brightest at 100,000 nits (JDC later demonstrated a million nits micro display). JDC's backplane allows Plessey to fabricate highly efficient and ultra-bright micro-LEDs displays.

According to Digitimes, China-based Sa'nan Optoelectronics is gearing up to setup its first micro-LED epitaxial wafer and chip production line in Q1 2019. San'an developed 20-micron micro-LEDs, and the company is now aiming to develop 4-micron LEDs and 10-micro LED flip-chips.

According to the report, San'an aims to start small-volume micro-LED production to be used for wearables, automotive taillights and large-area displays. The company's green and blue micro-LEDs are ready for commercialization, but its red chips still require development.

At IFA 2018, AU Optronics demonstrated a 12.1" full-color TFT-driven micro-LED display prototype. The display features a resolution of 1920x720 (169 PPI). The micro-LED chips are less than 30 um in size.

The new AUO display uses blue LEDs with color conversion, which achieves "marvelous color performance", according to AUO. This is similar to the 8" 169 PPI display AUO demonstrated only three months ago at SID 2018.

At the Touch Taiwan 2018 trade show, LED developer Lextar Electronics introduced its first micro-LED chips. The company unveiled two technologies - RGB chips and color conversaion chips - with both chips meeting the requirements of mass transfer processes.

Lextar micro-LEDs can be scaled down to 20 um - and feature a luminous efficiency of over 30%.