December 2021

2021 is soon over - we had another year dominated by the global pandemic, but also a year with exciting new microLED development and continued support.

Here are the top 10 stories posted on MicroLED-Info in 2021, ranked by popularity (i.e. how many people read the story):

1. Buying a microLED TV in 2021 (Aug 8)
2. STRATACACHE to build the first MicroLED production line in the US by 2023 (Jan 25)
3. Why microLED displays may take longer than expected to reach the market (Jul 1)
4. Sony announces two new Crystal LED displays with upgraded performance (Jan 7)
5. STRATACACHE CEO details the company's upcoming microLED production line (Feb 27)
6. Vuzix announces it is using JBD's microLED displays in its microLED AR glasses (Jan 12)
7. Samsung officially launches its 110-inch and 99-inch 2021 consumer MicroLED TVs (Mar 4)
8. Kopin to co-develop a 2K full-color MicroLED microdisplay with a Japanese CE maker (Jul 15)
9. Measuring and Correcting MicroLED Display Uniformity (Feb 17)
10. The MicroLED and OLED Microdisplay Market Report updated to July 2021 (Jul 1)

According to The Elec, Samsung Electronics plans to ramp up its microLED TV production next month, and aims to produce around 200 MicroLED TVs (110-inch in size)- up from about a dozen such TVs it currently produces monthly.

The report suggests that Samsung aims to "gauge market reception" for its MicroLED TVs, before it commits to launching smaller-sized microLEDs. During Q1 2022 it will showcase these TVs at several trade shows.

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

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

This is a sponsored post by Applied Materials

Applied Materials Baccini Cell Systems provides advanced screen-printing solutions and systems for a wide range of applications - including for MicroLED production.

Here is an interview we conducted with Applied Materials' Director of Global Product Marketing, Daniel Hada, who details the company's solutions for MicroLED production and R&D.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about Applied Materials' Baccini systems? What kind of systems are you offering?

We provide advanced screen-printing solutions for both R&D applications and high volume manufacturing. All Baccini systems are built for sheet-to-sheet printing, either on flexible or rigid substrates. In addition to our screen-printing capabilities, we also provide customers with different drying and curing solutions, in-line inspection systems to monitor the quality of the print immediately after the print, and fully automated print lines to enable low cost, and high volume manufacturing. Utilizing Baccini’s Esatto technology which provides high accuracy and high print repeatability, we developed the Double Print technology years ago, to allow print on print capability for printing narrow lines/small features with high aspect ratios and to minimize interruptions in the printed lines.

Tianma Microelectronics held its first "2021 Micro-LED Ecosystem Alliance Conference" in Xiamen, China, during which several producers and researchers gathered to discuss microLED technologies and challenges.

During the conferences, Tianma showed several new microLED prototype display, including some new ones. The first display is a 9.38" 960x480 (222 um pixel pitch) transparent LTPS panel. Tianma's second-gen transparent panel features higher transparency (>70%), larger size and a refined TFT process compared to the company's first-gen transparent microLEDs shown in 2019.

Visionox reveals that the company's MicroLED pilot line, which is the first full-process line built in China, is now capable of producing displays, from driver backplane, through transfer process to full module production. The LED chips themselves are produced by a third party.

Last year Visionox has established a subsidiary called Chenxian Optoelectronics to handle its MicroLED project. Visionox's strategy for the next five years is to focus on OLED and MicroLED displays (the company does not produce LCD displays, so this strategy is not a surprise).

Belgium-based microLED microdisplay developer MICLEDI announced that it has demonstrated the industry’s first microLED arrays-for-AR built on a 300mm CMOS manufacturing platform.

MICLEDI says that its 300mm production platform offers "unparalleled manufacturing precision, performance and cost-efficiency". The company will demonstrate its prototype units at CES 2022 next month.

Oppo announced a new "limited release" product, called the Air Glass, which is a monocle AR (or "assisted reality" as the company calls it). The device projects a 2D image for one of your eyes, and it can be attached to conventional glasses via the magnetic frame.

The Air Glass is based on a monochrome green microLED microdisplay. We do not know much, Oppo only details that it can reach up to 3 million nits (but practically it will average 1,400 nits). The device itself has a Snapdragon 4100 chipset, a 3-hours battery life (active mode) and weighs a total of 30 grams.

Germany-based laser micromachining and roll-to-roll laser system developer 3D Micromac announced that Marko Gerlach will become the company's CFO, effective immediately. The previous interim CFO, Frank Jäger, will remain with 3D-Micromac AG for a period of time to help ensure a smooth transition before leaving the company.

Marko Gerlach began his professional career in tax consulting and auditing. For approximately 10 years, he provided services to small- and medium-sized companies in the fields of annual audits, management consulting and all tax matters. Since 2009, Marko Gerlach has held various management positions within the Jenoptik Group.

Toray Industries announced several new materials suitable for microLED production. The materials were developed in collaboration with Toray Engineering, developer of production and inspection equipment for the microLED industry.

The new materials announced today are a laser-transfer release material, a bonding material and a substrate side-wire material (used in a tiled display architecture). The bonding material and the side-wire material are both based on Toray's RAYBRID proprietary photosensitive conductive material.