Automotive - Page 7

Taiwan's Jasper Display Corp (JDC) unveiled its new silicon micro-LED backplane, the eSP70, which reportedly features high brightness and contrast possible. JDC's eSP70 is capable of FHD (1920x1080) resolution using a pixel pitch of 8 um and JDC says that it offers excellent current uniformity via a proprietary current source pixel (uniformity is better than 1% across the array).

JDC demonstrated the eSP70 using micro-LEDs provided by glō. The company says that this is the industry's first specialized micro-LED ready silicon. JDC's technology can be customized and it can be suitable for a wide range of applications, from AR headsets to automotive headlights. JDC's eSP70's 8" are now shipping.

Taiwan's Innolux demonstrated a new prototype mini-LED display. The 10.1" panel features a resolution of 1540x720 (168 PPI) and it seems to be a monochrome white display. Innolux hopes to commercialize such displays by 2020.

Innolux says that this type is very suitable for automotive applications - as it has an almost infinite contrast (similar to OLED displays) and it can also work in the demanding temperatures required by the automotive industry. Innolux hopes that such mini-LED displays can find a market and be a bridge before the company can develop micro-LED displays with higher densities and increased brightness.

PlayNitride began sampling micro-LED panels, shipping these to 10-20 potential customers in Q4 2017. The company's chairman and CEO, Charles Li, says that 5-6 of these customers are continuing the developing of micro-LED modules based on these panels.

In September 2017 we reported that Charles Li said that Micro-LED displays are not as challenging as originally expected, and the company aims to start trial production of Micro-LED displays in the second half of 2017 - it's great to see the company progressing as planned. PlayNitride says that it achieved mass transfer and placement yield rates of over 99% in its lab.

According to LEDsInside, Korea-based LED developer Lumens has begun to produce small and large-area micro-LED display prototypes, and it plans to demonstrate these prototypes at CES 2018 (January 2018).

Lumens focuses on automotive HUD displays and digital signage. The small HUD display is a 0.57-inch VGA (640x480) display (either VGA or 720p, it's not clear) that uses 8 μm LED chips while the signage display is a 100" panel that uses LEDs which are 300x100 μm.

The Korean Herald posted an interesting interview with Jung Tae-hong, the president of Korea-based LED developer Lumens. Jung reveals that the company is developing an HD Micro-LED based automotive Heads-Up-Display (HUD), with plans to release its first such display by the end of 2017.

Lumens believes that Micro-LED displays are very suitable for HUDs as they can offer better usability under direct sunlight compared to LCD or OLED displays, and they can withstand high temperatures. In 2017 Lumens will launch a combiner-type HUD for the automotive aftermarket, and will introduce a built-in version within 2-3 years.

PlayNitride's CEO, Charles Li, says that Micro-LED displays are not as challenging as originally expected, and the company now aims to start trial production of Micro-LED displays in the second half of 2017. The company has mass transfer and placement yield rates of over 99% in its lab.

In PlayNitride's R&D setup, it takes about 10 seconds to transfer and place 200,000 LEDs - which means that a 5" panel will take only 10 minutes to produce. However the cost for a single smartphone panel could reach about $300 - much higher than the cost of even the highest-end flexible OLED. Possible applications where Micro-LED displays could succeed commercially at this stage include smartwatches, VR / AR, automotive and transparent displays.