Wearables - Page 6

AUO Optronics will demonstrate several new MicroLED display prototypes at Touch Taiwan 2021. AUO now brands its microLED displays as ALED displays.

The first display, which you see above, is a 1.39-inch 472x472 (338 PPI) full-circle microLED display. AUO says that this is the highest-density MicroLED display ever developed. AUO did not disclose more about this display (which was developed together with PlayNitride) but the company says that it offers ultra-wide viewing angles and high brightness.

During the 2020 Chongqing Micro-LED Industry Innovation Forum, Konka introduced the world's first MicroLED Watch, the APHAEA Watch. This groundbreaking product uses a 2-inch microLED display with a pixel pitch of 0.12 mm - which means the resolution is around 400x400. The MicroLED chips are 30 um in size.

It is not clear how close Konka is to commercialize this product - but in any case this is a great achievement and this is the world's first microLED wearable display shown in a real product. The display is produced on an LTPS backplane, it achieves a brightness of 1,500 nits and a color gamut of 147% DCI-P3. Konka says that battery life of this watch is up to 35 days.

Digitimes reports that Epistar's chairman, Lee Biing-jye says that he estimates that the first volume application for microLED displays is going to be in the smartwatch industry - but that will still take 3-4 years to actually materialize. Volume adoption in the TV market will take at least 4-5 years.

Epistar is developing microLED epitaxy and chip technology (in collaboration with AUO) and still has challenges to overcome, mainly in the mass transfer area. The company expects to achieve reliable production capabilities within 2-3 years. Epistar needs also to improve the yield rates for microLED epitaxy and reduce costs for mass transfer processes.

In December 2019 Taiwan-based PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay announced that it plans to launch its first MicroLED displays in 2020. Last week during SID Displayweek 2020 the company demonstrated its first prototype, as can be seen in the video below.

The company did not reveal any technical specifications or discuss any commercialization plans.

In July 2019 Taiwan-based microLED developer PlayNitride raised $50 million to start trial production of microLED displays. According to a new report from Taiwan, the company plans to raise an additional $50 million by the end of September 2020 to funds it second microLED production line.

PlayNitride started volume production at its first production line in 2019, for small wearable displays, and the first displays are now being "validated" by customers. Shipments are likely to begin next year.

Market research firm Omdia sees a strong growth in the microLED market in the future, led by demand from the smartwatch and TV markets. Omdia says 16 million MicroLED displays will ship in 2027 - over 10 smartwatch displays and 3.3 million TVs.

This is impressive growth, but even with such projected growth microLEDs will have limited penetration in the display market in 2027.

Taiwan-based PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay announced that it plans to launch its first MicroLED displays in 2020. RiTDisplay aims to mass produce wearable displays and hopes for receive meaningful revenues already in 2020.

In May 2019 RiTDisplay announced a strategic partnership and share swap with MicroLED developer PlayNitride. In June 2019 it was reported that a US-based smartwatch brand will start a design process in Q3 2019 using a micro-LED display that was co-developed by RiTDisplay and PlayNitride. RiT was reportedly to start shipping samples in Q4 2019.

Market analysts at Yole Developpement say that microLED shipments will reach over 125 million panels by 2027. In their aggressive scenario, shipments will reach almost 450 million.

Yole says that microLED technologies are advancing rapidly - and on all fronts, but there are still many challenges to overcome before mass production arrives. MicroLED makes a strong case for the AR, smartwatch and automotive market. For the smartphones and TV markets it is less clear whether MicroLEDs could succeed.

Digitimes reports that PlayNitride raised $50 million and is ready to start trial production of micro-LED chips by the end of August 2019. PlayNitride will increase its headcount by 100 employees.

PlayNitride told Digitimes that it achieved a yield rate of 99.9% in its LED transfer (pick-and-place) process. Using mass repair technologies, the company is certain it can achieve commercial viability of its process. The company's mass transfer speed is 10,000 chips per second. This means that for a Full-HD (1920x1080) display it will take just over 10 minutes to transfer the LED chips. A 4K display will take just over 40 minutes.

According to Taiwan's Economic News Daily, PlayNitride and RiTDisplay are in talks with Apple to supply microLED displays for Apple's next-generation Watch wearable.

These are just rumors at this stage, but END says that PlayNitride confirms it is in talks with US customers regarding a 3" full-color Micro-LED display. This interesting as this is not a display we are used to see in most mobile devices - wearables are usually limited to around 1.5" while smartphones today start at around 6".