Samsung to Galvanize Growth of Mini LED Backlight TV Market, while Intense Competition in LED Supply Chain Set to Resurface, Says TrendForce
Samsung challenges OLED TVs with its Mini LED backlight-equipped QLED offerings
At the moment, TV brands are focusing on 4K resolution and OLED displays as the primary selling points in their high-end product strategies. However, Samsung is hoping to increase the market share of its QLED TVs, which are much more cost-competitive than OLED TVs, via the integration of Mini LED backlights, which can significantly raise the level of contrast and image detail through multiple dimming zones in addition to its WCG (wide color gamut) capabilities.
TrendForce indicates that Samsung’s lineup of Mini LED backlight TVs in 2021 will include 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch, and 85-inch display sizes, 4K resolution, and multiple Mini LED local dimming zones, which produce contrast ratios of 1,000,000:1, a significant improvement over the current market mainstream of 10,000:1. Since such high contrast ratios are only possible if the display backlight contains at least 100 local dimming zones, the corresponding number of Mini LED chips used for backlighting will skyrocket as well, with between 8,000 to 30,000 Mini LED chips used for each TV. By combining high-resolution display panels and multiple local dimming zones, Samsung’s Mini LED TVs are set to deliver a superior visual experience for the end-user.
The upcoming release of Samsung’s Mini LED TVs will inject considerable momentum into the LED supply chain.
Samsung’s new Mini LED backlight TVs are expected to feature HV LED chips as their light source. Thanks to their Mini LED backlights, these TVs deliver improved display performances via HDR and WCG functionalities. Samsung’s adoption of HV LED chips requires an extremely large-scale, fast, and stringent testing and sorting process for LED chips according to chip wavelengths and specs, and related companies such as San’an Optoelectronics, Epistar/Lextar, FitTech, Saultech, Apex, and Macroblock have all moved to participate in Samsung’s Mini LED supply chain. TrendForce believes that, although most of the above companies are still currently in the sampling stage without any finalized contracts, competition in the LED supply chain will likely intensify once again.
