MicroLEDs: a key tech for 2023
TVs, automotive displays, smart wearables, and VR/AR will drive growth, says TrendForce
Mini LEDs in TVs, automotive displays, smart wearables, and virtual reality featured amongst ten key tech trends for 2023 released by the forecasting company TrendForce.
In 2022, total shipments of Mini LED backlight displays will be around 16.8 million units, an increase of 74 percent YoY, of which TV applications will account for the greatest investment by brands. Mini LED TV shipments are estimated to reach 4.4 million units in 2023, an annual increase of 13 percent.
TrendForce says this growth comes in the context of limited OLED production capacity; Mini LED provides the best path for LCD TVs to improve specifications and rejuvenate products. In addition, Chinese manufacturers are actively investing in Mini LED products.
Vehicle displays are another incubation hotbed for Mini LED backlight use, stimulated by demand for more powerful display effects in new energy vehicles (NEV) and a trend towards digital instrumentation. In 2023, approximately 300,000 Mini LED automotive displays are estimated to be shipped, an annual increase of approximately 50 percent.
The development of in-vehicle displays also covers large-scale, curved, and transparent displays, high dynamic contrast, or even a combination of more sensing components to achieve intelligent functions. For head-up display (HUD) applications, Micro LEDs with active driving solutions can also be directly displayed on the transparent glass backplane.
After-large displays, TrendForce thinks smart watch wearables will be the next mass-produced application of Micro LEDs in 2023 with high-priced fitness trackers as a starting point. In the future, designs will be centred on Micro LEDs combined with flexible backplanes.
TrendForce also believes the Metaverse will prompt manufacturers to accelerate investments in AR/VR product development and bring more products to market in 2023. Applications likely to drive this expansion are virtual communities, games, and live streaming of virtual characters (VTubers) along with commercial distance conferencing and distance education. This will drive the adoption of new displays and optical components such as Micro OLED, MiniLED, and Pancake lenses.
However, to apply microdisplays to transparent AR smart glasses, very small sized (below 5µm) Micro LEDs must first overcome difficult challenges such as full-colour solutions and external quantum efficiency of red light chips.
