MicroLED
MicroLED, also known as micro-LED, mLED or μLED is an emerging flat-panel display technology consisting of arrays of microscopic LEDs forming the individual pixel elements. Inorganic semiconductor microLED (μLED) technology was first invented in 2000 by the research group of Hongxing Jiang and Jingyu Lin of Texas Tech University (TTU) while they were at Kansas State University (KSU). The first high-resolution and video-capable InGaN microLED microdisplay in VGA format was realized in 2009 by Jiang, Lin and their colleagues at Texas Tech University and III-N Technology, Inc. via active driving of a microLED array by a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) IC.
Compared to conventional LCD displays, microLED displays offer greatly reduced energy requirements while also offering pixel-level light control and a high contrast ratio. Compared to OLEDs, the inorganic nature of microLEDs gives them a longer lifetime and allows them to display brighter images with minimal risk of screen burn-in. Compared to other display technologies used for 3D/AR/VR, the sub-nanosecond response time of μLED has a huge advantage since 3D/AR/VR displays need high frames per second and fast response times to minimise ghosting. MicroLEDs are capable of high speed modulation, and have been proposed for chip-to-chip interconnect applications.
As of 2021, Sony, Samsung, and Konka started to sell microLED video walls. LG, Tianma, PlayNitride, TCL/CSoT, Jasper Display, Jade Bird Display, Plessey Semiconductors Ltd, and Ostendo Technologies, Inc. have demonstrated prototypes. Sony already sells microLED displays as a replacement for conventional cinema screens. BOE, Epistar, and Leyard have plans for microLED mass production. MicroLED can be made flexible and transparent, just like OLEDs.
According to a report by Market Research Future, the MicroLED display market will reach around USD 24.3 billion by 2027. Custom Market Insights reported that the MicroLED display market is expected to reach around USD 182.7 Billion by 2032.