AU Optronics chairman and CEO Paul Peng has announced that the firm will adopt miniLED backlighting in 2018. (Epistar Chairman Predicts Mini LED will Drive Growth in 2018)
Peng reiterated that the adoption of miniLED backlighting will not interfere with the company’s research and development into microLED displays.
MiniLED backlighting provides better brightness, colour and contrast than conventional LED, but also has a higher cost, so Peng only expects the technology to feature in notebooks, PCs and other high-end displays in the $1,000-plus price range to begin with.
MicroLED displays can offer better resolution than OLED and a faster response than LCD, but development of this technology is expected to continue through 2018-2019, though Peng did state that product samples will begin to emerge during that time.
Peng also explained that a microLED manufacturing facility can be set up for a fraction of the cost of an LCD 10.5G fab—around NT$10 billion ($333,722)—as existing LCD equipment and manufacturing processes can be used to make micro LED panels.
