The development of miniLED will accelerate in 2019 and 2020, and its market value will reach $1.7 billion by 2022, according to data from LED Inside. Several industry players including San’an, HC Semitek, Epistar, NationStar, Harvatek and Macroblock have reported their progress in miniLED development, while panel producers such as AUO, BOE, Innolux and JDI have also unveiled applications adopting miniLED technology.
Gaming monitors and notebooks, tablets, VR applications, TVs and automotive displays are the miniLED applications that are likely to be commercialised in the coming two years, analysts said.
AUO began shipping miniLED products in the second half of 2018 and showcased its gaming monitors and notebooks with miniLED backlighting at Touch Taiwan 2018. Its gaming notebooks use more than 8,000 miniLEDs to create 240 local dimming zones for high contrast and wide colour gamut.
Innolux’s 65″ 8K miniLED TV at Touch Taiwan 2018.
Apple, which has been proactively preparing its development of microLED, is scheduled to release the new iMac and iPad Pro soon. Rumours have been circulating that miniLED technology might be adopted in these new products.
In addition, VR is another area where the advantages of miniLED can be fully deployed. With high brightness and contrast, miniLED can be used for VR applications. Japanese manufacturers are reported to be preparing miniLED VR products for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
Innolux has presented 65″ 8K TV panels with backlighting with 1,296 dimming zones according to LED Inside. The backlight mixed with RGB miniLED can provide high levels of saturation. The company has also released automotive panels with miniLED backlighting. (Innolux Also Showing Mini LED Technology at Touch Taiwan 2018)
China might be the first market to use miniLED automotive panels. However, as the validation process for automotive products usually takes a long time, it might be a while before we see miniLED products adopted in cars.
