MICLEDI Microdisplays today announced a first closing of its Series A funding round with participation from imec.xpand, PMV, imec, KBC and SFPIM demonstrating strong support for the company's value proposition and commercial and technological progress achieved in the seed round. Series A follows a significant seed round award and additional non-dilutive funding in the form of grants and other vehicles from VLAIO. This brings the company's total funding to date to nearly $30 million.

"The company's achievements during this seed round have been astounding," said Sean Lord, CEO of MICLEDI. "Our door is open to engagements with some of the world's largest and most innovative electronic product manufacturing companies, most of whom are working on their own internal development projects for augmented reality (AR) displays in such diverse use cases as smart-wearable devices and automotive HUDs. This level of total funding to date is almost unheard of for a four-year-old startup."

Transparent LEDs are poised to redefine viewing experiences, making the line between content and reality virtually indistinguishable. Leveraging this groundbreaking technology, Samsung Electronics has upleveled its leading MICRO LED display to expand how users enjoy visual content. The company's Transparent MICRO LED display was unveiled for the first time at Samsung First Look 2024 on January 7 (local time)—ahead of this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, the world's largest consumer electronics and information technology exhibition held in Las Vegas from January 9 to 12.

Combining superior craftsmanship with six years of tireless research and development, this new modular MICRO LED wowed attendees with its futuristic design. The Transparent MICRO LED's crystal-clear, glass-like display has revolutionized the viewing experience and attracted the attention of global consumers.

LG Electronics announces the newest addition to its LG MAGNIT lineup of premium Micro LED displays. The new model (LSAL006) provides immersive home entertainment experiences via an expansive 118-inch, 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolution screen featuring LG's Micro LED technology and a miniscule 0.68-millimeter pixel pitch. Possessing the elegance and scale befitting a super-luxury residence, the impressive display offers a seamless user experience with webOS, a wealth of content services, and convenient streaming from a wide range of devices.

Delivering unparalleled picture quality through the brilliance of Micro LED technology, the new LG MAGNIT allows customers to enjoy complete viewing immersion in the comfort of their own homes. The cutting-edge display's micro-scale pixels and the integration of LG's Surface Treatment technology ensure excellent image reproduction with vivid colors and outstanding contrast.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. The Company posted KRW 60.01 trillion in consolidated revenue, a 6% decline from the previous quarter, mainly due to a decline in smartphone shipments despite a slight recovery in revenue of the DS (Device Solutions) Division. Operating profit rose sequentially to KRW 0.67 trillion as the DS Division posted a narrower loss, while Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) and the Digital Appliances Business saw improved profitability.

The Memory Business saw results improve from the previous quarter as its focus on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and DDR5 products in anticipation of robust demand for AI applications led to higher-than-guided DRAM shipments. System semiconductors posted a decline in profit due to lower utilization rates on weak demand from major applications.

The newly established Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in the UK has recently released the UK's National Semiconductor Strategy. Dr. Shih-Chieh Chang, General Director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan had an initial exchange with DSIT. During the exchange, Dr. Chang suggested that Taiwan can become a trustable partner for the UK and that the partnership can leverage collective strengths to create mutually beneficial developments. According to the Strategy, the British government plans to invest 1 billion pounds over the next decade to support the semiconductor industry. This funding will improve access to infrastructure, power more research and development and facilitate greater international cooperation.

Dr. Chang stressed that ITRI looks forward to more collaboration with the UK on semiconductors to enhance the resilience of the supply chain. While the UK possesses cutting-edge capabilities in semiconductor IP design and compound semiconductor technology, ITRI has extensive expertise in semiconductor technology R&D and trial production. As a result, ITRI is well-positioned to offer consultation services for advanced packaging pilot lines, facilitate pre-production evaluation, and link British semiconductor IP design companies with Taiwan's semiconductor industry chain. "The expansion of British manufacturers' service capacity in Taiwan would create a mutually beneficial outcome for both Taiwan and the UK," said Dr. Chang.

Samsung Electronics today announced its new digital signage lineup at InfoComm 2023, North America's largest audiovisual trade show, taking place in Orlando, Florida from June 14 to 16. "Technology is a vital part of any business, and the innovative signage lineup we're showcasing at InfoComm empowers businesses across industries to grow," said Hoon Chung, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "The newest addition to The Wall lineup is especially exciting, making production faster and easier in TV, film and other creative industries."

Introducing The Wall for Virtual Production
At InfoComm, Samsung unveiled a new dedicated display, The Wall for Virtual Production (IVC Model), which will be available globally starting from today. Virtual production studios can use ultra-large LED walls to create virtual content, integrating them with real-time visual effects technology to reduce the time and cost of content production. The Wall for Virtual Production leads the market in the application of this technology. The Wall for Virtual Production's LED display features pixel pitch options of P1.68 and P2.1, dedicated studio frame rates (23.976, 29.97 and 59.94 Hz) and genlocking, which can synchronize the screen with a camera's video signal. The display also boasts a refresh rate of up to 12,288 Hz, a max brightness of 1,500nits, a 35,000:1 fixed contrast ratio (for P2.1) and up to 170-degree wide viewing angles. All these new features combine to enable an unprecedented level of picture quality for virtual content.

Apple today unveiled Apple Vision Pro, a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world, while allowing users to stay present and connected to others. Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible—a user's eyes, hands, and voice. Featuring visionOS, the world's first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space. The breakthrough design of Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system that packs 23 million pixels across two displays, and custom Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design to ensure every experience feels like it's taking place in front of the user's eyes in real time.

"Today marks the beginning of a new era for computing," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "Just as the Mac introduced us to personal computing, and iPhone introduced us to mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro introduces us to spatial computing. Built upon decades of Apple innovation, Vision Pro is years ahead and unlike anything created before—with a revolutionary new input system and thousands of groundbreaking innovations. It unlocks incredible experiences for our users and exciting new opportunities for our developers."

"Creating our first spatial computer required invention across nearly every facet of the system," said Mike Rockwell, Apple's vice president of the Technology Development Group. "Through a tight integration of hardware and software, we designed a standalone spatial computer in a compact wearable form factor that is the most advanced personal electronics device ever."

CL CSOT, a company focused on developing new technologies and innovations in the display industry, today unveiled over 30 of its latest products and advanced technologies, including more than ten firsts in the world, at Display Week 2023 organized by the Society for Information Display (SID), held from May 21 to 26 in Los Angeles, California.

Guided by the vision of "Display A Better Future For All", TCL CSOT showcases its expertise and capacity in providing complete display technology solutions across a range of sizes, categories, and forms - spanning IJP OLED, Mini LED, Micro LED, medical displays, vehicle-mounted displays, light field displays, as well as consumer electronics displays. Among them, six core exhibits include:

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. The Company posted KRW 63.75 trillion in consolidated revenue, a 10% decline from the previous quarter, as overall consumer spending slowed amid the uncertain global macroeconomic environment. Operating profit was KRW 0.64 trillion as the DS (Device Solutions) Division faced decreased demand, while profit in the DX (Device eXperience) Division increased.

The DS Division's profit declined from the previous quarter due to weak demand in the Memory Business, a decline in utilization rates in the Foundry Business and continued weak demand and inventory adjustments from customers. Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) saw earnings in the mobile panel business decline quarter-on-quarter amid a market contraction, while the large panel business slightly narrowed its losses. The DX Division's results improved on the back of strong sales of the premium Galaxy S23 series as well as an enhanced sales mix focusing on premium TVs.

Unlike AUO, it appears that InnoLux has managed to create a Micro LED display with usable resolution, as the 9.6-inch display that the company was demoing at Touch Taiwan delivers 1920 x 1080 pixels, or 229 pixels per inch. The display also looked really good, although it was hard to judge if it had any pixel defects like the AUO 17-3-inch display, as it was continuously running various animations on a dark background, which prevented a good look at the panel.

InnoLux built this display on its LTPS technology and each LED measures a mere 40 micron across. The panel offers a 300 cd/m² brightness and supports 115 percent of the NTSC colour gamut. Although the display looked really good, we're not quite sure where the market is for this display, although it might find its way into some kind of tablets, assuming the price is right. However, it looks like InnoLux is ahead of AUO when it comes to working out how to manufacture Micro LED displays, but unlike its competitor, it seems like InnoLux hasn't figured out how to make them in a more useful size.

Micro LED displays are being touted as something akin to the holy grail of display technology, but it seems like we still have some way to go before the first consumer devices are ready to launch, at least based on what we saw today at Touch Taiwan. AUO actually had multiple Micro LED displays on display at the trade show, but it appears as if there are still some technical hurdles to overcome before we'll see these products in retail. AUO was demoing a laptop prototype with a 17.3-inch Micro LED display, although the display lacked a back cover and depending on the mode used, the entire display ended up being semi transparent. This somewhat depended on the angle you looked at the display, but the idea here was to use for some kind of AR applications, or to take advantage of bright lights behind the display, courtesy of its high transmittance of up to 50 percent.

The fly in the ointment here is that the display, as well as a smaller 14.6-inch sibling—that's foldable—only supports 1280 x 720 resolution. It doesn't matter how good the technology is, if we're going to be limited to a display resolution from the early 2000's, as it simply won't sell in a modern device today. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the only issue with AUO's Micro LED displays, as the display on the demo laptop also had a lot of dead pixels. We're not talking five or six here, but more like 50 or 60 and due to the low resolution of the display, they were very easy to see, as they showed up as dark dots when certain graphics were displayed. It's not all that noticeable in the pictures below, but it was very obvious when looking at the display. We were told that this is something AUO is working on solving, alongside bringing higher resolution displays to market. As such, it seems like we might still be a few years away from getting Micro LED displays in any real products. That said, the company had smaller Micro LED displays for wearables, that seemed to be much closer to hitting the production line.

Tomorrow, the Touch Taiwan trade show kicks off in Taipei and AUO will be showing off a range of new products at the show, which TPU will be attending, so we'll have some hands/eyes on coverage this week. As far as gaming monitors are concerned, the big announcement from AUO is a 49-inch ultrawide, curved 5K display panel that supports refresh rates of up to 360 Hz. The company didn't reveal the actual resolution in its press release, but we'll find out at the trade show what 5K resolution means in this case, as it's most likely 5120 x 1440, since this is what most 32:9 5K displays offer today.

AUO will also be showing off a 24-inch, 540 Hz, 1080p display panel that the company claims will "eliminate screen tearing, stuttering, and ghosting issues. There's no mention of the display panel used, but it's most likely a TN panel. Somewhat less gaming related, AUO will also have a 17.3-inch, transparent Micro LED notebook panel on display, which the company says will enhance the display quality under glare, something they'll hopefully be demoing at the trade show.

Seoul Viosys ("SVC"), a manufacturer of optical semiconductor devices, will present micro-LED based on the laminated structure - which enables high-resolution display - as well as its micro-LED display products at the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) 2022. The stacked micro-LED developed by Seoul Viosys has a unique and innovative structure in which three chips representing red, green, and blue (R/G/B) are vertically arrayed instead of the usual horizontal array. Its main difference from conventional micro-LEDs is that its R/G/B LED in the stacked structure emit colors as if they constitute a single pixel through perfect color mixing.

Micro-LED produced by Seoul Viosys can achieve deep black color and clear image thanks to the stacked structure. Also, as colors combining R/G/B are emitted externally from inside a pixel, viewers can enjoy clear pictures without distortions from any direction.

Samsung Electronics is showcasing the future of Micro LED technology at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2022 in Barcelona, with three new models of its state-of-the-art display technology, The Wall. At ISE this year, Samsung will unveil its 2022 model of The Wall an innovative modular Micro LED display that delivers immersive viewing experiences in a high-resolution, large screen format. The IWB will be available in 0.63 and 0.94 pixel pitches, with 0.63 being the slimmest ever pixel pitch in The Wall lineup. The new display is now available to pre-order globally.

The micro pitch feature of the IWB demonstrates Samsung's most detailed picture and dynamic range expansion with the screen's 120 Hz frame rate, HDR10/10+ and LED HDR. Following installation, The Wall provides a variety of screen sizes, accommodating 4K movies for 110-inch and up to incredible 8K quality for 220-inch to meet any consumer or business needs. This resolution capability is enhanced by the powerful Micro AI (Artificial Intelligence) Processor, which analyzes every second of content instantly and optimizes picture quality while removing noise.

Owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, not only did LED revenue experience a downward trajectory, but this decline also reached a magnitude rarely seen in recent years, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. However, as vaccinations begin taking place in 1H21, the LED market's long-stifled demand is expected to rebound from rock bottom. Hence, global LED market revenue will likely undergo a corresponding recovery this year as well, with a forecasted US$16.53 billion, an 8.1% increase YoY, in 2021. Most of this increase can be attributed to four major categories, including automotive LED, Mini/Micro LED, video wall LED, and UV/IR LED.

Samsung Electronics today introduced its latest innovations in modular Micro LED display technology during its annual First Look CES event at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The revolutionary new Micro LED technology designs featured at the event included: a new 75" display, a 219" The Wall as well as other various groundbreaking sizes, shapes and configurations for a next-generation modular Micro LED display - a 2019 CES Best of Innovation Award winner.

"For decades, Samsung has lead the way in next-generation display innovation," said Jonghee Han, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. "Our Micro LED technology is at the forefront of the next screen revolution with intelligent, customizable displays that excel in every performance category. Samsung Micro LED has no boundaries, only endless possibilities."