On December 18, KONKA officially released its APHAEA Micro LED future screen product matrix, with the small pitch products covering pixel pitches from P0.12mm to P1.2mm. In addition, the APHAEA Watch, the world’s first Micro LED watch, has been in the spotlight.
The pixel pitch of this Micro LED watch is 0.12mm, and its chip size is below 30μm. A million-level contrast ratio and screen brightness of up to 1500nits can be reached. More delicate color details can be presented, and the image quality is better.
In terms of display driver, the APHAEA Watch uses AM-LTPS technology in order to bring better display effect.
It is worth mentioning that this watch also adopts Chongqing KONKA Optoelectronics Technology Research Institute’s independent HMT technology. The transfer efficiency is said to surpass 10 million-level.
Will Sony’s New Micro LED Technology Soon Be Released?
After KONKA’s release of various Micro LED products, Sony has been rumored to announce a Micro LED display technology soon.
According to report, Sony released a trailer and mentioned that it will announce a new breakthrough for direct-view display technology on January 6. According to foreign media, Sony may soon release its new Micro LED technology.
Sony is the first company around the world for the release of Micro LED large-sized display. The first product is Crystal LED, which was announced in 2016. In April 2019, Sony installed the world’s largest Micro LED display at Shiseido new research center in Yokohama, Japan. The resolution is 16K (15,360×4,320), and the size is 19.2×5.4 meters.
▲ Sample of Sony Crystal LED civilian product
The Crystal LED display is also a modular LED solution. It has a bezel-less design. The size of each module reaches 403×453mm. The pixel resolution is 320×360. It supports HDR display and achieves peak brightness of 1,000nits, grayscale of 10bit and refresh rate of 120p.
In September 2020, Sony has introduced this Micro LED display to the residential market. So far, Sony hasn’t released the price of the consumer-level Crystal LED display.
However, in the European market, the 146-inch Micro LED commercial display costs USD 400,000, and the 219-inch one costs USD 800,000. It is obvious that even for the residential market, the price may not be affordable.
Small wearable devices, including smart watches, smart glasses and VR/AR, have been viewed as the first application for Micro LED. In recent years, there have been various major manufacturers focusing on this field. Yet, currently Micro LED smart glasses and AR/VR gain increasing attention.
KONKA’s first release of Micro LED watch can be a catalyst for manufacturers, which may accelerate the development speed of each manufacturer. For the Micro LED industry, the release is also beneficial. The confidence of breaking through the bottleneck for Micro LED can be strengthened. Without a doubt, the Micro LED commercialization can be ahead of schedule.
Large-sized display application is Micro LED’s another target market. Due to the development and product release of Sony, Samsung, LG and KONKA, there are more appearances of Micro LED in the large-sized display market. According to TrendForce, self-emissive Micro LED TV is expected to be released in 2021-2022.
Being the ultimate display technology, for both small wearable devices and large-sized display application, there have always been high hopes for Micro LED. Although the current cost is still high, with the cooperation of the industry chain, the cost reduction will eventually be achieved.
(Writer: LEDinside Janice; Image Source: KONKA)
