Samsung to Upgrade Micro-LED TVs in 2022
Samsung Electronics has asked Samsung Display and AU Optronics to develop a 12.7” TFT module for its micro-LED TVs. Not to be confused with its Mini-LED TVs, the Micro-LED line, which was originally designed for commercial installations, is built form modules that can be attached to form a seamless display. With each sub-pixel a single LED, a 4K display will require 24.88m LEDs, all of which need to be powered and controlled by a TFT (Thin-film Transistor) circuit. Since the distance between the LEDs (pixel pitch) is high enough that Samsung was able to build the TFT on a PCB board, that has been the way the company has been producing modules in the past, however as the pitch gets smaller and the resolution increases, such as in 8K resolution, it becomes difficult to produce the control circuitry using the same TFT technology used for smartphone displays.
The complexity of a TFT circuit using LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) on Gen 6 is a 12 mask process and the cost of the equivalent for Samsung’s Micro-LED circuit is considerably more (24 masks). The 89” model that Samsung is expected to release next year will need 49 12.7” modules, the cost of such ‘TV sets’ will be quite high, high enough that Samsung is expected to cancel plans for smaller models (70”) as the competition from OLED, Quantum Dot, and Mini-LED TVs at that size would make the high cost unmarketable. At sizes above 80”, the competition falls away, giving some room for the high cost of Samsung’s TFT based Micro-LED TVs to garner some sales. From a technical perspective moving away from PCB based modules is a positive but it will take lots of unit volume to scale down the cost of the TFT (along with other issues), so we are expecting little from Micro-LED TVs in 2022.
The complexity of a TFT circuit using LTPS (Low Temperature Poly-Silicon) on Gen 6 is a 12 mask process and the cost of the equivalent for Samsung’s Micro-LED circuit is considerably more (24 masks). The 89” model that Samsung is expected to release next year will need 49 12.7” modules, the cost of such ‘TV sets’ will be quite high, high enough that Samsung is expected to cancel plans for smaller models (70”) as the competition from OLED, Quantum Dot, and Mini-LED TVs at that size would make the high cost unmarketable. At sizes above 80”, the competition falls away, giving some room for the high cost of Samsung’s TFT based Micro-LED TVs to garner some sales. From a technical perspective moving away from PCB based modules is a positive but it will take lots of unit volume to scale down the cost of the TFT (along with other issues), so we are expecting little from Micro-LED TVs in 2022.
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