The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, held last week in Las Vegas, offered a glimpse into the future of microLED technology, highlighting incremental yet significant advancements from leading players. It is apparent that the consumer electronics industry is excited by microLED, but still trying to figure out how to address the high costs associated with this cutting-edge display technology. Here’s an in-depth look at the major announcements and their potential implications.
Hisense Unveils Consumer-Ready 136” microLED TV
Hisense made waves by debuting a 136” microLED TV designed for the consumer market. While pricing details remain under wraps, the introduction of a product specifically tailored for home use signals a push towards mainstream adoption of microLED technology. This move places Hisense firmly in the spotlight as a contender in the high-end TV space.
Samsung’s Multifaceted microLED Strategy
Samsung demonstrated its commitment to diversifying microLED applications with several key innovations. One of the most notable was a 98” RGB microLED backlight-lit LCD TV. By integrating three times more microLEDs compared to miniLEDs, this model could potentially achieve up to 6,000 dimming zones. Samsung paired this backlight with a standard LCD panel, a cost-effective solution that significantly reduces the price barrier for microLED displays. While not a pure microLED screen, this hybrid approach may fast-track the adoption of microLED technology by making it more accessible to consumers.
Additionally, Samsung showcased a 144” glass-based microLED TV featuring Through Glass Vias (TGV) and fewer, larger tiles. By opting for glass panels and bezels instead of traditional PCB tiles, greater transparency is achieved, thereby significantly alleviating the problem of visible seams between modules. These advancements mark a shift toward making microLED a more realistic option for large-format displays.
Samsung also explored concept innovations with its stretchable microLED displays and immersive automotive applications. Its windscreen displays with embedded microLEDs highlighted the potential for integrating this technology into vehicles. Finally, the company’s 4000-nit watch display, developed by Samsung Display Corporation (SDC), drew significant attention as a high-brightness solution for wearables, underlining the versatility of microLED and why it is an excellent fit for various applications. Smart watches in particular have always held great promise as a terrific application for microLED, where high brightness is critical for comfortable outdoor use.
AUO and Innolux Lead in Automotive and Concept Innovations
AUO focused heavily on microLED for automotive applications, unveiling “Smart Cockpit” prototypes and concept pieces. These include immersive entertainment in the vehicle, with displays embedded in the sunroof and side windows. Similarly, Innolux (and Samsung too) showcased innovative designs such as smart mirrors, integrating a standard mirror and an interactive display. These developments point to a growing emphasis on microLED’s role in the automotive and commercial sectors.
Aledia Showcases its Technological Advances
On the more technical side, Aledia showcased its advanced microLED technology, emphasizing its 3D nanowire structures as a key differentiator. These 1.25µm nanowires, arranged in narrow cones, allow for superior light direction control, making them particularly well-suited for augmented reality (AR) applications. The nanowires are clustered into compact 3.5µm chips, with options for monolithic or full RGB configurations on a single native wafer. Aledia uses silicon substrates instead of sapphire, enabling scalability to 8” wafers and potentially 12” wafers, with reports suggesting production is already underway. Their blue microLED technology boasts a 40% external quantum efficiency (EQE). Aledia also recently announced the launch of a new $200 million pilot fabrication facility capable of producing 5,000 wafer starts per week, or roughly 20,000 per month, implying their readiness for mass production.
Augmented Reality
One notable trend at CES was the heavy focus on AR and smart glasses. This is an exciting area for emerging technologies, as companies are experimenting with both microLED and/or AI and how to integrate them into glasses. Three companies in particular stood out for their advances in microLED AR.
Even Realities showcased a set of glasses with a minimalist design, resembling everyday glasses, with no cameras and a simple monochrome green microLED display of 640×200 resolution (provided by Jade Bird Display according to industry reports.) Its waveguide system keeps the glasses lightweight and transparent, but the simplicity of the display does limit its use to basic functionalities like notifications and navigation.
Rokid advanced the AR space with a 12MP camera and a focus on AI features, including object recognition and translation. Their waveguide design remains slim, and the display is comprised of monochrome green microLED (also provided by Jade Bird Display). The glasses support prescriptions and even feature snap-on anti-stigmatism lenses, making them versatile for users with different ophthalmological needs.
Finally, TCL’s RayNeo showcased smartglasses that feature dual cameras in the center of the frame, one for photography and AI capabilities, and one for sensor hand-tracking. The microLED display is impressive, offering up to 2500 nits of brightness, which could work quite well even in bright environments.
Broader Industry Trends and Takeaways
CES 2025 brought impressive advancements and interesting developments, The overall pace of microLED innovation remains steady and incremental, with momentum slowly but surely heading towards mass-commercialization breakout. This year’s CES reflected the industry’s efforts to tackle ongoing challenges, both technical and financial, such as efficiency, cost reduction, and manufacturing scalability.
- Cost-Effective Solutions: Samsung’s hybrid microLED-LCD approach demonstrates a pragmatic strategy for making premium technologies more accessible to consumers. Similarly, Even Realities and Rokid have designed smart glasses that may not yet reach the full potential of immersive AR, but they offer a more affordable first taste of the benefits of integrating microLED into eyewear.
- AR and Automotive on the Rise: AUO and Samsung’s focus on microLED-integrated windscreens and cockpits highlight a burgeoning market for the technology beyond TVs – the world of automotive. Likewise, many companies are trying their hand at the many possible variations of smart glasses/AR, a perfect application for microLED.
- Consumer Readiness: Hisense’s 136” TV shows promise for bringing large-format microLED displays into homes, signalling progress in consumer adoption.
CES 2025 marked another step forward for microLED technology, balancing innovation with practicality. InZiv is proud to play a critical in the progress of microLED adoption, as effective high throughput EL inspection is an indispensable part of improving yields and lowering costs for manufacturers and consumers alike. As production and technological efficiencies improve, we can expect to see even more groundbreaking applications emerge in the years ahead. The steady pace is surely setting the stage for a vibrant future in microLED technology!
