Question

What are the main trends in LED displays?

Answer 1

The LED display industry has evolved to include numerous subcategories. From the earliest conventional LED displays, transparent LED displays emerged, further subdivided into film-coated displays, crystal-coated displays, and optoelectronic glass displays, among others.

Today, with increasing emphasis on personalization and intensifying competition, businesses are striving to create unique and distinctive store displays to attract customers. This has led to the emergence of creative LED displays, which have become increasingly popular in recent years. Let Deli Optoelectronics briefly explain.

Creative displays, simply put, are displays that deviate from traditional square shapes. Examples include irregularly shaped LED screens, flexible LED screens, and glasses-free 3D screens, driving a trend towards customized solutions. While irregularly shaped and flexible LED screens developed relatively early, glasses-free 3D screens are currently the most popular.

The popularity of glasses-free 3D in recent years is undeniable. Wherever glasses-free 3D screens are located, they become local hotspots for photos and videos, attracting tourists from other regions. The most famous and widely known example is undoubtedly the naked-eye 3D screen at Chengdu Taikoo Li in 2020, which can be considered the beginning of the naked-eye 3D craze. Subsequently, naked-eye 3D screens appeared in famous commercial districts across China, including Chongqing, Xi'an, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.

The author's own location, Shenzhen's Zhonghang City, also features a popular naked-eye 3D screen.

On January 10, 2022, six central government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, jointly issued the "Implementation Guidelines for the 'Hundred Cities, Thousand Screens' Activity," aiming to effectively promote the integration of ultra-high-definition video with various industries. The guidelines analyze the goals of cultural promotion, city image enhancement, consumption upgrading, and industrial innovation, identifying key commercial districts, large-scale integrated transportation hubs, popular landmarks, and cultural venues as areas with enormous development potential in major cities, becoming a significant driver of the surge in naked-eye 3D displays.

Statistics indicate that the global naked-eye 3D digital display market will reach 200 million units in the future, with approximately 50 million units in China, representing a market value of about 370 billion yuan. This demonstrates the immense potential and vast development space of glasses-free 3D.

However, we must also recognize that while glasses-free 3D is currently very popular, very few companies are actually capable of providing such services. Currently, only a handful of leading companies in the LED industry are truly capable. Other manufacturers who want to gain a share of this market will need to work hard, overcome challenges, and continuously make breakthroughs.

Answer 2

Micro/Mini LED Technology Development: Micro LED technology is experiencing breakthroughs in both cost and production capacity. With optimization of mass transfer technology, its products have moved from high-end laboratories to practical applications such as home theaters and corporate conferences. Simultaneously, Micro LED transparent displays are beginning to be used in retail department stores and arts and cultural spaces.

Mini LED commercialization is more mature, with the market size projected to grow by 25% by 2025. COB Technology Popularization: COB integrated packaging technology, with its three times higher impact resistance than SMD products, is expected to maintain a stable market share of 25%-30% in 2024-2025, becoming the mainstream choice for public displays.

As the technology matures, COB products can now achieve high brightness while maintaining consistent ink color. Several companies have launched new high-brightness COB products for the outdoor market. Small-pitch LED Display Development: Small-pitch technology continues to advance towards miniaturization. P0.9 products have achieved mass production, and P0.6 samples have been showcased at industry exhibitions. With over 2.77 million pixels per square meter, commercial applications are expected by early 2026. The market for micro-pitch displays below P1.0 has become a fiercely competitive arena for companies.

Growth in LED All-in-One PC Demand: International demand for LED all-in-one PCs is expected to continue to increase in 2025, with foldable designs making them easier to move.

Increased Intelligence: Through integration with artificial intelligence technology, LED displays can achieve intelligent image recognition, content updates, and other functions.

Diversified Application Scenarios: Sports events and large-scale activities are key drivers of LED display growth, while cinema displays are experiencing explosive growth due to policy incentives.

Furthermore, outdoor displays maintain steady growth, with traditional sectors such as advertising, transportation, and sports continuing to perform strongly.

Answer 3

According to the latest data from LEDinside, the optoelectronics research center under TrendForce, while domestic demand for LED displays declined significantly in 2022, overseas demand recovered markedly. Furthermore, new applications such as LED virtual photography and all-in-one displays continued to grow.

Overall, the global LED display market size maintained growth to approximately US$7 billion in 2022.

The following analyzes the future trends of LED displays from several sectors: Indoor Displays: Benefiting from market demand for high resolution and high dynamic range (HDR), the corporate and educational spaces, cinemas and home theaters, and virtual production markets are experiencing stable growth. In addition, transparent displays are being used in retail department stores, providing shoppers with an unimaginably stunning visual experience!

Outdoor Displays: Outdoor displays are mainly used in advertising, transportation, sports venues, and live events.

According to TrendForce, the "100 Cities, 1000 Screens" policy will continue to be implemented. In addition, glasses-free 3D displays, with their highly realistic HDR displays, have successfully enhanced urban landscapes and attracted the attention of passersby, delivering a visually stunning experience and leaving a lasting impression. This is evident in markets such as the United States, South Korea, and China.

1. Global LED Small-Pitch Display Application Market Analysis: According to TrendForce research, the LED small-pitch display market size was US$4.232 billion in 2022 (+12% YoY). Benefiting from a significant recovery in demand in the European and American markets, the most significant growth in LED small-pitch display applications was seen in corporate meeting and education spaces, retail and exhibitions, and entertainment and theater applications, with expected growth of 14%, 13%, and 41% respectively in 2022. All-in-One LED Displays were successfully deployed in corporate meetings and educational spaces in 2020-2021, and are expected to show stable growth throughout 2022. Virtual Production and home theaters are steadily driving growth in entertainment and cinema applications, with a market share expected to reach 7.2%.

2. Virtual Production Market Trends: According to TrendForce, the global market size for LED displays in virtual production applications grew to US$283 million in 2021 (+136% YoY). Virtual production includes two application areas: film production and television/drama/music/commercial production. LED displays replace traditional green screens, significantly reducing post-production time and substantially lowering video production costs. Simultaneously, the immersive experience helps directors and actors perform on set, leading to a steady increase in the use of LED displays in virtual production applications. Virtual production focuses on emerging niche markets emphasizing high dynamic range (HDR), high refresh rate (HFR), and high grayscale images, prioritizing image quality, color precision, and smoothness. It is primarily used in background displays, floor tile screens, and ceiling screens. Depending on the shooting scenario and budget requirements, high-end virtual production background displays require high brightness (>1,500 nits), high resolution (P1.2-P1.6), high grayscale (16 bits), high refresh rate (3,840/7,680Hz), a refresh rate of up to 60Hz, and DCI-P3 resolution.

3. LED Conference All-in-One Display Market Trend: LED all-in-one displays are standardized products integrated with controllers, resulting in thinner and lighter designs (typically 3-5 cm thick). They emphasize modular, rapid on-site installation, with setup and commissioning completed in 1-2 hours. Currently, the main display aspect ratio is 16:9, with sizes ranging from 110 to 220 inches, primarily featuring a pixel pitch of P1.2-P2.5 and FHD resolution. Products are available in portable, wall-mounted, and floor-standing models. They are mainly used in corporate meeting and education spaces, events, retail and exhibition spaces, lecture halls, control rooms, gaming venues, and even home theaters. Major manufacturers include MaxHub, Leyard, Absen, CLT, and Unilumin. Samsung officially launched its LED conference all-in-one machine at ISE 2022, including a 146-inch 4K P0.84, a 146-inch 2K P1.68, and a 110-inch 2K P1.26, which are already available globally.

4. ≤P1.0 Ultra-small Pitch LED Display Market Analysis: According to TrendForce, the ≤P1.0 ultra-small pitch LED display market size reached US$251 million in 2021, with an increasing number of manufacturers entering this market. The top five manufacturers were Leyard, Unilumin, Samsung Electronics, Ledman, and HCP, with a combined market share of 74%. Active-drive solutions are applied to the large-scale display market with multi-panel splicing. LTPS, through side-wiring technology, is being implemented in ≤P0.625 LED displays. The technical challenge of side-wiring products is that the width of metal interconnects is becoming increasingly narrow, leading to continuously increasing resistance and a more pronounced IR drop effect, thus requiring improved circuit design technology.

In addition, seam treatment, splicing flatness, color consistency, and cost control are also major challenges faced in product development.

TrendForce's in-depth analysis of 2023 LED display market trends, major manufacturers' revenue and product development, display price and cost analysis, Micro LED/MiniLED/≤P1.0 ultra-small pitch displays - manufacturer technology, specifications, and cost development, and sales channel analysis for displays in Europe, America, and China. This analysis aims to provide readers with a comprehensive overview for operating and selling in the LED display market.