When Can I BUY a MicroLED TV?
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Promos
Remotely monitor and manage your server or PC at lmg.gg and get 20% off Pulseway's Teams plan. Thanks to Pulseway for sponsoring our CES 2020 Coverage! We've seen a TON of MicroLED displays at CES 2020, which made us wonder... why are we not seeing these in the consumer space for 2020?? Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group. Our Affiliates, Referral Programs, and Sponsors: lmg.gg Get a Displate Metal Print at lmg.gg Get a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime at lmg.gg Linus Tech Tips merchandise at lttstore.com Our Test Benches on Amazon: amazon.com Our production gear: geni.us Twitter - twitter.com Facebook - @LinusTech Instagram - @linustech Twitch - twitch.tv Intro Screen Music Credit: Title: Laszlo - Supernova Video Link: youtube.com iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com Artist Link: soundcloud.com Outro Screen Music Credit: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High youtube.com
The video begins by setting up a big question mark around microLED technology, specifically whether it will replace OLED in consumer TVs. It uses CES 2020 as a backdrop to explain why microLED displays are so prominent there yet largely absent from everyday consumer shelves. The host breaks down the concept of modular microLED video walls, explaining that these screens are built from smaller cabinets rather than a single pane, which enables flexible configurations and independent brightness control across sections. They highlight the practical advantages of modularity, such as hot-swapping cabinets if one fails, which helps maintain viewing continuity without stopping a movie. The discussion then shifts to the technical hurdle of achieving consumer-friendly sizes like a 65-inch TV, which requires reducing pixel pitch to pack more pixels into a smaller area. The host explains that while a 75-inch prototype with a 0.43 millimeter pixel pitch demonstrates impressive resolution, decreasing pixel pitch can compromise black levels and viewing angles unless additional coatings or design choices are made. Despite these challenges, the host notes that a single, monolithic 75-inch microLED TV could be created today, albeit at extremely high cost, and emphasizes that modular arrays currently make economic sense for large commercial installations rather than home use. The narrative then pivots to manufacturing economics, detailing wafer costs, throughput, and yield constraints that currently inflate microLED production costs. The explanation covers the complexity of mass transfer, the need to pick and place billions of microLED dies, and the importance of yields around 99.5% to be viable for mass production. The video closes with a forward-looking note that ongoing manufacturing innovations announced at CES 2020 and beyond may dramatically reduce costs in the coming years, keeping the dream of affordable microLED TVs alive for the future. A sponsored interlude about Pulseway follows, after which the hosts return to wrap up with light humor and promotional plugs, maintaining the entertaining balance between information and entertainment that characterizes the channel.
Topics · technology · consumer electronics · display · television · manufacturing
Questions answered
- What is microLED technology and how does it compare to OLED in terms of brightness, burn-in, and response time?
- MicroLED is an emissive display technology like OLED that aims to deliver deep blacks and fast response without the burn-in and brightness limitations of OLED. The video notes that microLED can offer OLED-like contrast and near-instant pixel response while potentially avoiding burn-in and brightness drawbacks, though practical implementations and the current cost make mass-market availability challenging.
- Why aren’t consumer microLED TVs widely available yet, according to the video?
- The main barriers are manufacturing costs, wafer yield, and throughput. MicroLED requires placing billions of tiny LEDs with high precision, mass transfer challenges, and very high yields to be economical. Even with high yields, the costs of wafers and the processes to assemble and test each pixel are significant, delaying mass-market consumer models.
- What manufacturing hurdles must be overcome to make microLED TV production affordable at scale?
- Key hurdles include reducing wafer costs, increasing production throughput, and improving yields beyond current levels. Mass transfer processes must efficiently place millions of dies onto substrates with minimal waste, and failure rates must be lowered to avoid expensive die replacements, all while keeping production volumes in the millions per year.