Intel reportedly collaborating with AUO on microLED panels, which could help make the ultimate display tech more mainstream
by https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/author/jeremy-laird/ · PC Gamer
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Most display experts agree that microLED is the ultimate flat panel display tech. There's just one problem. It's hella expensive. Could Intel be the surprising solution to that?
According to a new report, it might just be part of the solution, at least. According to Taiwanese outlet Economic Daily, Intel is partnering with display specialist AU Optronics on a new approach to embedding electronics into microLED glass substrates.
The report says that has obtained a US patent for "IC Package with Micro LEDs" which involves, "embedding at least part of a semiconductor chip within a glass substrate." The implication of this is that the display control chip would be integrated into the microLED panel itself, which could have have both packaging and cost advantages.
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More broadly, Intel probably wouldn't be pushing into a new display technology unless it foresaw the sort of large volumes that come with mainstream adoption, which again implies a more affordable price point. Currently microLED displays cost tens of thousands of dollars and upwards, preventing them from entering the consumer market.
Economic Daily also says that AUO's chairman Peng Shuanglang has indicated that the company is increasing its range of microLED products this year as it pushes to make the technology more accessible.
As for why you should care about any of this, well, microLED is widely expected to be both the next big thing in display tech and, just maybe, the actual end game in display tech. In many ways, microLED is a lot like OLED. In both cases, each pixel and indeed each subpixel is an individual addressable light source, making for perfect lighting control.
Like OLED, microLED is super fast, too. It differs from OLED in a few key areas. First, it's less prone to degradation, so the whole OLED burn-in thing would be a thing of the past. MicroLED is also much brighter and capable of producing a wider range of colours.
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Put those factors together and you have a flat panel tech that solves all the problems of OLED and promises pretty much the perfect flat-panel solution. As for why it has yet to take over from OLED, there are two main issues. The first is the cost issue mentioned above. It's super expensive.
The other problem is pixel density. Right now, the smallest 4K microLED panels are about 100 inches across. Not exactly ideal for PC monitors.
Anyway, it's worth noting that we have somewhat been here before. Years ago, Intel dabbled with LCOS or liquid crystal on silicon tech, creating a line of LCOS chips for projectors. That experiment got cancelled pretty quickly.
Moreover, Intel's track record for product lines that are outside its CPU wheelhouse isn't great. Whether it health diagnostic chips or GPUs, when Intel does something other than a CPU, it doesn't tend to go well. But here's hoping its foray into microLED goes better. We'd certainly love to see microLED in affordable PC monitors, that's for sure.
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