News: LEDs
11 October 2022
Porotech unveils first ‘all-in-one’ full-color micro-LED display
Porotech (a spin off from the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride at the UK’s University of Cambridge that has developed porous GaN material) has announced what it says is the world’s first public demonstration of an ‘all-in-one’ full-color display of micro-LED pixels.
Porotech is pioneering the next generation of displays by using a single micro-LED for all colors, moving away from the constraints of the RGB (red-green-blue) sub-pixel model that underpins all existing commercial display technologies.
The firm says that its innovation lies in its DynamicPixelTuning (DPT) technology, which uses PoroGaN material to allow a modulated current to be leveraged to emit visible light covering the entire color spectrum on a single micro-LED chip. Among the colors that it can emit, a DPT micro-LED is able to achieve what is claimed to be a world first by emitting pure white light from a single pixel.
By removing the need for RGB sub-pixels, DPT allows a micro-LED-driven display to increase overall pixel density fourfold. As a result, DPT can produce substantial gains in resolution, brightness and efficiency for every type of display. This is of particular interest for small-form-factor displays that demand high resolution, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) displays, as well as wearable tech.
According to a market report from Grand View Research, the global AR market in 2021 was $25.33bn and is expected to grow by 40.9% per year from 2022 to 2030. Porotech says that its DPT technology has already won ‘Best Prototype’ at the 2022 Display Week industry gathering.
For future display technology, micro-LEDs offer benefits such as improved brightness, energy efficiency, contrast ratio, longer device lifetimes, along with greater pixel densities and resolutions. Porotech says that its all-in-one pixel technology allows micro-LEDs to achieve what is claimed to be unparalleled commercial viability, removing the reliance on RGB altogether — a cumbersome approach dating back to the days of cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays.
Porotech will debut DPT publically at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023) in Las Vegas, where it is showcasing a 0.26-inch DPT micro-display with a <5µm full-color pixel, followed by various other industry events in first-quarter 2023.
“Mass-produced micro-LEDs will be pivotal for the future of displays, particularly the emerging AR and VR spaces,” says CEO & co-founder Dr Tongtong Zhu. “Our technology has solved a fundamental technical and engineering problem facing micro-LED display quality, manufacturability, and — most importantly — system integration,” he adds.
“This doesn’t just herald widespread adoption of consumer-grade MR, VR and AR. In fact, DPT also offers radical improvements in TV, signage and smart wearables in both consumer and professional contexts,” Zhu continues. “By allowing pixels to move beyond RGB and quadrupling the resolution of any given display, DPT is set to unlock new uses for displays in every segment of society.”
Porotech wins Innovation Zone Award - Best Prototype Category at Display Week
IQE enters micro-LED market in partnership with Porotech
Porotech demonstrating tunable-colour DynamicPixelTuning technology
