Mini LED TV Edges Out OLED for the First Time: Key Supply Chain Contributions Highlighted
It was only a matter of time before Mini LED became the first choice in the high-end TV market, but most people did not expect that this day would come so quickly.
Experts say Research's "2024 Mini LED Backlight and Automotive Research White Paper" shows that Mini LED TV shipments will be 4.08 million units in 2023, growing to 8.2 million units in 2024 , a year-on-year increase of 100%. In terms of penetration rate, in 2024, the penetration rate of Mini LED TV will increase from 2% in 2023 to 3.8% ; while the penetration rate of OLED TV will be relatively stable, with the penetration rate increasing from 2.6% in 2023 to 3.2%.
This is the first time that Mini LED TV has surpassed OLED TV in penetration rate. This achievement is the result of a combination of factors.
▋ Three major trends, Mini LED TV reaches new heightsOverall, the layout of high-end TVs by brands has regional characteristics. OLED TV brands are mainly Japanese and Korean manufacturers, with Samsung and LG being the main representatives; Mini LED TVs are mainly Chinese companies, including TCL, Hisense, Xiaomi, Skyworth et al. The increase in the penetration rate of Mini LED TVs can be regarded as an important manifestation of the changes in the global display industry pattern in a sense, and an important manifestation of the further strengthening of the weight of China's display industry. Focusing on Mini LED backlight TVs, in 2024, Mini LED backlight TVs will mainly show three major changes on the technical side. ■ First, the number of partitions tends to be below 500 partitions, and is concentrated in 200 partitions. This is mainly because the increase in the number of Mini LED TV backlight partitions has a "marginal diminishing effect" on the improvement of picture quality. Among them, in the process of increasing the number of partitions from 100 to 300, the improvement in contrast is the most significant, but continuing to increase the number of partitions, The effect of contrast enhancement gradually diminishes. On the other hand, the number of partitions is positively related to the cost of Mini backlight. Comprehensive picture quality and cost, the number of partitions of Mini LED backlight TVs will continue to be concentrated in the range of around 200 partitions in 2024 . ■ Second, the O/P ratio is further improved. The OD (Optical Distance) value represents the distance from the backlight panel to the diffusion panel. This distance determines the basic size of the light-emitting surface formed by the light source. The smaller the OD value, the better the halo control effect of the TV picture. Currently, the OD value of high-end Mini LED TVs can reach about 5mm . Pitch refers to the distance between two adjacent LEDs. A smaller Pitch value means that more LED beads can be arranged on the same screen, thereby improving the resolution and detail performance of the screen. From an internal connection point of view, under the same backlight scheme, the larger the OD value, the larger the corresponding halo diffusion, which is not conducive to the image quality effect; however, increasing the OD can increase the LED pitch value, reduce the amount of LED, and help reduce costs. In the actual product development process, manufacturers need to comprehensively consider the positioning of the product to determine the final backlight solution. At present, Mini LED TVs are developing in the direction of increasing the light emission angle, and this trend has also increased the pitch between Mini LEDs. Taken together, experts say that Research points out that the OP ratio (OD: Pitch) will gradually develop from 1:2 in 2022 to about 1:3 in 2024 . This trend represents a reduction in the use of Mini LED chips , and the cost of Mini LED TVs has also been further optimized.■ Third, COB technology has further matured. POB has higher maturity and lower cost in terms of sorting, patching, yield, supply chain support, etc. It is the mainstream packaging technology in the current Mini LED backlight market. However, due to limitations in packaging structure, optical design and angle control, POB is currently commonly used in large OD modules. However, in high-end markets and applications that require a high degree of customization, POB is not the best choice. COB is currently technically difficult and costly, but from materials to technology to production processes, the entire process of COB packaging technology is maturing, which has rapidly reduced the cost of Mini LED COB and boosted COB's market share. According to research analysis by experts, the increase in the proportion of COB mainly comes from the optimization of solutions and the promotion of downstream terminal brands. In terms of solutions, COB adopts the light bar model, which effectively reduces the cost from substrate materials ; in terms of downstream brand promotion, terminal TV players need products different from POB solutions to enrich their product systems. Driven by the two parties, the proportion of COB solutions in Mini LED backlight products will increase to 20% in 2024 , and it is expected that there is the possibility of further increase in 2025.
▋ Promote the popularization of high-end image quality, Zhaochi Optoelectronics welcomes new breakthroughsIn fact, from the increase in the number of entry-level Mini LED TV products with 500 partitions or even lower partitions, to the increase in OP ratio, to the increase in the proportion of COB technology products, the logic is that the cost-effective advantages of Mini LED TV are of reinforcement. This changing trend is naturally inseparable from the collaboration and cooperation of the supply chain. Take Zhaochi Optoelectronics as an example. As an extremely important player in the field of Mini LED backlight, Zhaochi Optoelectronics is in the leading position in the industry in terms of product and production capacity layout, technical reserves, and customer verification. In 2024, Zhaochi Optoelectronics will make breakthroughs in all aspects. While building the company's comprehensive competitiveness, it also promotes the continuous increase in the penetration rate of Mini LED backlight technology products. In terms of products, in addition to ordinary POB products, Zhaochi Optoelectronics continues to improve the layout of COB products and has now launched high-power COB white light strips, Mini COB blue light strips and Mini COB white light solutions (CSP). In terms of technology, in 2024, Zhaochi Optoelectronics' upgrade of COB Blu-ray mainly includes: dispensing upgrade, upgrading the surface ball head to M-shaped dispensing; OP value upgraded from 1:2.2 to 1:3.5 .
Zhaochi Optoelectronics technology path layout
In terms of industrial chain layout, Zhaochi Optoelectronics has the advantage of vertical integration of the industrial chain. Especially with the rapid development of Mini LED TVs, backlight solutions continue to be upgraded and iterated, and the backlight solutions of different brands and products are different, which leads to a high degree of customization in the current Mini LED supply chain. Therefore, terminal brands prefer to choose Mini LED backlight suppliers with a high degree of control over upstream and downstream resources. There is no doubt that Zhaochi Guangyuan possesses this characteristic. Backed by Zhaochi Co., Ltd., Zhaochi Optoelectronics is an important part of Zhaochi Co., Ltd.'s LED industry chain, and enjoys the dividend effect brought by Zhaochi Co., Ltd.'s vertical integration strategic layout. Zhaochi Semiconductor's LED chip business is upstream, and Zhaochi Co., Ltd.'s TV ODM business is downstream. Zhaochi Optoelectronics has unique advantages in market trends, technology development trends, and resource allocation. Taking the chip side as an example, Zhaochi Semiconductor has achieved a monthly production and sales scale of 1.1 million wafers (4-inch wafers) . In terms of technology and products, Zhaochi Semiconductor has launched the 4848 high-light efficiency chip in the field of traditional direct backlight . In addition, in order to meet the market demand for COB solutions, Zhaochi Semiconductor has also launched a variety of high-voltage chips, including 0916 (6V), 1228 (12V), and 1836 (24V) . Zhaochi Semiconductor's layout in LED chips has become a strong support for Zhaochi Optoelectronics to expand its territory. At present, Zhaochi Optoelectronics' products are widely used in terminal TVs through the TV ODM business platform of Zhaochi . Carry out extensive cooperation with foreign customers to help terminal brands enrich product lines and improve product cost performance. Taking Xiaomi as an example, Xiaomi S75 Mini LED TV will officially go on sale in April 2024. It is reported that the backlight module of the TV is provided by Zhaochi Optoelectronics . Xiaomi S75 Mini LED TV provides 512 backlight partitions, with a peak brightness of 1200nits, supports 4K 144Hz variable refresh rate, provides MEMC dynamic compensation and 240Hz competitive mode. In addition, this product also supports 1.07 billion color original color display, color accuracy ΔE≈2, and 94% DCI-P3 color gamut. In the 2024 mid-year promotion, Xiaomi S75 Mini LED TV ranked second in the 75-inch TV sales list.From a macro perspective, the shipment volume of Mini LED TV terminals will reach a new peak in 2024, which is inseparable from the joint promotion of home appliance subsidies, large-scale sports events, game marketing, shopping festivals and other factors; from a micro perspective, Mini LED TV’s Self-upgrading is the key to standing out from the competition with OLED TVs. It can be said that the excellent picture quality performance makes Mini LED TV qualified to become a high-end TV; the continuous improvement of cost-effectiveness has opened up space for Mini LED TV to sink. As the penetration rate of Mini LED TVs increases, Zhaochi Optoelectronics, which has the advantage of vertical integration in the LED industry chain and has accumulated a lot of technical experience and customer resources on the application side, will also usher in new growth opportunities.
