The competition between small spacing technologies of new generation LED
Posted by crescentled on February 6th, 2019
MINI LED or COB? What is cob led technology?
There is no doubt that 2018 will be a good year for LED small spacing displays. From the beginning of the year when COB packaging technology attracted attention, to the recent period when many enterprises in the LED display industry have successively launched MINI LED products, the hot topic of breakthrough in MINI LED technology broke out. This not only shows that manufacturers attach great importance to small spacing LED displays, but also means that small spacing display technology is making great strides forward and has achieved remarkable results. So, when the small spacing swept across the entire LED display industry in an instant, (MINI LED and COB) which will win the favor of the market as the most advanced and mature small spacing technology?
Breakthrough in Four - in - One Packaging Technology: MINI LED successfully lands
In mid - June, many enterprises successively introduced a new generation of small spacing LED display products - MINI LED. As we all know, MINI LED is the application of LED crystal with particle size of 100 microns or less. This smaller crystal particle is almost one tenth in terms of the raw material consumption of traditional LED crystal particle of 300 micron. Although the MINI LED with smaller particles saves the upstream cost, reduces the pixel spacing index at the downstream terminal, and realizes a very small spacing display screen with 0.2 - 0.9mm pixel particles, it also means that it brings higher technical challenges to the midstream packaging technology. However, the success of the new generation MINI LED products is due to the breakthrough of the challenge of mid-stream packaging technology and the application of four-in-one array packaging technology.
The four-in-one packaging technology can be regarded as a compromise strategy between traditional surface-mounted lamp beads and COB products: a packaging structure has four basic pixel structures. This not only simplifies the technical process, reduces the difficulty of welding " surface mounting", but also contributes to the repair of damaged lamps on small spacing LED display screens, and even meets the needs of manual repair on site. In addition, with the help of the four-in-one technology, the surface-mounted technology can still display its talents. Now, the surface-mounted technology suitable for 1.0 spacing size can produce LED display screens with a minimum spacing of 0.6, which greatly inherits the most mature technology in the LED display screen industry and realizes the " low cost" of terminal processing links. At the same time, the four-in-one packaging technology, as a display technology applying " LED with smaller crystal particles", not only supports finer display pictures, breaks the long-standing spacing bottleneck of mainstream products, but also effectively overcomes the problems such as pixel graining in LED display, greatly improves the firmness of the whole screen, thus bringing better visual experience to audiences.
Therefore, the four-in-one packaging technology not only reduces the research and development cost, but also greatly improves the display effect and experience. This has also become an important core factor for the success of the four-in-one technology in the market, and helps the four-in-one technology to become a " dark horse" in the field of small spacing display.
COB packaging technology wins attention with unlimited development prospects
COB technology is also a new LED packaging technology, which is different from the traditional surface-mounted packaging of SMD. It integrates light-emitting chips into PCB board, effectively improves the light color of LED display screen, and achieves the effect of reducing risks and costs. It is understood that today's small spacing LED display screen using COB packaging technology has been called the second generation of small spacing LED products with pixel spacing between 2mm and 0.5mm, which is the future of high-definition LED display with small spacing. Especially starting from this year, the small spacing display market of COB LED has shown a momentum of rapid growth and is called the " darling" of some center markets that leads in high-end smart dispatching.
COB packaging technology can receive such great attention because of its unique advantages in small spacing LED displays. For example, after COB packaging, the traditional " surface mounting" process is no longer needed, and the reliability of the whole system is improved because high-temperature and high-precision process is omitted. In addition, the natural " non - particle display" of small spacing LED products under the application of COB technology has improved the uniformity of image quality, color curve and visual angle effect to varying degrees. COB packaging technology has also become the best technical path to improve the " visual comfort" and " experience effect" of small spacing LED. Data show that the sales volume of small spacing screens of COB LED increased by more than 200 % in 2017, nearly four times the growth rate of the entire small spacing LED market.
Industrial upgrading: technology needs to be continuously improved
Although MINI LED technology and COB technology are continuously improving and gradually maturing, at this stage, they still have certain limitations. As for COB technology, its research and development costs are still too high. Currently, it is mainly used in indoor high-end command and dispatch systems and other fields neglecting price and cannot occupy the entire LED display market on a large scale. The four-in-one technology also has its disadvantages. In the packaging stage, the pixel spacing of the final product has been determined, which makes midstream packaging enterprises must offer four-in-one lamp beads with more specifications, thus requiring closer cooperation between upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
If MINI LED technology and COB technology complement each other, it will overall bring more perfect choices to customers. The coexistence of a variety of new technologies will certainly play an important role in promoting the development of the industry. However, only the brave will win in the face - to – face competition. From the initial in-line technology to surface-mounted technology, only the small spacing technology that is more suitable for the market can win the huge market of small spacing and become the mainstream of industry development. Who is better, MINI LED or COB? Let's wait and see.
