LED backlights gaining traction

The selection in Taiwan can be divided into pure LED displays and LCD screens using LED as backlight source. The former consists of numeric displays and outdoor digital signage.

The trend for environment-friendly products is fast-tracking the adoption of LED backlights, which promise lower power consumption and longer life span compared with CCFLs. The major applications now include small and medium displays, notebook PCs, desktop monitors, TVs, and industrial and commercial signage. About 34 billion LEDs will be used in backlights by 2012, representing a growth rate of 300 percent, according to DisplaySearch.

Panel manufacturers in Taiwan predict technology penetration in the monitor segment will climb to 22 percent in 3Q10 from only 1 percent during the same period last year. LED backlights are now integrated into mainstream monitor sizes such as 18.5, 19, 22, and 23 or 24in widescreen formats. Taiwan is a major production base for FPDs and LEDs. There are at present about 200 suppliers, including upstream LED chip providers Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy and Tekcore, midlevel packaging designers Everlight and LiteOn, and downstream display manufacturers.

InnoLux contributed 34 percent of unit shipments in the LED backlit monitor line in 3Q09, based on the latest report from DisplaySearch. Acer, AOC, BenQ and Vizio are starting to make inroads into this segment as well, promoting LCD TVs with LED-backlit monitors.

Riding the “green” trend, AU Optronics Corp. has announced a 65in environmentfriendly LED panel supporting 3840×2160- pixel resolution and consuming 50 percent less power. The thickness of the TFT-LCD module is only 7.9mm and the contrast ratio exceeds 2,000,000:1. AUO has also developed a 42in edge light LED local dimming TV panel with 10mm thickness. The model saves power by as much as 50 percent. It has 32 dimming areas.