If we started by just saying Modular TV displays it would be impressive enough, but, the technology powering those displays is worth noting as well. MicroLED is the latest in TV display technology, and the first in over a decade, which aims to rival existing LCD and OLED technology, and, we’d imagine, exceed, but, at the same time, be small enough to, in a modular way, fit on your wall.
As with all TV display technology when it’s first shown off, it’s shown off big, and it’s saying a lot when 75-inch is the smallest, but, for now, there’s a reason for that. The technology used must be at least 75-inch currently to display 4K resolution. This, obviously, is the reason why MicroLED isn’t already out, but, for now, it is as its early stages, though it does speak for itself what the technology can deliver on. The 4K limit obviously is something which over time, as the technology develops, won’t be an issue.
MicroLED, unlike LCD or OLED, allows for some incredible capabilities, which Samsung chose to show off in a Modular fashion. The image you saw up top shows a display in a “conventional” and “new” form factor, fact is, however, those “new” form factor displays can be attached together and used as an almost complete forever extending display! This is pretty mind blowing technology at work here, and we haven’t even touched upon the big advantage of MicroLED as a display technology, but this alone shows how it’s leaps and bound improvement in flexibility over rival technology.
MicroLED itself, as you’d imagine by its name, is made up of millions of individual tiny LEDs to create its image, similarly to OLED, it omits its own light from the image it’s producing, meaning perfect blacks will be just that, black! MicroLEDs also share the sheer vibrancy of colours outputted from the panel, which OLED technology has allowed, thanks to far greater colour accuracy.
Where the technology differs from OLED, however, is that MicroLED also offers the benefits of LCD which OLED lacks, greater brightness, and the LEDs used to omit the light are far less capable of artefacts such as burn-in which can plague OLED panels. So, essentially, a best of both worlds?
One of the biggest highlighting benefits of MicroLED is that it’s completely bezel-less, in fact the technology can even stand alone! Thanks to this, if you were to say, place a panel next to another, it could perfectly align together, without even a visible line or distraction, and that’s exactly what Samsung have done at CES. Of course, that’s incredibly unlikely that a general consumer would dream of having multiple plates of MicroLED they’d plan on attaching to greatly extend their living room TV, but it’s potential outside of the living room could be massive! Samsung showed off a 146-inch version of the technology in action, made up of multiple panels attached, what the company branded “The Window”. The technology used was barely 80mm thick on the large panels, with a consumer-focused version slimming down to just 30mm.
Samsung plans on releasing TVs with MicroLED technology in 2019, when obviously will depend on continued testing, naturally, but expect to pay quite the penny for it when it does arrive. Then, and only then, will we be able to truly see how well MicroLED will compete with LCD and OLED offerings.
