LCD TV with LED supply shortage of veteran LED manufacturers will become the key

In the ultra-thin display industry, glass substrate and LED is the most attention of the Department in 2009. Below, the author will combine the latest 2 LED survey report, the latest market forecast and cost analysis.

LED is a kind of light emitting element that directly transforms electric energy into light, and its luminous efficiency is rising year by year. During the period from 2008 to 2009, the luminous efficiency has reached the same level as that of the fluorescent tube, and the speed of adoption in various fields such as display and illumination is increasing day by day.

On the screen size of 10 inches or more display purposes, from 2008 onwards, the proportion of laptop LED backlight has increased. 2009, LED backlight from the beginning of the first half of the formal popularity of television, to the fourth quarter and gradually get the full use of monitor backlight. Lighting, automotive and other non display uses LED pace is accelerating, LED demand is surging.

LED veteran manufacturers including Nichia chemical industries, TOYOTA, the United States kerei synthesis (CREE), Germany OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH) and PHILPS (Philips Lumileds Lighting) lm. In the case of rapid expansion of various types of applications, from the 5 companies to buy finished LED packaging is difficult to meet this year's rapid rise in the use of television.

In the past, TFT LCD panel manufacturers in the face of the supply crisis is mostly resolved through a vertical integration. Although the glass substrate and other materials is difficult to achieve vertical integration, but the basic LED semiconductor, panel manufacturers, its vertical integration and drive IC as easy to achieve. In fact, the vast majority of panel manufacturers are planning to use or have been used in the internal production, as well as through the relevant companies to invest in the packaging process, and then invest in the process of wafer processing.

In LED manufacturing, the most important process is to form a metal film on the bottom of the epitaxial diffusion process, the current mainstream method for organic metal chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Generally speaking, the manufacturing process of LED is complex and delicate, and the errors of its light and wavelength are inevitable.

But for the new vendors, compared with the error, can not achieve the equivalent of the old manufacturers of luminous efficiency is the biggest distress. Even veteran LED manufacturers, after the purchase of new MOCVD devices also need to spend a lot of time with its running. If the use of low luminous efficiency in the back of the LED chip, to get the equivalent amount of LED with the old manufacturers need to use more LED chips.

A large number of LED chips will increase power consumption and heat dissipation. In particular, the use of more than 40 inch TV backlight type backlight, the corner of the temperature increase will cause a variety of faults. The radiating part of the radiating fin and the fan is difficult to be adopted because of the cost problem. In the premise of not increasing the cost, how to design a high radiation backlight unit into the manufacturers make the mare go.

Eventually, the purchase price of the chip is slightly higher than the old LED chip manufacturers to become the best strategy. But as mentioned above, the veteran LED vendors are facing new orders for the purchase of new customers and increase the lighting of the influx of new situation. As one of the measures to solve the problem, LED is responsible for cutting the wafer into chips, panel manufacturers responsible for the packaging of the processing of this division mode is taking shape. Today, LED manufacturers for the packaging process and the inspection process after the allocation of a large number of labor, division of labor is the advantage of these processes can be transferred to the panel manufacturers.

Figure 1

Figure 1 is the quarterly LED&CCFL back light cost survey report on the cost of the backlight unit for each 40 inch TV panel. Comparison of the traditional CCFL (cold cathode tube) straight down type, LED edge light-emitting type and LED straight down type. Currently, CCFL and LED 70 to $80 in the cost of poor, is expected in the next 3 years, the gap will be reduced to about $30.

We are in the "quarterly forecast LEDCCFL backlight survey report" in 2010, the LED backlight demand of about 18 million units (Figure 2). But the TV brands have played a more active use of the target. Now, the number of available LED chips for TV applications has become the focus of attention.

Figure 2: backlight source demand forecast for LED LCD TV: "LEDCCFL backlight DisplaySearch quarterly report"

On the other hand, the panel manufacturers are also actively involved in the development, hoping to improve the LCD TV panel transmittance, reduce the number of panels used LED. This requires the use of "DBEF" to enhance the brightness of the film. LED supply crisis may eventually bring consumers to reduce the power consumption of tv.