Low-price direct-type LED backlight looting LCD TV brewing changes

Recently, Samsung, which has always been led by a side-in lighting technology, has announced that it will gradually withdraw from the CCFL backlight LCD TV market in Mainland China and promote low-cost direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs, making it the first company to announce the suspension of sales. The color TV companies of CCFL-backlit LCD TVs have caused an uproar in the industry. Many people in the industry have predicted that with the change of global mainstream TV manufacturers' strategy, this kind of low-power and low-cost direct-lit backlight LCD TVs are expected to directly drive the penetration of LED-backlit LCD TVs, thereby improving LED industry productivity. Structural excess situation.

In 2012, the low-price direct-type LED backlight robbed the market. According to a survey conducted by the reporter, TV brands such as Korean and Japanese television companies actively promoted low-priced direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs. Many mainland TV manufacturers almost kept the same with international manufacturers. The pace is also pushing low-cost direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs.

“In 2011, we produced LED-backlit LCD TVs that used sidelight-based lighting technology, but this year we are also actively pushing down the price of direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs, because the current volume is not very large, so Compared to CCFL-backlit LCD TVs, the prices are slightly higher.” Li Xiaofang, a director of Skyworth Group Co., Ltd., said that with the gradual recovery of the LED-backlit LCD TV market this year, panel prices have also increased accordingly, which is also the overall price of LCD TVs. The decline has affected, but it is certain that the market penetration of LED-backlit LCD TVs will increase in the future.

Li Fei, deputy director of Beijing BOE Tea Valley Electronics Co., Ltd., also said that domestic TV manufacturers have started to reduce the research, development, and production of CCFL-backlit TVs very early. Now, almost everyone is using LED-backlit LCD TVs. "At present, BOE's LED-backlit LCD TV production ratio has exceeded 50%. Last year's models were mainly based on sidelight type, but due to their high-order specifications, the spread was difficult to quickly reduce, and the terminal price spread for large-size models was about 4 to 5 In fact, the prices of direct-lit LED backlights can be made very low. Take a 32-inch LED-backlit LCD TV as an example, today's backlight module is about US$ 30. So in the future, we will further adjust production as customers and markets demand. s plan."

As one of the few LED packaging factories in China that can supply large- and medium-size backlights in batches, Ruifeng Optoelectronics has clearly felt the market rebound brought about by the development of low-price direct-down LED-backlit LCD TVs. “From the end of February to the present, it is clearly felt that the market has begun to get better. Now we have steadily increased the number of orders we obtained from TV manufacturers. It is expected that many domestic TV manufacturers will have new products in the middle of March.” RuiFeng Optoelectronics Zhang Jiaxian, director of research and development, said.

Table 1 Comparison of the Cost of Low-order Direct-down LED TVs Beijing Aowei Marketing Consulting Co., Ltd. statistics show that LED TV prices have been reduced by an average of nearly 30% from last year, and the spread between LED TVs of the same size and CCFL TV has narrowed to less than RMB 1,000. "With the inventory of existing LED-backlit LCD TVs finished in the first quarter of 2012, the price of new direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TV terminals and CCFLs are moving toward a zero spread. It is expected that the LED-backlit LCD TV market will be restarted and washed. In the brand, LED chip factories and backlight module factories will all benefit to a certain extent," said one industry analyst.

Jin Xiaofeng, deputy general manager of Beijing Aowei Marketing Consulting Co., Ltd., also stated that by the end of 2011, the market penetration rate of LED-backlit LCD TVs in the mainland had exceeded 60%. It is expected that by the end of 2012, LED-backlit LCD TVs will account for 80% of the entire LCD TV market. With the launch of new low-cost direct-entry models, mass production will begin in April and May, and China’s May holiday is approaching. In 2012, the market penetration rate of LED-backlit LCD TVs may be higher than the forecast at the beginning of the year. A bigger increase.

Direct-type LED backlight technology why low price?

In the past few years, when direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs were first introduced, they used a dot-matrix layout to provide uniform brightness, high contrast, natural colors, high resolution, and a long service life. Adjustment, energy-saving effect is obvious, favored by the manufacturers. However, compared with the edge-lit LED backlight technology introduced later, there is a need for more LED chips, the cost is relatively high, it is difficult to achieve the deficiencies of ultra-thin design, many manufacturers began to push the main side-type LED-backlit LCD TV . So how is this new type of direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TV now being launched "low price"? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

"Taking a 32-inch TV as an example, the main structure of the LCD screen has not changed. It just removes the CCFL's lamp and puts a reflective sheet on it so that the LED's brightness is emitted. This requires only 3 to 4 PCs and some optical lenses. Yes, so the price is similar to that of CCFL.” Zhang Jiaxian, research and development director of Ruifeng Optoelectronics, said that the cost savings are mainly due to the fact that the use of LED chips is almost halved, as well as the use of lower cost diffusion plates and improved LED lighting structure to replace the light guide plate. , optical films and so on.


It is understood that reducing the number of LEDs and the use of other low-power materials, on the one hand, can indeed reduce costs, but on the other hand also led to an increase in the thickness of the LCD screen. At the same time, the luminance will be reduced to 300 nits at low cost as compared with the general side-type LED 450 nits brightness, and the contrast and image quality are partially sacrificed due to the lack of dimming.

"TV manufacturers reduce costs by reducing the number of LED panels in LCD TVs, making LED-backlit LCD TVs no longer have the characteristics of high brightness, ultra-thin design and high image quality. After increasing the thickness of LCD screens by 2 to 3 cm in the design, the single The luminous angle of the LED is increased to achieve the effect of reducing the cost of using fewer stars.” An industry analyst analyzed that instead of taking into account high picture quality, new LED-backlit LCD TVs with low power consumption and low cost are sold as sales. Features, increased competitiveness with CCFL-backlit LCD TVs, and even traditional video-tube TV, are a good strategy for opening the market in the short term.

Tianjin Samsung LED Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch, a staff responsible for LED LCD backlighting, told reporters that, unlike the thin and light characteristics of edge-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs in the past, low-cost direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TV backlight modules would be equivalent to CCFL thickness. However, with the elimination of light guide plates, the use of LED chips has also been reduced accordingly, so the manufacturing cost is approaching CCFL prices. It is understood that the material cost of low-cost direct-type LED backlight TVs is close to that of CCFL backlights. For 32-inch LED-backlit LCD TVs, the cost of direct-lit LED backlights is 1.3-1.4 times that of CCFL backlights, while the estimated cost of edge-lit LED backlights is more than twice that of CCFL backlights. With 40-inch LED-backlit LCD TVs, the cost savings are even more pronounced, and the cost of low-cost, direct-lit backlighting materials is reduced by nearly $40.

Is the low-price direct type the mainstream technology in the future?

As a light source, CCFL consumes a relatively large amount of power. With the continuous improvement of technology, the power consumption reached by this technology has approached the limit value. Direct-down and side-entry are two mainstream LED backlight architectures. From the market point of view, LCD TVs with direct-type LED backlighting before 2011 accounted for only a very small portion, while most LCD TVs use side-in LED backlight.

"The current low-cost direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs are currently available from CCFL LCD-backlit TVs, and will be thinner. It is expected that the market will accept relatively higher prices for low-cost direct-entry LED-backlit LCD TVs, which will force sidelights. The LED-backlit LCD TVs have shifted their position and aimed at the high-end TV market.” An industry source said in an interview that it is difficult to compete with low-cost direct-lit LED-backlit LCD TVs due to price competitiveness, and edge-lit LED-backlit LCDs TV brands are actively highlighting the advantages of their product lines in terms of thinness, color rendering, contrast, and reaction speed.

So will the low-price direct-lit backlight technology continue to dominate? An industry source said in an interview that in the past two years, the direct type and the sidelight type will go hand in hand, and the sidelight type dominant thin advantage will occupy the mid-to-high end market position, while the current mainstream manufacturers push the direct type LED-backlit LCD. TV will occupy a relatively low-end market.

Zhang Jiaxian, R&D director of Ruifeng Optoelectronics, expressed the same view: “I don’t think that this kind of low-cost, direct-lit backlighting method will dominate the LED-backlit LCD TV market. It only has a certain advantage in terms of price and will be promoted in a certain period of time. The penetration of LED LCD-backlit TVs may be a common pursuit of consumers, so today's direct-to-subsequent type requires a new technology to promote its perfection."

Whether it is direct type or sidelight type, it will become the dominant technology in the future, but it cannot be denied that high definition, large screen, high image quality (fast response, high contrast, etc.), energy saving and environmental protection, high color gamut, ultra-lightweight, intelligent, and cheap Such as the consumer's unanimous pursuit, so only achieve the "energy saving, picture quality, beautiful, environmental protection," the unity of the future is the best display technology.

So, in the new round of LED-backlit LCD TVs, in the face of global resources, domestic and international manufacturers who will have greater advantages and access to more market opportunities? Jin Xiaofeng, deputy general manager of Beijing Aowei Marketing Consulting Co., Ltd., said: “Today, low-priced direct-lit backlights have produced technologies similar to those of international manufacturers and domestic manufacturers, and everyone’s panel purchase prices are almost the same, and the panel basically occupies the entire machine. 6 to 70%, so if you say which company has more advantages, it should be the cost advantage, and this is the key to the production scale of the company and the supply chain of the industry. The overall R&D strength of the company is relevant.” (Full text is selected from “Semiconductor Lighting” magazine, Issue 2, 2012, editor: maysoong)