Mini LED TVs have rapidly entered the market, with Philips recently announcing its first model, making it the ninth brand to launch a Mini LED TV after TCL, Hisense, Konka, Xiaomi, LG, Samsung, Skyworth, and Changhong. According to TrendForce, global sales of Mini LED TVs were only around 100,000 units in 2020, but this figure is expected to reach millions in 2021, potentially marking the first true year for Mini LED TVs.
The Most Commercially Viable Technology—Mini POB
The high cost remains the biggest hurdle for the widespread adoption of Mini LED backlit TVs, and the cost is closely tied to the technical solution employed. Currently, the market offers two main technical solutions for Mini LED backlit TVs: COB and POB. Depending on the substrate type used, these solutions can be further classified into PCB substrates and glass substrates.
COB Technology Solution
COB (Chip on Board) refers to directly mounting LED chips onto the substrate, followed by overall packaging.
POB Technology Solution
POB (Package on Board), often called the “starry sky” solution in the industry, involves first packaging LED chips into individual SMD LED bulbs and then mounting these bulbs onto the substrate. This method is fundamentally different from the COB approach.
In 2020, the POB solution was predominantly used in Mini LED backlit TVs available on the market. According to industry experts, from a cost and manufacturing perspective, POB is expected to be the most commercially viable solution for the next 2-3 years.
NationStar‘s Innovations in Mini POB Technology
As a leading LED packaging company in China, NationStar has made significant advancements in Mini POB technology:
Pioneering Molding Packaging Technology Enhances Screen Uniformity
As LED backlighting technology evolves to Mini LED backlighting, the number of bulbs increases significantly, making color consistency in Mini LEDs a major challenge.
NationStar’s Mini POB backlight packaging primarily uses miniaturized TOP backlighting devices, adopting the industry’s first Molding packaging structure and light-emission design. This design provides optical advantages such as a wide viewing angle (≥175°), high brightness, and excellent consistency. By optimizing the product’s optical performance, they have significantly enhanced screen uniformity.
High-Quality Materials and Special Bracket Packaging Improve Reliability
The increased number of LED bulbs in Mini LED backlit TVs raises concerns about reliability. Without high reliability, repair costs could skyrocket, and the product lifespan could be compromised. Reliability is mainly evaluated through resistance to high temperatures, adaptability to extreme environments, and anti-sulfurization capabilities.
- High-Temperature Resistance: Degradation in luminous flux is a key indicator of performance for Mini LED backlighting devices. NationStar’s Mini LED backlight modules maintained excellent lumen retention after 5,000 hours of high-temperature aging, meeting long-term reliability standards.
- Adaptability to Extreme Environmental Changes: Thermal shock testing evaluates the physical damage or chemical changes caused by rapid temperature fluctuations, a crucial measure of a product’s adaptability to sudden environmental changes. Following MIL-STD-202G standards, NationStar’s Mini LED backlight modules underwent hundreds of extreme thermal shock tests, ranging from -40°C to 100°C. The results showed no flickering, dead lights, solder detachment, external expansion, internal cracks, or material separation, demonstrating strong adaptability.
- Anti-Sulfurization Capability: LED sulfurization occurs when sulfur elements infiltrate the bracket and react with the silver coating under specific conditions, causing blackened functional areas, significant light decay, and color temperature drift. NationStar’s Mini LED backlight modules passed rigorous anti-sulfurization tests, showing no blackening and only minimal light decay, confirming their resistance to sulfurization.
By selecting high-performance LEDs and utilizing special bracket packaging, NationStar’s Mini POB backlight solution achieves both cost reduction and high reliability.
Technological Innovations Reduce Light Sources by 50%, Improving Cost-Performance Ratio
Price is critical in determining whether a new product will be accepted by the market and whether new technology can be successfully implemented and sustained.
Currently, the high cost of raw materials is a major barrier to the market penetration of Mini LED backlit products. Micro LEDs, numbering in the tens of thousands, account for 40%-70% of the total cost of a backlit display. Thus, reducing costs largely depends on improving the LED light source solution.
Through technological innovation, NationStar’s Mini POB solution reduces the number of LEDs required for the same backlight module specifications (same OD, size, and optical films) by 50%. Additionally, the Mini POB solution employs an integrated design that is easy to assemble and splice, with no rework issues, significantly lowering repair costs.
NationStar began investing in Mini LED backlight projects early on. In 2019, the company provided the core backlight module for the world’s first Mini LED TV, leading to large-scale shipments of Mini LED backlit products. In 2020, they successfully launched a new generation of Mini POB backlight solutions, introduced to both domestic and international manufacturers, achieving mass production upgrades.
Since 2021, more brands have begun releasing Mini LED TVs or continuously upgrading their existing models. Although retail prices remain high, the industry’s shift toward Mini LED technology is becoming more apparent.
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