With the trend of "big", how can Hisilicon display chip achieve "big" and shine?

With the gradual layout of the Chinese mainland's high generation line and the pursuit of consumers' immersion experience and high quality, large size and high resolution are the future trend of large screen display. LCD and OLED are two major technical routes of large screen display. At the same time, various new display technologies such as new backlight technology, quantum dot technology, laser display and micro LED are "blooming and competing". Hisilicon has an end-to-end layout in the display field, providing a complete display chip solution, helping the large screen display to achieve perfect presentation with leading image quality performance and high reliability.

1. Large screen display trend: large size and high resolution

01 Chinese mainland generation line layout accelerated panel size.

[Shenzhen, China, April 26, 2020] according to the IHS market report, the global shipment of large-size (TV) panels in 2019 was 287 million, a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%. The shipment area was 163 million square meters, with a year-on-year increase of 5.3%. Affected by the panel price in the industry, the adjustment of panel factory production rate and the withdrawal of LCD production capacity of Korean factory, it is predicted that there will be no large growth space for global large-size (TV) panel shipments in the next few years. The main force of global panel production has been transferred to Chinese mainland. By 2022, there will be 15 8.5/8.6 generation lines and 5 10.5/11 generation lines in Chinese mainland. Thanks to the continuous release of production capacity of high-generation lines and the economic cutting of large-size panels, it is predicted that the shipment area of continental panel plants will continue to maintain rapid growth, the proportion of mainstream large-size will further increase, and accelerate the large-size of global panels.

02 4K accelerates popularization, and 8K display is the next "tuyere"

In 2019, 4K TV accounted for about 45% of the world. The proportion of Chinese mainland is higher, and over 7 of the total sales are 4K TV. The government's support for the development of ultra-high definition display, the increasing use of 4K production in content production, the upgrading of network transmission bandwidth, the joint efforts of upstream and downstream of the display industry chain to reduce costs, and the pursuit of higher image quality experience by end consumers are accelerating the popularization of 4K.

While the whole people began to enjoy the better experience brought by 4K, the large screen display industry has set its sights on the next "tuyere": 8K. Compared with 4K, 8K can present a more delicate and smooth picture. Combined with large screen display, 8K will bring consumers an excellent immersive experience. At present, 8K ecology has begun to step up its layout. All major TV brands have launched 8K TVs, and panel manufacturers are also accelerating the layout and continuous cost optimization of large-size 8K panels. Meanwhile, for large-scale events and sports events, 8K production and live broadcasting have been started in the industry. In the future, with the high bandwidth and low delay enabled by the upgrading of communication technologies such as gigabit optical fiber and WiFi 6, the growth momentum of 8K will be further improved.

2. Highlights of future large screen display technology: "flowers compete for beauty"

01 LCD and OLED are still the two main technical routes

The LCD industry is very mature and occupies the absolute main force of large screen display applications. OLED has established a reputation for image quality because of its high contrast performance brought by its self luminous characteristics. With the continuous maturity of technology, there are stable large screen applications. LCD and OLED occupy more than 95% of the market share of large screen display. At the same time, derivative technologies based on these two main routes will flourish in the next few years, complementary competition and diversified development.

02 new backlight technology greatly improves visual experience

Since the beginning of 2019, many panel manufacturers and TV brand manufacturers have successively launched the scheme of carrying new backlight on LCD panel to compete with OLED panel. One is mini LED backlight technology, which is divided into passive (PM) and active (AM). The difference between the two is that after reducing the LED backlight, the former is mounted on the PCB to form the backlight, and the latter is directly mounted on a TFT substrate. Both can achieve more refined backlight zoning control than the existing backlight scheme. The second is dual cell technology, which means adding another layer of liquid crystal panel between the original backlight and the display liquid crystal panel, and using this layer of liquid crystal panel for backlight regulation. The scheme can also achieve more refined zoning control.

In 2019 and 2020 CES, the new mini LED backlight technology and dual cell backlight technology attract a lot of attention. This kind of technology makes it no longer a dream to achieve 1000000:1 ultra-high contrast on LCD, which greatly improves consumers' visual experience. Its application in the field of large screen display in the future is promising.

03 quantum dot technology enables various displays to restore realistic colors

Strictly speaking, quantum dot technology is divided into electroluminescence and photoluminescence. The former embeds the quantum dot material into the pixel and activates the pixel to emit light through current, which belongs to the real self luminescence mode. At present, it is still in the stage of technological breakthrough. The latter refers to that a layer of quantum dot material is excited by the existing backlight, which still belongs to the backlight mode. Quantum dot technology can really support high dynamic range (HDR) and BT 2020 color gamut space because of its high brightness, wide color gamut and high saturation. At the same time, it also has the advantages of low power consumption and high luminous efficiency. It is more and more favored by TV brand manufacturers.

At present, the advantages of quantum dot technology are more reflected in enabling other display technologies to bring better color restoration effect. For example, the relatively mature quantum dot film technology has been widely used in LCD and OLED series, including qd-lcd and qd-oled. In the future, it is believed that with the progress of material technology, the real electroluminescent quantum dot technology will also become a reality.

04 laser display technology has obvious advantages in super large size

Compared with flat panel display, laser display technology breaks through the limitations of screen and location. It has high cost performance and obvious advantages in the super large screen display market above 100 'and public display field. According to the data of AVC Aowei cloud network, the application of laser display in the field of large screen has maintained an increase of more than 120% every year. At present, laser display technology is ushering in a new round of technological changes, including the popularization of 4K, the upgrading of light source from monochrome to two-color, three-color upgrading, the application of wide color gamut technology and so on. In the future, with the rise of holographic display, laser technology will have more room for growth.

05 micro LED technology can be expected in the future

Micro LED technology is ahead of the current LCD and OLED technologies in brightness, contrast, color performance, refresh rate, power consumption and ambient temperature range. It is considered to be the most potential next-generation display technology. At present, the two main implementation methods are led massive transfer and silicon-based direct growth led, which are the key technologies that need to be broken through most. At present, industrial landing has been explored in micro display, and the application landing in the field of medium and large screen display in the future is also worth looking forward to.

3 Hisilicon chips shine brightly in large screen display technology

For large screen (flat panel) display, timing controller (TCON) and source driver play an irreplaceable role. TCON chip provides panel timing driving signal and is responsible for data format conversion and key PQ processing. Driver chip is responsible for digital to analog conversion and provides pixel driving voltage. The performance of the two chips directly affects the final presentation effect of display image quality and product reliability.

Shanghai Hisilicon has entered the field of display chips since 2016. By 2020, it has a rich product series and its technology has reached the industry-leading level. The products cover 4K / 8K resolution, 60Hz / 120Hz refresh rate, mini LVDS / P2P interface, etc., and have established an industry-leading reputation for quality:

Sharper on the first floor

The development of resolution is the main line of display technology upgrading, and clarity is the direct presentation of resolution effect. The super clarity function of Hisilicon TCON chip can most truly restore the 4K effect on 4K display, and improve the definition of non 8K film source on 8K display to achieve 8K display effect. Finally, consumers can intuitively feel the shocking effect brought by the improvement of resolution.

02 algorithm level optimized bright color height restoration

Brightness, contrast and color performance are important characteristics to measure the display effect. Hisilicon chip hi imprex 3D image quality engine, while maximizing the advantages of display technology, can carry out algorithm level optimization according to different scenes, further improve image quality performance and picture fluency, help large screen display, and create the ultimate visual experience for consumers.

03 good reputation in the industry for low power consumption and high reliability

The display system is a complex mechanism design. Electronic components (including chips) are a very important but relatively fragile part, which are vulnerable to various disturbances from the external environment and internal mechanisms. Hisilicon TCON and driver chips have excellent low-power performance. On the one hand, they are conducive to the power-saving design of the final product, on the other hand, they reduce the chip heating and improve the stability of themselves and surrounding components. At the same time, thanks to the R & D accumulation of Hisilicon platform in the chip field for more than ten years and the strategy of close joint development with the upstream and downstream of the chip industry, the high reliability of TCON and driver chips has established a good industry reputation to help end customers create "trustworthy" products for consumers.

With the trend of large size and high resolution, large screen display technology presents diversified development. Hisilicon display chip will continue to cultivate and polish high-quality products, help the large screen display to create a perfect presentation, full of business and create the ultimate visual experience for consumers.