The Futuresource ISE Recap Is Out; Free And Worth The Download, But Here’s The LED Stuff …

February 26, 2025 by Dave Haynes

UK-based research and analysis firm Futuresource Consulting had 16 people on the ground at ISE in Barcelona earlier this month, and the team has once again generated a post-show report that digs quite deep into what was on the floor, sorted by categories and including stuff you might not care that much about, like audio.

Much of what Futuresource does is (understandably) behind a paywall, but the company flips that around for big trade shows and makes a LOT of good information available for the simple trade-off of providing basic “who you are” information in exchange for the PDF.

It’s a big, 40-slide report, but here’s what the four pro display-focused analysts saw and relay in the recap as it relates to LED. It gets a little nerdy, but even if you have no idea about things like TFT backplanes and manufacturing processes, there’s valuable stuff here if you spend any time thinking about and specifying LED display projects. I have bolded some of that:

A plethora of active-matrix or unpackaged variants of Direct View LED; Chip on Board (CoB) and MicroLED Chip on Glass (CoG) were on display at ISE, spotlighting the migration towards these technologies.

CoB offerings were prevalent across brands with 100-200 micron red, blue and green chiplets transferred to a PCB backplane with passive driving technology. CoB has evolved over the past few years but 2025 is expected to be the year that mass transfer technology become viable in high volume with acceptable yields. The cost benefits of the package-less LED will be expanded as manufacturing becomes more efficient and effective versus pick-and-place Surface Mount Technology (SMT) line-produced packaged variants (Surface Mount Device (SMD), Integrated Micro Device (IMD) and MicroLED in Package (MIP)).

When the mass transfer manufacturing milestone is achieved in volume with quality, it will have substantial impacts across market verticals. The Average Selling Prices (ASPs) of DV LED at 1.5mm and below are anticipated to drop approximately 25%-30% during the following 12 months. Some supply chain vendors expect the price drop could be as high as 50%.

The generation following will be CoG, defined as sub-100-micron chiplets mass transferred to a glass or TFT backplane with active driver technology. At ISE 2025, we saw technology previews of both MicroLED and Transparent MicroLED technology, but no products have officially launched to date. Might they become available in the second-half of 2025? There remain key technical and manufacturing issues that must be resolved in order to make the new package-less LED variants viable. For instance, colour and brightness uniformity, high yields (>99.999%) and repairability, among others.

With pixel density of CoB increasing towards that of LCD Flat Panel Displays, combined with improved visual experience and extended lifetime, the anticipated ASP drop resulting from new manufacturing processes will significantly reduce the price differential, driving increased adoption in close-up viewing environments across vertical markets. Early next decade, CoG is expected to obtain price parity with LCD panels.

Let us not forget the packaged LED variants that have driven industry growth for more than a decade. MIP is being promoted by Chinese manufacturers as it integrates sub-100-micron R/G/B chiplets into a package and allows then to deliver higher pixel density while leveraging their existing SMT production lines. Otherwise, a significant global market will persist far into the future for packaged LEDs at 1.5mm and above across vertical markets where the viewing distance is ten metres or more.

Editor – That is a key point I have been going on and on about: the pixel pitch race has stalled out and the industry is starting to realize that it doesn’t have to wait for microLED to mature, because already-established LED video wall products on the market deliver spectacular visuals. It’s a bit like the 8K argument, in that yes, more pixel density is amazing, but is it necessary for most applications?

Chip on Board

With many Chip on Board (CoB) displays visible, it is impossible to spotlight them all. Thus a few key highlights:
• Recently acquired by supply chain giant AUO, Avocor premiered their X Series CoB AIO that will be available in 138” with 16:9 and 132” with 21:9 aspect ratio.
• Barco launched a new Truepix LED lineup demarked as I-series. A Chip on Board solution with common cathode to maximize brightness and minimize power consumption, it is available in 0.95mm and 1.27mm pixel pitches. The I-series has received TÜV eye comfort certification and has optional TAA compliancy.
• Reminiscent of their CES MiniLED TV demonstration, Hisense bought their 136” diagonal CoB All-In-One display. At 1.56mm pitch, a FHD resolution is delivered.
• At Lang’s booth, i5 LED implemented an incredibly challenging combination; LED corner display with interactive touch utilizing 0.78mm CoB.
• LED Studio has launched the VIVID line of CoB LED displays with flip chip and common cathode technology delivering DCI-P3 cinema colour.
• Optoma featured their new FHDQ135S All-In-One utilising CoB technology and integrating with the Optoma Solution Suite (OSS) and Optoma Management Suite (OMS) for the corporate vertical.
• As anticipated, Panasonic officially entered the LED marketplace with a 110” diagonal 1.27mm All-In-One, uniquely offering two Intel SDM slots for AVoIP or signal input flexibility. 137” and 165” models are said to be coming soon.
• Philips Professional Display substantially revamped their LED product lines across indoor and outdoor. Notably, PPDS launched their Unite LED 5000, and 6000 series flip chip CoB with common cathode. In cooperation with True Performance, Philips LED cabinets are now Pantone colour certified, important to the advertising and retail vertical markets.
• SiliconCore Technology have launched their first CoB line leveraging their proprietary IQ common cathode driver and Lisa encapsulation technology to deliver 16-bit performance at 240hz.

True MicroLED

• LGe provided a technology preview of a 136” CoG display at 0.78mm pitch showcasing ultra-high contrast delivered by increased black areas between sub-pixels, flicker-free TFT driven pixels, and AI-driven calibration.
• Samsung focused on Transparent CoG offerings and refining usage models for vertical markets. For Control Rooms, a see-through operator monitor allows a view of big board. For Retail and Venues, the focus is on providing information to enhance the learning and product selection process.

Editor: Note that there is not much about true microLED because there was not much in the way of true microLED at ISE, even though there were still some manufacturers with stands that prominently showcased “microLED” displays that were not microLED. It became a bit of a sport to grill some of these guys, who caved when it was clear I actually knew a little about the tech and could cut through their BS.

The free Futuresource recap also has valuable recaps on LCDs, projection and more, and I won’t replicate those here, because Futuresource logically would like readers to register and grab the whole thing. Well worth the read!