AR/VR glasses powered by microLEDs

3rd January 2019

Alex Lynn

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It has been announced by Plessey that visitors to its booth at CES 2019 will be the first to wear AR and VR glasses powered by microLEDs. The next generation of Vuzix smart glasses will be demonstrated using technology that ditches OLEDs in favour of microLED displays. Vuzix is the first company to present Plessey’s microLEDs in action for AR applications.

Plessey microLEDs offer 10 times the resolution, 100 times the contrast ratio, and up to 1,000 times the luminance of traditional OLEDs. This is achieved using just half the power consumption, doubling battery life in portable headsets. These benefits have been recognised by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner and producer of CES, which has named Plessey a CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Embedded Technologies category.

Other demonstrations on the Plessey booth include a 0.7” 1080p microLED comprising separate red, green and blue panels, and an addressable blue 0.7” microLED display running 1080p video.

Mike Lee, President of Corporate and Business Development at Plessey, said: “We’re looking forward to previewing the amazing new AR, VR and head-up display experience that microLEDs are set to create at CES. Compared with all other display technologies, microLEDs are brighter, smaller, lighter, more energy-efficient, and have a longer operating life. As a world leader in microLED development, Plessey is helping its customers to be first to bring the technology to market in 2019.”

Plessey microLEDs are developed using a uniquely scalable and economical, repeatable GaN-on-Silicon monolithic process that guarantees uniformly high quality and exceptional performance. This pioneering process eliminates the problems associated with the pick-an-place microLED display manufacturing techniques being pursued by other companies.

microLEDs are also reportedly about to have a huge impact on the design of pico- and micro-projectors. Here, microLED illuminators enable the form factor to be cut by 40% and optical efficiency boosted by 50%. The projects not only become smaller and lighter but they need less battery power and deliver higher quality images in every respect: brightness, resolution and contrast ratio. DMD (including DLP) and LCOS technologies are about to go the way of the cathode ray tube.

Plessey’s senior management team is available to offer expert insight into the displays market and technology trends.