Before attending the annual SID Display Week event, Dr. Gao Wenbao, President of BOE Technology Group, and his colleagues brainstorm tirelessly to achieve "exceptional value and distinctiveness."
As the most influential gathering in the display industry globally, SID is hailed as the "Oscars" of the display world and a compass for global display technology development. In this competitive arena, BOE not only showcases cutting-edge technologies that "define the future" but also shares forward-looking development concepts to provide a clearer and deeper understanding of the BOE brand to global peers in the display industry.
On May 14th this year, SID opened its doors in San Jose, USA as scheduled. What "world-first" technologies did BOE bring this time, and what forward-thinking considerations lie behind them?
Before heading to SID, President Gao Wenbao, BOE Technology Group's Senior Vice President Liu Zhiqiang, BOE Technology Group's Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Xu Xiaoguang, and other BOE executives were interviewed by media outlets such as "China Science Daily," interpreting the noteworthy technologies showcased by BOE at SID and their development philosophy.
"Focusing on excellence will naturally lead to success."
From the world's first 16K 110-inch large naked-eye 3D display screen to the global debut of the third-generation UB Cell AI TV... At this year's SID, as in previous years, BOE presented multiple world-first technological products.
In December 2021, based on years of technological accumulation, BOE officially launched three major display technology brands: ADS Pro, f-OLED, and α-MLED, corresponding to high-end technical solutions in the LCD, OLED, and MLED fields, respectively. At this year's SID, BOE introduced several "world-first" innovations in these three major technology brand domains.
BOE unveils the world's first 16K 110-inch large naked-eye 3D display. Featuring high-color-gamut Mini LED backlight technology and BOE's self-developed 16K interlacing algorithm, this product expands the 3D viewing angle to 60 degrees, making it suitable for a wide range of applications such as advertising, conferences, and education. In the field of flexible displays, BOE takes the lead in introducing an electric flexible car cockpit. It includes a 17-inch curved gradient central control screen for the main driver and the first 15.05-inch electric folding screen for the co-driver, with a curvature radius as low as 400 millimeters, capable of automatic shape transformation based on different usage needs. In the MLED field, BOE's 44.8-inch large-size oxide smart cockpit for vehicles also stands out, featuring glass-based MLED backlight that achieves a million-level contrast and 2000nit high-brightness image quality, meeting consumers' pursuit of quality and immersive visual experience. Additionally, BOE showcases a newly defined 32-inch light field display with a single-eye resolution reaching 4K retina level. Its facial tracking function and active human-computer interaction system enable an immersive desktop 3D display effect.
BOE's 32-inch light field display. Image provided by BOE
The reason why there are so many "global premieres" every year is due to BOE's respect for technology and its commitment to innovation. According to Xu Xiaoguang, BOE insists on investing around 7% of its revenue into research and development each year, with 1.5% dedicated to basic and cutting-edge technology research. By 2023, BOE had accumulated over 90,000 independent patent applications, with over 30,000 related to flexible OLED technology. Furthermore, as BOE's technological innovations gradually enter uncharted territory, the company has hired academic experts as group technology consultants to ensure the foresight, innovation, and leadership of its products. They collaborate with partners to tackle key technological challenges, harnessing the power of innovation from technical foundations and innovative sources.
In the eyes of Gao Wenbao, "as long as we focus on doing our own things well, we will naturally reap rewards."
Regarding the focus on screen quality, Gao Wenbao told reporters that besides cost-effectiveness, screens also need to have longevity, enduring considerations over longer timeframes. Who judges whether a screen is good or not? "Of course, it's the end consumers and our customers." Gao Wenbao stated that BOE's ultimate goal is to create value.
"Exploring the Integration of AI and Display Technology"
In addition to screens, BOE is making more efforts. This is also reflected in their contemplation of how artificial intelligence (AI) can be integrated with display technology.
Based on their years of practice in the semiconductor display field, in 2021, BOE officially proposed the "Internet of Screens" development strategy. This involves integrating more functions into screens, deriving more forms, and embedding them in more scenarios. By continuously empowering scenario formats, it aims to enhance the value creation capabilities of the company and the entire industry.
Currently, the development of artificial intelligence technology is sweeping across the industry, and the display sector is no exception. Liu Zhiqiang told reporters that BOE is also considering how AI can be combined with display technology. Based on the "Internet of Screens" strategy, BOE has put forward the concept of "AI Smart Display for All Scenarios," aiming to empower various application scenarios such as AI TVs, AI PCs, AI smartphones, AI in vehicles, and AI XR through the combination of AI with technology and scenarios. They are working with global ecosystem partners to build a symbiotic and mutually beneficial AI ecosystem.
The global debut of the third-generation UB Cell AI TV by BOE
At this year's SID, BOE showcased a series of technologies and products based on AI+ display. Liu Zhiqiang introduced that BOE's global debut of the third-generation UB Cell AI TV not only features a BT2020 95% ultra-high color gamut but also significantly reduces screen light reflection to 0.7%, with no color deviation or fading from any viewing angle. In terms of smart display, BOE introduced industry-first screen-integrated temperature and multi-channel light sensors, enabling real-time perception of panel and environmental temperature, brightness, and color temperature. Through adaptive dynamic drive adjustment, the TV maintains optimal display quality in any environment and lighting condition. Additionally, BOE globally debuted agile display technology with partial dynamic refresh in the LCD field, offering intelligent refresh modes from 1Hz to 120Hz in different areas to meet various innovative applications, reducing screen power consumption by 15%-50% or more. Furthermore, the product is equipped with BOE's self-developed "AI TV Digital Assistant" voice interaction control system based on in-house offline voice algorithms, supporting large models for smart speaker, personal assistant functions, bidirectional interaction with smart devices, making the TV the brain of a smart home.
Building on innovative applications, BOE presented a series of "AI+ display" image quality technology solutions. For instance, to reduce OLED module power consumption, BOE introduced the world's first hardware-level AI low-power image quality enhancement technology, achieving real-time 8K 120Hz image processing on OLED display modules through AI neural network deep integration at the screen end, reducing OLED module power consumption by over 20%.
"Technology + Green: The Direction of Future Development"
At the center of this year's SID exhibition area, BOE also set up a special green and low-carbon zone, showcasing its industry applications in green smart manufacturing, green product technology, green supply chain, and a variety of low-power technologies and green low-carbon laptops, monitors, smartphones, and other products.
"Technology innovation and green development are challenges we face together," said Gao Wenbao.
The showcased technological products at SID represent their exploration and practice on this topic. According to reports, based on oxide technology, BOE displayed the world's leading 14-inch low-power notebook display product, utilizing the tenth-generation oxide technology to reduce power consumption by 30% compared to conventional products, with panel power consumption as low as 0.7W at a 120Hz refresh rate. BOE globally debuted the 23.8-inch Easy display integrating technology, saving 50% of display materials and achieving a 30% recyclable glass ratio. BOE also presented the 31.5-inch AB MNT high-end LCD display with high contrast and low reflectance, and the 27-inch H display featuring the original HSR dual-mode display technology, with a module recycling rate of 53%, integrating green low-carbon concepts while ensuring perfect image quality.
Additionally, BOE unveiled the pixel-independent drive OLED, using the world's first SDP low-power OLED technology, reducing screen power consumption by 5%-6%, suitable for various OLED display scenarios.
Gao Wenbao believes that technology + green is the direction of BOE's future development. It not only relates to BOE's cooperation with global customers but also represents BOE's choice to differentiate and enhance its core competitiveness.
For instance, in terms of globalization, the first self-built smart factory in Vietnam is a significant step in BOE's global strategic layout. Currently, over 60% of BOE's revenue comes from overseas, with more than 5,000 ecological partners globally and subsidiaries in over 20 countries and regions.
2023 marks BOE's "thirties." 2024 will be the beginning of the next thirty years. "In the next thirty years of development, we must jointly emphasize the power of technology + green, combining innovative technology with sustainable development concepts, empowering diversified innovation applications with cutting-edge technologies such as AI and low-carbon displays, making 'technology innovation + green development' the main theme of BOE's industrial upgrade," Gao Wenbao stated.
