
MicroLEDs for Data Center Optical Interconnect: The Big Pivot?
A year ago, only a few microLED companies were looking at the optical interconnect opportunity. Today, nearly all have some activity in this area. While

A year ago, only a few microLED companies were looking at the optical interconnect opportunity. Today, nearly all have some activity in this area. While

Inlighten has recently emerged from stealth mode and had a booth at Display Week. On display were GaN-based red, green and blue microLED devices along

MicroLED displays require encapsulation to provide essential protection from environmental factors, offer mechanical support, and ensure long-term reliability and performance. The typical encapsulation method is

Samsung Display showed a lot of innovations around their OLED technologies, but only one microLED demo. This was a stretchable display designed for automotive or

There were multiple microLED demos on display in the AUO booth, but I believe they were all shown at previous trade shows. Display Week 2026

At last year’s Display Week, Visionox showed a 88-inch 4K microLED videowall prototype. For 2026, they showed a 135-inch microLED videowall display with 4K resolution.

The company showed a 14.3-inch Panoramic Head-up Display (PHUD) using microLED technology. It offered a resolution of 1700 x 650 with luminance of 100K/130K (Typ./Max)

BOE showed several microLED-based products in its booth. First a large 240-inch videowall welcomed visitors to their booth. Called a Blue Whale display, it is

Tianma showed a number of microLED products, almost all focused on the automotive market. The most striking demonstration was a microLED head-up display imager running

PlayNitride showed several microLED-based displays and demos at DisplayWeek 2026. First was the Garmin microLED watch with 3000 nits and compared it to an OLED-based

Polar Light Technologies is a spin out from Linkoping University in Sweden. They are developing bottom up nanoLEDs in a pyramidal shape. In their process,

Like Aledia, NS Nanotech is developing nanowires. CEO Seth Coe-Sullivan noted that being able to grow red, green and blue nanowires in a single epitaxy

Aledia is the best funded company (200M Euro) developing 3D nanowire or nanoLEDs with a new 8-inch GaN-on-Silicon fab operational since September 2025 in France.

Hexagem is a company that has its roots in Lund University and IP developed for a company called Glo. Nanosys acquired Glo in 2021 and

PlayNitride says they have a strong focus on developing microLED displays for the AR glasses market. At Display Week, they showed a 0.18-inch full-color panel

Hongshi Intelligent Tech used Display Week 2026 to launch their new full-color microLED panel called Silk-Light. They use an 8-inch mass production line located in

Raysolve Optoelectronics was spun out of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is developing monolithic microLED displays. Their approach to full color

Innovision showed off three different microLED device ranges along with their associated projection engine modules at Display Week 2026. The Chimo M13 is a 0.13-inch
Tianma showed a vast array of display technologies at Display Week 2026 with a big focus on automotive applications. They are already a dominant global

A session at this year’s Display Week Business Conference made clear that microLED is no longer a technology talked about only in research labs —