Equipped with Micro LED/OLED, Thunderbird innovatively releases a variety of AR glasses

The combined application of AR glasses and Micro LED technology has become a hot topic in the LED industry in recent years. Thanks to the increasing sophistication of Micro LED technology and the trust of terminal brand companies, the commercialization of Micro LED near-eye display technology is accelerating, moving from monochrome display to a new stage of full-color display.

On the other hand, the development of Micro OLED technology in AR glasses cannot be underestimated. Although it has inherent limitations in brightness, compared with Micro LED technology, it developed earlier and has a higher technological maturity. In the future, whether these two near-display technologies will coexist or replace each other, the choice of terminal AR glasses companies may give us some answers.

On the evening of May 27, Thunderbird Innovation held a new AR glasses product launch conference, releasing the latest smart glasses products such as the annual flagship AR glasses Thunderbird X3 Pro and the new generation pocket TV Thunderbird Air 3s series. Faced with different segmented application scenarios, Thunderbird Innovation has applied Micro LED and Micro LED to Thunderbird X3 Pro and Thunderbird Air 3s respectively. OLED technology.

Thunderbird X3 Pro is equipped with binocular full-color Micro LED + nanophotolithography optical waveguide

As Thunderbird’s innovative annual flagship AR glasses product, Thunderbird X3 Pro has improved in visual image quality, AI experience, scene applications, human-computer interaction, spatial perception, lightweight design and other aspects.

Image source: JBD

Especially in terms of visual quality, Thunderbird X3 Pro adopts a binocular full-color Micro LED + nano-etched optical waveguide technology solution, applying the self-developed world's smallest 0.36cc mass-produced full-color X-cube Micro LED light engine and nano-photoetched RayNeo optical waveguide technology.

The light engine part has built-in 6 customized high-performance RGB Micro LED micro-displays provided by JBD, which can achieve 16.77 million color full-color display, an average brightness of 3500nits and a peak brightness of 6000nits. The image content in the optical waveguide can also be clearly viewed in outdoor strong light environments. Combined with the JBD ARTCs image quality engine, the display quality of Thunderbird X3 Pro is further improved.

Image source: JBD

The nanophotolithography RayNeo optical waveguide technology was jointly developed by Thunderbird X3 Pro and Applied Materials. It is reported that compared with the traditional nanoimprinting process, the optical waveguide developed by the nanolithography etching process can increase the optical efficiency by 50%. At the same time, the weight and thickness of the optical waveguide device can be reduced, and the rainbow pattern phenomenon can be better suppressed, improving the final eye-catching display effect.

At the same time, Thunderbird X3 Pro also adds a new secondary pupil expansion technology, which can achieve a transparent display effect equivalent to a 43-inch screen through precise light path control.

With the support of the latest near-eye display technology solutions, Thunderbird X3 Pro can display more AI functions. By carrying a customized multi-modal AI large model to support visual Live AI interaction, and the spatial perception capabilities of the dual-camera system, Thunderbird X3 Pro can realize object recognition, AR real-scene navigation, real-time translation and other functions. These AI information can be clearly displayed on the glasses.

Thunderbird X3 Pro also has a built-in Android virtual machine. It has automatic rendering, resolution adaptation and display optimization to further improve the display effect and give full play to the capabilities of Thunderbird X3 Pro's latest eye-catching display system.

In addition, while the display technology has been improved, the weight of Thunderbird X3 Pro has not been significantly affected. By adopting an integrated body design, the overall weight of the glasses is only 76g. Currently, Thunderbird X3 Pro has started pre-sale. The standard version is priced at 8,999 yuan, and the national subsidy price is 7,649.15 yuan; the fully fitted myopia version is priced at 10,999 yuan, and the national subsidy price is 9,349.15 yuan.

The Thunderbird Air 3s series is equipped with Micro OLED, using Apple’s homologous double-layer OLED technology

In addition to the flagship product Thunderbird X3 Pro, Thunderbird Innovation also released the Thunderbird Air 3s series of AR glasses Thunderbird Air 3s and Air 3s Pro, which are priced at 1,499 yuan and 1,599 yuan respectively, which is much cheaper than the Thunderbird X3 Pro.

Judging from the promotional content, the main application scenarios of this series of glasses are mainly indoors, and they are compatible with 1000+ device connections. The glasses are sold with an HDMI adapter with independent power supply function, making it convenient for users to connect AR glasses to various host devices.

Thunderbird Air 3s series (Picture source: Thunderbird Innovation)

In terms of near-eye display technology, the Air 3s series all use Peacock Optical Engine 2.0 and are equipped with Micro OLED+Birdbath near-eye display technology solution.

The screen part adopts the 5.5th generation Micro OLED lens provided by Shiya Technology. It adopts the same double-layer OLED technology as Apple iPad Pro. The highest resolution can reach 4K, the highest refresh rate can reach 120Hz, the contrast ratio reaches 200,000:1, covering 145% sRGB, and 16.7 million color display.

Peacock Optical Engine 2.0 (Photo source: Thunderbird Innovation)

By combining BirdBath optical technology, the Air 3s series has 1200nits eye brightness and 20 levels of brightness adjustment, which can achieve the equivalent display effect of a 135-inch screen 4 meters away.

Micro LED, Micro OLED technology, replacement or coexistence?

Judging from the new innovative products of Thunderbird, Thunderbird Innovation has a relatively clear idea for the application of Micro LED and Micro OLED technology. Thunderbird X3 Pro is positioned as a higher-end product and needs to face complex application environments such as outdoors. Therefore, Thunderbird innovatively chose Micro LED to avoid the impact of sunlight and other factors on the display effect through its high brightness characteristics, allowing the display to be clearly communicated.

The Air 3s series of AR glasses products that pursue a higher-quality display experience will use Micro OLED technology, which has a better display effect.

Thunderbird Innovation’s choice of near-eye display technology may also be the current mainstream strategy for the application of near-eye display technology in the AR glasses industry. Judging from the Micro LED AR glasses products compiled by LEDinside, most of these products focus on outdoor scenes. For example, Thunderbird X3 Pro, Thunderbird X2 Lite, Meizu MYVU Discovery, etc. all provide users with text and image content such as translation, navigation, and information reminders, so they pay more attention to information display. Clarity.

Micro OLED can better meet the needs of entertainment-oriented AR glasses products. For example, Thunderbird's Air 3s series, Air 3 series, Air 2s series, as well as AR glasses such as XREAL One, StarV View, and VITURE Pro are all focused on portable entertainment and support the access of multiple devices, allowing users to play games and watch movies. Therefore, these products choose Micro OLED with better display effects.

At present, Micro LED is more suitable for AR glasses that emphasize outdoor high-brightness applications, while Micro OLED is suitable for products that emphasize color display. The two technologies seem to have found their own way to survive in the field of AR glasses, but this situation may change in the future.

With the optimization of Micro LED technology in terms of full color and cost in the future, Micro LED technology may also enter the AR glasses product category with high display requirements, compete with Micro OLED technology, and expand the penetration rate of AR glasses.

According to TrendForce estimates, Micro OLED will account for 53% of the AR device market in 2024. However, since the technology still has certain limitations in terms of brightness and color display, Micro OLED's share of the AR market will gradually shrink with the development of Micro LED technology in the future.

It is estimated that by 2030, Micro OLED’s AR market share will decline to 22%, while Mi The market share of cro LED (LEDoS) is expected to increase to 67%. (Text: LEDinside Irving)

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