ISLE 2026 exhibition observation: 8 major trends in LED display development

The annual LED display event International Smart Display and System Integration Exhibition (ISLE 2026) came to an end recently. At this exhibition, many domestic LED display, packaging and system integration companies were present to showcase their latest LED display application solutions to global merchants. Exhibitors cover the entire industry chain from upstream chips and packaging to downstream displays and control systems.

ISLE 2026 is not only a centralized launch of new products, but also an in-depth portrayal of the technological evolution and market demand changes in the LED display industry. Among the popular solutions brought by a number of companies, LEDinside has observed that the industry is continuing to make great strides towards the highest-end LED display technology and smart interaction. Combined with on-site visits to the exhibition site, LEDinside summarized the development trends of the eight major LED display industries presented at the ISLE 2026 exhibition.

Trend 1: MiP and COB technologies are developing simultaneously, and the trend of modularization is obvious

At this exhibition, MiP and COB technology have become the core technology routes displayed by various companies such as Nationstar Optoelectronics, Kinglight Crystal Platform, Leyard, Absen, Unilumin Technology, Ledman Optoelectronics, Hongli Display, Dahua Technology, etc., but the market positioning and industrial division of labor of the two are showing new changes.

Both MiP and COB technologies have shown a trend of continuous development while competing fiercely. The market positioning of the two has been differentiated: MiP technology currently focuses on higher-end professional application scenarios with its excellent display consistency and flexible splicing; while COB technology, driven by large-scale mass production, is accelerating its entry into the mid-range market to strive for a larger market share.

No matter what technical route is adopted, modularization has become a common development trend for the upstream and downstream industries. On the MiP product side, Nationstar Optoelectronics launched the large-size MiP AS panel at the exhibition, and Aimaipu demonstrated the Micro-MiP panel solution. Packaging companies are increasing the promotion of MiP large module products to better serve downstream LED display brand manufacturers.

Nationstar Optoelectronics large-size MiP AS panel large screen

Micro-MiP panel solution

In terms of COB technology, with the cross-border expansion of LCD panel manufacturers in 2025, the industrial division of labor between LED display manufacturers and brand manufacturers has become clearer. At this exhibition, manufacturers such as Hongli Display and Altai also continued to vigorously promote standardized COB module solutions.

For most LED display brand manufacturers, they are currently deploying dual technology routes of MiP and COB. In the future, their business focus will be fully focused on terminal market development and scenario-based customer service, while the underlying heavy-asset manufacturing links will gradually be transferred to upstream packaging or module manufacturers.

Trend 2: Glass-based LED display technology continues to evolve, presenting the ultimate visual experience

Glass-based (COG) LED display technology also continues to evolve, bringing a feast of the ultimate visual experience to the audience.

The manufacturers exhibiting COG solutions at this exhibition mainly include BOE MLED business, Chenxian Optoelectronics and Ledman Optoelectronics. Among them, BOE's MLED business exhibited an 81-inch 2K COG ultra-thin display and a 205-inch COG LED giant screen display;

BOE's MLED business displayed a 205-inch COG Micro LED giant screen display

Chenxian Optoelectronics brought the world's first 270-inch 8K TFT-based Micro-LED display; Ledman Optoelectronics was the first to develop a 135-inch 4K COG LED home giant screen wall.

Chenxian Optoelectronics 270-inch 8K TFT-based Micro-LED display

Ledman Optoelectronics 135-inch 4K COG LED home giant curtain wall

Compared with the early COG experimental products, the finished COG products unveiled at this exhibition have shown leaps and bounds in terms of native contrast, color gamut coverage, picture consistency and flatness. However, in the severe industrial environment where MiP and COB technologies continue to compete in cost reduction, the comprehensive manufacturing cost of COG technology is still high. In the short term, COG technology will still mainly anchor the ultra-high-end luxury commercial display and top-level home theater markets.

Trend 3: LED texture screens have attracted much attention, reshaping the aesthetics of commercial and architectural spaces

If in the past LED displays were mainly used as strong visual output carriers of information, then at ISLE 2026, we saw that LED displays are accelerating their transformation into an integral part of architectural space aesthetics. The significant increase in texture screen layout manufacturers has become a dazzling trend in this exhibition.

According to LEDinside’s on-site observation, the number of manufacturers displaying textured screen products at this exhibition has increased sharply, including core companies such as Leyard, Unilumin Technology, Absen, Altai, Chenxian Optoelectronics and Hi-tech Electronics.

Chenxian Optoelectronics 27-inch P0.7 TFT-based Micro-LED textured screen

The emergence of textured screens solves the pain point problem of traditional LED displays that remain pure black when the screen is turned off, which is incompatible with high-end interior decoration styles. By precisely customizing various realistic textures such as wood grain, cement, and marble grain on the screen surface, it can be seamlessly integrated with the surrounding walls, columns and other architectural environments, greatly improving the overall aesthetics of the space.

Unilumin Technology LED Textured Display

Leyard Fantasy Series 0.9 Textured Screen

Hongli Display Hongjing Series COB-P1.25 Textured Screen

Altai COB Art Textured Screen

The texture screen, which combines the ultimate functions of decorative texture and dynamic display, has greatly expanded the application scenarios of LED display screens, making it very suitable for luxury hotel lobbies, corporate front desks, indoor art corridors and other places with extremely high spatial aesthetic requirements.

Trend 4: The popularity of holographic screens and transparent screens is rising, leading a new trend in visual interaction

In the three-dimensional evolution of visual presentation dimensions, the popularity of holographic and transparent display products has been unprecedentedly increased at this exhibition, gradually replacing the same traditional naked-eye 3D large screens and becoming the traffic responsibility of each booth.

Unilumin Technology MiP holographic invisible screen Udesign SV

Xi'an Qingsong QM41 series holographic invisible screen

Chenxian Optoelectronics P3.9 holographic transparent screen

Chenxian Optoelectronics 19-inch P0.4 TFT-based Micro-LED transparent screen

The explosion of transparent and holographic technology is essentially a concrete expression of the pursuit of three-dimensional visual experience and spatial transparency in the fields of high-end commercial retail, top-level stage choreography, and exhibition displays.

Compared with traditional naked-eye 3D large screens that require specific viewing angles and huge corner physical structures, holographic invisible screens can not only be perfectly integrated into the glass curtain walls of modern buildings, but can also provide floating interactive images with a strong sense of future technology without blocking natural lighting and indoor sight lines. The emergence of holographic screens and transparent screens marks that commercial displays are upgrading in a more advanced, harmonious and creative direction.

Trend 5: The concept of cold screen has been comprehensively deepened, and green and low carbon have become the new industry consensus

As the pixel density of LED displays has doubled, the power consumption and heating issues of ultra-high-definition large screens have increasingly become bottlenecks that restrict their entry into relatively confined spaces. Therefore, the cold screen concept has been comprehensively deepened at this ISLE exhibition, and green and low-carbon operation has become an irreversible new consensus in the entire industry.

Absen EX136 new generation high-performance all-in-one machine

Absen outdoor advertising AW Pro series

Ledman Cold Screen Master QS0.9

Leyard's new generation MG-2COB cold screen

The company has carried out comprehensive system-level energy efficiency optimization from the design of full flip-chip and common cathode drive circuits on the semiconductor bottom layer to the dynamic energy-saving algorithm on the system control end and the design of more efficient packaging heat dissipation structures. Under the macro background of global carbon neutrality, energy-saving cold screens not only effectively reduce end customers' operating electricity expenses over the years, but are also the core technical weapon for LED display companies to practice the concept of sustainable development and overcome the entry barriers to the international high-end market.

Trend 6: Deep integration of AI and LED display, from concept to scene implementation

The wave of AI artificial intelligence is reshaping the underlying logic of all walks of life at an unprecedented speed, and the LED display industry is no exception. In this exhibition, we can clearly see that the in-depth integration of AI and LED has obviously moved from paper concept discussions in the past to substantial scene-based functional implementation.

Unilumin Technology, Leyard, Inspur Intelligent, Absen, Colorlight, Nova Technology, Uniview Technology and other companies have launched products and technical solutions that deeply integrate AI and LED display technology.

Inspur Intelligent "Ice and Snow Secret Realm" Immersive AI Digital Experience Hall

Unilumin Technology IN·BOX Smart Space System

Colorlight full-stack AI display and control products

The in-depth intervention of AI technology is completely subverting the traditional positioning of LED displays as just passive image output terminals. On the front end, the content creation and interaction methods empowered by AI large models have greatly enriched the display forms of the screen; on the back-end display control system and operation and maintenance management, control system giants such as Nova Technology and Colorlight are widely applying AI deep learning algorithms to multimedia broadcast control, automatic image quality compensation and repair, intelligent color correction, and fault prediction throughout the equipment life cycle. AI intelligence is undisputedly becoming the most important commercial value-added point of future LED display products.

Trend 7: Special-shaped creative screens are blooming, breaking the physical boundaries of traditional displays

In addition to invisible textured screens, various strange-shaped creative screens have also attracted attention from the industry and the audience. They are completely breaking the rigid physical boundaries of traditional rectangular displays.

LEDinside observed at the scene that in order to expand more segmented and personalized application scenarios, the LED curved screens and special-shaped screens displayed by manufacturers such as Nationstar Optoelectronics, Leyard, Absen, Shijueguangxu, Haijia Cailiang, Unilumin Technology, Xinyasheng, BOE MLED Business, and Kaistar have gained extremely high popularity at the exhibition site. Special-shaped screen technology can now maturely realize customized displays of extremely small radius curved surfaces, cylinders, spherical surfaces, polyhedrons and even completely irregular shapes, which greatly meets customers' stringent needs for unique three-dimensional visual presentation.

Absen stage performance area special-shaped screen

Nationstar Optoelectronic Crystal Film Screen

Shijueguangxu ultra-thin double-sided screen GeminiLED

Leyard LCH1.2 II Rubik's Cube Screen

BOE MLED business P1.25 COB flexible curved screen

Creative special-shaped screens with increasingly sophisticated craftsmanship are being widely used in the world's top stage performances, landmark advertising displays, large-scale theme parks and immersive cultural and tourism exhibition halls, etc., giving designers and architects of global audio-visual spaces unprecedented creative freedom.

Trend 8: Driven by user experience upgrades, large modularization and minimalist installation have become mainstream

While cutting-edge optoelectronic display technology continues to evolve upwards, first-line manufacturers have also begun to collectively focus downward on the end-user's personal delivery efficiency and actual use experience. The large-size upgrade of display modules and the comprehensive minimalist design of terminal products in physical splicing, cable installation, and subsequent maintenance have become the core path to improve the entire user experience at this exhibition.

In terms of large-scale optimization of module size, companies such as Unilumin Technology, Hongli Display, Zhaochi Crystal Display, and Nationstar Optoelectronics have launched large-size display module products.

Nationstar Optoelectronics MIP AS surface template

Hongli Display Hongyi Series

In terms of the minimalist underlying design for system installation and maintenance, DeKrypton MicroPort's self-developed millimeter wave wireless connection solution was unveiled. Its wireless three-in-one board deeply integrates wireless high-speed data communication, video reception functions and system power supply into a single board form;

DeKrypton Micro's self-developed millimeter wave wireless connection solution

Chitron North has launched a revolutionary 4KMiP display control system based on the Tcon solution, which simplifies the original complex sending card and multi-network cabling architecture into a single HDMI input interface, achieving plug-and-play and convenient installation for mass consumers. For the rental and mobile commercial display markets, Lingcan Technology's new generation light rental solution supports 180° folding transportation and plug-in display;

Lingcan Technology's new generation light rental display solution

Xida Electronics has launched a 135-inch 2K COB all-in-one machine that supports fully automatic electric folding from 0 to 155°. It can be used with a dedicated flight case to achieve extremely flexible unfolding and use, storage and taking away.

Xida Electronics 135-inch 2K COB folding all-in-one machine

Continuously lowering the access threshold for non-professional end-users and comprehensive life-cycle maintenance costs has become the core decisive point for various brands to expand their market base in the fierce red ocean.

Conclusion

Through the ISLE 2026 exhibition, we can gain insight into the fact that LED display technology and the global application market are ushering in a new changing pattern of epoch-making significance.

The competition between advanced miniaturized process technologies such as MiP and COB continues to intensify, and the upstream and downstream division of labor in the industrial chain is increasingly evolving towards scale and camp formation; high-end glass-based technology solutions at the top of the pyramid are also striving to break through the bottlenecks of yield and cost, in order to demonstrate ultimate visual dominance in large-scale commercial applications. In the dimension of terminal application dimensionality reduction, such as artistic texture screens, transparent holographic suspension screens, special-shaped creative screens and minimalist smart all-in-one machines, they have become a key focus for the majority of LED display companies to break out of involution and expand high value-added commercial development space.

Entering 2026, the global LED display industry is about to open a new and more magnificent industry chapter. As competition in technical parameters shifts to a new era of three-dimensional comprehensive competition with micro-pitch shrinkage technology as a solid foundation, in-depth scenario-based needs from all walks of life as a concrete carrier, and AI artificial intelligence ecology as the core value-added point, what disruptive new opportunities and supply chain reshuffle challenges will the entire display industry face?

TrendForce plans to hold the 2026 New Display Industry Seminar (DTS 2026) from April 22 to 23. At the special high-level meeting on MLED new displays on April 22, senior experts from upstream core chips, midstream packaging manufacturing and terminal LED display brands will work with top industry analysts to deeply analyze the latest development trends and future prospects of the LED display industry. The content is cutting-edge and rich, so industry colleagues are welcome to look forward to it. (Text: LEDinside Irving)