The Future of LED Display: Cinemas, Virtual Studios, and Beyond

In 2024, LED display industry has showed positive signs with the first introduction of LED

virtual production technology at Chinese Spring Festival Gala, the debut of the world' s first

acoustically transparent LED cinema screen, and the first entry of Olympic event broadcast in

Chinese cinema. This, to some extent, reflects the thriving trend of LED display in emerging

markets, despite the overall lackluster global economy. Truth be told, what is the actual

market situation?

LED Display Sector Expected to Embrace a Brilliant Future

On the demand side, according to TrendForce, while China' s domestic demand recovery has

fallen short of expectations, overseas market demand still shows an upward trend, particularly

in regions like Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where LED display industry is still in its early

stage. Against this backdrop, the overall demand for LED display has been on the rise over the past two years.

On the application side, the potential of emerging applications such as LED virtual production, LED cinema screen, and LED All-in-One display is highly recognized. Although growth has slowed down in 2023, these markets are still greeted by high market enthusiasm, and have seen market size gradually expand.

TrendForce predicts that shipment of LED All-in-One display will exceed 6,000 units in 2024,

compared to about 4,000 units in the past two years.

With respect to LED cinema, TrendForce estimates that the global installed base of LED cinema

screen will reach 160 units this year. Given that the total market size of global high-end LED

cinema screen is 3o,oo0 units, while the current penetration rate is only about 0.5%, there is

still significant room for the development of LED display technology in this market. Moreover,

cinemas are becoming more proactive in adopting LED screens.

In China, approximately 40 LED cinema halls were opened as of July 2024, among which 19

halls were newly added in 2024.

As to LED virtual production, the total number of LED virtual production studios in China has

reached 41 to date, with 10 new studios added this year.

Currently, China has attached more importance to the development of both LED virtual

production and LED cinema screen industries by launching related supporting policies, which

further boosts the confidence of the industry chain and signals a promising market outlook.

On the supply side, LED display manufacturers continue to leverage innovative technologies to drive growth in emerging markets, deploying diversified packaging technologies for various application scenarios. Among them, CoB (Chip on Board) display has enjoyed rapid growth and

MiP (Mini/Micro LED in Package) LED display seen increasing demand in recent years, which

enable LED display to open up more application markets.

Overall, TrendForce remains sanguine about the prospect for LED display industry. It estimates that the demands for LED display in both Chinese and international markets are projected to trend upward, fueled by fine pitch and Mini LED displays. According to TrendForce' s 2024 Global LED Video Wall Market Analysis Report, the market size of LED video wall is expected to grow to USD 10.7 billion in 2027.