SmartKem is a UK-based organic semiconductor materials producer and it has announced its development of Mini LED backlight prototypes for full array local dimming aimed at TV, monitors and signage applications. The company is showcasing its development at Display Week 2020, which is virtually taking place this week.

Organic materials for organic thin-film transistors using SmartKem materials can be used to manufacture active matrix backplanes, driving arrays of thousands of individual Mini LEDs on a substrate, thereby delivering impressive high resolution images with perfect black levels. The ability to locally dim the backlight to only the areas that require it can also help to save energy, making full array local dimming LED TVs more efficient in operation.

"Our Mini LED backlight prototype has caught the attention of the market," said Ian Jenks, Chairman and CEO of SmartKem Ltd. "We have best-in-class OTFT materials, suited for a variety of applications ranging from Electrophoretic, LCD, Micro LED and OLED displays."

SmartKem's approach in developing the organic semiconductor formulations was to design a series of high mobility polycrystalline small molecule(s) that are combined with matched, high permittivity semiconducting oligomer(s). The resultant OTFT devices have industry best performance and can be built using standard production equipment in existing factories.

SmartKem will showcase its technology at the DisplayWeek 2020 symposium and exhibition during August 3 to 7, 2020.