At the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games this February, the glittering 3-ton, 19-meter-long, 8.75-meter-high and 35-centimeter-thick Olympic rings amazed audiences around the world.

Shenzhen-based Ledman Optoelectronic Co. Ltd. is the maker of the crystal ice and snow rings that are composed of special-shaped LED (Light Emitting Diode) displays.

Since its establishment in 2004, Ledman has been devoted to becoming a leader in the LED industry.

Martin Lee, president of Ledman, introduced the naming of the company during a recent media tour. 

“‘Led’ represents the company’s industry and the whole name presents our goal, which is to be a leader in the LED industry,” Lee said.

Visiting the showroom of Ledman’s headquarters in Nanshan District, reporters saw a series of Ledman’s giant display products. 

Among them, the most eye-catching one is probably the 163-inch (414.02 centimeters) 8K Micro LED display embedded in a wall.

The giant display can not only play 8K videos, but also display photos to serve as decorations for different events.

The display, with the 8K resolution, used over 100 LED technologies independently developed by the company. More importantly, it can be assembled at home, which helps solve the difficulty of transporting super large displays above 100 inches to homes, according to Lee.

In Lee’s eyes, the product’s launch on one hand is a company milestone, and on the other can help boost Chinese companies’ confidence to lead the world’s LED industry. 

One key secret enabling Ledman to achieve a leading place in the LED industry after many years of efforts is the latest innovation in COB technology. 

COB stands for Chip on Board, and it is an assembly method that involves directly mounting an array of diodes on a single substrate or printed circuit board. To put it simply, COB technology can make pixel particles smaller and improve images’ look. 

Ledman started COB-related research since 2014 and now has its own advantages in the field of Micro LED display based on COB technology. The fact that around 70% of the supply chains in LED industry are based in China also offers a great deal of advantages for the company’s development, according to Lee.

“The global LED industry chain is mainly concentrated in China. Therefore, foreign customers mostly buy LED products from Chinese companies. This enabled some of the technologies from the country’s top LED companies to be the best worldwide,” Lee said.

At present, over 50% of Ledman’s products are sold overseas.

“Our strength lies in giant displays above 100 inches. We will strive to bring down the production costs to make it more available for families with a need of greater and clearer visual experience,” Lee said. 

Another sector where the company aims to expand its market shares in future is the large and medium-sized meeting system. An LED display is more liable and shows clearer images than projectors that are widely used in most scenarios at present, according to Lee.

When speaking of sustainable development, Lee emphasized the importance of technologies, innovation and talents. Ledman now boasts more than 300 independent patents.

“Though most of my work now focuses on the company’s management, I attend meetings organized by our technology department every week. Shenzhen is a city of innovation with a good business environment. In the LED industry, Shenzhen’s supporting capacity is strong as it gathers most companies in the industry,” Lee said.

Ultra-high-definition video display is one of the 20 strategic emerging industrial clusters that Shenzhen highlighted in its guidelines on developing strategic emerging industrial clusters and fostering future industries issued recently.

Shenzhen will support the research and development of new generation display technologies and products such as Micro LED, and create an industrial cluster with a revenue of 450-billion-yuan (US$66.23 billion), according to an action plan on developing the ultra-high-definition video display industry (2022-2025).