JBD Unveils 2.5-Million-Nit 0.13-Inch Polychrome MicroLED Projector for 2027 Smart Glasses
Jade Bird Display demonstrated a monolithic vertically stacked RGB MicroLED micro-display measuring 0.32cc that achieves 2.5M nits at the source wafer.
⚡ Key Engineering & Supply-Chain Takeaways
- Jade Bird Display (JBD) demonstrated its 0.13-inch Phoenix-II monolithic polychrome RGB MicroLED projector achieving 2.5 million nits at the emitter wafer.
- Optical engine volume shrinks to just 0.32 cubic centimeters (cc) and weighs 0.48 grams, eliminating bulky X-cube prism combiners required by 3-panel RGB engines.
- Delivers >3,500 nits of eye-box brightness through low-efficiency diffractive waveguides, enabling crisp full-color HUD legibility in 100,000-lux direct midday sunlight.
🔬 Technical & Supply-Chain Specification Matrix
| Micro-Display Panel Size | 0.13-Inch Diagonal Active Area (640 x 480 VGA Full-Color RGB) |
|---|---|
| Peak Source Luminance | 2,500,000 nits (Polychrome Vertically Stacked InGaN/AlInGaP) |
| Optical Engine Volume | 0.32 cc (0.48g Total Projector Module Weight) |
| Pixel Pitch | 4.0 Microns Monolithic Backplane on CMOS |
| Average Display Power | 110 mW at 1,500 nits Eye-Box Luminance |
Breaking the 3-Panel X-Cube Bottleneck in Full-Color AR Glasses
For the past three years, smart glasses manufacturers faced a painful optical trade-off: choose a compact 0.15cc monochrome green MicroLED projector (like the Even Realities G2 Air and Meizu StarV Air2) or accept a bulky 0.85cc three-panel R/G/B X-cube prism engine that forces thick, front-heavy eyeglass hinges.
At its Kunshan optoelectronics facility, Jade Bird Display (JBD) unveiled the Phoenix-II 0.13-inch monolithic polychrome MicroLED light engine, achieving a record 2.5 million nits of white-balanced source luminance from a single CMOS backplane without any dichroic X-cube prism.
Vertically Stacked Epitaxy & Quantum-Well Red Efficiency
Historically, monolithic RGB MicroLEDs suffered from severe efficiency droop in sub-5-micron AlInGaP red sub-pixels due to sidewall non-radiative recombination. JBD solved this bottleneck using a proprietary porous GaN strain-relaxed red/green/blue stacked heterostructure bonded directly to a 22nm high-voltage silicon CMOS backplane:
- 4-Micron Pixel Pitch: Delivers 640×480 resolution across a 30-degree diagonal Field of View (FoV) with zero color fringing.
- Sunlight Readability: Even when paired with a thin 1.5mm surface-relief diffractive waveguide (which typically loses 99.8% of source light), a 2.5-million-nit source projector delivers 3,500 to 4,200 nits to the user's eye, guaranteeing high-contrast full-color maps and multimodal visual cards outdoors.
Mass Production & BOM Cost Trajectory
Engineering samples of the 0.32cc Phoenix-II optical engine are shipping now to tier-1 waveguide partners at $68 per binocular pair in 10K-unit volumes, with mass production slated for Hefei Fab Phase 2 in Q1 2027.
🔗 Related AI Hardware in RECIWO Database
All 38 Devices →Even Realities G2 Air Invisible HUD Glasses
Uses pin-hole MicroLED binocular diffractive waveguides concealed inside classic optical frames, providing silent AI teleprompting, live captions, and glanceable navigation.
Halliday Proactive AI Glasses (DigiWindow)
35-gram ultra-light proactive AI frames utilizing a near-eye DigiWindow optical module above the right rim that requires zero waveguide etching inside the prescription lens.
StarV Air2 Waveguide AI Glasses
44-gram monochrome green MicroLED waveguide glasses featuring a tactile rotary encoder wheel on the temple tip for eyes-free teleprompter and audiobook scrolling.
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