SND Display Selected for First Phase of Ministry's 'Deep Tech Challenge'

"Vision Foundry" Project Launched

Building a Next-Generation Microdisplay Commercialization Platform

Based on Perovskite Technology

On June 25, technology startup SND Display announced that its "Vision Foundry" project, which it leads, has been selected as a first-phase preliminary research project for the "2026 Deep Tech Challenge Project (DCP) Ecosystem Innovation Model" under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Based on this selection, the Vision Foundry consortium is expected to further specify its technological achievements, commercialization potential, and ecosystem-building strategies, and to accelerate its efforts to target the next-generation display market.

The "Vision Foundry" project is led by SND Display, with Professor Lee Taewoo of Seoul National University serving as the consortium head. Participating members include small and medium-sized companies such as Aurum Material, Toprun Material Solution, and Alpha Plus, as well as researchers from Seoul National University, Korea University, and KAIST. In addition, Samsung Display, a major conglomerate, is involved in the project, forming an industry-academia-research collaboration system.

SND Display officials are taking photos at the launch ceremony of the DCP Ecosystem Innovation Preliminary Research. Photo by SND Display

The target market for the consortium is the microdisplay sector for AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and XR (Extended Reality) applications. Current OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) microdisplays suffer from significant optical loss due to their structure, and face challenges in overcoming increased power consumption, heat generation, and limited lifespan that come with ultra-high resolution. Furthermore, the industry is structurally vulnerable due to its reliance on core light-emitting materials and fundamental patents held overseas—a longstanding issue for the domestic display sector.

To address these challenges, the consortium has brought "perovskite" emitters to the forefront. Perovskite offers extremely high color purity compared to existing organic light-emitting materials and allows precise design of emission wavelengths, making it optimal for implementing ultra-fine pixels. Vision Foundry plans to implement perovskite’s high color purity and high efficiency characteristics in ultra-high-resolution microdisplays through a hybrid approach that considers compatibility with existing display manufacturing infrastructure.

This selection represents the stage prior to the final research and development (R&D) project selection. A key differentiator is that perovskite will be developed as a "vacuum deposition type" material, rather than by solution processing. A representative from SND Display explained, "By applying this approach, it will be possible to utilize the existing OLED vacuum deposition equipment infrastructure already in place at major display companies. This eliminates the risk of building entirely new production lines and significantly reduces initial capital investment costs."

The ultimate goal is to realize ultra-high-resolution, full-color microdisplays, and to build an integrated commercialization platform that connects materials, equipment, and processes all the way through panel validation. Through this project, SND Display aims to link its core fundamental patents to tangible industrial competitiveness, and further, to transform the industry paradigm by supplying materials and technology overseas and collecting royalties, moving toward a high value-added industry structure.

Lee Taewoo, CEO of SND Display, stated, "Vision Foundry is a meaningful project that adds perovskite fundamental material technology and patent competitiveness to Korea’s world-leading panel manufacturing capabilities developed during the LCD and OLED eras. By connecting domestic startup technologies to actual products and the supply chains of large corporations, we will firmly secure global leadership in the next-generation display market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.