MATIX AlfaCOB & AlfaMIP: los secretos de la nueva tecnología de Alfalite destinada a revolucionar el mercado broadcast

Luis Garrido, executive director of Alfalite, reveals the keys that make MATIX the most advanced European-made LED technology for television studios, control rooms, rental or VP XR environments.

More than a year of development. Unpublished collaborations with institutions such as the University of Seville or the University of Huelva. An approach to LED technology not only from a mechanical or electronic perspective, but also from a chemical one. The ORIM experience (Optical Resin Injection Module) applied to the new challenges and demands of the industry. The development of MATIX, Alfalite's latest initiative in the global LED technology ecosystem, has been kept strictly secret from the industry. But it is already underway.

Taking all the advantages of LED panels chip on board and improving all the specifications and particularities of ORIM, the Huelva-based company has developed a solution with “unique electronic and mechanical features”, in the words of Jesús Cabrera, CEO of Alfalite, which materializes in two large ranges: Neopix, bet on broadcast, rental and VP XR, and UHD Finepix, intended for control rooms, broadcast, entertainment and corporate environments.

Luis Garrido provides all the intra-history and particularities of a technology destined to establish itself as Spanish reference, just as their previous product ranges have done, and to storm the world market with big projects.

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The strategy: from ORIM to MATIX

With the ORIM panels standardized in some of the television stations, production companies and companies of rental most relevant in the country, Alfalite set out to embark on a path of evolution of this LED technology. The result has ended up being MATIX, which takes its name from the concept “mate”, evidencing some anti-glare capabilities unprecedented in the market.

The evolution from ORIM to MATIX has been largely motivated by the technology market transition from construction technology SMD (Surface-Mounted Device) a COB (Chip-On Board), which provides operational benefits, efficiency, assembly and visual characteristics. To carry it out, Alfalite transferred the protection strategy and properties of the ORIM layer and has transferred it to the new series of MATIX panels: Neopix y UHD Finepix.

Against ORIM, MATIX incorporates a new layer that avoids all unwanted reflections – imagine the lighting of a set-, and improves the visual characteristics of the COB technology so that the user does not have to limit himself in terms of brightness or colorimetry.

We are facing a particular secret formula which, despite the industry's attempts, has not yet been unraveled. In the words of Garrido: “For five years we have achieved that no other competing manufacturer can plagiarize us. It must be said openly and clearly. They have not been able to copy the properties and singularities of the ORIM multilayer. The furthest the market has come is to put a single layer of resin: GOB. And the only thing it does is protect the component.”

Compared to ORIM, MATIX incorporates a new layer that avoids all unwanted reflections – imagine the lighting of a set-, and improves the visual characteristics of the COB technology so that the user does not have to limit himself in terms of brightness or colorimetry: "Any other COB reduces these factors. In MATIX it does not apply. In addition, it offers particularities such as the entire part of ultra blacks, con un contraste de negros superpuros, un ángulo de visión ampliado hasta 175º horizontal y verticalmente, parámetros de protección contra electricidad estática ESD > 10kV, mayor disipación térmica, mejor uniformidad cromática y lumínica, y menor degradación con el paso del tiempo”.

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Nepix: unprecedented shine and great color coverage

The star product of the MATIX range is Neopix, a panel aimed at broadcast, VP XR y rental Available in five different pixel pitch: 1.5 mm, 1.9 mm, 2.6 mm, 2.9HB mm and 3.9HB mm. This development reaches 1900 cd/m2 nits (interior) y 5000 cd/m2 nits (exterior), with a contrast of 20,000:1, and WCG 99% DCI P3 and 87% REC.2020, is far ahead of the rest of the competitors on the market, Garrido assures: “There is no other manufacturer that is contributing 1900 nits for this type of panels with the level of colorimetry that we reach.”

Aside from the characteristics of the panels themselves, Nepix MATIX AlfaCOB stands out for being the first panel marketed with 50×50 cm panels and 25 x 25 cm modules. This decision is not trivial: as it is built with four modules per panel, two key advantages of great importance in terms of operability are achieved. This is how the executive director of Alfalite explains it: “First, you need fewer components at the time of assembly. On the other hand, it provides greater precision in the mechanical part. In addition, we are using components that are not used in the rest of the manufacturer thanks to a very powerful agreement with a company that manufactures LED diodes. South Korea which provides unmatched performance, being assembled, of course, in our factory in Huelva.”

This care in the design mechanical and electronic of Neopix MATIX AlfaCOB allows directors of filmmaking or photography to achieve in virtual production contexts XR a higher visual fidelity in the creation of their audiovisual works.

This care in the mechanical and electronic design of Nepix MATIX AlfaCOB allows directors of filmmaking or photography to achieve in XR virtual production contexts a higher visual fidelity in the creation of their audiovisual works, allowing them to not be so limited by the state of the art. Likewise, in order to maintain maximum reliability in critical environments, such as a news set or a VP studio, the panels arrive prepared to operate with two power supplies, as well as two receiving cards for management and control: “We continue to maintain the same strategy as with Litepix and ModularPix Pro. Through four terminals and without cables from the power supplies to the hub, we can obtain an absolute level of availability.”

The sustainability It is another key for these devices: Neopix continues to provide the lowest maximum and average consumption on the market. "It is impossible to find a panel that in average consumption drops below 50 or 55 watts. Our panel gives 35," remarks Garrido, who considers that all these advances respond to Alfalite's ambition to continue taking care of each and every one of its projects: "In the market, the rest of the competitors are focused on reducing costs and increasing manufacturing volumes, to the detriment of quality. We continue to be a manufacturer boutique"What matters to us is to convey to our clients the added value of quality and reliability and all the facilities so that they can achieve their objectives through our panels."

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UHD Finepix: 16:9, quality-price and fight against visual fatigue

Together with Neopix, Alfalite has also presented the keys to UHD Finepix, a new Ultra HD panel for critical missions in broadcast environments, corporate, control and entertainment rooms. They are made with MATIX AlfaCOB (Chip on Board design by Alfalite) or MATIX AlphaMIP (MicroLED in package design by Alfalite) for mounting on MicroLED and available with five different pixel pitches (0.6mm, 0.9mm, 1.2mm, 1.5mm, and 1.8mm). All this, with a quality-price that “is competing with higher features and prices similar or even lower than manufacturers like Samsung or LG.”

Users who decide to bet on the range UHD Finepix For high-demand environments such as control rooms, you will benefit from one of the key benefits of the technology MATIX: the ability to design more efficiently the components that generate visual fatigue in blue tones.

For these panels, the Spanish company has decided to go for a panel with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (600 x 377.5 mm), given the main requirements of the industry, and has achieved a new milestone: being the “only panel on the market that, once calibrated, reaches 1500 nits". Just as it shares features with Neopix, such as its dual redundant source or dual receiving card, it also presents a wide "mechanical versatility” to speed up assembly and disassembly.

Additionally, users who decide to opt for the UHD Finepix range for highly demanding environments such as control rooms, will benefit from one of the key benefits of MATIX technology: the ability to design more efficiently. the components that generate visual fatigue in blue tones, without the need to compromise colorimetry, in addition to purer blacks with contrast up to 25,000:1.

An additional key is your repair time "shortest on the market": "We do all repairs in our own factory with an industrial process designed and developed by ourselves. We have augmented reality systems to detect which component is failing and we can thus repair the module in a matter of minutes," explains Garrido.

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Countdown to the arrival of MATIX on the market

MATIX was presented for the world premiere at the Partner Meeting 2024 de Alfalite, an event in which nearly ninety brand partners from all over the world, including distributors, integrators, rental companies and technological collaborators, were able to discover first-hand an LED solution ready to change the paradigms of the broadcast and ProAV markets.

“We have made multiple iterations, tests and prototypes. We have “burst” the panels with all kinds of stress tests to get the most out of their characteristics. But the technology is already ready. Our own brutal self-demand It has meant that we have managed to finish a product that satisfies us. And, for that reason, we know perfectly well that it will satisfy the market,” says Garrido, who has confirmed that the mass manufacturing process has begun and, even, they are already integrating the first technologies: “We have just finished setting up a giant control room for the Government of Oman with UHD Finepix MATIX AlfaCOB, and we are finishing manufacturing a screen that will be installed in a broadcast environment with Nepix MATIX AlfaCOB.”

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One more thing…

The grand premiere of MATIX to the general public will come from February 4 to 7 in ISE 2025, an unmissable event for the ProAV industry in which Alfalite will present this technology in society... as well as other important innovations that will complement its commitment to markets VP XR, specifically a ceiling screen that will revolutionize the market again and will give a lot to talk about among professionals in the sector.