Quantumdot manufacturer expects first QLED TVs in three years

According to the CEO of Nanosys, the main manufacturer of quantum dots, the first QLED TVs will arrive within three to five years. Samsung in particular would focus on the new technology for TVs. Samsung would have stopped developing LCD any longer.

Nanosys is the market leader in quantum dot techniques. “We are currently working on quantum dot material that will be used in QLED. QLED TVs with quantum dot technology will appear in three to five years,” Jason Hartlove, CEO of Nanosys, told Business Korea. According to the site, Samsung could even release a QLED TV in two years, without however mentioning sources. The site also claims that Samsung research & development at LCD has stopped.

Samsung has previously made it clear that it focuses on quantum dots in terms of technology for TVs and sees no future in OLED. The big question, however, is whether the manufacturer will then combine quantum dots with LCD, with all the associated drawbacks with backlights, or with OLED. Current quantum dot TVs are still LCDs with traditional backlights that are provided with a film layer with nanocrystals. Televisions with quantum dots use blue LEDs in the backlight where red and green light are generated by converting part of the blue light using the quantum dot film. The crystals thus provide a wider color range and a higher light output. Because of the latter, the technology is important for HDR playback, for example.

With future QLED TVs, the quantum dots must be combined directly with the LEDs. The advantages of a large color gamut and brightness must then be combined with lower consumption and cheap production methods. However, the lifespan is still limited. Much is still unclear about the technology. TVs are either an array of individually controllable LEDs, a technology that is still far too expensive for consumer TVs, or LCDs with backlight with the only advantage of integrating quantum dots in the LEDs, or OLEDs. . Samsung says nothing about this. In any case, according to LG, OLED will remain the dominant technology for premium TVs for the next ten years. “Companies looking to commercialize QLED TVs haven’t even unveiled a prototype yet,” the company told the Korea Herald.