Samsung has taken a big step in 2021 with its new Smart TV Neo QLED, which have thousands of local dimming zones compared to the hundreds that were included in previous models. However, the company is already preparing the next evolution that will allow it to lead the high-end Smart TV market with QD-OLEDs , the first prototype of which will hit the market very soon.
So says SamMobile, where the first Quantum Dot OLED TV will arrive this spring. This technology is not yet available in any commercial device, and the first prototype will be received by Samsung Electronics for its final evaluation in June on whether or not to launch it on the market. This will mean that, if the prototype is approved, the first commercial QD-OLED television could hit the market in the third or fourth quarter of 2021 .
QD-OLED technology will be the best on the market
QD-OLED technology mixes the best of QLED panels with OLED . It is Samsung’s implementation of what we know as MicroLED. In an OLED TV, it is the sub-pixels themselves that turn on and off, being able to display more vivid and realistic colors, but with a somewhat lower brightness level.
In QLEDs, which are an evolution of LCDs, there are two panels. The rear, with the LEDs, regulates its intensity, and the front, a Quantum Dot in this case, filters that light to show the desired color. Advances in QLEDs have been made with the introduction of individual LEDs whose lighting can be controlled, creating small areas of local dimming, or local dimming.
The more dimming areas there are, the better the quality of the final image, as blooming is reduced, which is that white halo that forms if there are dark backgrounds and illuminated elements in the foreground. With QD-OLEDs , you have as many LEDs as there are pixels on the TV, so for practical purposes we have the advantages of brightness and durability of QLEDs, but with the image quality of OLEDs.
Samsung still hasn’t gotten rid of the LCD
Thus, it seems that Samsung is going to comply with the roadmap that they established last year despite the pandemic. Its short-term goal is to end LCD panel production and switch entirely to QLED, but demand exacerbated by the pandemic has temporarily derailed those plans.
The QD-OLED also has to be easily scalable for it to be profitable to make televisions with those panels. Samsung is currently perfecting the manufacturing process and improving the number of usable panels. The Asan factory in South Korea is currently manufacturing about 30,000 panels a month.