OLED displays are made from organic emitter materials - and are gaining in popularity as these next-generation displays offer excellent image quality and novel form factors.
Quantum Dots are tiny particles that have excellent photonic emission properties - and are used widely today in many LCD displays as the QD photoluminescence features enable the conversion of blue LED light to red and green light to create full-color displays that are better than white-backlit LCDs. QD particles can also be used to create emissive displays, in which the QDs themselves emit the light - read more about QD displays here.
QD-OLED - hybrid OLED and QD displays
QD-OLED displays are hybrid displays that use a combinattion of OLED emitters with QD color conversion layers and/or QD emitters.
Samsung QD-OLED
Samsung's QD Displays use blue OLED emitters and quantum-dots that convert the blue light to red and green light. Samsung's so-called QD-OLED displays have been in development for many years. Samsung Display aims to start QD-OLED panel production towards the end of 2021, and Samsung Electronics will reportedly launch the first QD-OLED products in early 2022.
In its first-gen QD-OLED display, Samsung is using a fluorescent blue emitter (will hopefully change to a higher efficiency one in later generations) and ink-jet printed QDs.
TCL H-QLED
In March 2019 it was unveiled that China-based display maker TCL is developing a new hybrid display technology that uses a blue OLED emitter coupled with red and green QD emitters. All three emitter materials will be combined and printed using ink-jet printing technology. TCL calls this technology H-QLED and this could prove to be the technology of choice for TCL's future high-end emissive TV displays. For more information on TCL's H-QLED, click here.
The latest QD OLED news:
DSCC sees 2.4 million OLED monitor panels shipping in 2026, up from 600,000 in 2022
DSCC says that it expects the advanced monitor category to grow 328% in 2022, to reach 3.6 million panels. OLED monitor shipments will jump 641%, to reach 600,000 units. The growth in OLED shipments will continue, but even in 2026, OLEDs will still take a small part of the market segmented, which is dominated by mini-LED LCDs.
In 2022, DSCC sees QD-OLED panels to grab a 27% market share, while WOLEDs have a lead with a 52% market share. In total, OLEDs will have a 15% market share of the advanced monitor market.
Samsung Display to stop making LCD display panels next month
According to reports from Korea, Samsung Display has decided to shut down all of its remaining LCD production line next month (June 2022).
SDC has actually made the decision to quit the LCD market back in 2020, but this decision was reversed as demand for LCD displays increased following the COVID pandemic. In recent months the price of LCD panels have dropped sharply to an all time low.
LG Display could adopt a microLens array in its OLED TV panels to boost brightness and efficiency
Reports from Korea suggest that LG Display is looking into adopting a microLens array in its large OLED TV panel architecture. The microlens layer could boost brightness by up to 20%, which will also increase efficiency (if brightness is kept as before).
MicroLens array structure, University of Michigan
According to the report, the project is at an advanced stage, and panels with the microLens array could be introduced by the end of this year. LGD will apply the technology to its OLED.EX panels, so brightness could reach up to 1,200 nits. LGD considers this technology as it faces competition in large-area OLED production, from Samsung's QD-OLED panels, for the first time.
Samsung Display's managed to increase its QD-OLED production yield to 75%
Samsung Display recently started producing QD-OLED panels (for TV and monitor applications), and according to earlier reports, the production suffered from low yields, estimated at around 30-50% a few months ago.
In a move that is thought to reassure SDC's employees, the company announced on its internal bulletin board that it has managed to increase its QD-OLED production yields to 75%, and it now aims to increase that to 90% or higher.
Samsung aims to reduce the thickness of its future QD-OLED panels by removing the QD glass substrate
According to reports in Korean media, Samsung is developing a new process which will allow it to reduce the thickness of its QD-OLED panels.
The current QD-OLED design uses two glass substrates, one for the TFT backplen (and the OLED frontplane materials), and one for the QD conversion layer. The new plan is to remove the QD glass substrate, and inkjet print the QDs directly on the OLED TFE encapsulation layer.
Do Samsung's new QD-OLED panels suffer from color inaccuracies?
Products with Samsung's QD-OLED panels are now hitting the market, led by Dell's Alienware AW3423DW gaming. A German magazine reviewed the 34" monitor, and discovered an issue with color inaccuracies.
As you can see in the photo, when there's a change from a dark color to a bright color, the display shows green lines that should not be there.
Samsung's QD-OLED panels receive two new SGS certifications for pro gaming and eye care
Samsung Display announced that its QD-OLED displays received two new certifications from SGS - Pro Gaming Verified and Eye Care Display.
SDC says that the QD-Displays received high marks for outstanding image quality and viewing experience for games and high-definition content, while simultaneously reducing eye stress and fatigue. Back in January Samsung's QD-Displays received three SGS certifications for True Color Tones, Pure RGB Luminance and Ultrawide Viewing Angle.
Dell's Alienware 34" QD-OLED monitor is now shipping
Dell's Alienware AW3423DW QD-OLED gaming monitor is now shipping for $1,299. This is the world's first device to sport a QD-OLED panel (produced by Samsung Display).
The Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor sports a curved 34-inch 175Hz 3440x1440 QD-OLED panel, Nvidia G-Sync and DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification.
DigitalTrends: the Sony A95K QD-OLED TV offers the best image quality ever
Earlier this year Sony announced the world's first QD-OLED TV, the A95K. The TV is not shipping yet, but the first reviews are in - and the ones we have seen say that the display quality of Sony's new TV (and Samsung's new OLED panels) is superb.
A reporter from DigitalTrends, Caleb Denison, for example, spent some hours in front of an A95K, and says that the display is bright (the brightest he has seen in a consumer TV) and it offers the most accurate colors he ever saw. The colors are pure and "better than any OLED, and most QLED TVs, too".
Dell says that the Alienware 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor will cost $1,299
Last month Dell announced the Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor, the first one to spot Samsung's 34-inch QD-OLED panels. The company announced that the AW3423DW will ship in the spring, with a price of $1,299.
The Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor sports a curved 34-inch 175Hz 3440x1440 QD-OLED panel, Nvidia G-Sync and DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification.
