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:
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.
Samsung Electronics and SDC have not yet finalized the QD-OLED supply agreement
According to a report from Korea, Samsung Electronics haven't yet finalized its agreement with Samsung Display regarding the supply of QD-OLED TV panels.
It seems that Samsung Electronics wants to get the QD-OLED TV panels at a price equal to what LGD is offering its WOLED TV panels, but SDC cannot accept this. If the two companies cannot agree on a price quickly, Samsung will have to delay the launch of its QD-OLED TVs (the current plan is to start shipping the TVs in mid-2022).
SDC's QD-OLED production yields still very low, waiting for market reaction for first wave of products
According to a report from Korea, Samsung's QD-OLED production yields are still very low (around 30%), and the company is currently waiting for market reaction of the first range of products.
The company will need to decide whether to expand its production in the near future or not, and according to the report, it is not likely to decide before the 2nd half of 2022, as products haven't actually been launched yet. This means that SDC's total QD-OLED capacity will remain as it is today (30,000 monthly Gen-8.5 panels) at least until the end of 2023.
Will Samsung adopt Kateeva's inkjet printers in its next QD-OLED production line?
In 2020 Samsung decided to use inkjet printers made by Korea's Semes, in its QD-OLED production lines. This created a major problem for Kateeva which hoped to win that account, which resulted in massive layoffs including some of its executives. These inkjet printers are used to deposit the QD layer in Samsung's QD-OLED panels.
According to new reports from Korea, Samsung has decided to change course, and rely on Kateeva's inkjet printers in its 2nd QD-OLED production line (the SDC 98.5-Gen Q-2). The reports suggests that the Semes printers do not perform as well as Samsung hopes, and these also cost more than Kateeva's printers (but Semes is affiliated with Samsung, which helped it to get the orders).
Samsung's QD-OLED technology receives three certifications from SGS
Samsung Display announced that its QD-OLED panels were certified by evaluation services provider SGS. The QD-OLED panels received three certifications for True Color Tones, Pure RGB Luminance and Ultrawide Viewing Angle.
Samsung says that these certifications support its assertion that the new panels offers clear, bright displays, at any viewing angles, and with natural color tones.
Tom'sGuide: the new samsung QD-OLED displays are the best we've have ever seen
Earlier this week at CES, Samsung Display officially launched its QD-OLED display panels, and the first few products were announced, including the 34" 3440x1440 175Hz Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor.
It will be very interesting to see how these displays compare to other OLED (and LCD) displays on the market, and we don't have any real reviews yet... but Mark Spoonauer, a writer at respected site Tom's Guide said that the new QD-OLED displays is "the best he has ever seen".
Samsung Display officially launches its QD-OLED panels at CES 2022
We already know that Samsung Display is starting to produce QD-OLED panels, and the first products have already been announced: Sony's A95K QD-OLED TV and Dell's and Samsung's 34" QD-OLED monitors.
It is great to see Samsung Display officially announce its QD-OLED panel lineup at CES 2022. The company is indeed producing three kinds of panels, 55" and 65" 4K panels for TVs and wide 34" panels for monitors. SDC says it will start mass producing the panels "in the first half of 2022".
