While OLED TVs are still top dog in the world of TVs, a new competitor is in the works called NanoLED (a.k.a. QDEL) that could one day replace organic LEDs in the best TVs — and Samsung might be the first brand to have them.
According to Business Korea, the display manufacturer has several internal divisions working in tandem to bring so-called "true quantum dot (QD) technology" to the mass market within just a few years' time.
When that happens, expect QDEL to have all the same advantages that OLED has, like infinite contrast and wide viewing angles, plus "superior color accuracy, power efficiency, and lifespan".
There's just one fly in the ointment: TCL. Samsung's biggest rival in the NanoLED space, China-based TCL, could already have a significant lead over the South Korean giant.
Samsung's NanoLED proposition
NanoLED technology was touted as potentially reaching consumers by 2024, but the year came and went with no actual NanoLED TVs. According to Business Korea, Samsung is making a concerted effort to gain a major lead in the market by leveraging several of its most advanced technology teams.
Industry sources cite that, alongside Samsung Display, both the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) and Samsung Electronics' Visual Display (VD) are putting their heads together on the new technology.
Right now, Samsung and its internal affiliates are working out ways to make quantum dots more stable in scenarios involving electrical inputs.This proves incredibly sophisticated when it comes to larger displays, which often come packed with billions of QDs. There's also the problem of light efficiency in the face of power consumption, which might be Samsung's biggest hurdle as it aims for market dominance.
So how soon will we get them? Samsung is vying to commercialize NanoLED within "a few years," though no specific timeline or year was given in the new report.
Samsung's not the only one in the QDEL game
Nanosys was the first to highlight its potential and develop NanoLED (itself being the one to coin this very name). With the help of its manufacturing partner, Sharp Display, Nanosys was able to bring two prototype NanoLED sets to CES 2024, both a 12.3-inch and 30-inch model.
Two other NanoLED iterations showed up at Display Week 2024. Samsung brought an 18.2-inch NanoLED screen that featured a resolution of 3200x1800 and hit 250 nits of brightness. Meanwhile, TCL had on display a 14-inch 2.8K resolution screen that purportedly covers 85% of the BT.2020 color gamut (most TVs can barely break 70%).
"China is aggressively fostering EL-QD to gain technological supremacy after OLED. In terms of research papers and technological achievements, Chinese firms are currently ahead of LG Display.”
Industry insider
TCL's not too far behind Samsung in its own endeavors of reaping the benefits of this next-gen display technology, however it's unclear how close exactly TCL might be in terms of bringing NanoLED sets to market.
That said, there's reason for Samsung to be worried. Cited in the aforementioned Business Korea article, one industry insider claims "China is aggressively fostering EL-QD to gain technological supremacy after OLED. In terms of research papers and technological achievements, Chinese firms are currently ahead of LG Display.”
It might still be too early to tell which TV manufacturer might will out in the end. One thing is certain, though, NanoLED TVs might be arriving on our doorstep sooner than we anticipated and the technology is going to cause a major upheaval in the world of cutting-edge display technologies.
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