QD-OLED explained, Samsung’s display technology that hit CES

The Consumer Electronics Show, the largest tech trade show, is always full of exciting new products and concepts. But one of my favorite things about the show is the focus on the latest technology to help launch these products.

QD-OLED is one of those next-generation technologies that is making a lot of noise at this year’s CES. A variation of OLED from Samsung Display, this technology has made a splash on the large TV and PC monitor. But what is QD-OLED, how is it different from regular OLED, and do we really need another acronym?

What is QD-OLED?

QD-OLED stands for “Quantum Dot Organic Light Emitting Diode”. The technology comes from Samsung Display, which started teasing it in 2019 and rumored to have started mass production in November. You can also see Samsung calling QD-OLED “QD-Display”.

Whatever its brand, don’t be fooled. This is not new technology. Samsung Display claims it is simply an upgraded version of OLED that offers “the widest range of color expression in existing display technologies”. Samsung says its QD-OLED TVs can cover 99.8% of the DCI-P3 range, according to C N ET. It’s very colorful, but it’s not beyond what we’d expect from a modern OLED TV or premium monitor.

In short, the Samsung QD-OLED panel should be similar to traditional OLED, which is known for its impressive contrast delivering rich, deep blacks, but with more consistently vibrant colors at all brightness levels. Samsung claims that its QD-OLED panels will provide more detail in highlighted areas, while standard OLED panels can look more washed out and enhance color in darker areas, so shadows won’t be overpowering. The company also claims that the technology provides superior viewing angles due to the way quantum dots work (we’ll come back to that).

QD-OLED is also of great importance to watchers of the OLED TV wars. Today, LG Display makes the vast majority of large OLED panels (for TVs and monitors, for example). Meanwhile, Samsung has only offered one short-lived OLED TV and has focused on QLED, a brighter type of LED that cannot replace OLED, for its high-end TVs. QD-OLED is a new panel option for OLED TV manufacturers including Samsung, LG, Vizio, Panasonic, Philips and PC monitor manufacturers.

QD-OLED vs. OLED

The difference between QD-OLED and today’s OLED is the use of tiny semiconductor particles called “quantum dots”. When hit by light of a certain frequency, a quantum dot can emit light. The color of this light depends on its wavelength, which is affected by the size of the quantum dot, which is in the range of 2–10 nm.

Again, the larger OLED displays are mostly supplied by LG Display. LG Display OLED panels use yellow-blue OLED materials that emit white light. Light is applied to a filter with red, green, and blue sub-pixels to create the many colors you see on screen. Some newer OLED panels, especially HDR TVs, add a white sub-pixel for extra brightness, since OLED panels are usually dimmer than LEDs.

QD-OLED, on the other hand, uses the blue OLED material to create the light source because, according to Samsung Display, blue “has the strongest light energy.”This light passes through a layer of quantum dots to create what should be a wider range of colors. QD-OLED displays also use a TFT layer to drive two layers.

Why is Samsung adding quantum dots to the equation? To get “accurate colors at any level of contrast,” explains Samsung, thus avoiding a washed out image. Samsung claims that the quantum dots have a simpler structure and use light more efficiently because some of the light is not absorbed by the filter. QD-OLED also has to contend with poor viewing angles, since quantum dots emit light evenly. According to CNET, Samsung Display obtains quantum dots from a “specialized supplier.”

Don’t expect QD-OLED to be significantly brighter than an LED display or even a standard OLED display. According to CNET, Samsung Display claims that a full screen TV with a QD-OLED display can reach 200 nits, or 1,000 nits with a 10 percent patch. CNET noted that the LG C1 OLED TV delivered 800 nits of brightness with a 10 percent patch, while the LED TV hit 2,000 nits. Meanwhile, the QD-OLED PC monitor announced at this week’s CES may feature 250 nits full-screen and up to 1,000 nits. High-end PC monitors with brightness over 1400 nits have a clear disadvantage.

However, the ability to boost brightness in small areas can help QD-OLED deliver its claimed superior illumination. And extreme contrast and color (plus detailed highlights and shadows) can alleviate the shortcomings of a dimmer display. But we need to see QD-OLED in action to see if it’s enough to upgrade.

The company says that starting in the second quarter of 2022, all OLED panels for LG Display TVs will feature the new OLED EX technology, which uses deuterium compounds and machine learning to increase brightness by up to 30 percent compared to traditional OLED screens.