What is Quantum Dot TV

Domestic color TV giant TCL recently released its first quantum dot TV, and South Korean home appliance giants Samsung Electronics and LG will also release their first quantum dot TVs at the CES home appliance show in Las Vegas in January next year. So what is a quantum dot TV?

What is quantum dot TV?

Quantum dot TV sounds very mysterious, but it is actually another name for QLED TV. QLED is the abbreviation of "Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode", which is translated into Chinese as "quantum dot light-emitting diode". This is a new technology that home appliance manufacturers expect to replace OLED in the future. The principle is to illuminate red and green quantum dots of different diameters through a blue backlight to form the three primary colors of red, green and blue (RGB), and then form an image through the imaging system and driving system such as the filter film. To put it bluntly, quantum dot TV is actually a kind of LED TV.

Quantum dots are a type of nanomaterial with a grain diameter between 2 and 10 nanometers. When stimulated by electricity or light, quantum dots emit monochromatic light of various colors depending on the diameter of the quantum dots. Quantum dots can be used to emit high-quality red/green monochromatic light with a concentrated energy spectrum and very pure quality.

So what is LED TV? First, let's talk about the origin of LCD TV - LCD TV. LCD (Liquid-Crystal Display) was originally a liquid crystal display, and it became an LCD TV after adding the function of watching TV. This kind of TV uses a backlight to illuminate the liquid crystal panel, and the RGB three-color liquid crystal molecules are arranged in different ways to complete the imaging. Please remember one thing: in the LCD stage, the important backlight source of LCD TV is CCFL cold cathode backlight, which can be temporarily understood as our lamp tube. We call the LCD TV at this time CCFL cold cathode backlight LCD TV.

Then LED TVs appeared. In fact, LED is still a type of LCD TV. Its accurate name is LED backlight LCD TV. The imaging principles of LED TVs and LCD TVs are exactly the same, except that the backlight source has been changed from CCFL to LED. In comparison, LED is thinner and more energy-efficient, but there is no essential difference.

What are the advantages of quantum dot TVs?

When it comes to the advantages of quantum dot TVs, we first have to talk about OLED. The screen of OLED organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is composed of organic materials that can emit light when current passes through it, which makes the TV thinner and lighter, and even bendable. However, due to high cost, low yield rate, easy oxidation of organic materials, inability to adapt to outdoor and strong light environments, and excessive energy consumption in certain scenes, TVs using OLED technology have not been popularized.

OLED technology is currently mainly in the hands of LG and Samsung Electronics, the two largest home appliance manufacturers in the world. The two Korean manufacturers are old rivals and are also important LCD panel manufacturers. LG bets on OLED, hoping to surpass Samsung Electronics' position as the world's largest TV manufacturer. However, due to the high price of OLED at this stage, market sales have been difficult to meet expectations. At this time, Samsung Electronics decided to shift its research and development focus to QLED.

Compared with OLED TVs, quantum dot TVs have four major advantages: wider color gamut display, more precise color control, longer service life, and greater energy efficiency. Because quantum dots are stimulated by electricity or light, they will emit very pure, high-quality monochromatic light of various colors according to their diameter. This is even stronger than OLED displays. It is well known that OLED displays obtain pure colors through filters, and although the filtered colors are purer, they will also be distorted. Quantum dots do not need to be filtered, so this will not happen. At the same time, it can work at a lower voltage, and energy consumption will be minimized. In addition, because the inorganic materials used in quantum dot TVs are not easily oxidized, their imaging life is 20,000 hours longer than that of OLED.

Is the current quantum dot TV worth buying?

Currently, only TCL has launched a quantum dot TV, and the official price of a 55-inch quantum dot TV is as high as RMB 12,999, while the official retail price of TCL's 55-inch 4K ultra-high-definition LED TV is only RMB 5,599. The price of a quantum dot TV is more than twice that of an LED TV of the same size and resolution.

TCL's launch of quantum dot TVs at this time is more likely to build its own brand. Samsung Electronics and LG will not join the quantum dot TV camp until next year, when consumers will have more options. Similarly, the newly launched technology may still have defects, and the specifics remain to be tested by the market. So in summary, quantum dot TVs are not worth buying now, and consumers are advised to wait and see.

In addition, there is also a view in the industry that it is actually difficult for ordinary people to distinguish a color gamut of more than 85% with the naked eye, so not all consumers can feel the high color gamut effect emphasized by manufacturers. In other words, the color gamut of OLED TVs can fully meet the needs of ordinary users.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.