We’re still waiting for Samsung Electronics to launch its first QD-OLED television, but our patience will be rewarded whenever the company does get around to doing so.
At least, that’s the promise of the independent tech certification company SGS, which has just bestowed no less than three awards on Samsung Display’s QD-OLED TV panels for their True Colour Tones, Pure RGB Luminance and Ultrawide Viewing Angles.
QD-OLED is a new TV display technology that combines organic light-emitting diodes with quantum dots, using blue OLEDs to create light, while the quantum dots convert that into reds and greens as required. That’s different from LG’s WOLED, which creates white light and uses filters to add the colours. Samsung Display says the approach results in more realistic colours, better viewing angles and superior brightness, while retaining the perfect black levels OLED is known for.
Those claims have now been verified by SGS, which evaluated Samsung’s QD-OLED panels for its True Colour Tones standard, based on the Bt.2020 colour standard released by the International Telecommunication Union. According to SGS’s tests, QD-OLED’s colour gamut is 90% or greater than those in existing display technologies. Moreover, its colour volume based on the DCI-P3 spec reaches 120% of the criteria.
“The color gamut of existing TV displays hardly ever exceeds 70% when applying the BT.2020 standard, and based on DCI-P3 standards, color volume usually falls under 100%,” Samsung Display pointed out. “QD-Display outperforms in both categories, with superior quality that can vibrantly and accurately display colors across the spectrum.”
The QD-OLED panels were also certified for Pure RGB Luminance, which was awarded for its accurate and precise expression of red, green and blue primary colours without compensating luminance. The certification is only granted when the sum of luminance of each RGB colour is equivalent, or higher than the luminance value of the white colour created by RGB combination, Samsung Display explained. QD-OLED boasts a white luminance of 1,000 nits, and the combined figure of each RGB luminance was evaluated to be equivalent to that.
Samsung Display said this is far superior to displays that have to add white pixels to increase luminance, as it means the total RGB luminance usually comes in at around half of that value, resulting in inaccurate expression of RGB on screen.
As for the Ultrawide Viewing Angle certification, this was awarded based on SGS’s analysis of picture quality in any position with multiple viewers. When viewing a 65-inch display from a 60-degree angle, QD-OLED maintained more than 80% of its frontal luminance, versus 53% in regular OLED and 35% in LCD.
“Typically, there are differences in color or luminance depending on your viewing position since light travels in straight lines,” Samsung Display explained. “With quantum dots’ optical properties and ability to disperse light widely like a dome shape, QD-Displays reduce image quality degradation, so you can enjoy content as if you’re sitting front and center at any angle.”
Samsung Display said the fact QD-OLED scooped all three awards is an impressive feat, meaning it is certified to accurately display the true tone of all natural colours, clearly and brightly, at any viewing angle.
“As the video content industry, production technologies, platforms and communication infrastructures are rapidly growing, the demand for premium quality content is also quickly increasing,” said Ho Sun, the head of Strategic Marketing for Samsung Display's Large Display Division. “QD-Display is the answer to meeting this demand and offers consumers a new standard for viewing high-quality content at the highest picture quality.”
The first QD-OLED TV in the world is Sony’s new Sony Master Series A95K model that was announced last week at CES 2022, though it’s not clear when it will go on sale or how much it will cost. There are also QD-OLED gaming monitors from Samsung and Alienware set to go on sale by the end of March.
Samsung Electronics is yet to announce its first QD-OLED TV but it has apparently landed a CES innovation award with such a model, so it seems almost a certainty that one will be launched soon.
