We first wrote about MicroLED (also Micro-LED) six years ago as the music of the future. From Samsung’s point of view, it was a technology that should overcome both LCD and OLED, solve their fundamental shortcomings, and at the same time not drive production costs to extreme heights. While OLED was perceived by many subjects as the “best…” solution from the point of view of the present and the future until around 2016, later even the manufacturers focusing on it began to admit that it has weaknesses that either cannot be easily solved, or can be solved, but at a cost quite high costs.
One such solution became QLED, which was basically an LCD overlaid with a layer of quantum dots (active color filters), which tried to solve OLED ailments such as color degradation when viewed from “non-perpendicular” angles, burn-in or brightness. In particular, the second and third generation of QLED made a strong competitor to OLED, because in addition to the mentioned shortcomings, they improved color rendering and contrast.
The next step was QD-OLED (Quantum Dot – OLED), i.e. a cross between QLED and OLED. The LCD part was replaced and the bottom layer became a blue OLED panel, the quantum dots remained. The advantage over classic OLED (where a different substrate is used for each of the RGB colors with a different lifetime and different firing) is that the manufacturer can use a super thick substrate layer with homogeneous properties, which significantly extends the lifetime and eliminates color degradation. Red and green are produced from the blue subluminance by quantum dots, blue passes to the surface without a change in wavelength.
Anti-glare QD-OLED
One of the advantages of QD-OLED is that it is truly black black (as with OLED, the black points are just black, no backlight light seeps through because there is no backlight), however, as with OLED, black is only black in a dark room and as far as light on the screen, it’s not quite the same anymore. In addition, with a completely black background, all reflections are more apparent.
Samsung introduced a solution in the form of the so-called Anti-glare QD-OLED, i.e. QD-OLED with special anti-reflective layers, thanks to which less light is reflected from the screen and above all it disperses sharp reflections, so they are less intense and less clear. How it works in practice, Samsung demonstrated by comparing the classic solution (left) and the new Samsung S95D television model (right), and those present at CES had the opportunity to see that on the second TV the simulated window (as a light source) is not mirrored, unlike the first .
MicroLED
However, in 2018, Samsung announced its intention to create a solution that will be even more or less better in most image characteristics. This is MicroLED. Not to be confused with MiniLED. MicroLED is a screen where each point is made up of a light-emitting diode (LED), which allows for an extreme shift in brightness and contrast, at the same time it maintains 100% black, does not burn out, does not degrade, so it has a long life, does not suffer from image degradation when the observer’s angle changes, offers a decent energy efficiency and production costs in series production are not extreme.
The obstacle that requires time in particular is miniaturization. In 2018, Samsung showed a 146″ MicroLED TV (also called The Wall), due to its diagonal over 370 cm. Samsung was able to deliver it to order for sinful money, but primarily it was a technological demonstration of the fact that this path can be followed. However, the almost four-meter solution will not appeal to most customers, and the manufacturer was aware of this. As he demonstrated at this year’s CES, miniaturization is progressing well.
114″ model MicroLED TV Samsung
140″ (356cm), 114″ (290cm), 101″ (257cm), 89″ (226cm) and even a 76″ were on display. It reaches a diagonal of under two meters (193 cm), thus demonstrating a four-fold density of pixels compared to the originally demonstrated “The Wall” and, on the other hand, bringing the diagonal to a level that is also usable for larger to medium-sized living rooms, not halls, presentations halls and living rooms close to them.
Samsung hasn’t talked about pricing or specific availability, so it’s uncertain whether it will bring the line to market this year. However, he demonstrated that work continues, miniaturization is progressing well, and it is significantly closer to entering the market on a large scale. It is clear that when these models (or similar ones) actually hit the market, they will perform as ultra-high-end in the first years to pay off years of development. In the meantime, however, miniaturization can continue and at the moment when Samsung manages to get the diagonal below 60″, we can expect pressure to expand this solution into the mainstream, instead of the current QLED models (so let’s say below 20,000 CZK). However, this will take (estimated) at least 2.5-4 years.
2024-01-22 09:05:50
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