April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics' TV chief Kim Hyun-seok said on Jan. 3 the Korean tech giant has no intention to seek the exclusive ownership of the “QLED” brand for its premium liquid-crystal display TVs, adding rivals are welcome to use it.

“QLED is not a brand but a new TV category. We don’t want to own the rights to the name. We will encourage other TV makers to use the term and expand the market together,” Kim told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. 

Samsung Electronics` TV chief Kim Hyun-seok introduces the company`s new quantum-dot TVs at an unveiling event during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 3.

Samsung, the world’s largest TV maker, unveiled its new premium LCD TVs under the brand QLED, or quantum dot light-emitting diode, for the first time during the world’s largest tech trade show, ditching the previous SUHD, or super ultra-high definition.

The company has also registered the ownership rights of the brand in key markets, including the US.

By sharing the QLED brand with rivals, Samsung seems to be seeking to enlarge the premium LCD TV market, while its crosstown rival LG Electronics and other Japanese and Chinese rivals are rolling out more OLED, or organic light-emitting diode TVs.

Samsung has suspended OLED TV production since 2013 due to the high costs and low yields.

In the meantime, some critics are skeptical about calling Samsung’s quantum-dot TVs as “true QLED.”

There are two types of QLED: advanced LCD and converted OLED.

The advanced LCD like Samsung’s QLED adopts quantum dots, tiny particles that emit a different color of light according to their size. The technology offers more vibrant images and is more energy efficient compared to conventional LCD.

The converted OLED type is more a futuristic technology that replaces the emission layer with quantum dot materials that drastically improves color contrast and energy consumption but the commercialization is expected to take almost 10 years from now.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)