Samsung explains why QLED is the future of smart TV

Samsung’s SUHD TVs have always delivered the best color accuracy of any TVs on the market, but the Korean giant has been discovering ways to make its displays better. The SUHD TV line has utilized LCD screens, but Samsung’s real passion (as is the case with smartphones) has been AMOLED panels for smartphones and OLED screens for TVs. The problem with OLED TVs has been price: OLED TVs are difficult to manufacture and quite expensive, and the last thing consumers want are high-end prices. The perfect solution would be to have the quality of OLED TVs with the affordable pricing of LCD TVs.
The solution for Samsung is found in its new QLED TVs, or Quantum Dot LED TVs that utilize Quantum Dot (QD) technology to produce greater brightness, thus leading to greater color volume (a full color gamut) that produces deep, dark blacks. Deep dark blacks are often a feature of OLED TVs, but Quantum Dots can be altered to some extent to correct the typical color accuracy problems that exist with most LCD TVs. LCD panels in smartphones mandate a backlight to enhance brightness, and Quantum Dot provides the needed brightness that enhances the overall color production and viewing experience.

Light and Color Interact
Rainbows in the sky are beautiful to behold, but they’re produced by a combination of rain droplets and light when placed at certain angles. TV color is produced when you take the right amount of light (brightness) at the right angle.
At the same time, though, the right amount of light can affect the appearance of an object or item: even the time of day can impact a structure and how it appears to the naked eye. With TVs, this interaction of light and color is called color volume. Color volume studies how colors appear when they are illuminated by varying levels of brightness.
Color volume, the interaction of color and light, can work well at times. When it does (in an ideal situation), TVs have an accurate color gamut that is wide and provides an unparalleled viewing experience. Most of the time, however, the exact opposite happens: when color is “brightened,” the result can be that colors wash out and fade from their original vibrancy (reds turn to pinks, for example). The result of this is that TV picture quality suffers. The last thing any TV watcher wants in the moment of a perfect movie is to have his or her picture quality spoil the moment.
How Quantum Dot Technology Improves The Viewing Experience
While LCD TVs need more brightness, increased brightness itself drives down color accuracy. Samsung’s QLED TVs, however, utilizes Quantum Dots to achieve a brightness never seen before in a Samsung TV. While SUHD TVs in general utilized a brightness of up to 1,000 nits, Samsung’s new QLED TVs have a peak brightness of between 1,500 and 2,000 nits – meaning that, theoretically, Samsung’s QLED TVs could provide double the brightness of its old SUHD TVs. Since Quantum Dots can be altered to maintain color accuracy, viewers won’t find colors dipping in accuracy or fading in the wrong direction.

Remember what we said above regarding structures and their appearance in light based on the amount of lighting on a structure and the angle from which it is seen? Well, Samsung’s TVs, though having commendable color production, suffered from lighting sources and angles. Quantum Dots prevent lighting sources from impacting color production and the viewing experience with QLED TVs. One issue that has been a problem in the viewing experience, apart from brightness and its negative impact on color accuracy, has been reflection.
When light reflections encounter the color on-screen, the result has been altered color based on viewing angles. QLED TVs do not have this problem: no matter where you’re sitting, or from what angle you’re viewing on-screen content, you’ll get the same uniform, deep color experience. Think of Quantum Dot (QD) technology as a way to create a common viewing experience with breathtaking colors that will keep you staring into the TV even when the movie is over.

QLED TVs solve the pain points of the past with LCD TVs: the need for greater brightness, the issues with color accuracy in light interaction, and viewing angles and their impact upon the experience. Now, with all elements in place, light (brightness) gives way to accurate, vibrant colors, which give way to a great viewing experience from every angle. It’s an experience worthy of investment.