After years of pushing its QLED television sets as an alternative to displays made by rival companies, Samsung could finally debut an OLED television set at the Consumer Electronics Show next year, according to a report.
Last month, the Korea Economic Daily newspaper reported Samsung was readying the production of its first OLED TV sets as well as TVs using micro LED technology.
OLED TV sets are considered superior to traditional LCD displays because of their ability to light and produce color on a pixel basis, eliminating the need for a secondary light source like a backlight.
Rival electronic makers LG and Sony have manufactured television sets with OLED panels for the last few years. Recently, budget TV maker Vizio debuted its own line of OLED sets. The devices cost upwards of $1,000 in the United States.
Traditionally, Samsung has resisted efforts to produce OLED TV sets, even though it manufactures OLED displays for its own line of smartphones and tablets. Instead, Samsung’s high-end TV sets have used quantum dot LED technology (QLED), which help bring better color and contrast to the overall display while still requiring a backlight or edge lighting to make the picture visible to the viewer.
The shift toward OLED displays for some high-end Samsung TV comes more than a year after the Korean electronic company announced plans to pull out of the LCD market. Last March, the technology website ZDNet reported Samsung would eventually tap OLED technology for its future QLED TV models.
That appears to be happening now, with the company set to start making QLED TV sets that use OLED displays for the first time. The sets, which will be marketed as QD-OLED, will use panels manufactured by Samsung itself and will be complemented by a new range of premium TV sets that employ micro LED technology.
The new OLED TV sets will be available in 55-inch and 65-inch varieties, while Samsung’s ultra-premium micro LED displays will start at 77 inches and go up from there, the Korea Economic Daily newspaper said, citing industry sources.
There is currently no information as to how much Samsung’s QD-OLED and micro LED displays will cost, nor is it clear if or when the TV sets will be available outside the South Korea market.
