4K has taken a long time to make it to mainstream, but LG Electronics has come up with a new technology that it hopes could help push 4K further into consumers' open arms.
The Korean electronics maker has announced that it will be taking the wraps off its new quantum dot TVs at next year's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 6 to 9 in Las Vegas. Plenty of other manufacturers, including Samsung, have promised quantum dot TV sets in the past, but LG takes a stab at its competitors by taking the technology and bringing it to consumers starting next year.
LG will introduce two quantum dot TVs at the CES: a 55-inch TV and a 65-inch TV. LG has not provided details on the prices of each model but says that both will have 4K displays to take advantage of the richer colors provided by quantum dot technology.
Quantum dot TVs, LG says, provide significantly brighter, more lifelike colors than regular liquid crystal display (LCD) and light emitting diode (LED) TVs. Like traditional LCD, quantum dot technology works by shining a backlight through a series of shutters so that an image on the screen appears. However, unlike LCD TVs, quantum dot technology works by "harnessing nano crystals that range in size from 2 to 10 nanometers," which are about 20 atoms thick.
Each nano crystal emits a different color according to its size and is extremely stable, resulting in a richer spectrum of colors that are brighter than what most regular LCD and LED TVs can produce. LG says its quantum dot technology can produce 30 percent higher color accuracy and wider viewing angles compared to standard LCD and LED TVs.
Moreover, LG says quantum dot TVs are cheaper and more environment-friendly since it has found a way to prevent the TVs from emitting cadmium and other toxic chemicals. LG sources its quantum dot material from Dow Chemical Co., which is currently putting up its own facility in South Korea to provide materials for LG's quantum dot TV business, the company confirms to Reuters.
"Quantum dot's vibrant and vivid color reproduction capabilities brings LG's LCD TVs to the next level when it comes to picture quality," says In-kyu Lee, LG senior vice president and head of its TV and monitor division. "The addition of ULTRA HD TV with quantum dot technology to our TV lineup, positioned under our award-winning OLED TVs, further establishes LG as a leading provider of the most diverse and innovative TV display technologies in the industry."
LG is not the first electronics company to use quantum dot technology. Japanese manufacturer Sony has, in fact, been using the same technology in its Triluminus Display TVs in a bid to compete with LG's own high-priced OLED (organic LED) TVs. Last year, Amazon introduced its powerful Kindle Fire HDX 7, which features a quantum dot screen. Most recently, Chinese manufacturer TCL announced in September its own quantum dot TV.
Still, with LG owning 17 percent of the entire market share in the television industry, a quantum dot TV from the world's second biggest manufacturer could give quantum dot technology the momentum it needs to go mainstream.
