14 DAY TRIAL // One the biggest manufacturers of LCD panels for different devices, AU Optronics announced recently that, together with 3M, they are developing a new technology alliance that can dramatically improve the quality of TV displays.
Based on the quantum dots technology, the new tech enables a wide color gamut and a high dynamic range for ultra-high-definition 4K TVs. Basically, quantum dots significantly improve the quality of backlighting for LED LCD panels via an integration of a quantum dot enhancement film (QDEF) with trillions of semiconductor nanocrystals into an LCD panel stack. A quantum dot can emit light at a very precise wavelength, allowing the QDEF to create an ideal white backlight, thus displaying a more accurate RGB (red, green and blue colors), enhancing this way the color gamut.
This technology is currently being developed by 3M and will be implemented by AUO's LCD LEDs and finally be compliant with ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 (known otherwise as Rec. 2020) for ultra-high-definition TVs. The Rec. 2020 can support resolutions of up to 3840x2160 and 7680x4320 and also bit depth of either 10-bits per sample or 12-bits per sample, offering this way a color variation unmatched by present TV screens.
Better and cheaper quantum dot TV screens will arrive by 2016
In tandem with Rec. 2020's development, there is also the Blu-ray industry that prepares its UHD Blu-ray discs to fully support the new standard, including framerate, chroma subsampling, color space and bit depth. Expect this new standard to become quite popular in the near future, since TV screens market with Rec. 2020 will feature this brand-new quantum dot technology and will bring incredible UHD Blu-ray visual fidelity.
Screen sizes that will support QDEF technology will be at first up to 85" in size, and is expected that major TV manufacturers will equip and prepare new lines of TV screens by the end of the year when it's expected for QDEF to be available in retail stores.
Although quantum dot technology has been on a market for two years in TVs sold by Sony at very high prices and limited availability. AU Optronics hopes that many more clients will jump the high-tech quantum dot bandwagon and this lower the price of the QDEF tech screens even more.