▲ Samsung Electronics Neo QLED. /Photo courtesy of Samsung Electronics
[MK위클리반도체] The ‘TV Battle’ between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which ranks first and second in the domestic and global TV market, and is competing for market share, is expected to enter a new phase. In the meantime, Samsung Electronics has been targeting the market with quantum dot light emitting diode (QLED) TVs and LG Electronics with organic light emitting diode (OLED) TVs as top-tier products. From next year, Samsung Electronics is also expected to enter the OLED TV market in earnest. Let’s take a look at Samsung Electronics’ strategy to enter the OLED TV market along with the difference between QLED and OLED, which only differ in English spelling.
Recently, the eyes of the display industry are turning to quantum dot (QD) display TVs, which are expected to be unveiled by Samsung Electronics in the near future. Samsung Display, which supplies display panels to Samsung Electronics, already held a shipment ceremony at the Asan Campus last month and started mass-production of QD displays. This is about two years after Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong pointed out QD display as a future food and made an official investment in 2019.
Samsung Display’s QD display uses a color filter that applies quantum dots (quantum dots) to OLED. Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil QD OLED TV at CES, the world’s largest information technology (IT) and home appliance exhibition, to be held in Las Vegas early next year. Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, who was recently selected as the head of the set business division in charge of the home appliance and mobile business at Samsung Electronics, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at CES.
In the industry, there is an observation that Samsung Electronics will be supplied with OLED panels for TVs produced by LG Display. Although Samsung Display has started mass production of QD OLED displays, it is analyzed that the panels will be supplied by LG Display as the production capacity is insufficient along with the yield problem in the early stages of mass production. However, Samsung Electronics is still denying the possibility of cooperation with LG Display when it comes to OLED panels for TVs.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have been fighting for pride in the TV market for a long time. Vice Chairman Han has also publicly shown negative views on OLED TVs. He also remarked that “Samsung Electronics will not use OLED forever” at CES 2020. At this year’s World IT Show, he also answered, “There is no introduction of OLED panels by LG Display.” It’s not just Samsung. In the past, LG Electronics also raised concerns that there was a problem with the term QLED used by Samsung Electronics, and the conflict between the two companies deepened.
Then, what is the difference between QLED and OLED, and why are the two companies reacting so sensitively? In order to compare the differences between the two, it is first necessary to understand liquid crystal display (LCD) TV. LCD is a display device made using liquid crystal, which has the property of changing the arrangement of molecules when an electric current flows. By controlling the flow of current, the desired image is expressed by using the characteristic of changing the degree of light passing.
However, LCD has fundamental limitations. It cannot emit light by itself. Therefore, in order to make a TV with LCD, light must be emitted through a separate device called ‘backlight’ behind the LCD. It is easy to understand if you think of a fluorescent lamp that emits light behind the TV screen. In addition, since liquid crystal cannot express color by itself, a separate color filter is required to make a TV.
Despite these shortcomings, LCD TVs have strong advantages. That’s the price. Compared to OLED TVs of the same size, LCD TVs are cheaper. In addition, there are many consumers who do not feel the need to purchase OLED TVs as products that supplement and improve the weaknesses of LCD TVs are continuously being released recently.
So, what is OLED? In general, OLED TV is evaluated as a TV that has evolved one step more than LCD TV. OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is a self-luminous device made of organic compounds. You can express the desired image by controlling the current flowing through each element. At this time, OLED does not need a separate backlight because each element emits light by itself. Due to these characteristics, OLED TVs can be made thinner than LCD TVs. In addition, the wide viewing angle has the advantage that there is no image distortion when viewed from any side of the screen.
Not only this. OLED TVs have a higher contrast ratio compared to LCD TVs. Contrast ratio refers to how well the brightest and darkest parts of the screen are distinguished. In particular, the difference between the two is striking in the expression of black. The black representation is one of the main factors that measure the performance of a TV. This is because the higher the reproducibility and precision of black, the more vivid the contrasting colors are.
On the other hand, it is difficult to express deep black color due to light leakage due to the characteristics of LCD TV. This is because the black color is expressed by controlling the liquid crystal in a specific area to block the light from the backlight. This is because even if the light is blocked, the faint light leaking through the liquid crystal reduces the expressive power. It’s easy to understand when you think about entering a room with the lights on in the living room with the lights on and closing the door, but the room doesn’t get completely dark. On the other hand, OLED TV is evaluated to be able to display perfectly black color because the device itself can be turned on or off.
OLED TV’s response speed is also fast. This is because, in order for LCD TVs to express changes in the screen, there is a delay equal to the time required to change the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal. On the other hand, OLED TVs change the flow of current so that the device can be turned on or off immediately, so there is almost no afterimage. In addition, OLED TV has the advantage of being able to manufacture rollable devices that can be bent or bent by utilizing the characteristics of the device.
However, since OLED uses organic materials as a material, the lifespan of the light emitting device is relatively short. Because of this, it is known that when the same screen or image is turned on for a long time, the burn-in phenomenon occurs, in which the image does not disappear even if the screen is turned off. The high price compared to LCD TVs is also considered a disadvantage.
In the meantime, Samsung Electronics has improved the shortcomings of LCD TVs to compete with OLED TVs. The product of these efforts is the QLED TV. QLED TVs have similar names to OLED TVs, but the principle of operation is different. QLED TV is a type of LCD TV that does not emit light by itself and requires a separate backlight.
QLED TV is a product with improved expression ability by covering it with a performance-improving film using quantum dot technology. Quantum dots are ultra-fine semiconductor crystalline materials of several tens of nanometers (nm·1 nm is 1 billionth of a meter), and when light is irradiated or an electric current is passed through the particles, the color that appears varies depending on the size of the particles. . Products using these quantum dot films can express more colors than conventional LCD TVs and can make products thinner.
In addition, Samsung Electronics’ QLED TV has narrowed the gap by applying a technology called ‘Local Dimming’ to the black color that was pointed out as a weakness compared to OLED TVs. This technology, which means ‘split screen drive’ in Korean, divides the backlight into multiple areas, and improves black expression by turning off the backlight or reducing light only in the dark areas of the image.
Samsung Electronics did not stop at QLED TV, but introduced the ‘NEO QLED’ TV, which evolved one step further. Compared to the existing QLED TV, this product reduces the size of the LED element used as a backlight to 1/40, enabling sophisticated expression. Called a ‘quantum mini LED’, the backlight can also be adjusted in 4096 steps to enhance contrast and black detail. In addition, a learning-type artificial intelligence (AI) image quality improvement (upscaling) technology called ‘Neo Quantum Processor’ was applied. The Neo Quantum processor, which has an artificial intelligence neural network from 1 to 16, optimizes the image displayed on the screen to 8K or 4K level resolution, even if the quality of the input original image is low.
▲ LG OLED evo. /Photo courtesy of LG Electronics
However, LG Electronics does not only make OLED TVs. LG Electronics is also working hard on LCD TVs. A representative product is the ‘LG QNED’ TV. According to LG Electronics, LG QNED is a product with improved color reproduction by applying ‘Quantum Nanocell Color Technology’, a new technology that simultaneously utilizes nanocell and quantum dot-based technology. It is said that the light from the backlight passes through nanocells and quantum dot materials to reproduce colors closer to reality. Nanocell is a technology that enables precise color expression by utilizing a molecular structure of about 1 nm in size. However, LG Electronics is emphasizing that OLED TV is a product with more advanced technology while setting the price of LCD TV products lower than OLED TV products.
In this market situation, Samsung Electronics is preparing to change the game of the TV market once again by launching OLED TV products. Although Samsung Electronics has already maintained the world’s number one sales position for 16 years since 2006 based on LCD TVs, it seems to have changed its strategy as consumers’ preference for OLED TVs has increased recently. However, there are also optimistic forecasts that the competition between the two companies will bring about a ‘win-win effect’ as Samsung’s entry into the OLED TV market increases overall OLED TV sales.
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