삼성전자가 올해 말 퀀텀닷(QD)을 적용한 TV를 양산할 전망이다. 익명을 요구한 한 관계자는 “삼성전자가 올해 4분기 QD 기술을 적용한 UHD LCD TV를 소량 양산할 예정이다”고 전했다.
삼성전자는 올 초 대형 OLED 패널 양산에서 발을 빼고 UHD LCD TV에 집중하고 있다. 기술 장벽이 상대적으로 높은 RGB 방식을 채택하면서, WRGB 방식을 채택한 LG에 비해 수율 안정화에시간이 더 걸리고 있기 때문이다.
“UHD LCD TV 출시 이후 새로운 제품을 선보여야 하는 삼성전자 입장에서는 QD TV 출시가 불가피한 선택이다”라고 업계 관계자는 말했다.
한편 대형 OLED에 좀 더 주력하고 있는 LG전자는 올해 QD TV 출시 계획이 없는 것으로 알려졌다. 그는 이어 “LG 디스플레이의 경우 삼성 QD TV 출시 대응과 애플 iTV 패널 공급을 위해서 기술 개발은 여전히 진행 하고 있는 중이다“고 전했다.
애플의 iTV는 내년 말 혹은 그보다 더 늦게 출시될 것으로 예상되고 있으며, QD LCD 패널보다는 LG전자가 주력하고 있는 OLED 패널이 적용될 가능성이 더 높은 것으로 알려졌다.
차세대 디스플레이로 주목받고 있는 QD 기술은 필름형태로 적용하면 LCD 패널의 색재현성을 높일 수 있다. KETI의 한철종 디스플레이융합센터장은 “LCD 패널에 QD기술을 적용하면 색재현성을 OLED와 비슷한 수준인 130 퍼센트까지 끌어올릴 수 있다”고 전했다.
QD TV 출시에 대해서 삼성디스플레이측은 “전혀 아는 바 없다”고 말했다.
(코리아헤럴드 신지혜 기자)
<관련 영문기사>
Displays seek quantum leap with quantum dots
Samsung to launch QD TVs this year; LG plans QD panels for customers
Samsung Electronics could be moving to introduce an ultrahigh-definition LCD TV using quantum dot technology later this year, said a source familiar with the matter.
This comes as the performance of Korea’s largest TV manufacturer and its display affiliate’s next-generation OLED panels and TVs has lagged behind those of their rivals LG Electronics and LG Display.
“Samsung Electronics aims to produce UHD QD LCD TVs in small quantities in the fourth quarter of this year,” the source said.
“It may have felt that it needed to prove its technological prowess by introducing upgraded models following its latest UHD LCD TVs, amid slow progress in producing large OLED panels.”
Samsung Display, for its part, said it had no information regarding the QD TVs.
QD displays consist of nanoparticles of semiconductor materials that offer much better picture quality with improved color saturation than traditional LCD displays, industry sources said.
They can further boost the LCD’s color distinctions measured by its gamut, putting its display features on close par with OLEDs.
“If the QD is fitted into LCD panels, it can improve the color gamut by up to 130 percent in a level similar to OLED panels,” said Han Cheol-jong, head of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute’s display convergence research center.
Samsung has been pushing to develop its RGB-OLED technology using red, green and blue pixels to generate white, but reportedly faced difficulties in mass producing the display with high yields.
LG, meanwhile, has been plowing ahead with its White-OLED, which has been considered a better technology for the development of large OLED TVs.
Although LG Electronics has not revealed plans to roll out QD TVs this year, its subsidiary LG Display is reportedly developing the QD panel to compete with Samsung and for its main overseas customer Apple.
Apple, whose mass production plan for its iTV has been delayed to at least next year, is said to be mulling various options including using OLED panels for its smart TV.
Sony and Amazon have already released QD products - the Bravia TV and tablet PC Kindle Fire, respectively.
The global quantum dot display market is expected to soar to $200 million by 2020 from $10 million in 2013, according to global researcher IHS.
By Shin Ji-hye
(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
