Quantum dot is no game changer: Merck

Published : Nov 18, 2014 - 21:20 Updated : Nov 18, 2014 - 21:20

Michael Grund (right), managing director of Merck Korea, poses with Korean painter Kim Geon-il at an event to unveil the company’s 2015 calendar featuring the artist’s paintings in Seoul on Tuesday. (Merck Korea)

Quantum dot technology will not have a significant impact on the global TV and display markets, while organic light-emitting diode could be a game changer, said Michael Grund, managing director of Merck Korea.

Quantum dot is a rising technology that can effectively enhance the efficiency and resolution of displays by just putting a thin layer of nano-crystals on the backlight of a liquid crystal display.

“The QD technology will not be a game changer in the TV market,” he said at a news conference in Seoul Tuesday, citing cadmium, a hazardous chemical material used in the QD technology, as one major hurdle for the display technology to grow.

Thanks to the new technology’s cost efficiency in production, some TV set makers including Samsung Electronics are planning to roll out QD TVs next year.

The OLED technology, on the other hand, has more potential to be widely adopted in the display and TV markets, according to Grund.

“The OLED is at the beginning of its journey, and has the potential to become a game changer,” the Merck managing director said, hinting that the Seoul-based outfit could build production facilities for the displays. The firm is currently running an OLED laboratory.

Merck is also conducting new research and development projects, such as one for what the firm calls quantum rod, similar to the QD, but superior in brightness.

At the Tuesday event Merck Korea also unveiled a new calendar for 2015, the year of the sheep.

The company started the campaign six years ago by which it introduces Korean artists and their artworks to its global branches through the calendar each year.

This year Merck Korea chose Kim Geon-il, a Korean painter well-known for his works on anamorphic art pieces which require viewers to look at the paintings from different angles to get clear images.

“We are playing the role of an evangelist to help many people get to know Korean culture and art naturally through the calendar as they use it every day,” Grund said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)