Samsung Display will produce a prototype quantum dot (QD) display TV in June. It is a product called QD-Organic Light-Emitting Diode (QD-OLED) in the market. Samsung Display plans to send the prototype to Samsung and conduct the market evaluation. It is a piece of good news for Samsung Display that Samsung Electronics’ video display (VD) division has opened the possibility of adopting QD-OLED.
According to South Korean firm, Samsung Display plans to make prototypes of finished QD-OLED TVs and monitors in June and send them to potential customers such as Samsung Electronics, Sony, and Chinese set makers to conduct the market evaluation in September.
The prototypes produced by Samsung Display in June are QD-OLED TVs and monitors in finished products. The prototype panel is made on the’Q1′ production line designed for QD-OLED. Upon receiving approval from the customer, it is expected to be able to mass-produce for market shipment.
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Samsung Display is already sending a prototype QD-OLED panel to Samsung Electronics, but this is not a finished product, but a sample to determine the quality of the panel. Samsung Display’s QD-OLED TV panel, which was introduced in collaboration with Sony at last year’s CES, was produced on the existing large-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) production line.
Samsung Display is expected to determine the direction of additional QD display investment after conducting market evaluation in September and comprehensively evaluating QD-OLED products with Samsung Electronics and others. Market evaluation is likely to be conducted in the form of displaying QD-OLED TVs in limited places and grasping consumer reactions.
The condition that Samsung’s VD division has set for Samsung Display is to secure QD-OLED production yield and expand production capacity. It is known that the yield of the Q1 line, which has received equipment since July of last year, is not yet high.
In addition, if Samsung Electronics releases QD-OLED TVs to target the premium TV market, the current production capacity of Samsung Display’s Q1 line, which is 30,000 (30K) sheets per month, is not enough. LG Display, which is mass-producing large OLED panels, has a production capacity of 140K per month, adding 8.5G Paju, Gyeonggi, and Guangzhou, China. It is 5 times that of Samsung Display’s Q1 production capacity (30K/month).
Samsung Display is currently concentrating its capabilities to improve yield. Samsung Display needs to secure a stable supply of QD-OLEDs by raising yields before deciding to invest more than a few trillion won. As the beginning of the first quarter passes, the corporate atmosphere is also diminishing.
It is known that the luminance (brightness) of the QD-OLED sample sent by Samsung Display to Samsung Electronics in January was low. Increasing the luminance can adversely affect the lifetime of the organic material layer that emits light and color in OLED. Another official said, “We plan to send QD-OLED samples next month following January.”
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ VD division is known to have requested Samsung Display to produce extended LCD panels necessary for 8K mini light-emitting diode (LED) TVs. Samsung Electronics’ VD division is targeting the premium market with the ‘Neo QLED’ series of mini LED TVs this year. Samsung Electronics is receiving LCD panels required for these premium products from Chinese companies, but industry evaluation is that the quality is inferior to that of Samsung Display.
