4mo ago

Overblown quantum dot conspiracy theories make important points about QLED TVs

After years of companies promising that their quantum dot light-emitting diode TVs use quantum dots (QDs) to boost color, some industry watchers and consumers have recently started questioning whether QLED TVs use QDs at all. Lawsuits have been filed, accusing companies like TCL of using misleading language about whether their QLED TVs actually use QDs.

In this article, we'll break down why new conspiracy theories about QLED TVs are probably overblown. We'll also explore why misleading marketing from TV brands is responsible for customer doubt and how it all sets a bad precedent for the future of high-end displays, including OLED TVs and monitors.

18 comments

This is why I increasingly look at review sites I trust, especially for claims I can't easily verify myself. If it's not reviewed it doesn't exist.
- Do you have some credible review sites you recommend?
  
  Not OP, but rtings seems good to me. They're not afraid to mention when a new model is actually inferior to it's predecessor and they have standardized scoring for multiple product categories. Downside is limit of free reviews per month, but I've never needed more than they allow.
  
  For monitors rtings and Monitors Unboxed. It's been a while, but I think TFTCentral also does/did good reviews.
  Most PC hardware Gamers Nexus and Hardware Unboxed
  Notebooks: notebookcheck
  USB chargers & powerbanks: AllThingsOnePlace
  Those are it mostly
  Edited for readability
  
  I second RTings. A lot of AV forums do some pretty in depth reviews. HDTVTest on YouTube is also very thorough as well.
That’s fine, OLEDs are better anyway.
- Depends on viewing conditions. As of yet there isn't an objectively superior display technology.
  OLEDs have the best contrast in a dark room as black pixels can be fully turned off, but they are generally less bright and use more power than comparable LCD TVs or monitors (especially when you compare models of a similar price range).
  LCD based monitors and TVs can get brighter and can actually achieve a higher contrast in a well lit room as the black pixels on an LCD are less reflective than black pixels on an OLED, and when viewing in daylight the ambient light is more than enough to drown out the backlight bleed.
  There are also other smaller pros and cons. OLED for example has a better pixel response time, while IPS LCDs are more colour accurate. Text rendering and other fine graphics also generally look slightly sharper on an LCD than on an OLED display (when comparing displays of equal resolution / pixel density) due to the subpixel layout.
  
  Can confirm my oled is gorgeous in a dark environment but doesn't deal well at all during daytime with dark content (bright content is generally fine though).
- Don't they use quantum dots in some OLEDs? Isn't that what QD-OLED is?
  
  Technically, but when any marketing refers to Q anything in TVs, they’re talking about LCD Panels. Samsung manufactures QD-OLED panels but they don’t compete with anything else in the market that has “Q” in the naming schema.
  
  Yes. I'm assuming they mean W-OLED (the other kind of OLED) when they say OLED. Or else they meant to say uLED.
Red herring. QDs are not a measure of display quality. These ones are:
Resolution
Dynamic range
Contrast
Gray-to-gray transition time
Color gamut
Viewing angle
Add power usage and price, and I couldn't care less about it being CRT, TFT, IPS, OLED, QLED, Laser, or hologram.

18 comments