Sharp reportedly revealed the future of TV display technology when it showed off its first QDEL display to a small group of attendees at CES 2024. As one of the few people to see it, Digital Trends says mass production information, pricing and release dates are all being kept secret, but the announcement The technology is exciting though.
But first, what is a QDEL? No, it's not a type of OLED or QLED, although it uses the same quantum dot technology as QLED TVs. QDEL stands for Quantum Dot Electroluminescent, and although it uses the same quantum dots as QLED, the technology looks different in two specific ways.
While quantum dots typically absorb light from a power source like an LED or OLED (typically blue light) and then convert that light into color, Digital Trends explains that QDEL displays receive power via electricity directly to display color instead. This means that QDEL displays do not need a separate light source.
QDEL displays also don't use LED or OLED backlighting to create color and brightness, meaning quantum dot Itself He does all this on his own. Instead, QDEL modified the quantum dots, which are already microscopic in size, to contain subpixels with custom red, blue and green colors. The idea is that by not having to rely on backlighting, you are likely to get the “purest” image available.
As previously mentioned, Sharp has clarified, according to Digital Trends, that it has no specific information about when QDEL technology could be mass-produced in TVs. The QDEL display shown off at CES was said to be a 12-inch one, but there was also a prototype of a 30-inch display, which Sharp showed off to prove that QDEL technology is scalable.
The other big claim made by Sharp is that unlike OLED, QDEL's manufacturing methods can be the same as those of regular LED, meaning we may not see an astronomical price increase if this new TV technology eventually becomes available.
The future of TV technology?
What could exciting QDEL technology mean for TVs? In theory, the QDEL TV will be able to achieve the ideal colours, contrast and black levels of OLED displays without any drawbacks. For example, since OLED is an organic material, it degrades over time, but with QDEL this wouldn't be a problem because quantum dots are designed to last a long time (it's the backlight in a TV that tends to turn on first). In theory, QDEL could be more self-sufficient in generating light and colour, meaning it would be brighter and have richer colors as well.
Although we already have a lot of display technologies — like QD-OLED and Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology, both built into some of the best TVs on the market — they still have their limitations. QD-OLED and MLA require additional layers to be added to the TV panel because they still inherently rely on backlighting or OLED materials, which eventually degrade and can suffer from burn-in.
If QDEL can make its way into TVs, it could offer a full range of color and brightness enhancing benefits with added longevity. Of course, this is all just speculation, as Sharp showed all of this on a small screen without any of the components of a regular TV screen. Sharp even said, according to Digital Trends, that while TVs may not be the first port of call, QDEL technology could fit better with smartphones. But that's what CES is all about: exploring exciting new technology that we hope will one day find its way into our TVs.
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