By Kim Yoo-chul
After Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kwon Oh-hyun declared that its TV business was losing luster due to weak demand, the company is seeking to find new ways to maintain its leading status.
Since 2004, Samsung has been leading the global TV market and the criticism coming from Kwon was almost unheard of, given its strong pride in the business.
Officials say the company will expand into organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) TVs, as manufacturing costs, which were 1.5 times more expensive than conventional TVs of the same size, are falling thanks to advancements in key materials and the development of new technology.
However, the large-sized OLED TV market is currently dominated by affiliates of the LG Group led by LG Display, the world’s top display producer, as they were the first to have a breakthrough in commercializing them. Samsung Group’s technology units focused on small-sized OLED displays for its smartphone lineup.
If Samsung joins the OLED TV race, then the company is best advised to use the LG-developed OLED technology standard known as WOLED. However, its management cannot afford to adopt.
In conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, Information Display Measurement Standards (IDMS) has started discussing measures to update display resolution, according to an official.
Samsung is seeking to change the standard to something advantageous to it to continue its leading status in the LCD market, but LG wants its RGBW standard to be reinstated, as this technology provides the best picture quality for 4K TVs. The IDMS has recently notified its members to prepare for discussions about the issue.
The LG-led RGBW is a new innovation that added a white sub-pixel next to the standard RGB (red, green, blue) sub-pixels, enhancing the brightness of a display.
This means the backlight doesn’t need to expend as much power, extending battery life. Sharpness in RGBW is also improved over the currents RGB layout.
Samsung appears to be taking issue with the display resolution, despite RGBW technology being received positively by consumers in China and Europe, as well as South Korea.
“Another reason for Samsung to change the display resolution standard is that the world’s biggest TV maker Samsung Electronics is using RGB technology for most of its existing lineup, though its display affiliate _ Samsung Display _ also manufactures RGBW panels for 4K TVs.”
Samsung needs to address some issues ahead of its fight to provide display standards, such as its PenTile technology, which is used in some of its Galaxy series smartphones.
According to Samsung, LG’s RGBW isn’t feasible as the white pixel has low color accuracy; however, LG insisted that its RGBW has passed standard tests by authoritative organizations.
The new standard must win 75 percent of the votes from industry members in the first half of next year.
“The expansion of the OLED industry will put Samsung and LG in a fierce fight,” said the official. “Next year’s tech show in Las Vegas will become the first place for LG to highlight its RGBW technology and for Samsung to bring debate about its authenticity.”