OLED association head fuels LG-Samsung display war

By Yoon Sung-won

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Association Managing Director Barry Young has harshly criticized the quality of quantum dot (QD) displays, in comparison to OLED displays.

Samsung has developed quantum dot-based liquid crystal display (LCD) panels as its next-generation displays, whereas LG has concentrated on OLED technologies. As both displays have been considered to provide top-notch quality images, the two companies have waged a war in the display sector, both claiming superiority of their technologies. On this backdrop, the remarks by the head of an international display association is expected to fuel the argument between the world’s biggest television makers over which technology is better.

“The claims that QD LCDs have a wider color range than OLEDs are just not true,” Young said in his contribution to a media piece on May 31. He cited comparison data by U.S. display expert group DisplayMate on Samsung’s QD LCD with LG’s OLED and said, “The results showed that the color range are virtually the same, except that the OLEDs are a bit wider.”

He acknowledged that QD displays are a viable option for now with strengths both in quality and price.

“QDs are amazing inventions that improve on the color performance of blue LEDs used with yellow phosphors to produce white light,” he said. “In addition, the color sharpness gives the TV the appearance of higher contrast, although no measurements documenting any improvement have been provided. And there is no doubt that QD LCDs have significantly lower prices than comparable OLED TVs.”

Young, however, criticized Samsung’s plan to mass-produce QD-based LED displays in 2019, calling it “garbage,” saying that it is noteworthy that Samsung recently opted out of OLED TV production until the cost reaches near LCD levels.

Young stressed that LG is the only maker of OLED TVs with about a 50 percent yield rate for 55-inch and 65-inch panels and said the company needs to further reduce the manufacturing cost of OLEDs.

“To reach cost parity with LCDs, LG must bring down the costs by at least 75 percent,” he said.

Young voiced a gloomy forecast on QD televisions in the high-end TV market, on the assumption that OLED panel makers can cut production costs soon.

“If OLED costs come down, there would be no market for QD backlights in high-end TVs, where the profits are,” he said.