Nowadays, you hear a lot about new types of TV screens, like OLED, LCD and QLED. QLED in particular has been hailed as one of the most interesting new visual formats, but as many manufacturers have started using it, it’s difficult to determine which of them actually invented it. It turns out that Samsung owns the patent on QLED technology, but it allows other manufacturers to use it through an industry alliance.
Technically, Sony was the first electronics manufacturer to integrate quantum dot display technology into its TVs, starting with the Bravia line in 2013. However, the QLED brand arrived in 2016 with Samsung and its self-made TVs, including the development of a quantum dot material that does not contain cadmium. Although it had a clear advantage over the competition in this area, and even more so in the following decade as visual standards increased, Samsung chose to share its patent with other major TV manufacturers, such as Hisense and TCL.
Samsung shares its patent via an industrial alliance
Quantum dot display technology has been in development since 2001, with cadmium as the original key material. However, this was problematic because cadmium is not environmentally friendly and therefore was not used commercially. It wasn’t until 2014 that Samsung figured out how to make quantum dot hardware without cadmium.
Following this landmark development and its subsequent patent, Samsung would begin using this technology in its SUHD TVs. The company unveiled the first true QLED TV in 2017. In April of the same year, Samsung also entered into what would be known as the QLED Alliance alongside Chinese manufacturers Hisense and TCL. With it, these manufacturers can use cadmium-free quantum dot display technology in their products.
This alliance was led by the China Chamber of Electronic Commerce with the aim of increasing the presence of QLED displays in the Chinese market, while guaranteeing the three companies a competitive interest in the future development of this technology. Samsung is still going strong on this front, with plenty of exciting new features coming to its QLED TVs. The QLED Alliance still exists today and it can be assumed that Hisense and TCL will continue to have access to all of Samsung’s new QLED developments.
