
Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) has announced its development of a brand-new iteration of the latest new display technology. The university team headed by Professor Hsueh-Shih has developed what they term “quantum dot” technology that provides a more realistic approximation to real-life color. Despite the advances, the initial production of this technology has several limitations, such as the fragility of the materials used. To work around this, the team has developed a “shield” for the components. It provides a barrier to damage for each quantum dot. The university has noted that this technology is ideal for development in display technology. The team, with the aid of the university, has already applied for patents for their new technology.
Increase in Color Fidelity
As the researchers have pointed out in their report, most of the technology that is currently used in display technology runs on LEDs. These electronic display media have significant drawbacks. Standard LED screens can only display a third of the colors that human beings can see. Even advanced OLED technology can only display half the colors that humans can observe. This new technology claims to be able to deliver better color fidelity, showing up to 90% of the colors within the human-visible spectrum. The team from NTHU has managed to precisely control the size of the quantum dots in their iteration of the screen to allow for better emission values for colors.
Despite the promise that the new technology has, there are still significant hurdles for the tech to overcome before it becomes usable for commercial-grade displays. The shields that the quantum dots generate are easily damaged by water and atmosphere. LED systems suffer from similar weaknesses, but commercial manufacturers avoid damage to those components by sandwiching them between layers of a protective film. The procedures aren’t cost-effective, however, and would make it even more expensive to produce these displays commercially. Companies have already started researching a methodology for creating quantum dots, and this newest research from the university offers the best promise for making those displays affordable in the future.