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While the headline implies it's talking about LCD displays, it actually refers to LCD panel technology. The innovation is in the backlight technology behind the

While the headline implies it's talking about LCD displays, it actually refers to LCD panel technology. The innovation is in the backlight technology behind the LCD panel, so LCD displays still have an exciting future ahead of them.

rocqua 3y ago
I believe the point is that the main research is now on oled and micro-led. Those are truly LCD-less. Instead of having a backlight that is variously dimmed by an LCD panel, they have self emmisive pixels. Micro led truly aims to just have a single LED per (sub) pixel.
- beebeepka 3y ago
  I thought MicroLED was about per pixel backlight for good old LCD. Gonna hit wiki. Edit: it's not LCD hehe. I have memorized some incorrect info
  - JoshTriplett 3y ago
    That's "mini-LED". MicroLED has small enough LEDs to use the LEDs directly as the pixels.
    - beebeepka 3y ago
      You seem to be right. I don't have them too confused, though. There have been MiniLED display on the market for years, and they're all LCD
      - water9 3y ago
        Manufacturers blur this distinction on purpose to sell cheaper items
      - numpad0 3y ago
        I believe mini-LED/zone dimming was a development expected to be followed by MicroLED, yet longevity and yield continued to be problem in Micro which left “Mini” branding hanging in the air. IIRC.
- Nursie 3y ago
  Micro-led seems to me to be one of those technologies that's always just around the corner. Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but from the launch of the first mainstream OLED tvs several years ago, I've been hearing "OLED is just a stopgap, Microled is where it's at, and that's not far off now". Ten years later ... oled is still where it's at, or LCD for a lot of people. I know these things take time, but the anticipation of this tech seems to have lasted at least a decade so far.
  - knifie_spoonie 3y ago
    > Micro-led seems to me to be one of those technologies that's always just around the corner. You can actually buy a MicroLED TV today, but they're huge and expensive: https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/micro-led/110-class-micro-led-samsung-4k-with-smart-hub-mna110ms1acxza/ https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/micr...
    - lozenge 3y ago
      How funny they are selling a $150,000 display and still feel the need to inflate its size from 109.2" to 110".
      - rbanffy 3y ago
        They are so massive that the difference is caused by the curvature of spacetime.
      - NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
        Once it's powered on for 10 minutes, the heat causes the materials to expand. Soon thereafter, the thrust from the cooling fans causes the tv to leave forever, but for those first few minutes it is a viewing experience beyond any other. Just last week, one was spotted cruising past the freeway at low altitude, out to sea. Some say it is still going. Mind you, the display technology doesn't produce mind excess heat. That would be the smart-tv cpu as it loads up a barrage of ads with which to torment watchers with. Skip ad 14:56s
rickdeckard 3y ago
To be blunt: An exciting future in mass-market and mid-to-high tier. Which is perfectly fine. For Premium tier the cost of elevating the picture quality to a competitive level (with elaborate backlight tech, multiple layers of LCD, etc.) is simply too high. Samsung was only riding LCD in premium TVs for so long because they didnt have the technology for large-size OLED. So they spent a ton of money to establish the "QLED" brand as a new name for "LCD with yet another backlight" and started explaining people that brightness (not black-level or contrast) is the most important thing for a TV (because uniform LCD backlight can be brighter than per-pixel OLED)
- KingOfCoders 3y ago
  I have a recent QLED, my parents in law have a recent OLED (LG), seems to be the same. I'd say the QLED is easier to watch during the daylight with sun in the room.
  - arghwhat 3y ago
    Having a Neo-QLED myself, the brightness is definitely a plus - still a bit dimmer than I'd like with daylight, but certainly better than having, you know, half the brightness with an regular OLED... The main downside I can note is that the dimming zones are way too large - especially noticeable with local dimming set to High, and credits scrolling. Not noticeable for normal content though. Mini-LED backlight would have made it indistinguishable from most OLEDs in anything but the darkest of cinema rooms...
    - zelos 3y ago
      I think all Neo-QLED TVs are mini-LED - something like 1000 dimming zones?
      - arghwhat 3y ago
        IIRC, 500-750-ish. Good mini-LED are in the several thousands.
    - 3y ago
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
Yeah, LCD tech isn't going anywhere; unless OLED is or becomes cheaper (long term, it probably will), they'll be churning out LED panels for decades to come yet.
- rbanffy 3y ago
  There are companies still selling EL display panels.
  - bhouston 3y ago
    Where is the old plasma displays? I suspect those at least are not being made any more?
    - arh68 3y ago
      Panasonic ended their Viera line about 10 years ago, unfortunately. AFAIK they were the last &/ the best. Mine still works great, although it still draws ~200 watts of energy.

rocqua 3y ago

I believe the point is that the main research is now on oled and micro-led. Those are truly LCD-less. Instead of having a backlight that is variously dimmed by an LCD panel, they have self emmisive pixels. Micro led truly aims to just have a single LED per (sub) pixel.

beebeepka 3y ago
I thought MicroLED was about per pixel backlight for good old LCD. Gonna hit wiki. Edit: it's not LCD hehe. I have memorized some incorrect info
- JoshTriplett 3y ago
  That's "mini-LED". MicroLED has small enough LEDs to use the LEDs directly as the pixels.
  - beebeepka 3y ago
    You seem to be right. I don't have them too confused, though. There have been MiniLED display on the market for years, and they're all LCD
    - water9 3y ago
      Manufacturers blur this distinction on purpose to sell cheaper items
    - numpad0 3y ago
      I believe mini-LED/zone dimming was a development expected to be followed by MicroLED, yet longevity and yield continued to be problem in Micro which left “Mini” branding hanging in the air. IIRC.
Nursie 3y ago
Micro-led seems to me to be one of those technologies that's always just around the corner. Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but from the launch of the first mainstream OLED tvs several years ago, I've been hearing "OLED is just a stopgap, Microled is where it's at, and that's not far off now". Ten years later ... oled is still where it's at, or LCD for a lot of people. I know these things take time, but the anticipation of this tech seems to have lasted at least a decade so far.
- knifie_spoonie 3y ago
  > Micro-led seems to me to be one of those technologies that's always just around the corner. You can actually buy a MicroLED TV today, but they're huge and expensive: https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/micro-led/110-class-micro-led-samsung-4k-with-smart-hub-mna110ms1acxza/ https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/micr...
  - lozenge 3y ago
    How funny they are selling a $150,000 display and still feel the need to inflate its size from 109.2" to 110".
    - rbanffy 3y ago
      They are so massive that the difference is caused by the curvature of spacetime.
    - NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
      Once it's powered on for 10 minutes, the heat causes the materials to expand. Soon thereafter, the thrust from the cooling fans causes the tv to leave forever, but for those first few minutes it is a viewing experience beyond any other. Just last week, one was spotted cruising past the freeway at low altitude, out to sea. Some say it is still going. Mind you, the display technology doesn't produce mind excess heat. That would be the smart-tv cpu as it loads up a barrage of ads with which to torment watchers with. Skip ad 14:56s

rickdeckard 3y ago

To be blunt: An exciting future in mass-market and mid-to-high tier. Which is perfectly fine. For Premium tier the cost of elevating the picture quality to a competitive level (with elaborate backlight tech, multiple layers of LCD, etc.) is simply too high. Samsung was only riding LCD in premium TVs for so long because they didnt have the technology for large-size OLED. So they spent a ton of money to establish the "QLED" brand as a new name for "LCD with yet another backlight" and started explaining people that brightness (not black-level or contrast) is the most important thing for a TV (because uniform LCD backlight can be brighter than per-pixel OLED)

KingOfCoders 3y ago
I have a recent QLED, my parents in law have a recent OLED (LG), seems to be the same. I'd say the QLED is easier to watch during the daylight with sun in the room.
- arghwhat 3y ago
  Having a Neo-QLED myself, the brightness is definitely a plus - still a bit dimmer than I'd like with daylight, but certainly better than having, you know, half the brightness with an regular OLED... The main downside I can note is that the dimming zones are way too large - especially noticeable with local dimming set to High, and credits scrolling. Not noticeable for normal content though. Mini-LED backlight would have made it indistinguishable from most OLEDs in anything but the darkest of cinema rooms...
  - zelos 3y ago
    I think all Neo-QLED TVs are mini-LED - something like 1000 dimming zones?
    - arghwhat 3y ago
      IIRC, 500-750-ish. Good mini-LED are in the several thousands.
  - 3y ago

Cthulhu_ 3y ago

Yeah, LCD tech isn't going anywhere; unless OLED is or becomes cheaper (long term, it probably will), they'll be churning out LED panels for decades to come yet.

rbanffy 3y ago
There are companies still selling EL display panels.
- bhouston 3y ago
  Where is the old plasma displays? I suspect those at least are not being made any more?
  - arh68 3y ago
    Panasonic ended their Viera line about 10 years ago, unfortunately. AFAIK they were the last &/ the best. Mine still works great, although it still draws ~200 watts of energy.