LAS VEGAS -- Even with all the buzz about driverless cars and the Internet of Things, the annual International Consumer Electronics Show can never be complete without fancier TVs.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest TV-maker, unveiled Monday its new high-end UHD TVs before their official debuts at the CES trade show that runs from Wednesday through Friday in the U.S. city of Las Vegas.
 

While its rival LG Electronics has poured resources into organic light-emitting diode displays, or OLED, for its leadership in the premium TV segment in the past few years, Samsung has renewed its commitment to liquid crystal displays, or LCD.

This year, the Korean tech giant said it has applied its latest quantum-dot technology to all the five new models following the first generation launch last year.

Quantum dots are tiny particles that emit a different color of light according to their size. Applied to TVs, the colors are more accurate and the images are more vibrant compared to traditional LCDs. On top of that, they are more energy efficient.

Despite several advantages, TV-makers have been reluctant to adopt the technology because quantum dots generally contain cadmium, a toxic heavy metal that faces stiff regulations in many countries.

Samsung, which has worked on the technology since 2002, is currently the sole producer of cadmium-free quantum-dot TVs.

“Our new quantum-dot TVs offer the best screen quality and brightness among rivals in the market. And the related technology will continue to evolve,” Samsung’s TV chief Kim Hyun-seok said at the preview event for Korean reporters. 

He especially touted the drastically improved brightness that allows perfect blackness and more extreme color contrast. The latest TVs boast 1,000 nits of brightness, equal to the brightness of 1,000 candles.

Samsung said it offers the TVs as a reference device for Hollywood’s renowned studios to produce HDR or high dynamic range content, which is considered the next generation of home video content after the current UHD or 4K.

Kim declined to comment on the direct competition with OLED, but he made it clear the company has no immediate plans to launch its own OLED TVs. Samsung suspended the OLED TV production in 2013 due to its poor profitability.

“We could consider OLED TVs when current issues such as the tricky panel production, high prices and marketability are resolved. But for now there is no reason to invest big in a less profitable business,” he said.

“We will focus more on upgrading our quantum-dot technology.”

During the event, Samsung said it has equipped all the high-end UHD TVs with an IoT hub function that controls all machines ranging from home appliances to door locks and home surveillance cameras. It plans to extend the adoption in the future.

The company also demonstrated a new software that allows multiple users to share music and photos on a single TV screen using their smartphones. The final version is scheduled to be unveiled during the upcoming event for developers in March.

By Lee Ji-yoon, Korea Herald correspondent (jylee@heraldcorp.com)