Samsung Electronics could be moving to introduce an ultrahigh-definition LCD TV using quantum dot technology later this year, said a source familiar with the matter.

This comes as the performance of Korea’s largest TV manufacturer and its display affiliate’s next-generation OLED panels and TVs has lagged behind those of their rivals LG Electronics and LG Display.

“Samsung Electronics aims to produce UHD QD LCD TVs in small quantities in the fourth quarter of this year,” the source said.

“It may have felt that it needed to prove its technological prowess by introducing upgraded models following its latest UHD LCD TVs, amid slow progress in producing large OLED panels.”

Samsung Display, for its part, said it had no information regarding the QD TVs.

QD displays consist of nanoparticles of semiconductor materials that offer much better picture quality with improved color saturation than traditional LCD displays, industry sources said.

They can further boost the LCD’s color distinctions measured by its gamut, putting its display features on close par with OLEDs.

“If the QD is fitted into LCD panels, it can improve the color gamut by up to 130 percent in a level similar to OLED panels,” said Han Cheol-jong, head of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute’s display convergence research center.

Samsung has been pushing to develop its RGB-OLED technology using red, green and blue pixels to generate white, but reportedly faced difficulties in mass producing the display with high yields.

LG, meanwhile, has been plowing ahead with its White-OLED, which has been considered a better technology for the development of large OLED TVs.

Although LG Electronics has not revealed plans to roll out QD TVs this year, its subsidiary LG Display is developing the QD panel to compete with Samsung and for its main overseas customer Apple, according to industry sources.

Apple, whose mass production plan for its iTV has been delayed to at least next year, is said to be mulling various options including using OLED panels for its smart TV.

Sony and Amazon have already released QD products -- the Bravia TV and tablet PC Kindle Fire, respectively.

The global quantum dot display market is expected to soar to $200 million by 2020 from $10 million in 2013, according to global researcher IHS.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)