Category: Displays

Nanosys shows Vizio P Quantum, with 2,400 nits of peak luminance and full DCI-P3 coverage compared with LG's latest OLED display for using with UltraHD 4K HDR content. Nanosys uses AJA Video Systems’ HDR Analyzer tool that uses color science from Color Front to analyze the luminance and color chromaticity of every pixel in a piece of content real time. Looking at BT.2020 HDR10 content graded at 4,000 nits they are able to observe how the two different TV technologies respond.

Quantum Dots deliver the widest color gamut and highest peak luminance for a lifelike HDR content experience, they are also the fastest wide gamut technology. Nanosys shows a wide color gamut speed shootout comparing the response time of Quantum Dots to KSF phosphor, a competing wide color gamut technology. Quantum dots can be switched on and off in a matter of nanoseconds while KSF phosphor takes milliseconds to respond. While milliseconds sounds pretty fast, it isn’t fast enough for Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) displays when it comes to high frame rate content. Quantum Dots respond in perfect synch with the signal for clear motion and near-perfect black levels. In KSF displays, the red component needs time to warm up and cool down over several milliseconds. In the soccer ball example below this slow response time causes a cyan leading edge and a red trailing edge as the ball moves across LED zones on the display.

SL-HDR1 is a HDR standard that was jointly developed by STMicroelectronics, Philips International B.V., and Technicolor R&D France. It was standardised as ETSI TS 103 433 in August 2016. SL-HDR1 provides direct backwards compatibility by using static (SMPTE ST 2086) and dynamic metadata (using SMPTE ST 2094-20 Philips and 2094-30 Technicolor formats) to reconstruct a HDR signal from a SDR video stream that can be delivered using SDR distribution networks and services already in place. SL-HDR1 allows for HDR rendering on HDR devices and SDR rendering on SDR devices using a single layer video stream. The HDR reconstruction metadata can be added either to HEVC or AVC using a supplemental enhancement information (SEI) message.

Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove talks at Nanosys Silicon Valley headquarters, talks about how his company helped make Quantum Dots a success in the market, where it's going next. Topics include the story behind the development of the first quantum dot products, the quantum mechanics of how a quantum dot actually works, as well as a look at the long term roadmap for the technology from QDEF and QDOG to QDCC to QDEL displays of the future.

Nanosys has been at the center of the Quantum Dot universe from the beginning. Founded in 2001 by scientists from UC Berkeley and MIT who helped discover the technology in the early 1980’s, Nanosys finally solved the product/market fit for Quantum Dots by developing a simple component called QDEF.

Ten years ago Quantum Dots were a relative unknown. Mostly a research curiosity, the nanotechnology’s unique ability to convert energy into light captivated the imaginations of scientists who envisioned amazing applications in dozens of industries from solar to printing, to displays and to defense. But commercial success remained out of reach, even decades after its initial discovery. Fast forward to today, “Quantum Dot” is a household name and can be found plastered on the packaging for millions of TVs, monitors and tablets around the world.