By Manuel Perez Bella
Las Vegas, Jan 6 (IANS/EFE): The new generation of televisions in 2015 will draw viewers closer to a theatre-like experience with the help of quantum dot technology, as announced by manufacturers on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opening Tuesday in this US city.
The technology is being employed by, among others, South Korean companies Samsung and LG, Japanese firm Sony, and TCL of China.
According to statements by the manufacturers Monday, the new technology allows better image quality and lower costs, which is the biggest obstacle for the new high-resolution 4K technology.
The new quantum dot technology in LCD (liquid-crystal display) screens promises to provide better colour reproduction, contrast and image brightness.
Samsung vice president Joe Stinziano said Monday that the technology would allow a theatre-like movie viewing experience at home.
He added that the quality of colour reproduction would improve 64 times and brightness would be 2.5 times more than the conventional LCD screen.
According to Sony, its new line of Bravia 4K UHD TVs, having an X1 processor and which will be unveiled at CES, will have greater colour precision, luminosity and contrast. Its Triluminos screen has been developed by QD Vision using quantum dots.
The most remarkable among the new generation Bravia series is the XBR X900C, having an ultra-fine screen measuring just 4.9 mm (0.19 inchs) in thickness at its slimmest point.
China's TCL is set to launch a television with a 110-inch screen which aims to make the conventional term, "small screen", more redundant.
This would make it the largest TV in the world, according to TCL, and it has a curved screen, a shape that is increasingly in demand in the market, and seeks to provide an “enveloping” experience for viewers.
A major portion of the 4K TVs sold in the US in 2104 were curved, according to Samsung's president in the US, Tim Baxter.
The US Consumer Electronics Association calculates that about four million 4K TVs will be sold in the country in 2015, an increase of 208 percent in a year.
In this regard, TV manufacturing firms announced an alliance with distributors and producers to promote the development of 4K technology.
Firms like LG, Samsung and Panasonic, movie studios Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Disney and Sony, and distribution platforms like Netflix and DirecTV, and Dolby and Technicolor are a part of the alliance.
Panasonic will present its Studio Master Drive technology, which divides the pixel into six colours, adding the secondary shades cyan, magenta and yellow to the primary red, green and blue that have formed the base of TV screens since the beginning of colour television in the 1960s.
Sharp has placed its bet on dividing the pixels, reaching 66 million subpixels, 42 more than the standard 4K, which will allow better HD transmission, similar to 4K.
CES, considered the world's premier consumer technology showcase, is opening Tuesday for three days in Las Vegas with more than 3,600 companies from 140 countries taking part.