It’s been known for quite some time that Samsung is looking at making TVs that feature a new version of OLED technology, known as QD-OLED and that the company was aiming to get the first products with that technology out in 2022.

Now, a new report says that Samsung is on track to do just that.

According to a report in the Korean Economic Daily, Samsung “will launch the much-anticipated QD-OLED TV in the first half of next year, while expanding its MicroLED TV lines to enhance its presence in the premium market.”

The QD-OLED TVs, according to the report, will offer fifty-five- and sixty-five-inch versions, with larger models to follow, and the TVs “could” be showcased at International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. Samsung Display Co. will provide the panels.

“Samsung is strengthening its premium strategy. Next year, it plans to unveil new QLED and QD-OLED TVs in the quantum dot category as well as MicroLED TVs in various sizes,” an industry official told Korean Economic Daily.

The report also said that the QD-OLED TVs will “place between” Samsung’s regular QLED models, and its MicroLED TVs.

Korean Economic Daily also described the tech as “a hybrid design that combines the brightness and colors of quantum dot technology, found in Samsung’s existing flagship QLED TVs, with backlighting from self-emissive OLED panels.”

The most recent report, in June, had stated that Samsung was “on track” to bring out the QD-OLED models.

“It is important to maintain the top spot of the global display market with game-changing technologies,”  Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, said at the time. “Following LG Display’s 3 trillion-won investment in large OLED panel production in July, Samsung Display’s latest investment plan brightens prospects further.”

There was another report, also in June, that indicated Samsung would be purchasing QD-OLED panels from LG Display. However, Samsung soon pushed back hard on that assertion.

“There is no change in the idea that our QLED TVs have better picture quality than OLED TVs. I’m trying to make it clear that the rumors are groundless,” a Samsung executive told Korean tech publication IT Chosun last month. “It is true that LCD prices are rising, and we are facing a difficult situation, but we have enough capacity to overcome as a No. 1 company.”

There is an assumption that the technology, if it’s ready, will debut at CES in January. While the massive electronics show was entirely virtual in 2021, the organizers are planning a hybrid format in 2022, which will involve both an in-person element in Las Vegas and a virtual show.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters