1 week Ago By [email protected](KoreaTimes)
Visitors crowd TCL's booth at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin in September. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo By Nam Hyun-woo Hansol Chemical, a Korean manufacturer of materials needed for quantum dot (QD) displays, has filed a complaint against Chinese TV giant TCL, alleging the company is advertising its TV models as QD LED TVs despite lacking essential materials needed for producing genuine QD panels. According to industry sources, Monday, Hansol Chemical filed the complaint with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) last week, claiming that TCL violates the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising.
Hansol Chemical also confirmed that it filed the complaint without revealing further details. In its complaint, Hansol noted that TCL’s three models — the C755 QD-Mini LED 4K TV, the C655 4K QLED TV and the C655 PRO 4K FALD QLED TV — showed no trace of indium or cadmium, which are essential materials needed for QD panels in tests conducted by international certification agencies, yet the company is labeling and advertising them as QD TVs. Either indium or cadmium is an essential material for QDs, which are nano-sized crystals made from semiconductor materials that enhance picture quality while improving overall energy efficiency.
Domestic manufacturers use indium-based QD films because cadmium is classified as a carcinogen. Read More TCL faces questions over quantum dot TV quality According to officials, Hansol Chemical commissioned four global certification agencies, including SGS and Intertek, to test TCL TVs for market research purposes months ago, but the three QD TVs failed to register indium and cadmium in their sheets and diffuser plates. The tests' detection thresholds required at least 2 milligrams of indium or 0.
5 mg of cadmium per kilogram for measurement. When the test results were reported, TCL refuted it by releasing its own test results of materials supplied by its vendors, showing that its TVs are using QD films containing 4 mg per kilogram of cadmium. “Even if those films contain 4 mg of cadmium, they cannot achieve QD performance with just 4 mg,” one of the officials said.
“It’s like putting a single drop of espresso into water and calling it an Americano.” As the two sides’ claims contradict each other, the FTC is expected to launch an investigation. The investigation itself is expected to take time, but the officials noted that it doesn’t require extremely advanced technology to verify.
“It is difficult for general customers to verify QD TVs just by watching them alone, (especially) if the manufacturer labels them as QD,” another industry official said. “However, it won’t be difficult for engineers to analyze and find whether a TV is QD or not ..
. Rather I was shocked by the fact that TCL openly said it is using cadmium for its TVs, which is a harmful substance.”.
