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Nanosys promises better color in tablets, TVs

Company says its technology can enable LCD displays to output 50 percent more color than they currently do.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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Don Reisinger
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Nanoysys' says it technology helps make colors look richer.
Nanoysys' says it technology helps make colors look richer. Nanosys

A Silicon Valley company is promising to bring more color to LCDs.

Nanosys says it has developed a technology that helps deliver 50 percent more color than what's currently available on existing LCD panels. According to the company's site, "that means richer, more viscerally alive reds, a deeper palette of greens, and vivid blues."

Most importantly, the company says it can deliver better color with technology already being used in tablets, televisions, and other products.

Nanosys made headlines yesterday when blogger Robert Scoble gushed over the technology. He said that Nanosys CEO Jason Hartlove showed him two iPads--one with Nanosys technology and one without. Scoble was impressed with the look of one of the displays and asked whether Hartlove had somehow scored access to the long-rumored Retina Display-equipped iPad. He hadn't.

Nanosys' QDEF in action. The technology is part of the LCD-panel stack.
Nanosys' QDEF in action. The technology is part of the LCD-panel stack. Nanosys

"Now by taking a very good quality of green, and mixing it with a very good quality of red, and a very good quality of blue, we can make a unique red, green, blue backlight system, which effectively is white light," Hartlove told Scoble in an interview. "But it's very pure white light specifically designed for the display. So the color saturation that comes out and your ability to accurately render colors [are] tremendously improved."

Hartlove told Scoble that his company hopes to have Nanosys technology running on "the tablet, notebook-sized form factor" at the end of this year. He said his company is working with a "major consumer goods manufacturer and display manufacturers to make that happen." Nanosys plans to make the technology available on larger panels, including televisions, next year.

Hartlove wouldn't say which products his company's technology will be available on. But according to the Nanosys site, the company has already inked deals with Samsung and LG Innotek "for the first commercial application of quantum dots in consumer electronics."

In order to bring more vibrancy to images, Nanosys relies upon two technologies called QDEF and QuantumRail. Those technologies are made up of the company's own "high-efficiency quantum dot phosphors" that convert blue light from a standard LED into varying wavelengths. Large dots emit red, while small dots dole out green. When combined, Nanosys is able to develop a "new spectrum of light" that, when used by LCD makers, helps to create more color.

According to Nanosys, its QDEF technology can work on anything from tablets to televisions. QuantumRail works with mobile devices when placed between LEDs and a lightguide panel in the LCD.