Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I had a semiconductor physics professor in college who told us that the first person who mastered blue LEDs would become a billionaire because that would allow super TVs to be built with tiny RGB LED pixels. Imagine my dismay when I learned that the first LED TVs only used that technology as a backlight source for an LCD...I think even now only a prototype TV from Sony actually works the way my professor envisioned it, even OLEDs rely on filters to make colors from white sources.
I remember the first time I heard about blue LEDs. I was thinking what would be the use other than maybe different indicator lights.
There are all sorts of things that sound interesting in theory, but the key is overcoming manufacturing obstacles. LCDs with filters and backlights can be manufactured pretty easily these days. Silicon isn't even the ideal semiconductor, but the consistency and costs of manufacturing are why it still dominates. I remember being shown a microscopic cross-section of a silicon oxide layer next to oxide grown on GaAS, and it was pretty clear that it was far easier to work with silicon.
One of the more interesting uses I've heard of for LEDs is Dolby Labs professional studio displays. They come with a pretty standard, high quality 42" LCD, but the backlight consists of over a thousand individually controlled RGB LED sets.
Quote:
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/cinema/products/prm-4220.html
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional...rm-4220-FAQ.pdf
How can the Dolby Professional Reference Monitor achieve true black levels with exceptional dark detail, precise color accuracy, wide dynamic range, and a high contrast ratio when other flat-panel monitors cannot?
The backlight of the Dolby Professional Reference Monitor consists of 1,500 RGB LED triads, with the light from each red, green, and blue element independently controlled frame by frame to create a full-color image. This image, together with the image on the LCD panel, produces the final image—one of extended dynamic range with the widest and most accurate color gamut available in a flat-panel monitor.