Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Color IQ? 
Color IQ is an advanced light emitting semiconductor technology developed by QD Vision, Inc.  Integrating QD Vision’s Color IQ optical component with our customers’ display technologies, enables the display to achieve significantly wider color gamut, providing a far more natural and vivid viewing experience.

2. How does Color IQ improve LCD TV color performance compared to conventional LCD TVs?
Conventional LCD TVs use white LEDs for the system backlight. These white LEDs have broadband light emission, and as a result the red, green and blue colors emitted are not fully saturated.

By comparison, Color IQ emits very pure, very saturated, narrow bandwidth red, green and blue light that is optimized for LCD TVs. As a result, the range of colors the TV can produce increases by about 50% compared to conventional LCD TVs
 

3. What kind of products will include Color IQ?
The first products with Color IQ will be large screen LCD TVs produced by Sony. In the future, Color IQ will appear in other LCD products such as computer monitors, and other types of displays.

4. Where can I buy products with Color IQ?
Sony will offer LCD TVs including Color IQ in select 2013 TV models with the Sony brand name Triluminos. Please check out their website at http://store.sony.com, keyword=triluminos.

As other products come to market with Color IQ, we will update this page!

5. Is Color IQ something that can be retrofitted to existing display systems?
Unfortunately no. Color IQ needs to be designed in by the display manufacturer.

6. Do I need to do any maintenance on Color IQ?
No. Color IQ is a passive optical component that is designed to deliver great color performance over the useful life of the display.

7. Is Color IQ safe?
Color IQ is safe for workers, consumers, and the environment. QD Vision has applied the principles of Responsible Development, through various research projects, collaborations, and product design, so that Color IQ will not cause harm.

8. Do Color IQ components contain cadmium?
Yes, Color IQ contains an extremely small quantity of the element cadmium. The cadmium is securely fixed within a hardened resin and sealed within glass inside the body of the display (e.g. TV, monitor). Customers therefore do not have potential exposure to cadmium.

9. If I have an LCD TV or monitor product with Color IQ, how much cadmium is inside?
Color IQ components contains about a milligram (1/1000^th of a gram) or less of cadmium. To put this in perspective, it means a typical consumer electronic device containing Color IQ will have less than one part per million (<1 ppm) cadmium.

10. What happens if my Color IQ TV breaks?
There are no special procedures to follow should a TV with Color IQ break. The TV manufacturer can provide you with disposal and repair information. Color IQ contains only solid state materials, and hence there is no risk of material leakage, such as in liquid or gas state, from Color IQ. 

11. When it is time to dispose of my Color IQ TV, and are special waste handling procedures required? 
There are no special waste handling procedures required of which we are aware in the locations in which Color IQ is being distributed. In many areas around the world, recycling of the TV sets may be available. Please see our customers’ CSR websites for more information on recycling.

12. What is Color IQ made of and why is there cadmium in it?  
Color IQ is made of a material called quantum dots, which provide the red and green light that you see when you look at a Color IQ display. Quantum dots are a solid-state semiconductor material (like Silicon, or LEDs) with unique light emitting properties that provide the excellent color purity that you enjoy with Color IQ. Quantum dots contain cadmium because the cadmium-based semiconductors are the only known materials that can achieve the energy efficiency, quality, and reliability specifications required to meet consumer electronic performance standards. 

13. Is Color IQ harmful to human health and/or the environment?
Color IQ is safe for workers, consumers, and the environment. QD Vision has applied the principals of Responsible Development, through various research projects, collaborations, and product design, so that Color IQ will not cause harm. 

The cadmium contained in Color IQ is extremely small in quantity, and is securely fixed within a hardened resin and sealed within glass inside the body of the display (e.g. TV or monitor). The cadmium is thus triply bound within the product, confined in the solid state, and there is no risk of material leakage, such as in a liquid or gaseous state, from Color IQ. 

We have also studied the end-of-life fate of the Color IQ material. These studies, published in a peer-reviewed, scientific journal, clearly show that the material is extremely unlikely to cause any environmental harm, even in the worst-case analysis.

14. What is cadmium?
Cadmium is a relatively abundant, naturally occurring element that is used in certain batteries, solar cells, pigments, and corrosion resistant coatings. In application to displays such as TVs and monitors, it replaces phosphors based upon rare-earth metals which are considered critical, limited resources by several governments including the US and EU.