[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics has recently filed a new trademark for “Micro QLED” with the Korean patent office, raising speculations that it is preparing to roll out a brand new TV using self-emitting quantum dots. 

According to Dutch tech news outlet LetsGoDigital on Jan. 17, Samsung filed two trademarks -- 8K QLED and Micro QLED -- on Jan. 11. 

During the CES trade show in Las Vegas last week, the world’s largest TV maker showcased only two premium TV models using Micro LED and 8K QLED. There was no unveiling under the name Micro QLED.

Micro LED uses tiny light-emitting diodes and boasts crisper and brighter color than the current high-end display technologies like LCD or OLED. But due to the high manufacturing costs, it has not yet been commercialized.

In the meantime, QLED is more like an upgraded LCD that uses a quantum-dot sheet to help improve brightness and color. The quantum dots used in Samsung's QLED TVs do not emit light by themselves so a backlighting is necessary.

The trademark filing didn’t specify details of Micro QLED, but the report said it could be Samsung’s next-generation TV -- a combination of benefits of Micro LED and quantum dots.

Samsung declined to comment on the latest filing.

“I have never heard about Micro QLED,” a Samsung official told The Investor. “As you know, filing a trademark doesn’t necessarily mean a product will be launched anytime soon. We’ll see.”

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)