Home Theater Geeks 478: Hisense QLED Lawsuit Update

Summary

Home Theater Geeks 478: Hisense QLED Lawsuit Update – Detailed Summary

In episode 478 of Home Theater Geeks, host Scott Wilkinson provides an in-depth update on the ongoing lawsuit against Hisense USA concerning allegations of deceptive marketing related to their QLED TV technology. Released on April 17, 2025, this episode delves into the technical aspects of QLED technology, examines the merits of the lawsuit, and offers valuable guidance for consumers navigating the often-misleading landscape of TV marketing.

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Background of the Lawsuit

Scott begins by revisiting a previous discussion from episode 473, where he introduced the lawsuit filed by Robert Macios against Hisense USA. Macios accuses Hisense of false advertising, claiming that their QD5TV, marketed as a QLED TV, does not genuinely incorporate quantum dots or uses them in such minimal quantities that they fail to enhance the image quality as advertised.

"Robert had bought a QD5TV that Hisense markets as a QLED TV, meaning that it uses quantum dots. That's what the Q stands for." [00:57]

Understanding QLED Technology

To provide listeners with a clear understanding, Scott breaks down the mechanics of QLED TVs. He explains that true QLED technology relies on quantum dots to improve color accuracy and saturation. The process involves a blue backlight passing through a Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF) embedded with red and green quantum dots, converting some of the blue light to produce a broader and more vibrant color spectrum.

"When you add the red, green and the blue that gets through without being absorbed, you get white that then passes through an LCD layer through color filters, and you end up with a color image." [00:57]

Initial Assumptions and Reassessment

In his earlier analysis, Scott presumed that Hisense’s QLED TVs genuinely utilized quantum dots as per standard specifications, making the lawsuit appear unfounded.

"In episode 473, I said that this seemed totally frivolous to me, assuming that the QD5 and other Hisense QLED TVs actually have quantum dots and use them in the way that they're supposed to be used." [00:57]

However, new insights have prompted him to reconsider this stance.

Insights from an Industry Insider

Scott discloses that he consulted an anonymous yet highly reliable source within the industry. This insider revealed that Hisense, along with other manufacturers like TCL, has been reducing or even eliminating the use of quantum dots in lower-end QLED models to cut costs. Instead, they have incorporated phosphors with blue LEDs to maintain the white point, potentially undermining the advertised QLED benefits.

"It seems they might actually have done so. What? How can that be? Well, business is business, I suppose." [00:57]

This revelation suggests that Macios’s lawsuit against Hisense may have substantial grounds, challenging the authenticity of Hisense’s QLED claims.

Technical Verification: Spectral Power Distribution

To substantiate these claims, Scott introduces the concept of Spectral Power Distribution (SPD), a tool used to analyze the light output of TVs. He references ratings.com’s new review section, which includes SPD graphics that reveal whether a TV truly employs quantum dots or relies on phosphors.

"Spectral power distribution is a good thing to look at." [00:57]

Using SPD graphs, Scott compares the Sony Bravia 9 (a genuine QLED model) with Hisense U7N and TCL QM6K models. The Sony Bravia displays distinct red, green, and blue peaks, indicative of true quantum dot usage. In contrast, the Hisense and TCL models exhibit multiple red peaks, signaling the presence of phosphors rather than quantum dots.

"It's a true QLED and you can see it has three distinct and you just separate bands of color, red, green and blue." [00:57]

"In the red and the I have one more example here for you. It's the TCL QM6K, also marketed as a QLED... the red peaks because it also uses phosphors." [00:57]

Performance vs. Marketing

Scott emphasizes that while understanding the underlying technology is crucial for enthusiasts, the ultimate measure of a TV’s value lies in its performance. He discusses various performance metrics such as color gamut, color volume, and Delta E2000 color accuracy, highlighting that QLED and OLED technologies generally offer superior performance compared to non-quantum dot LEDs.

"Of course, the underlying technology can make a difference... QLED does perform better than non quantum dot based LED in general terms." [00:57]

Consumer Guidance and Due Diligence

Concluding his update, Scott advises consumers to approach TV marketing claims with skepticism and to prioritize performance over marketing jargon. He encourages the use of trusted review sources like ratings.com to make informed decisions based on objective performance data rather than potentially misleading advertising.

"Consumers need to take marketing hype with a big grain of salt, maybe a big block of salt." [00:57]

"Do your due diligence and choose the TV that's best for you based on its performance more than its underlying technology." [00:57]

Additional Resources and Conclusion

For listeners seeking more detailed information, Scott recommends an article from Ars Technica, praising it as a valuable technical resource. He also invites listeners to engage with the show by submitting questions and highlights the availability of episodes on YouTube, both with ads and ad-free options through the Twit TV Club.

"For more on the subject, I found a really great article from Ars Technica... I'll include the link in the show notes because it's really a good read." [00:57]

Scott wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of transparency in marketing and the need for companies to uphold honesty in their technological claims, emphasizing that deceptive practices not only harm consumers but also erode trust in the industry.

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Key Takeaways:

• Lawsuit Merit: The lawsuit against Hisense for potentially false advertising regarding QLED technology appears credible based on insider information.

• Technical Insights: True QLED TVs utilize quantum dots to enhance color accuracy and saturation, while some lower-end models may substitute quantum dots with phosphors, diminishing advertised benefits.

• Verification Tools: Spectral Power Distribution is an effective method for verifying the authenticity of QLED claims in TV models.

• Consumer Advice: Prioritize performance metrics and consult trusted review sources to make informed purchasing decisions, remaining cautious of marketing exaggerations.

This episode serves as a crucial resource for home theater enthusiasts and consumers alike, shedding light on the complexities of TV technologies and the importance of vigilance against misleading marketing practices.

Transcript

[Scott Wilkinson]

In this episode of Home Theater Geeks, I update a previous episode about a lawsuit brought against hisense USA for deceptive marketing. Stick around.

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[Scott Wilkinson]

Hey there, Scott Wilkinson here, the home theater geek. In this episode, I'm going to update something I talked about in a previous episode, episode 473. To be specific, I talked about a lawsuit brought by Robert Macios against hisense usa, claiming that the company engaged in false advertising and deceptive business practices. Robert had bought a QD5TV that Hisense markets as a QLED TV, meaning that it uses quantum dots. That's what the Q stands for. Specifically. What that normally means is that it uses a blue backlight and that light passes through a layer, a plastic film embedded with red and green quantum dots, which converts some of that blue light into red and Green. And when you add the red, green and the blue that gets through without being absorbed, you get white that then passes through an LCD layer through color filters, and you end up with a color image. Now, hisense claimed that this technology, quote, dramatically increases the color space and improves color saturation, allowing consumers to see colors like you've never seen before. Now, Masios contends that these TVs either do not include quantum dots or contain them in such negligible amounts that it doesn't meaningfully enhance the image. So in episode 473, I said that this seemed totally frivolous to me, assuming that the QD5 and other Hisense QLED TVs actually have quantum dots and use them in the way that they're supposed to be used. I had no reason to suspect that they don't. Negligible amounts as, as the lawsuit says, didn't make any sense. And I explained why. So I'm going to reiterate that here. Just quickly, in the first graphic, we will look at how a quantum dot QLED TV works. And the. You see a lot of layers here. Most of it we don't need to worry about. The ones to be concerned with are the ones circled in red. So we have a backlight, blue LEDs, mini LEDs. In this diagram, it might go through a diffuser plate which diffuses the light, and then it hits what's called the QDEF quantum dot enhancement film, which is the film that has those red and green quantum dots that absorb some of the blue light and re. Emit it as red and green. In some cases, those quantum dots are embedded in the diffuser plate itself and that's called X QDef. Then that light passes along, goes through the liquid crystal layer, through color filters, and ends up being a full color image. So that's how it's supposed to work. And that's. If you say qled, that's what it's supposed, that's how it's supposed to work. And if we look at this, the next graphic, we can see that this is the triangle you see here. This is called the CIE diagram. And the triangle you see here is represents or encompasses the colors that the TV can reproduce. And the. There's a point in the middle, kind of hard to see a little bit, called D65. And that is the white point. That is the point there that the TV should be able to display white. And what I said at the time was if there were fewer quantum dots in that qdef, that enhancement film, then More blue would get through than was supposed to and pull that D65 white point down towards blue, which would make the picture look horrible. So I said, no, they can't be doing that. They can't be doing that. Well, since then, I've spoken with a very reliable source friend of mine in the industry who's deeply involved in this whole technology, but who must remain anonymous. And so I'm going to honor that. And this source will remain anonymous, but I can assure you he is very reliable. And it turns out I was probably wrong. When Hisense claimed that a TV is qled, I assumed they would not lie about that, but it seems they might actually have done so. What? How can that be? Well, business is business, I suppose. According to my source, Hisense and perhaps other TV manufacturers like TCL at some point started reducing the number of quantum dots in that enhancement film and adding a phosphor to the Blue LEDs to keep the white point where it's supposed to be. They were doing this especially in low end models to save costs. And the QD5, which Robert Macios bought and is now suing over, was certainly, is certainly a low end model. In the worst case, they've even eliminated the quantum dots altogether and used conventional white LEDs, which are really blue, plus a phosphor. And they are. They have no quantum dots in them. So in fact, it appears Masiosa's claim of there being no quantum dots or negligible amounts of quantum dots in the TV might actually be true. And that Hisenses claim their marketing of the Q QD5 is a QDOLED QD QLED. Sorry, my. My mistake. Marketing it as a QLED TV might well be false advertising. Wow. If so, his lawsuit has merit and should be fully pursued. Now, I haven't personally taken apart a QD5 to see for myself, but I'm sure Maciosa's lawyers will find an expert to do just that. And it will be readily apparent whether or not that film, that one layer there that's supposed to have quantum dots in it, has them or not. You can tell by looking at it by the sort of color and, and how it reacts to light. Now, my favorite TV review site called ratings.com spelled R-T-I-N-G-S.com has just added an element to its TV reviews that could help people understand this issue. There's a new section in its reviews called panel technology and it reveals the pixel structure and whether or not a phosphor is being used. Now they have in this little, this new section called Panel Technology, a really cool new graphic. It's not really new, but it's new for their reviews called spectral power distribution. And it's basically a spectrum. So in this graphic, this is the spectral power distribution of the Sony Bravia 9, which is Sony's flagship Quantum QLED TV. It's a true QLED and you can see it has three distinct and you just separate bands of color, red, green and blue. The, the blue is from the blue backlight and the green and the red are from the green and red quantum dots. Very clean, very nice. Now the next one is from the Hisense U7N, which is marketed also as a QLED. But here, take a look at the red peak. It's actually got three red peaks and they identify our ratings does in their review that the LEDs actually do use a phosphor and that's why the peaks look the way they do in the red and the. I have one more example here for you. It's the TCL QM6K, also marketed as a QLED. And it also has similar three red peaks because it also uses phosphors, which ratings identifies in this section. So that's one way that you could tell if there are, if it's truly QLED or if it's pseudo qled. Now, of course, the bottom line is how does the TV perform regardless of its underlying technology? That's, that's really the bottom line, except maybe for us geeks. But and for that this power, Spectral power distribution is a good thing to look at. And there are other things, many other things in ratings reviews that are worth looking at to see how the TV performs. For example, in episode 43473, I looked at the color gamut of the Sony X900, which is not QLED. And here we can see it. And it's, you know, it's, it's pretty good. It's got some errors above 5. As you can see in that Delta E2000 list of colors there. Anything that goes above 5 is considered a, a visible error. And if we look at the next one, that's the Samsung Q90, which is a quantum dot QLED. And you still see the, the errors are less. The, there's one or two that go up near five. Anything higher than that yellow line is going to be visible. But it's better. Okay, it's better. Is it dramatically better? No, it's not. Another thing to look at is called color volume. And so we look at the same two TVs. Graphic 8 is the color volume of the Sony X900H and you can see the this the colored in parts are the color volume which is the colors reproduced at different brightness levels. That's what the TV can do. And the wire cage part is the target. You want the colored areas to fill those targets. And if we look at the Samsung Q90 which is a QLED, it fills those wire racks a little better. Again, is it dramatic? Not tremendously dramatic, but a little bit. It's certainly better. And Art Ratings does a lot more testing that is well worth looking at. And as I said in in that previous episode, in the end consumers need to do their due diligence by consult trusted sources like ratings.com and choosing the best performing TV they can afford. Of course the underlying technology can make a difference. As we just saw, QLED does perform better than non quantum dot based LED in general terms. And in my opinion, QD OLED or even regular OLED performs better than lcd. It's not as bright, I will grant that, but it has much better off axis viewing. So again you have to decide, you have to prioritize what are the important things for you and they might be different than what they are for me. Also, I will reiterate that consumers need to take marketing hype with a big grain of salt, maybe a big block of salt. All companies spew it to one degree or another. But if a company actually lies about the technology they're using, they say they're using quantum dots, but there are no quantum dots in there. Well that's despicable and they should be prosecuted for it. So when a company falsely uses the letter Q and the word quantum, which they all do way too much, I think they're just shooting themselves in the foot. So I, I wanted to update this story because my previous episode I did not realize that in fact there's evidence, strong evidence that Hisense and other companies are in fact calling things one thing that they aren't. And that's wrong. That's all there is to it. Now for more on the subject, I found a really great article from Ars Technica, which is a great technical news site. I'll include the link in the show notes because it's really a good read. So I suggest you check that out. And in the meantime, as I said, do your due diligence and choose the TV that's best for you based on its performance more than its underlying technology. So I'm glad to have been able to update that for you. Now if you have a question for me, just send it right along to htgwit tv. I'll answer as many as I can right here on the show. And as you might know by now, all episodes of Home Theater Geeks are playing on YouTube for free. But they have commercials. If you want to go ad free, join the club. Just go to Twit TV Club Twit and join up for ad free programming. Until next time, geek out.