Mobile displays continue their path to a better future as the industry awes us with more unbelievable screens. Smartphone resolutions have reached levels that match 50-inch televisions, sometimes even surpassing them. And with both LCD and AMOLED displays available, there is room for everyone’s taste. We even have flexible screens now! What is the next step in display technology?

When considering smartphone and tablet displays, we must worry about multiple factors, more so than with TVs. Power efficiency, color accuracy, brightness and refresh rate are among the most important. Imagine if you could mix the vibrant colors AMOLED offers with the color accuracy and energy efficiency LCD displays tout?

In comes Quantum Dot, the next step (and the future) in display technology. Quantum Dot is said to drop our jaws in a world where it has become very hard to impress users. It will bring LCD displays the amazing color range only AMOLED displays have seen so far.

How is Quantum Dot different?

Quantum Dot’s semiconductor nanocrystals offer a solution to a problem LCD panels have always had. These screens are known for color accuracy, but the images don’t “pop”. This is because color reproduction in LCD displays highly depends on the quality of the color being emitted by the LCD backlight.

The main difference in Quantum Dot screens is that light is emitted on demand, and customized to serve specific areas and colors at certain times, instead of LCD lights, which are continuously on. This is how Quantum Dot displays can reach wider color ranges. Likewise, color gamut improves by 40%-50%, and energy efficiency rises by 15%-20%.

We can currently see Quantum Dot displays in very few Android devices, including the Amazon Kindle HDX and other Sony Xperia devices. Now that we have perfected other screen technologies, it’s time to get Quantum Dot out there.

These displays are said to be the best in the market, so long as they are properly calibrated. If they are not, the blue colors could be less saturated than expected.

When will we see Quantum Dot displays coming to mobile devices?

New reports state Samsung and LG, two of the biggest leaders in smartphone/tablet display technology, will pioneer the Quantum Dot movement. The Korean giants are said to start mass producing mobile Quantum Dot LCD screens during the second half of this year, with the first devices sporting these panels as soon as 2015.

Can Quantum Dot finally take AMOLED’s crown? It seems so. The industry knows it, manufacturers know it and you know it. Much like megapixels in a camera sensor, screen definitions mean nothing without good quality panels. Let’s stop focusing so much on the pixels and get to the root of good viewing experiences.