Philips Releases ‘World’s First’ Quantum Dot Monitor, Delivers 99% Adobe RGB Coverage

It’s not too often that we see “world’s first” listed in an email subject, and when we do, it’s often a lie. In this particular case, though, it appears that Philips is in fact the first out the door with a monitor that utilizes “Quantum Dots”, promising color accuracy improvements of 50%. This is made possible with “Color IQ” technology from QD Vision, a US-based firm that’s throwing all of its weight behind quantum dots. On its website, a quote mentions that quantum dots could be used in 60% of TVs in 2025, so it doesn’t appear to be a drive-by fad.

Unfortunately, Philips monitor isn’t what I’d call the ideal first offering, but that could be a side-effect of new technology. While the picture is sure to be color-accurate, Philips packed a 1080p resolution into a 27-inch monitor. That’s fine for the most part, but the image is not going to be as crisp as it would be if it were in a 24-inch or smaller frame (I have 1080p 22-inch monitors here that are over 6-years-old!). I think it would have been preferable to see such a monitor with at least 1440p, as is common of 27-inch mid-range panels.

To be fair to Philips, though, this monitor isn’t expensive, so it’s not as though these quantum dots are adding a major premium. This 27-inch monitor can be had for $299 USD right now at Amazon.com. As of the time of writing, we’ve been unable to spot the monitor at any other etailer (it’s not even on the Canadian Amazon site).

With monitor technology, it’s not hard to build a monitor with excellent color accuracy, but most (according to Philips) today hover around 95% coverage of Adobe RGB. With its “50 percent more color” than traditional higher-end monitors, this quantum dot display hits 99% Adobe RGB coverage. For added comparison, Philips notes that most “mainstream” monitors hit just 75% color accuracy.

Other specs of the ridiculously named 276E6ADSS includes a 60Hz refresh rate, IPS-ADS panel, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, 178° viewing angles, and three display ports: HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA. The monitor doesn’t include speakers, but does conveniently include a 3.5mm audio out jack in case you want to run your speakers or headphones through the HDMI connection.

The most important part of this entire announcement is the simple fact that quantum dot displays are now a reality. We should soon see many more models creep up. Hopefully.