TCL now can't call some of its TVs 'QLED' after losing in court to Samsung — and there are more legal cases coming

• German court tells TCL to stop advertising and selling QLED TVs
• Rival firms' complaints allege deceptive advertising
• Standardized certification might help buyers

TCL has been ordered to stop selling some of its TVs in Germany. A court in Munich has ruled that TCL had broken the country's unfair competition law by advertising supposedly QLED TVs that "do not deliver the color reproduction expected from QLED TVs," as reported by Korea Times.

The court decision means that TCL can no longer advertise or sell current certain specific QLED TV models in Germany.

The case was filed by Samsung, which claimed that TCL was running deceptive advertising, and more court cases on the same topic are coming in other countries, including the US.

The lawsuits all make the same claim: that what TCL calls a QLED isn't a QLED as it's commonly understood, and that consumers are being mis-sold TVs as a result.

Tests for quantum dots found not a lot

The court found that TCL's quantum dot TVs, such as the QLED870 series available in Germany, didn't deliver the characteristics of a quantum dot LED, and that consumers were being misled as a result.

This isn't the first time it's been claimed that TCL's quantum dots don't deliver the goods. In late 2024, the South Korean news website ET News published details of tests that didn't detect the chemicals required to make quantum dots on TCL quantum dot TVs.

The tests were commissioned by Seoul chemicals company Hansol Chemical (which, it's worth noting, works with Samsung, a key TCL rival, and which heavily promoted the results of these tests alongside launching the court case) and carried out by Geneva's SGS and the UK's Intertek.

According to ET News (via Google Translate), "no indium (In) or cadmium (Cd) was detected in three TCL QD TV models. Indium and cadmium are essential materials that cannot be omitted for QD implementation… if neither is present, QD technology cannot be said to have been applied." You can see the test results here.

TCL disputed the findings — "The QD content may vary depending on the supplier, but it definitely contains cadmium," it responded — and published its own tests, including a test by SGS, the same firm that conducted tests for Hansol.

The results contradicted Hansol Chemical's tests, but those tests used a different methodology: where TCL's tests focused on TCL's quantum dot films, Hansol's commissioned tests were on finished TCL TVs.

It seems very unlikely that TCL would get away with selling quantum dot TVs that didn't contain any quantum dots, and the performance of TCL's QLED displays in our reviews has been consistent with the stated specs and color performance, regardless of what tech was used inside to get there, within the usual margins for error we expect when going from marketing claims to real-world use.

Hansol Chemical has filed a complaint against TCL with the US Federal Trade Commission, alleging false advertising, and TCL is also facing class action lawsuits in several US states making the same claim. TCL isn't alone here: Hisense has also been targeted in the US.

The claims and counterclaims indicate a problem with TV tech: without independent certification, we have to take manufacturers' claims on trust. And in Germany at least, the court decided that TCL was making promises it hadn't kept.

While independent certification might help consumers, right now it's all very confusing: Germany's TÜV Rheinland has awarded official certification to both Samsung and TCL for quantum dot TVs, but for different things: Samsung has been certified as "Real Quantum Dot Display" while TCL was awarded "Realistic Visual Experience".

TCL declined to comment for this article, and we approached Samsung but have yet to hear back. We'll keep you posted with any further response.

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