TCL Huaxing Zhao Jun’s interview on natural light eye protection display technology was reported by Nature Custom Media

Dialogue

Senior Vice President of TCL Technology,

CEO of TCL Huaxing Zhao Jun

TCL Huaxing, as the world's leading display panel manufacturer, demonstrated a variety of natural light eye-protection display technologies at the SID2026 industry event. Nature Custom Media had an in-depth conversation with Zhao Jun, CEO of TCL Huaxing, and comprehensively elaborated on APEX natural light display technology. Zhao Jun, CEO of TCL Huaxing, said that as people spend more and more time in front of the screen, it is crucial to develop display products that can produce display products that are closer to natural light and more in line with human visual physiological needs. At the same time, he also pointed out that the industry needs a more scientific method to evaluate the output quality of display technology.

Question: Why did TCL Huaxing propose the concept of "natural light display technology"?

Zhao Jun: Traditional display development often falls into the ultimate pursuit of a single parameter, such as blue light emission, polarization or stroboscopic. But the human eye is not an instrument, and our visual experience is shaped by the entire pathway that emits light into the eye and is processed by the visual system, rather than by any single indicator in isolation.

In order to better reflect this, TCL Huaxing has been committed to developing display technology closer to natural light and using natural light as an output reference benchmark for display product design and evaluation. We systematically comprehensively summarized natural light and its light environment as a reference benchmark, and designed technical parameters in six dimensions: wide spectrum, non-polarization, continuity, diffuse reflection, rhythmicity, spatiality, etc.

Q: Can you give an example of how this concept is used in practice?

Zhao Jun: Broad Spectrum is a good example. Because daylight quality varies with climate, geography, and season, researchers need a unified reference point when comparing display light to "natural light." In practice, the "CIE D65 standard light source" is usually used to represent the spectral power distribution of typical sunlight. This allows us to design displays with a wider and more continuous spectral distribution, avoiding the narrow peaks common in traditional RGB displays (especially in the blue light region).

The world’s highest spectral similarity (QNLI: 81.8%) desktop display

TCL Huaxing's deep exploration of this technological path not only complies with the continuous accumulation of scientific evidence in the display field and verifies the friendliness of the wide spectrum to visual physiology, but also accurately responds to users' urgent needs for eye protection in sophisticated work scenarios such as reading and proofreading.

In addition to its spectral characteristics, natural light changes throughout the day. Displays can support the body's circadian rhythm by adjusting brightness, color temperature and even specific spectral segments.

Another example is polarization properties. Natural light has no fixed polarization direction, while LCD screens usually have linearly polarized light. TCL Huaxing is developing a screen that is closer to a natural random non-polarized state. By designing and developing a depolarizing optical layer, the vibration direction of polarized light is randomized, making the display output closer to the polarization characteristics of natural light.

Printed OLED random depolarization eye protection laptop display (14")

In addition, the display screen modulates the light source and fluctuates over time, which is called "stroboscopic". Even if it is imperceptible to the human eye, subtle fluctuations in brightness can still cause visual fatigue. Researchers from TCL Huaxing are working with doctors from the Eye and Optometry Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University to study how to reduce visual fatigue by increasing the refresh rate and improving dimming schemes.

Question: How is this research concept implemented through industry-university-research collaboration?

Zhao Jun: Since 2005, TCL CSOT has continued to cooperate with a number of hospitals, universities and standards organizations, including Zhongshan Ophthalmology Center of Sun Yat-sen University, China Institute of Standardization and Beijing Tongren Hospital, to jointly explore the relationship between various dimensional indicators of display output and visual fatigue and eye health.

Early work focused on the relationship between polarization and visual fatigue, while recent research focuses more on refresh rate, OLED brightness modulation, and wide spectrum output. These scientific research collaborations provide solid theoretical support for TCL Huaxing to formulate display development guidelines for "natural light similarity".

Question: What is the future research direction of TCL Huaxing?

Zhao Jun: Our goal is to have a deeper understanding of the interaction mechanism between light and the human eye, to find key display parameters that can improve visual comfort, and to make the screen output closer to people's perceptual experience in the real natural world. We look forward to collaborating with more academic institutions and clinical experts to further validate and expand our findings in this area.

APEX Zhentu:

Excellent display starts here

APEX Zhentu is an advanced display technology brand launched by TCL Huaxing, aiming to improve the display experience, visual health, green and low carbon, unlimited imagination and sustainability of the display.

By integrating innovative technologies throughout the entire display industry chain, APEX combines high contrast, ultra-wide color gamut, high refresh rate and ultra-high resolution to present a vivid and immersive image experience on various devices and application scenarios. At the same time, APEX Zhentu introduces a natural light display framework—including wide spectrum, non-polarization, and excellent rhythmicity—to support the visual comfort of long-term screen use.

Sustainability is at the heart of the design. Technologies such as high light transmittance, low power consumption and environmentally friendly materials effectively reduce environmental impact while ensuring performance. Together, these breakthroughs push APEX to the forefront of next-generation display platforms: achieving superior performance while benefiting human health and the natural environment.

Why did CSOT propose natural-light display technology?

Traditionally, the development of displays screens has optimized individual parameters, such as blue-light emission, polarization or flicker, one at a time. But our visual experience is shaped by the entire pathway through which emitted light enters the eye and is processed by the visual system, rather than shaped by any single metric in isolation.

To better reflect this, we have been developing display technology at CSOT that more closely resembles the experience of natural light, using that light as a reference for how display output can be designed and evaluated. Our approach considers several design parameters, including the spectrum distribution of light, polarization of emitted light, display flicker,adaptation to circadian lighting conditions, diffuse reflection on displays, and spatial viewing conditions, such as viewing distance.

Could you highlight examples of how this works in practice?

The spectrum distribution of light is one example. Because the quality of daylight changes with climate, geography and season, researchers need a consistent reference point when comparing display light with ‘natural’ light. In practice, they often use a standard called ‘CIE illuminant D65’ to represent typical daylight, based on how much light is distributed at different wa velengths. This allows display spectra to be designed with a broader and more continuous distribution, avoiding the narrow peaks typically seen in conventional RGB-based displays, particularly in the blue region.

Although direct evidence in display settings is still emerging, studies in lighting research suggest that broader, more daylight-like ranges of spectra may be more comfortable and provide better support for tasks such as reading and proofreading, which is why CSOT is pursuing this.

Beyond its spectral properties, natural light also over the course of the day, and displays can support circadian rhythms by adapting brightness and color, even adjusting varies specific spectra.

Another example is the polarization of emitted light. Natural daylight does not have a fixed direction of polarization, whereas LCDs typically produce linearly polarized light, with waves vibrating in a single direction. CSOT is developing screens which produce light that is polarized in a more natural way through a depolarizing optical layer designed to randomize the vibra tion direction of polarized light, bringing display output closer to the polarization characteristics of natural light.

Light from displays can also fluctuate over time, a phenomenon known as flicker. Even when not consciously perceived, these subtle fluctuations in brightness may still contribute to visual fatigue over time. Working with scientists at the National Engineering Research Center for Ophthalmology and Optometry at Wenzhou Medical University, in Wenzhou, CSOT researchers have bee n studying how higher ‘refresh rates’ and improved dimming approaches may help reduce fatigue.

How has this idea been shaped by research and collaboration?

Since the late 2000s, CSOT has also worked with hospitals, universities and institutions standards, including the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China National Institute of Standardization and Beijing Tongren Hospital, to examine how some aspects of display screen output relate to visual fatigue and health.

Early work focused on polarization and visual strain, while more recent studies have looked at refresh rate, OLED luminance modulation and broad-spectrum output. More recently, research collaboration has helped integrate this work with CSOT’s broader principles for developing displays that more closely align with natural light.

What’s next for your research?

Our goals are to better understand how light interacts with the eye, to identify display parameters that support visual comfort, and to bring screen output closer to people’s experience of ambient light in the real world. We are excited to work with more academics and clinicians to help test and extend our findings in this area.