Nature Electronics, Published online: 22 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41928-026-01669-2 Environmentally friendly, full-colour displays based on quantum dot light-emitting diodes have been limited by the difficulty of patterning quantum dots at high resolution. A cracking-assisted transfer printing method enables ultra-high-resolution patterning of cadmium-free red, green and blue quantum dot nanopixels, paving the way for full-colour active-matrix displays with an extremely wide colour gamut.