oled vs lcd touch screen design quotation

If you’re designing a display application or deciding what type of TV to get, you’ll probably have to choose between an OLED or LCD as your display type.

LCDs utilize liquid crystals that produce an image when light is passed through the display. OLED displays generate images by applying electricity to organic materials inside the display.OLED and LCD Main Difference:

graphics and images visible. This is the reason you’re still able to see light coming through on images that are meant to be dark on an LCD monitor, display, or television.

OLEDs by comparison, deliver a drastically higher contrast by dynamically managing their individual pixels. When an image on an OLED display uses the color black, the pixel shuts off completely and renders a much higher contrast than that of LCDs.OLED vs LCD - Who is better at contrast?

Having a high brightness level is important if your display is going to be used in direct sunlight or somewhere with high ambient brightness. The display"s brightness level isn"t as important if it’s going to be used indoors or in a low light setting.OLED vs LCD - Who is better at Brightness?

Have you ever looked at a screen from an angle and noticed that the images became washed out or shadowy? The further away you get from the “front and center” view, the worse the image appears to be. This is an example of viewing angles in action – the wider the viewing angle, the better the images on screen will appear as you view them from different vantage points.

This means the display is much thinner than LCD displays and their pixels are much closer to the surface of the display, giving them an inherently wider viewing angle.

You’ll often notice images becoming distorted or losing their colors when tilting an LCD or when you view it from different angles. However, many LCDs now include technology to compensate for this – specifically In-Plane Switching (IPS).

LCDs with IPS are significantly brighter than standard LCDs and offer viewing angles that are on-par with OLEDs.OLED vs LCD - Who is better at Viewing Angles?

LCDs have been on the market much longer than OLEDs, so there is more data to support their longevity. On average LCDs have proven to perform for around 60,000 hours (2,500) days of operation.

With most LCDs you can expect about 7 years of consistent performance. Some dimming of the backlight has been observed but it is not significant to the quality of the display.

OLEDs are a newer technology in the display market, which makes them harder to fully review. Not only does OLED technology continue to improve at a rapid pace, but there also hasn’t been enough time to thoroughly observe their performance.

You must also consider OLED’s vulnerability to image burn-in. The organic material in these displays can leave a permanent afterimage on the display if a static image is displayed for too long.

So depending on how your OLED is used, this can greatly affect its lifespan. An OLED being used to show static images for long periods of time will not have the same longevity as one displaying dynamic, constantly moving images.OLED vs LCD - Which one last longer?

There is not yet a clear winner when it comes to lifespans between LCD and OLED displays. Each have their advantages depending on their use-cases. It’s a tie!

For a display application requiring the best colors, contrast, and viewing angles – especially for small and lightweight wearable devices – we would suggest an OLED display.

There are plenty of new and confusing terms facing TV shoppers today, but when it comes down to the screen technology itself, there are only two: Nearly every TV sold today is either LCD or OLED.

The biggest between the two is in how they work. With OLED, each pixel provides its own illumination so there"s no separate backlight. With an LCD TV, all of the pixels are illuminated by an LED backlight. That difference leads to all kinds of picture quality effects, some of which favor LCD, but most of which benefit OLED.

LCDs are made by a number of companies across Asia. All current OLED TVs are built by LG Display, though companies like Sony and Vizio buy OLED panels from LG and then use their own electronics and aesthetic design.

So which one is better? Read on for their strengths and weaknesses. In general we"ll be comparing OLED to the best (read: most expensive) LCD has to offer, mainly because there"s no such thing as a cheap OLED TV (yet).

At the other side of light output is black level, or how dark the TV can get. OLED wins here because of its ability to turn off individual pixels completely. It can produce truly perfect black.

The better LCDs have local dimming, where parts of the screen can dim independently of others. This isn"t quite as good as per-pixel control because the black areas still aren"t absolutely black, but it"s better than nothing. The best LCDs have full-array local dimming, which provides even finer control over the contrast of what"s onscreen -- but even they can suffer from "blooming," where a bright area spoils the black of an adjacent dark area.

Here"s where it comes together. Contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest and the darkest a TV can be. OLED is the winner here because it can get extremely bright, plus it can produce absolute black with no blooming. It has the best contrast ratio of any modern display.

One of the main downsides of LCD TVs is a change in picture quality if you sit away from dead center (as in, off to the sides). How much this matters to you certainly depends on your seating arrangement, but also on how much you love your loved ones.

A few LCDs use in-plane switching (IPS) panels, which have better off-axis picture quality than other kinds of LCDs, but don"t look as good as other LCDs straight on (primarily due to a lower contrast ratio).

OLED doesn"t have the off-axis issue LCDs have; its image looks basically the same, even from extreme angles. So if you have a wide seating area, OLED is the better option.

Nearly all current TVs are HDR compatible, but that"s not the entire story. Just because a TV claims HDR compatibility doesn"t mean it can accurately display HDR content. All OLED TVs have the dynamic range to take advantage of HDR, but lower-priced LCDs, especially those without local-dimming backlights, do not. So if you want to see HDR content it all its dynamic, vibrant beauty, go for OLED or an LCD with local dimming.

In our tests comparing the best new OLED and LCD TVs with HDR games and movies, OLED usually looks better. Its superior contrast and lack of blooming win the day despite LCD"s brightness advantage. In other words LCD TVs can get brighter, especially in full-screen bright scenes and HDR highlights, but none of them can control that illumination as precisely as an OLED TV.

OLED"s energy consumption is directly related to screen brightness. The brighter the screen, the more power it draws. It even varies with content. A dark movie will require less power than a hockey game or ski competition.

The energy consumption of LCD varies depending on the backlight setting. The lower the backlight, the lower the power consumption. A basic LED LCD with its backlight set low will draw less power than OLED.

LG has said their OLED TVs have a lifespan of 100,000 hours to half brightness, a figure that"s similar to LED LCDs. Generally speaking, all modern TVs are quite reliable.

Does that mean your new LCD or OLED will last for several decades like your parent"s last CRT (like the one pictured). Probably not, but then, why would you want it to? A 42-inch flat panel cost $14,000 in the late 90"s, and now a 65-inch TV with more than 16x the resolution and a million times better contrast ratio costs $1,400. Which is to say, by the time you"ll want/need to replace it, there will be something even better than what"s available now, for less money.

OLED TVs are available in sizes from 48 to 88 inches, but LCD TVs come in smaller and larger sizes than that -- with many more choices in between -- so LCD wins. At the high end of the size scale, however, the biggest "TVs" don"t use either technology.

You can get 4K resolution, 50-inch LCDs for around $400 -- or half that on sale. It"s going to be a long time before OLEDs are that price, but they have come down considerably.

LCD dominates the market because it"s cheap to manufacture and delivers good enough picture quality for just about everybody. But according to reviews at CNET and elsewhere, OLED wins for overall picture quality, largely due to the incredible contrast ratio. The price difference isn"t as severe as it used to be, and in the mid- to high-end of the market, there are lots of options.

OLED vs. IPS LCD is a topic that comes up whenever consumers upgrade to a newer TV or a smartphone. Should you buy a TV that uses an IPS LCD display or should you pick up a TV with an OLED screen? Well, the answer isn’t so straightforward because they both have their advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will explain how these screen technologies work and which one you should opt for while buying a TV.

IPS LCD (In-Plane Switching Liquid Crystal Display) and OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) are the two most commonly used screen technologies. Older technologies, such as TN (Twisted Nematic) and PLS (Plane-to-Line Switching) displays, have almost disappeared (except in the world of PC monitors and budget laptops) because IPS LCD and OLED are clearly better in almost all aspects. Other technologies such as Mini-LED, MicroLED, and QNED technologies are extremely new and they won’t become mainstream for a few years.

So, when you are finally deciding which TV to buy, the real battle is between OLED and IPS LCD. So where do these stand? Which is better for you? Which one should you pick for your new home theatre? Read on for more information on the OLED vs IPS LCD battle.

IPS LCD displays are perhaps the most common display type days, especially in TVs and laptops. Laptops, entry-level and mid-range smartphones, and most TVs use LCD displays. So, how do IPS displays work? IPS displays use an array of LCD pixels that shift colour as required. However, they don’t emit light on their own. That’s the reason they need a backlight made up of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes). The backlight can be arranged in various layouts: towards the edges, spread across the whole display, or separated into different sections.

IPS screens display the black colour by changing the alignment of LCDs so that pixels block the transmission of light, but some light still gets through. That’s the reason IPS LCD displays can’t display true deep black colour. Instead, they display dark grey and there is some ‘backlight bleed’.

OLED displays have traditionally been restricted to high-end devices. Even today, only high-end TVs and laptops feature OLED displays. In the world of smartphones, though, OLED technology has been democratised and even mid-range smartphones these days use OLED displays with high brightness and high refresh rates.

In a nutshell, OLED displays don’t use separate backlight sources. Instead, every pixel can reproduce its own light (also known as self-emissive displays). So, there’s no need for an additional backlight and each pixel can be turned on or off as needed. Since there is no need for a separate backlight plane, OLED displays are much thinner than LCD displays. They also offer a much better contrast ratio and viewing angles. However, the organic material used in OLED pixels tends to “burn” over the years that results in ghosting. Moreover, they can’t be as bright as LCD, Mini-LED, or Micro-LED displays.

We have given you a brief overview of IPS and OLED technologies. But which one is better? And which of these will be right for you? Here’s a list of pros and cons to help you in your purchase decision, where it is for smartphones or TVs.

OLEDs have a quicker response time: OLEDs individually-lit pixels can switch on/off or change colour faster. This makes for lower ghosting during fast-and-frenetic action scenes or while playing games. Ghosting refers to when the image on the screen seems to be following itself around or is blurry at the edges.

OLED TVs are slimmer and flexible: As we mentioned earlier, OLED displays don’t need a bulky backlight plane, so OLED TVs are really slim. The next wave of display technologies – foldable and rollable displays – will also be powered by OLED.

IPS LCD TVs offer higher brightness: IPS LCD TVs use a powerful backlight which also lets them get much brighter than their OLED counterparts. This can make for better HDR and even offer a better viewing experience if your TV room gets a lot of sunlight.

IPS TVs suffer from backlight bleed and blooming: This is less of an issue with high-end IPS TVs, but some cheaper models may suffer from glow (bright, greyish areas near the corners of the screen) or backlight bleed (patches or leaks of light, usually around the edges).

OLED TVs can suffer burn-in: OLED displays are at risk of burn-in, a condition in which a static image left on for too long can get permanently ‘burned’ onto the display and may appear like a ghostly dark patch.

OLEDs may get dimmer with age: OLEDs use organic substances which tend to decay over time. So, OLED displays lose brightness with age. It is quite slow and modern OLED TVs are not as affected by this as older OLED TVs, and this really shouldn’t be an issue, but you need to be aware of this.

IPS TVs are much cheaper: OLED is a relatively newer technology and is more expensive to manufacture. Currently, very few companies make OLED display panels. LG Display makes most of the OLED panels found on OLED TVs, while Samsung Display, CSOT, LG Display, and BOE make OLED screens for smartphones and smaller products. Most manufacturers also tend to restrict OLED tech to their largest, most feature-packed range, fueling the perception of OLED being expensive.

The OLED vs LED monitor debate is real. These competing flat-panel display technologies both have unique qualities, and some potential drawbacks. How to choose which one will suit your needs? While OLED seems like the best bet for all, you might first want to get a clear idea of what you’re going to use the monitor for.

If you researchcomputer monitor technology, or explore the monitors currently available on the market, the OLED vs LED monitor question will pop up sooner than later.

Despite sounding similar, OLED and LED monitors utilize fundamentally different technology to emit light so users can see images on their screen. Both OLED and LED technology have their plus points, as well as their potential drawbacks, so it’s important to get to grips with what each of the two technologies has to offer, along with the situations where one may be more desirable than the other.

This read will provide an in-depth exploration of OLED vs LED monitor technology, outlining how they work, the ways in which OLED and LED monitors differ from one another, and more. We will also provide information on who can benefit the most from each technology and why.

At present, LED monitor technology remains the most popular option that has proved itself reliable for many years. As the name indicates, LED monitors utilize light-emitting diodes to provide backlighting. This illuminates a liquid-crystal display, creating an on-screen picture.

One of the more potentially confusing aspects of monitor technology involves understanding the terminology surroundingLED and LCD displays. While these sound like competing technologies, they’re not, but this is a common misunderstanding. LED refers to the backlighting of the display, while LCD refers to the diodes that produce light on their own. All LED monitors also utilize LCD displays and LED backlighting, which is why they are sometimes described as LED/LCD.

LED does have some potential advantages over OLED. For instance, it can be less prone to issues like screen burn or image retention, where a display continues to show artifacts of a previous image. The backlighting means LED screens are capable of being brighter than OLED screens, and LED monitors are also generally more affordable too. Although LED contrast is weaker than with OLED, mini-LED is a relatively new technology, which helps to bridge this gap.

It’s worth taking the time to understand precisely what OLED monitor technology is and how it works. OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode. The main way in which OLED technology differs from what you would find in a more conventional LED/LCD monitor is that each pixel can autonomously emit light. This is because all pixels are linked to the electroluminescent layer, or the emission of light.

A conventional LED monitor uses light-emitting diodes to emit light when a current runs through it. This then provides the backlight for a liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen and lights up the individual pixels, providing the image that a user sees. By contrast, with OLED technology, the pixels are not backlit. Instead, each individual pixel is able to turn on or off, meaning the display can be controlled down to the individual pixel.

This fundamental difference in technology can also describe OLED as being’emissive’, while LED/LCD technology is instead described as ‘transmissive’. Therefore, despite the two names sounding similar, OLED and LED technology work in completely different ways.

With a basic understanding of what OLED monitor technology is, let’s explore some of its most prominent benefits and learn how an OLED monitor might be a better bet than an LED/LCD display for both work and home use.

One of the most noticeable differences when working with an OLED display — instead of an LED display — is the stark appearance of the color black. As an OLED monitor lights individual pixels, rather than relying on a backlight, these pixels can be turned off entirely, and this produces a pure black color and a higher contrast with white.

Despite recent improvements to LED/LCD displays, generally, OLED monitors offer superior viewing angles. This means that the display will not be distorted or negatively impacted by the angle you view it from. This is a huge change because with some LED monitors you have to sit directly in front of them to see a clear and accurate picture.

With OLED monitors, the absence of backlighting and the thinness of the display panels help to ensure that the picture looks clear and accurate from different angles. Improvements to viewing angles can be especially beneficial if you are going to be using adual monitor setupfor work, as you will likely need to position yourself between both screens.

Another significant benefit associated with OLED monitors — often overlooked before the purchase — is their physical properties. Theinternal components of OLEDmonitors and televisions are made of plastic, organic layers which are thinner and lighter than their LED/LCD crystalline counterparts.

The lightweight nature of OLED technology means that an OLED monitor is likely to weigh less than an equivalent-sized LED monitor, making it easier to transport, carry, and mount. At the same time, the materials used within OLED monitors are also more flexible, and this may mean the monitors are less likely to suffer lasting damage while in transit. Given this upgraded physical properties, it’s not surprising to see that OLED is becoming increasingly popular onportable monitors. And the greater color performances make these models perfect for all photographs and video maker that need to proof their shots on field

Another benefit associated with OLED’s ability to completely dim pixels is the lower levels of blue light emitted by these monitors. In some cases, the reduction in blue light can result in half as much blue light being emitted when compared to LED/LCD panels. In short, this means OLED monitors are better for your eyes.

As OLED monitors allow pixels to be controlled on an individual level, this means that individual pixels can be turned off completely, leading to reduced power consumption when compared to LED monitors with high brightness settings. This can be especially advantageous in settings like offices and schools, where a number of monitors may be needed.

OLED technology is also more environmentally friendly at production level, and this is primarily because it does not utilize the greenhouse gas, nitrogen trifluoride.

Another major plus point of OLED technology is its faster response time thanks to low input lag. In other words, with LED/LCD technology there’s less delay between you performing an action using your mouse or keyboard and that same action presenting itself on the screen.

When considering the need for fast response time, it becomes evident how integral it is especially in reducing input lag and motion blur. In general, LED monitors are more prone to these problems than OLED monitors.

A comparison between an OLED vs LED monitor would not be complete without learning about other monitor panel types that exist. Here’s what they are, how they work, and what they have to offer.

One potential downside to IPS panels, when compared to OLED and Twisted nemantic (TN) panels, is the slower response times. This is unlikely to be an issue with most ways the monitors are used, but if ultra-fast input response times are needed, the two other options mentioned above are likely to be better choices.

Twisted nemantic (TN) panels are the oldest LED/LCD technology and they have some significant disadvantages. For instance, viewing angles are extremely limited, meaning that unless you are directly in front of your monitor, the image may look distorted or incomplete.

Their contrast ratios are also superior to TN panels, although nowadays they do not meet the high contrast ratio levels produced by OLED monitors. Additionally, while VA panels are better than TN technology in most regards, they are more expensive and have slower response times, which may make TN panels a preferred choice for consumers.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens are the only screens in this comparison that do not use backlights. Instead, the pixels on the display panel can be illuminated or switched off on an individual basis, resulting in monitors that deliverexcellent picture quality. OLED displays are also energy efficient and thin, allowing for great viewing angles.

The incredible color accuracy — especially in terms of presenting pure blacks — can be extremely valuable for all kinds of users. The main disadvantage of OLED technology, however, from a consumer perspective, is the price, as an OLED monitor is likely to be more expensive than an LED/LCD monitor of a similar size and build.

Equipped with an understanding of how OLED and LED monitor technology works, and the plus points associated with different panels types, let’s explore which type will match user needs in different situations. Here are some suggestions for several common computer monitor uses.

If you are working in a field like photography, graphic design, or content creation where color accuracy really matters, anOLED monitoris likely to be the best option available. As we’ve mentioned before the individual illumination of pixels can deliver greater contrast and color accuracy, so crucial to visual artworks.

Controlling the illumination of pixels on an individual level can help to avoid some of the problems caused by LED/LCD technology, such as the ‘halo’ effect appearing around images or text. The superior viewing angles available with OLED monitor technology also open the possibility of a dual monitor setup. And as OLED monitors now also come in portable format, they can even follow creatives on the field for maximum accuracy while shooting.

For casual and home use, it’s likely that either IPS or VA panels will be the best all-round option, especially when factoring in price and performance. IPS display panels are capable of the kind of color accuracy and viewing angles that deliver a positive user experience. VA panels have slow response times, so may not be ideal for gaming, but they offer good color production and contrast ratios without costing the same as an OLED computer monitor typically will.

Work-based usage can be harder to provide clear advice for, because it will depend on the nature of the work. Generally, IPS can be considered a good all-rounder, although VA panels are also well-suited to simple office work. If the work involves designs, relies on color accuracy, though, or would benefit from lower power consumption, OLED monitors may be the superior choice, but this needs to be balanced against the higher price point.

The OLED vs LED monitor comparison focuses on two competing forms of flat-panel display technology. In many ways, OLED has emerged as the gold standard of display technology, combining energy efficiency, superior viewing angles, and excellent color accuracy, even if the more expensive pricing is a potential downside.

Nevertheless, LED/LCD displays still have their benefits, including superior brightness and a lower price point. In general, the decision over whether to purchase an OLED or LED monitor will depend on factors like your budget, the tasks you are going to be using the monitor for, and the level of color accuracy you’ll need.

In market, LCD means passive matrix LCDs which increase TN (Twisted Nematic), STN (Super Twisted Nematic), or FSTN (Film Compensated STN) LCD Displays. It is a kind of earliest and lowest cost display technology.

LCD screens are still found in the market of low cost watches, calculators, clocks, utility meters etc. because of its advantages of low cost, fast response time (speed), wide temperature range,  low power consumption, sunlight readable with transflective or reflective polarizers etc.  Most of them are monochrome LCD display and belong to passive-matrix LCDs.

TFT LCDs have capacitors and transistors. These are the two elements that play a key part in ensuring that the TFT display monitor functions by using a very small amount of energy without running out of operation.

Normally, we say TFT LCD panels or TFT screens, we mean they are TN (Twisted Nematic) Type TFT displays or TN panels, or TN screen technology. TFT is active-matrix LCDs, it is a kind of LCD technologies.

Actually, IPS technology is a kind of TFT display with thin film transistors for individual pixels. But IPS displays have superior high contrast, wide viewing angle, color reproduction, image quality etc. IPS screens have been found in high-end applications, like Apple iPhones, iPads, Samsung mobile phones, more expensive LCD monitors etc.

Both TFT LCD displays and IPS LCD displays are active matrix displays, neither of them can produce color, there is a layer of RGB (red, green, blue) color filter in each LCD pixels to make LCD showing colors. If you use a magnifier to see your monitor, you will see RGB color. With switch on/off and different level of brightness RGB, we can get many colors.

Neither of them can’t release color themselves, they have relied on extra light source in order to display. LED backlights are usually be together with them in the display modules as the light sources. Besides, both TFT screens and IPS screens are transmissive, it will need more power or more expensive than passive matrix LCD screens to be seen under sunlight.  IPS screens transmittance is lower than TFT screens, more power is needed for IPS LCD display.

Shopping for a new TV sounds like it could be fun and exciting — the prospect of a gleaming new panel adorning your living room wall is enough to give you goosebumps. But with all the brands to choose from, and different smart capabilities (we can explain what a smart TV is) to weigh, as well as the latest picture tech to consider, it can be daunting. Is this article, we compare OLED vs. LED technology to see which is better for today’s modern TVs. Once you determine which panel type is best for you, make sure you check out our list of the best TVs to get our editor’s recommendations.

If you’re in the market for a TV, you’ve likely heard the hype regarding OLED models. They’re thin, light, and offer incredible contrast and color that’s second to none. OLED is only one letter apart from the more common display type, LED, so what gives? Can they really be that different? In a word: Yes. That extra “O” makes a big difference, but it doesn’t automatically mean an OLED TV will beat an LED TV in every use case. Some TV manufacturers like Samsung use their own technology, called QLED to confuse consumers even more. Make sure that you spend some time looking at our comparison piece: QLED vs. OLED technology before you make your purchase decision.

When OLED TVs first arrived in 2013, they were lauded for their perfect black levels and excellent color, but they took a bit of a hit due to brightness levels that couldn’t compete with LED TVs. There was also a huge price gap between OLED TVs (not to be confused with QLED) and their premium LED counterparts. In fact, legend has it that OLED used to mean “only lawyers, executives, and doctors” could afford them. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

OLED TVs are much brighter than they used to be, and the prices have come down, especially with brands like Sony introducing competitive options in 2021. The LED market is due for a bit of a shake-up, too. For now, however, it’s time to take a look at how these two technologies differ and explore the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Non-OLED TVs are made of two main parts: An LCD panel and a backlight. The LCD panel contains the pixels, the little colored dots that make up a TV’s image. On their own, pixels cannot be seen; they require a backlight. When light from the backlight shines through an LCD pixel, you can see its color.

The “LED” in LED TV simply refers to how the backlight is made. In the past, a thicker and less-efficient technology called CCFL (cold-cathode fluorescent light) was used. But these days, virtually every flat-screen TV uses LEDs as its source of backlighting. Thus, when you see the term “LED TV,” it simply refers to an LED-backlit LCD TV.

That said, not all LED TVs are created equal. There can be differences in the number and quality of the LEDs used, which leads to differences in things like brightness and black levels. You may also have seen something called “QLED TV.” This is a type of LED TV that uses quantum dots to achieve better brightness and color. We’ll discuss QLED more below, but here’s a great overview of the differences between QLED and OLED TVs.

The “OLED” in OLED TV stands for “organic light-emitting diode.” OLEDs have the unusual property of being able to produce both light and color from a single diode when they’re fed electricity. Because of this, OLED TVs don’t need a separate backlight. Each pixel you see is a self-contained source of color and light.

Some of the inherent benefits of OLED screens are that they can be extremely thin, flexible, and even rollable. But the biggest benefit when we compare them to LED TVs is that each individual pixel receives its own luminance and power (as opposed to LED TVs, which have persistent pixels that require an external source of light to see). When it’s on, you can see it. When it’s off, it emits no light at all — it’s completely black. We’ll discuss how this affects black levels in a moment.

Currently, LG Display is the only manufacturer of OLED panels for TVs, famed for top-line models like the CX. Sony and LG have an agreement that allows Sony to put LG OLED panels into Sony televisions — like the bright X95OH — but otherwise, you won’t find OLED in many other TV displays sold in the U.S.

The differences in performance between LG’s OLED TVs and Sony’s result from different picture processors at work. Sony and LG have impressive processors that are also unique to each brand, which is why two TVs with the same panel can look drastically different. A good processor can greatly reduce issues like banding and artifacting and produce more accurate colors as well.

Samsung does make OLED smartphone panels, and the company recently announced it would start building new TV panels based on a hybrid of QLED and OLED known as QD-OLED, but it will be a few more years before we see the first TVs that use this technology.

Though they don really similar acronyms, an OLED TV is not the same as a QLED TV. The latter is actually based on LED tech, but it uses a technique that overlays self-emissive quantum dots over the pixels that help produce better brightness, vividness, and color accuracy. QLED is more of an iterative step than a generational leap, and though we’d certainly recommend buying one if OLED is out of reach, expect its eventual deprecation as technologies like quantum dot OLED (QD-OLED) and microLED take hold.

Despite the name, microLED has more in common with OLED than LED. Created and championed by Samsung, this technology creates super-tiny, modular LED panels that combine light emission and color like OLED screens do, minus the “organic” part. For now, the technology is primarily being used for extra-large wall TVs, where colors, blacks, and off-angle viewing are excellent but with more potential for greater brightness and durability than OLED TVs.

For the average consumer, microLED isn’t anything to consider yet. It remains difficult to scale down to less-than-gigantic TVs, and it’s unlikely to hit homes for another couple of years when it will still be exceedingly expensive. Of course, that was once true of OLED, which is why this tech is worth keeping an eye on for a future TV replacement.

Editor’s note: Since OLED TVs are still a premium display, we have compared OLED only to equally-premium LED TVs armed with similar performance potential (except, of course, in the price section).

A display’s ability to produce deep, dark blacks is arguably the most important factor in achieving excellent picture quality. Deeper blacks allow for higher contrast and richer colors (among other things) and thus a more realistic and dazzling image. When it comes to black levels, OLED reigns as the undisputed champion.

LED TVs rely on LED backlights shining behind an LCD panel. Even with advanced dimming technology, which selectively dims LEDs that don’t need to be on at full blast, LED TVs have historically struggled to produce dark blacks and can suffer from an effect called “light bleed,” where lighter sections of the screen create a haze or bloom in adjacent darker areas.

OLED TVs suffer from none of the black-level problems of traditional LED TVs. If an OLED pixel isn’t getting electricity, it doesn’t produce any light and is, therefore, totally black. Sounds like an obvious choice to us.

When it comes to brightness, LED TVs have a considerable advantage. Their backlights can be made from large and powerful LEDs. With the addition of quantum dots, that brightness can be preserved even as the size of the individual LEDs get smaller. OLED TVs can get pretty bright, too, and with such dark black levels, the contrast between the brightest and darkest spots on screen is all the more exaggerated. But cranking OLED pixels to their maximum brightness for extended periods reduces their lifespan, and the pixel takes slightly longer to return to total black.

With those considerations in mind, it’s important to note that all modern TVs — whether OLED, LED, or QLED — produce more than adequate brightness. The consideration then becomes where the TV will be used. In a dark room, an OLED TV is going to perform best, while LED TVs will outshine them (quite literally) in more brightly lit environments.

It should also be noted that there have been big gains recently in OLED brightness, making them perfectly suitable for nearly any situation, save direct sunlight beaming onto the screen. Still, when compared directly, LED TVs have the edge.

OLED used to rule this category, but by improving the purity of the backlight, quantum dots have allowed LED TVs to surge forward in color accuracy, color brightness, and color volume, putting them on par with OLED TVs. Those looking for TVs with Wide Color Gamut or HDR will find both OLED and LED TV models that support these features. OLED’s better contrast ratio is going to give it a slight edge in terms of HDR when viewed in dark rooms, but HDR on a premium LED TV screen has an edge because it can produce well-saturated colors at extreme brightness levels that OLED can’t quite match.

Because OLED pixels combine the light source and the color in a single diode, they can change states incredibly fast. By contrast, LED TVs use LEDs to produce brightness and tiny LCD “shutters” to create color. While the LED’s brightness can be changed in an instant, LCD shutters are by their nature slower to respond to state changes.

Refresh rate is how often the entire image on-screen changes. The faster the rate, the smoother things look, and the easier it is to pick out details in fast-moving content like sports. Most new TVs are capable of refresh rates of 120Hz, which means the entire image is updated 120 times every second. Some go as high as 240Hz.

If refresh rate were simply a matter of Hz, we’d call OLED TV the winner, simply because it can achieve rates of up to 1,000 times higher than LED TVs. But absolute speed isn’t the only consideration. Unlike movies and TV shows, which use a single refresh rate, video games often employ something called variable refresh rates, which simply means that the rate changes during different parts of a game. If a TV can’t match these rate changes, you end up with image tearing — a visible jerkiness that comes from the disparity between the rate the game is using and the rate the TV wants to use.

That’s why gamers, in particular, want TVs that can handle VRR or Variable Refresh Rate. It’s a rare feature on both OLED and LED TVs, but you can expect to see it show up on more models in both types of TVs. Right now, you can find VRR in certain Samsung, LG, and TCL TVs. But neither OLED nor LED TVs have a real advantage when it comes to VRR; some models have the feature, and some don’t. Your gaming system also has to support VRR, though that shouldn’t be much of an issue if you own a new Xbox Series X, PS5, or even a PS4/One X.

Finally, input lag is the gap in time between when you press a button on a game controller and the corresponding action shows up on-screen. Input lag can be a problem when TVs introduce a lot of picture processing that causes a slow-down in the signal they receive. But most modern TVs have a game mode, which eliminates the processing and reduces input lag to barely discernible levels. In the future, all TVs will be able to sense the presence of a video game and switch to this mode automatically, returning to the processed mode when gaming stops.

OLED, again, is the winner here. With LED TVs, the best viewing angle is dead center, and the picture quality diminishes in both color and contrast the further you move to either side. While the severity differs between models, it’s always noticeable. For its LED TVs, LG uses a type of LCD panel known as IPS, which has slightly better off-angle performance than VA-type LCD panels (which Sony uses), but it suffers in the black-level department in contrast to rival VA panels, and it’s no competition for OLED. Samsung’s priciest QLED TVs feature updated panel design and anti-reflective coating, which make off-angle viewing much less of an issue. While OLED still beats these models out in the end, the gap is closing quickly.

That said, OLED TVs can be viewed with no luminance degradation at drastic viewing angles — up to 84 degrees. Compared to most LED TVs, which have been tested to allow for a max viewing angle of 54 degrees at best, OLED has a clear advantage.

OLEDs have come a long way in this category. When the tech was still nascent, OLED screens were often dwarfed by LED/LCD displays. As OLED manufacturing has improved, the number of respectably large OLED displays has increased — now pushing 88 inches — but they’re still dwarfed by the largest LED TVs, which can easily hit 100 inches in size, and with new technologies, well beyond.

LG says you’d have to watch its OLED TVs five hours a day for 54 years before they’d fall to 50% brightness. Whether that’s true remains to be seen, as OLED TVs have only been out in the wild since 2013. For that reason and that reason only, we’ll award this category to LED TVs. It pays to have a proven track record.

Can one kind of TV be healthier for you than another? If you believe that we need to be careful about our exposure to blue light, especially toward the evening, then the answer could be yes. Both OLED and LED TVs produce blue light, but OLED TVs produce considerably less of it. LG claims its OLED panels only generate 34% blue light versus LED TV’s 64%. That stat has been independently verified, and LG’s OLED panels have been given an Eye Comfort Display certification by TUV Rheinland, a standards organization based out of Germany.

Will it make a difference to your overall health? We think the jury is still out, but if blue light is a concern, you should take a serious look at OLED TVs.

The effect we’ve come to know as burn-in stems from the days of the boxy CRT TV when the prolonged display of a static image would cause an image to appear to “burn” into the screen. What was actually happening was the phosphors that coated the back of the TV screen would glow for extended periods of time without any rest, causing them to wear out and create the appearance of a burned-in image. We think this should be called “burn out,” but we’ll set that one aside.

The same issue is at play with plasma and OLED TVs because the compounds that light up can degrade over time. If you burn a pixel long and hard enough, it will dim prematurely ahead of the rest of the pixels, creating a dark impression. In reality, this is not very likely to cause a problem for most people — you’d have to abuse the TV intentionally to get it to happen. Even the “bug” (logographic) that certain channels use disappears often enough or is made clear to avoid causing burn-in issues. You’d have to watch ESPN all day, every day for a long, long time at the brightest possible setting to cause a problem, and even then, it still isn’t very likely.

That said, the potential is there, and it should be noted. (This is also a contributing factor in the dearth of OLED computer monitors on the market, as computer screens are far more likely to display a static image for hours on end.) Since LED TVs aren’t susceptible to burn-in, they win this fight by a technicality.

OLED panels require no backlight, and each individual pixel is extremely energy-efficient. LED TVs need a backlight to produce brightness. Since LEDs are less energy-efficient than OLEDs, and their light must pass through the LCD shutters before it reaches your eyes, these panels must consume more power for the same level of brightness.

OLED TVs are premium TVs and almost always likely to be more expensive than an LED version of the same size. However, we have seen prices starting to drop down to manageable levels recently, especially if there are any discounts running. MSRPs can go as low as $1,300 to $1,500, but you probably won’t find many lower than that.

Conversely, LED TVs can range in price from a few hundred dollars — even for a quality big-screen model — to several thousand dollars, making them overall more accessible than OLEDs. While prices of the highest-quality LED TVs hover at nearly the same range as the price of OLEDs, when judged by price and price alone, LED TVs can still be acquired for a pittance in comparison.

In terms of picture quality, OLED TVs still beat LED TVs, even though the latter technology has seen many improvements of late. OLED is also lighter and thinner, uses less energy, offers the best viewing angle by far, and, though still a little more expensive, has come down in price considerably. OLED is the superior TV technology today. If this article were about value alone, LED TV would still win, but OLED has come a long way in a short time and deserves the crown for its achievements. Regardless of which technology you ultimately decide on, that’s not the only factor that you need to consider, so be sure to check our TV buying guide to make sure you’re buying the right TV to meet your needs.

Welcome to the dark side. OLED displays: undeniably one of the greatest revolutions in the realm of display technology since the first LCD monitor. They lack a backlight, display perfect black and feature vivid colors as well as incredibly low response times. For the first time, the technology has made its way into notebooks.

The technology isn"t exactly new: OLED displays are based on light-emitting organic diodes and have been used for smartphones, tablets and TVs for a few years now. So far, notebooks have been the exception, which has technical reasons as well as financial ones.

That"s changing, however, as several notebook manufactures - Lenovo, Alienware, and HP among them - have announced OLED notebooks for 2016. The first candidate on our test bench is the, which normally ships with an IPS panel, but can be upgraded to an OLED display (same WQHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels) for 300 Euro (~$330) more. If that"s worth it and what advantages and disadvantages each configuration offers is the subject of our review.

Before we look at the individual measurements, we want to talk about OLED technology in general. While normal displays are basically filters which pass through the light emitting - from the always active - (LED) backlight for each individual pixel in a particular intensity and color, the pixels that make up an OLED display are their own source of light. There are numerous advantages to this approach:black areas have no remaining brightness

As we"ve mentioned briefly before, the backlight of a LCD is always set to a constant brightness (some TV dimming techniques are the exception). A white area is therefore always uniformly bright, no matter if it"s the entire picture or just a small section.

OLED displays are different: since all sub-pixels have to be at their maximum intensity for the picture to be bright and white, the power draw increases significantly in that scenario. To keep the power consumption in check and to increase the life expectancy (which hinges on the temperature and the brightness), manufactures usually vary the luminance according to the display content.

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga behaves in the above manner: while the IPS panel (LG LP140QH1) shows a constant brightness of250 cd/m², the OLED version (Samsung ATNA40JU01) fluctuates between 198 and 305 cd/m² depending on the situation. We recorded the highest value when only a small white field (< 1 % of the area) was displayed on a black background, while an entirely white background resulted in the lowest value. We measured from 240 to 260 cd/m²during word processing or web browsing. Our standardized measurement using thei1Profiler software (40 % white) resulted in a solid 277 cd/m².

Since the individual pixels of an OLED display never reach their theoretical maximum brightness, the luminance has to be adjusted using PWM, which in this case happens at a frequency of 240 Hz. Subjectively, we didn"t notice any flickering whatsoever, but some sensitive users experience problems like headaches or nausea when working on notebooks equipped with standard LCD displays, which also use PWM.

The response times of an OLED panel are generally in the realm of micro-seconds, so they are much faster than theirand not susceptible to streaking. For that reason, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga could be a perfect gaming notebook – if it wasn"t for the rather dismal performance of the integrated HD Graphics 520. The gaming rigs from MSI, Schenker and Asus would certainly benefit from the OLED-technology; so far, only Alienwarehas announced a model with this type of display.

ℹDisplay response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.↔ Response Time Black to White

The black areas of high-end IPS panels still emit light at one one-thousandth of the backlight-luminance - so at 300 cd/m², that"s still accounts for about 0.3 cd/m². OLED displays on the other hand are in an entirely different league: the manufacturer claims a contrast ratio of 2000000:1. The resulting black value 0.00015 cd/m² is too low to be measured or confirmed by the naked eye: in a completely dark room, black is simply black - and that even at maximum brightness.

What doesn"t appear that exciting at first, actually has quite an impact during everyday use: in dimmer environments, an OLED display looks more saturated, more vivid and live-like than any IPS panel could. In completely dark surroundings, the difference is quite dramatic when watching movie scenes with lots of contrast: even the best IPS displays depict blacks as slightly gray, but OLED displays don"t show any differences, so the black bars on top are not noticeable in a completely dark scene. The picture floats seamlessly in space and the resulting immersion is simply phenomenal. Movies like Star Trek, Interstellar or Gravity almost look better on the 14-inch Yoga then they do on an LCD TV three times the size. The following picture of a Star Wars scene unfortunately can only show that to a limited extent, as neither our camera nor normal displays are able of adequately reproducing the dynamic range an OLED display is capable of.

When looking at the display at an angle, another advantage of the OLED-technology becomes apparent. IPS panels generally have good viewing angle stability and the colors usually remain stable when viewing the display from the side - but both the brightness as well as the contrast ratio take a hit. OLED panels, on the other hand, remain as vivid as before and the brightness only decreases marginally. From about 45 degrees, an OLED display (124 cd/m² at 50 % white) is about twice as bright as itsIPS counterpart (at 60 cd/m²) – an advantage which not only has its benefits when watching movies, but also during regular productivity tasks.

Even though the most significant advantage of the OLED-technology is the perfect black value, the panels also do very well in bright daylight. Even though the maximum brightness of 240 cd/m² is nearly identical, the notebookcheck.net homepage is easier to see on an OLED display, particularly because the panel reflects less of the ambient light and therefore has a higher "real" contrast ratio. The IPS version looks more pale and not quite as clear. One advantage of Thinkpad with the LCD panel is that reflections are more diffuse - the OLED display is a highly reflective "glare-type", while the IPS version could be called "semi-matte".

To determine the power consumption and efficiency of both the IPS and OLED displays, we recorded the differences between an active and inactive display for various usage scenario for each of the notebooks.

For the OLED display we measured a slightly higher minimum consumption of 1.9 watts, which fluctuated according to brightness as well as the content. As long as the percentage of white areas is minimal, even raising the display brightness to 300 cd/m² doesn"t really affect the power requirements, while a completely white background at 198 cd/m² resulted in a healthy power draw of 8.7 watts.

During browsing and word processing tasks, 50 to 70 % white on average is realistic in our opinion. Taking into account that the OLED display consumes about as much as the IPS display only at 45 % and below, the user consequently can expect a shorter battery life. Watching movies can result in the opposite: depending on the situation - take a look at the scene "Movie (2)" from Star Wars below - the OLED display can actually be the more efficient and should be at least equal to the IPS display.

If we only take the areas into consideration which are actually lit and determine the "candelas per watt" for both technologies, it becomes clear that the OLED display operates at a near-constant efficiency. The LCD panel is a lot more efficient when only white is displayed, but it gives up the advantage as the number of dark pixels increases.

Is the OLED panel truly less efficient when displaying only white? Not necessarily: "luminance" describes light emittance in a certain direction - during our tests, normally at a right angle to the display. Since an OLED panel has outstanding viewing angle stability and emits more light in other directions than an IPS display would, the luminous flux is actually quite a bit higher - and the overall efficiency better than the measurements indicate.

Another potential issue typical for OLED displays is the aging of the pixels, which happens at a different rate for each color (red, green, and blue). Samsung and other manufactures aim to prevent that by using different subpixel sizes, so the load matches the aging process. Commonly, the rather delicate blue subpixels are the largest ones, which can clearly be seen in the microscope image below. What can"t be prevented is the steady decrease of the brightness over the life span of the display, which for current OLED TVs is around 30 to 50 % in 20000 usage hours. For our Thinkpad this means that intensive use (8 hours per day) could potentially result in a display that"s only half as bright after 7 years time.

Notebooks displays based on OLED-technology are a significant leap forward in quality: while TN and IPS displays differ in their contrast ratio by a factor of two to five, an OLED display can outperform other LCD panels by a factor of one thousand - and offers a perfect black value as a result. Combined with an extensive color gamut, the picture quality is now at levels not seen before.

The advantages of OLED displays don"t end here: thanks to the extremely fast response times, the technology seems to be ideally suited for powerful gaming notebooks and professional graphics workstations, since the additional costs (when viewed as an increase in percent) come less into play. The small disadvantage in power consumption we observed when comparing the OLED-version of the ThinkPad X1 business notebook to the IPS is much less noticeable when the screen content is predominantly dark and/or colorful. We shouldn"t forget either that the higher power draw is a direct result of the much better viewing angle stability.

At the end, it"s likely going to be the additional cost which might prevent the breakthrough of OLED displays for a few more years. Once the the price difference drops to around 100 Euro (~$110) though, there is no real argument to be made for traditional LCDs - especially in the upper and high-end segment.

Should you buy a laptop with an OLED display? You should at least consider it! OLED laptops are pretty new to the scene, the first weren"t introduced until 2016, but they started to hit the mainstream several years ago. And now, quite a few big manufacturers, including Dell, Razer and Asus, have all released laptops that are configurable with OLED displays. That said, many of the most popular laptops in 2020 are still equipped with LCD displays, including every MacBook. So, what’s the deal?

The Dell XPS 15 is probably the best OLED laptop if you’re non-gamer. It’s essentially a larger, higher-end version of the Dell XPS 13, which is one of the best all-around laptops you can buy.

The 15-inch Razer Blade was already one of the best gaming laptops out there, but now you can buy one with a beautiful 4K OLED touchscreen display. The catch? It"s expensive.

You’ve probably used or at least seen a smartphone or a television with an OLED display. OLED, which stands for “Organic Light Emitting Diode,” is a newer display technology that boasts numerous advantages over more traditional LCD displays. The main reason why it’s taken this long to get to OLED displays in laptops? Simply, it’s a newer technology and it’s been hard to perfect.

Beautiful Picture: Just like with OLED TVs, laptops with OLED panels are able to produce brighter and more lifelike colors, with superior black levels and contrast. The reason for this is the OLED display is able to turn on and off individual pixels, as opposed to groups (or zones) of pixels like in LCD displays, making the OLED display capable of producing a more accurate image. It also makes the OLED display more efficient because it’s not illuminating extra pixels, and in fact can save energy in “dark mode” because it requires no power to show the color black.

Less lag: There are other performance advantages to using an OLED display – most noticeably, better refresh rates. Traditional LCD displays require a separate LED panel for backlighting, which tends to cause lag and motion blur, but OLED displays don’t need a separate panel and therefore don’t have this lag problem. This also results in faster refresh rates and wider viewing angles.

Likely lighter: The lack of the extra backlighting panel means that OLED displays (and thus OLED laptops) can be thinner and lighter. That’s definitely and obviously a good thing.

One maker: One important detail to know is that Samsung is the only manufacturer of OLED panels for laptops. That means whether you’re buying a Lenovo, Samsung, Microsoft, Dell or HP OLED laptop – they’re all going to have a similar Samsung display.

Needs to be big: Samsung is the sole provider of OLED panels to laptop manufacturers, and Samsung is only making 15-inch panels. This means that all new OLED laptops in 2019 are 15-inch laptops. If you were thinking about getting something smaller, or possibly larger, you’re out of luck.

Burn-in: As is true with OLED smartphones and OLED TVs, burn-in is a problem. Certain pixels on an OLED panel that are used more often than other pixels, probably because they are located in a more central part of the panel, will become less bright over time and creating an uneven image. There are different types of burn-in – temporarily or permanent – but generally OLED displays don’t age as well LCDs.

Price: The main knock against OLED TVs is the price. Since OLED technology is still relatively new, it’s more expensive to manufacture. And the same is true with OLED laptops.

The superior picture quality and faster refresh rates mean that OLED laptops are generally great for gamers. It doesn’t hurt that most of the best OLED laptops to date are actually gaming laptops, too. Still, more and more OLED laptops are getting released which are more creative and productivity-focused, too. They typically make good laptops for video editors and photographers, thanks to the vibrant and accurate screen.

Apple upgraded its newest 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros in a lot of ways (more ports, more keys, more power), and even gave them bigger, better displays — but they weren"t OLED display. There were lots of rumors suggesting that since the latest iPhone 13 models do have an OLED display, the new MacBook Pros would as well. But Apple opted for a mini-LED instead.

This mini-LED display is a type of LCD display (which Apple is used to using in its Macs), and it can achieve almost the same black levels as an OLED display. There are a couple key advantages to mini-LED displays, however. They can actually get brighter. They"re cheaper to manufacture. And, maybe most importantly, there"s no risk of burn-in like with OLED.

Dell"s XPS 13 has been one of the best Windows laptops for years. It"s powerful, beautiful and, thanks to its touchscreen display and convertible design, it"s also super versatile. This year, for the first time, Dell is allowing you to configure the XPS 13 with an OLED display. It boosts the price and causes the normally excellent battery life to take a little hit, but it makes this extremely popular Windows laptop even better.

The Dell XPS 15 is essentially a larger version of Dell"s XPS 13 (above), as it has a touchscreen display that"s 15.6-inches rather than a 13.4-inches. It still packs top-of-line specs, including Intel"s latest chipset and a Nvidia graphics cards, along with larger keyboard and trackpad, making it one of the best big-screen Windows laptops you can buy.

Asus"s "ProArt" line of laptops are aimed purely at creators, with the integrated keyboard dial, which is designed for photo and video editing within Adobe"s Creative Suite of apps, as a dead giveaway. In additional to a huge and gorgeous 16-inch 4K OLED display, the StudioBook 16 packs a powerful AMD Ryzen 9 chipset, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics card, a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 1TB SSD. This makes it a pretty capable gaming machine, as well.

The ZenBook 13 is Asus"s thin, lightweight and super portable laptop that"s configurable with a beautiful OLED display and a pretty high-end Radeon graphics card. Aside from its design and display, its defining features are its excellent battery life and its price — it"s less than $1,000, easily making it one of the most affordable OLED laptops you can buy.

That’s right, you can buy the 15-inch Razer Blade, already one of the best gaming laptops out there, with a beautiful 4K OLED touchscreen display . It’s expensive, for sure, but it’s hella powerful and arguably delivers the most vivid colors, the fast response times, and the lowest lag of any other gaming laptops that are available right now.

Both screens are made up of Pixels. A pixel is made up of 3 sections called sub-pixels. The three sections are red, green and blue (primary colors for display tech).

On some lower quality LCD screens, you can see bright spots in the middle or on the perimeters of screens. This is caused by uneven light distribution. The downside to using backlights, is that black is never true black, because no matter what, light has to be coming through, so it will never have as dark of a screen as an AMOLED screen. Its comparable to being able to slow a car down to 2 mph versus coming to a complete stop.

Each pixel is its own light source, meaning that no backlight is necessary. This allows the screen assembly to be thinner, and have more consistent lighting across the whole display.

In addition, since each pixel is an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or i