What is OLED?
OLED stands for “Organic Light-Emitting Diode”, or “organic light-emitting diode”. This technology makes it possible to create even thinner TV panels than LCD or plasma while providing higher efficiency and environmental friendliness. This is a technology that is heavily used in today’s production of high-end TVs and smartphones, such as the iPhone 11 Pro.
The technology works as follows: a carbon-based organic film is placed between two conductors and emits light when an electric current passes. In this it differs from LCD panels, which themselves do not glow – they need a backlight. The pixels on an OLED panel emit light themselves.
Different Types
PHOLED (Phosphorescent OLED)
PHOLED uses the principle of electrophosphorescence and is extremely energy efficient. It is suitable for the manufacture of a large television and lighting displays (for example, walls or monitor windows).
TOLED (Transparent and Top-emitting OLED)
TOLED is a display that becomes almost transparent after the device is turned off.
FOLED (Flexible OLED)
FOLED is a flexible ultra-thin lightweight display consisting of a plastic substrate and an OLED layer in a special protective film.
SOLED (Stacked OLED)
Three types of organic light-emitting diodes (R, G, B) are not placed horizontally, but one above the other. Due to this, such screens have high resolution and high-quality color reproduction. For example, when displaying red, the entire screen area will glow red, while a conventional display will have only a third of each pixel active.
What is the difference between LED and OLED?
In OLED panels, the pixels themselves emit light under the influence of an electric current. While the cells of LCD-LED panels require a powerful external light source, which is used as a separate backlight.
The fact is that LED screens use the same LCD panel as LCD screens, which prevents the backlight from fully synchronizing with the end pixels, which causes light spreading from a bright area to neighboring dark areas (halo effects, “halo”).
This is where the main difference between OLED and LCD/LED technology comes into play. In OLED TVs, the light is emitted by the pixels themselves, and if a black dot needs to be created on the screen, then the pixel can be completely turned off directly, and there is no need for a backlight.
OLED vs AMOLED
Technically, AMOLED screens should be superior to their OLED predecessors in every way, but it’s hard to give a clear preference for one type of display when buying a new phone. With a visual assessment, it is sometimes difficult to tell where the OLED is and where the AMOLED display is, respectively, their differences should not play a special role for the average user.
Related Questions
These are different technologies, but OLED has advantages in contrast, color accuracy, and black depth, but is inferior in brightness.
Modern OLED TVs have 4K and 8K resolutions.
OLED screens emit half as much blue light as comparable LCD screens, which means they are more gentle on the eyes and less stimulating to the brain when viewing in the evening or at night. This is also true for smartphones with OLED displays.
This technology provides for a complex production process, and part of the products is screened without passing through quality control.
OLED TVs are designed to last for many years. The Korea Times stated that an LG OLED TV has a lifespan of 100,000 hours (or 11 years of continuous use).
Buyers need not worry. Afterimage is a pretty rare occurrence, and it’s unlikely you’ll ever experience it.
