What is the difference between OLED and LED TVs?

OLED TVs have 'Emissive Display Technology', like Plasma and the newest MicroLED TVs. Emissive Display Technology means that the pixels in an OLED TV are self-illuminating and generate their own light when an electric charge is applied.

LED TVs on the other hand LED TVs have an LCD screen behind which are LED bulbs which light up to provide the illumination required by the TV picture.

What is OLED TV mean?

OLED stand for 'Organic Light Emitting Diode'. Right now OLED is the best type of TV available. OLED TV pixels are self-illuminating meaning the OLED pixels generate their own light when an electric charge is applied to the Organic luminescent material in each pixel in the OLED TV Screen.

OLED Screens are used in high end smartphones like the top of the range Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note-8 phones. Since smartphones have a touchscreen in the form of an active matrix, OLED screens on phones are called 'AMOLED' meaning 'Active Matrix OLED' displays.

Many expert labs have reviewed OLED TVs and almost all them say that OLED TV has best picture quality among all TVs and that an OLED TV is, without doubt, the best flat screen TV you can buy today. For example, we quote from a recent review of OLED TV by the well known Digital Trends magazine: "Simply put, OLED is the best display technology available today; everything else is a compromise".

Samsung microLED to challenge OLED Technology

Just recently, at the CES 2018 show in January 2018, Samsung unveiled a large 146 inch TV with a new technology called MicroLED. The Samsung micro LED TV technology will pose a big challenge to OLED TV Technology. MicroLED is an Emissive Display Technology just like OLED TVs but many times brighter and none of the problems of OLED TVs like 'Burn-in' and degradation of the light output with age. Read More on our page about MicorLED TVs.

What is the best type of TV to buy now

As of now, the best picture quality in a TV is in an OLED TV. It is the best type TV you can buy today. Contrast ratio in an OLED TV is almost infinity, that means OLED TVs have the highest contrast ratio possible and the highest among all types of TV sets today. The reason why OLED TVs have such high contrast ratio is that the OLED pixels are self-lighting and needs no backlight.

Plasma TVs made their reputation as TVs with the best picture quality due to the self-illuminating plasma pixels, which gave superb contrast ratio and flawless TV picture even in fast-moving scenes without any blur. But due to problems of 'burn-in', dim TV picture and high power consumption, Plasma TVs are not in high demand. OLED TV has all the benefits of Plasma TV with none of the disadvantages of a Plasma TV, like burn-in.

The picture on an OLED TV is relatively bright and can be viewed in dimly lit rooms. OLED TV pictures have very high contrast ratio and high refresh rates. OLED TV picture does not blur even on fast moving objects. Power consumption of OLED TV is the least among all type of TVs available today.

The main disadvantage of OLED TVs is that it is expensive. OLED TVs, in theory, are very economical to produce, but because of the high rejection rates in the production lines of major manufacturers like LG, the prices now are high. But OLED prices will drop soon when manufacturers overcome these initial production problems.

Future of OLED TVs

DuPont, the famous chemical company, who researches OLED Screen technology, stated in a press release in May 2010, that they have the technology to produce a 50-inch OLED TV screen in two minutes with new printing technology. So a lot of research is going on in OLED technology and in the not too distant future we may have big 100 inch plus OLED TVs which can be hung like a painting on walls.

OLED TV compared to LED TV

There is a newer type of LED TVs called QLED (Quantum LED) TVs. The main difference between QLED and LED TV is that the QLED TV has an addditional filter between the LCD screen and the LED backlights. This additional filter uses Quantum Dots (QD) which are Photo-emissive quantum dot nanocrystal particles able to convert the LED backlight to pure monochromatic red, green, and blue light. This enables the TV display to be brighter and with purer colors by reducing interference between the light waves and thereby reducing light loss. Read more on our page comparing OLED vs QLED TVs

An OLED TV picture is much better than the picture on an LED TV. Also, the power consumption of an OLED TV is about half that of an LED TV of same size.

Since OLED TV pixels produces their own light when an OLED pixel is in the off state it is entirely Black, and an OLED pixel is on in full power mode, it is White. So with light in each pixel of an OLED TV being individually switched on and off, the OLED TV produces the highest Contrast rate possible, almost infinity.

An LED TV on the other hand in an LED TV, the backlight is shining at full power at the back of the LCD panel of the LED TV. The LCD pixels that are trying to block the light from areas of the TV picture which is black or dark cannot completely block the bright LED lights from reaching the screen. Some light leaks or bleeds through the LCD pixels in the dark or black areas of the TV picture. So the blacks on the screen of an LED TV is not completely black. Hence the contrast ratio between the dark and bright areas of an LED TV screen is not as good as that of an OLED TV screen. This becomes all the more vivid once you see an LED TV and OLED TV side by side. The blacks on an OLED TV screen is really deep black, and there is no doubt about the OLED TV picture being much better than that of an LED TV. They say that the contrast ratio of an OLED TV is more than 1000 times that o of LED TV.

Difference between LED and OLED TV

Though the names OLED and LED appear to be almost the same with the only difference being an extra 'O' in OLED TV, OLED and LED TVs are completely different. An LED is just a light bulb whereas the OLED is referring to a type of TV screen. An LED TV is actually an LCD TV with LED bulbs as the backlight. OLED TV, on the other hand, is more similar to a Plasma TV because there is no backlight and the pixels in an OLED TV are self-lighting.

OLED TV Technology explained, OLED TV life expectancy

OLED TVs, like Plasma TVs, have pixels that light up on their own without the use of backlight. Therefore OLED TVs have all the virtues of Plasma TVs which was so much appreciated by all the TV reviewers and TV connoisseurs. OLED TV contrast ratio is the best in any TVs available today and is far superior to that of LED TVs. OLED is even a superior technology to Plasma and we believe that OLED TVs will be the top TVs of the future.

The life expectancy of OLED TVs were a problem a few years back, but now the new OLED TV lifespan in 2015 is given as 30,000 hours. The lifespan of an OLED TV is till the pixels in an OLED TV show signs of losing its brightness. What 30,000 hours means in real life is that if you are watching an OLED TV for 5 hours every day of the year without break, then that OLED TV will stay bright for 6000 days. 6000 days divided by 365 days in a year is 16.4 years. If the usage is 6 hours every day of the year, then the expected life of OLED TV is 13.7 years and in case the OLED TV is viewed for 8 hours everyday of the year, then that OLED TV will last 10.3 years. These are all quite a long time for a TV, so there should be no worries about OLED TV lifespan.

Why OLED TV is best TV

Category	Explanation
Color	OLED TV colour display is the best of the present day TVs in production
Contrast Ratio	OLED TV like Plasma TV have their individual pixels light up separately and do not depend on a backlight to display the picture. Thus there is no bleeding of light from the bright areas of the picture to the dark areas and so the picture on the OLED TV has almost infinite contrast ratio. OLED TV pixels light up much brighter than Plasma TV pixels, and hence the OLED TV picture is much brighter than a Plasma TV and can be watched in bright ambient light.
Fast Action	The response time of the OLED TV pixels is the fastest among all the production TVs of today, even faster than Plasma TV pixels which were the choice of TV experts for watching sports. It is hard for the human eye to detect motion blur on an OLED TV even at very fast action scenes.
Viewing Angle	OLED TV has the best viewing angle among all TVs.
Electricity usage	OLED TVs consume the least amount of electric power.
Screen Size	OLED TVs in production now is only upto 105 inches, but can go even higher.
Lifespan	OLED lifespan quoted in 2015 is 30,000 hours before the OLED pixels show signs of any dimming. What 30,000 hours means in real life is that if you are watching an OLED TV for 5 every day then that OLED TV will stay bright for 6000 days. 6000 days divided by 365 days in a year is 16.4 years.
OLED TV Burn-in	OLED TV can have Burn-in problems, but OLED TV manufacturers have built in TV burnin protection. LG OLED TVs now have Burn-in protection systems built in that wipes clean any burnin on the screen every time the TV is switched off and on. So the Burnin problem should not worry OLED TV buyers.
Price	OLED TVs are still a new product in the market. But expect gradual price drop of OLED TVs as the years go by.

Buying TV online

These days buying a TV on line makes more sense, because of the many advantages. You get to buy the TV without much hassle online and the courier Company delivers to your door. If you want installation, it can usually be ordered online at the time of purchase, most of the time included in the price or there may be a very small extra charge. The price of TVs online from Amazon will be cheaper than what is available in your local stores. Service and Warranty are as good as or even better than if you bought it at a local store. The best part is that in case you are not satisfied with the TV, you can return it and get full refund and Amazon will arrange for the courier to pick up the returned item from you.

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