OLED vs. LED: Which Kind of TV Display Is Better?
Shopping for a new TV can be a daunting task. There are tons of brands to choose from, as well as a variety of intelligent weighing features and the latest in imaging technology. If you're in the market, you've probably heard the hype surrounding OLED models. They are thin, light and offer incredible contrast and a color that is second to none. OLED is only one letter away from the more common LED display. So what is there? Can they really be that different? In a word: yes. That extra "O" makes a big difference, but it doesn't automatically mean that an OLED TV will beat an LED TV in every case.
When OLED televisions first hit the market in 2013, they were praised for their perfect black levels and excellent colors. However, because of the brightness that couldn't compete with LED TVs, they were a little affected. There was also a huge price gap between OLED TVs (not to be confused with QLED) and their premium LED TV counterparts. Legend has it that OLED meant that "only lawyers, executives and doctors" could afford it. That has all changed.
OLED TVs are much brighter than they used to be, and prices have come down, especially as more brands launched competitive new options in 2020. The LED market is also facing a slight change. For now, it's time to take a look at the differences between these two TV technologies and examine the strengths and weaknesses of each.
further reading
What does LED TV mean?
Non-OLED televisions consist of two main parts: an LCD screen and a backlight. The LCD panel contains the pixels, the small colored dots that make up a television picture. Pixels alone cannot be seen. You need a backlight. When the backlight shines through an LCD pixel, you can see its color.
The "LED" in the LED television only refers to the production of the backlight. In the past, a thicker and less efficient technology called CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent light) was used. Virtually every flat panel television today uses LEDs as a backlight source. So when you see the term "LED TV" it simply refers to an LCD TV with an LED backlight.
However, not all LED TVs are created equal. There may be differences in the number and quality of the LEDs used, which leads to differences in terms of brightness and black level. You may also have seen something called "QLED TV". This is a type of LED TV that uses quantum dots for better brightness and color. We'll discuss QLED below, but here's a great overview of the differences between QLED and OLED TVs.
What does OLED TV mean?
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 with a single diode when they are powered. For this reason, OLED TVs do not require a separate backlight. Every pixel you see is a self-contained source of color and light.
Some of the inherent advantages of OLED screens are that they can be extremely thin, flexible, and even rollable. The biggest advantage of comparing them to LED TVs, however, is that each individual pixel gets its own luminance and power (unlike LED TVs with permanent pixels that require an external light source to display). When it's on, you can see it. When it's off, there's no light at all – it's completely black. We'll discuss in a moment how this affects black levels.
LG Display is currently the only manufacturer of OLED panels for televisions. Sony and LG reached an agreement that would allow Sony to build LG OLED panels into Sony TVs – like the stunning A9F Master Series TV – but otherwise you won't find OLED in many other TV screens sold in the US.
The differences in performance between LG's OLED TVs and Sony’s OLED TVs result from different image 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 problems such as banding and artifacts, and can also produce more accurate colors.
Other brands that source panels from LG include Philips, Panasonic, HiSense, Bang & Olufsen and more. You will also see lesser-known brands sparingly, but for now all of their panels are sourced from the same source.
Samsung does make OLED smartphone panels, and the company recently announced that it would begin building new TV panels based on a hybrid of QLED and OLED known as QD-OLED. It will be a few more years, however, before we see the first televisions using this technology.
Is QLED the same as OLED?
While they don't have really similar acronyms, an OLED TV is not the same as a QLED TV. The latter is actually based on LED technology, but uses a technique that puts self-emissive quantum dots over the pixels for better brightness, vibrancy and color accuracy. QLED is more of an iterative step than a generational leap, and while we would certainly recommend buying one if OLED is not within your reach, expect potential devaluation as technologies like quantum dot OLED (QD-OLED) and microLED take hold .
Which is better, OLED TV or LED TV?
Now is the time to pit these two technologies against each other and see how they stack up in terms of features like contrast, viewing angles, brightness, and other aspects of performance.
Editor's note: Since OLED televisions are still a premium display, we have only compared OLED with equally premium LED televisions with similar performance potential (except, of course, in the "Price" section).
Black level
The ability of a display to produce deep, dark blacks is arguably the most important factor for excellent image quality. Deeper black tones allow (among other things) a higher contrast and stronger colors and thus a more realistic and dazzling image. When it comes to black levels, OLED is the undisputed champion.
LED TVs rely on LED backlights that glow behind an LCD panel. Even with advanced dimming technology that selectively dimms LEDs that don't need to be turned on at full speed, LED televisions have historically struggled to produce dark blacks and suffer from an effect known as "light bleeding." and the lighter areas of the screen create a haze or bloom in adjacent darker areas.
Even with the most advanced LED models, these problems are inevitable. However, it is important to note that Samsung's Q9 series of QLED TVs represent a major advancement in LED TV performance, but these issues are completely eliminated and are an exception to this rule.
OLED televisions do not suffer from any of the black level problems of conventional LED televisions. When an OLED pixel is not receiving power, it will not generate any light and is therefore completely black. Sounds like an obvious choice to us.
Winner: OLED TV
brightness
In terms of brightness, LED TVs have a significant advantage. Your backlight can consist of large and powerful LEDs. By adding quantum dots, this brightness can be maintained even as the size of each LED becomes smaller. OLED TVs can get quite bright too, and at such dark black levels, the contrast between the lightest and darkest points on the screen is all the more exaggerated. However, if you bring OLED pixels to their maximum brightness for an extended period of time, their lifespan will be shortened and it will take a little longer for the pixel to be completely black again.
In view of these considerations, it should be noted that all modern televisions – whether OLED, LED or QLED – produce more than sufficient brightness. The consideration then becomes where the television will be used. In a dark room, an OLED TV will perform best, while LED TVs will outshine it (literally) in brighter environments.
It should also be noted that OLED brightness has increased dramatically recently, making them perfect for just about any situation except direct sunlight falling on the screen. In a direct comparison, however, LED televisions have the edge.
Winner by a nose: LED TV
Color space
OLED used to rule this category, but by improving the purity of the backlighting, quantum dots have allowed LED TVs to improve their color accuracy, color brightness, and color volume, putting them on par with OLED TVs. Anyone looking for TVs with a large color gamut or HDR will find both OLED and LED TV models that support these functions. OLED's better contrast ratio will slightly improve it in terms of HDR in dark rooms, but HDR on a premium LED television screen has an advantage in that at extreme levels of brightness it can produce well-saturated colors that OLED can't quite match.
Winner: To draw
Response time, refresh rate and input delay
The response time refers to the time it takes each individual pixel to change state. The state of a pixel is not just its color, but also its brightness. With a faster response time, you get less motion blur and fewer artifacts (despite the source material).
Because OLED pixels combine the light source and color in a single diode, they can change state incredibly quickly. In contrast, LED TVs use LEDs to create brightness and tiny LCD shutters to create color. While the brightness of the LED can be changed instantly, LCD closures are inherently slower to respond to changes in state.
OLED currently offers the fastest response time of any TV technology in use today, making it a clear winner.
The refresh rate is how often the entire picture on the screen changes. The faster the rate, the smoother it looks and the easier it is to see details in fast-moving content like sports. Most new TVs can achieve frame rates of 120 Hz, which means that the entire picture is updated 120 times per second. Some go up to 240Hz.
If refresh rate were just a matter of Hz, we'd call OLED TV a winner simply because it can achieve rates up to 1,000 times faster than LED TVs. Absolute speed is not the only consideration, however. Unlike movies and TV shows that use a single frame rate, video games often use something called variable frame rates, which simply means that the rate changes during different parts of a game. When a TV can't match these rate changes, it creates picture tearing – a visible jerk that results from the mismatch between the rate the game is using and the rate the TV is trying to use.
For this reason, gamers especially want TVs that can process VRR or variable refresh rate. This is a rare feature on both OLED and LED TVs. However, you can expect it to show up on more models on both types of TVs. Currently, VRR can be found in certain Samsung, LG, and TCL TVs. But neither OLED nor LED TVs have any real advantage when it comes to VRR. Some models have this feature and some do not. Your gaming system will also need to support VRR, although this shouldn't be a huge problem if you own an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 (or plan to snap up an Xbox Series X or Playstation 5 when they hit shelves).
After all, the entry delay is the length of time between pressing a button on a game controller and displaying the corresponding action on the screen. Input delay can be a problem when televisions introduce a lot of image processing, causing a slowdown in the received signal. However, most modern televisions have a game mode that eliminates processing and reduces input delay to barely noticeable levels. In the future, all televisions will be able to detect the presence of a video game and automatically switch to that mode and return to the processed mode when the game is over.
OLED uses this in the response times.
Winner: OLED televisions
Point of view
Here too, OLED is the winner. With LED TVs, dead center is the best viewing angle, and picture quality degrades in both color and contrast the further you move to either side. Although the severity varies between models, it is always noticeable. For its LED TVs, LG uses a type of LCD panel known as an IPS. It has slightly better off-angle performance than VA LCD panels (which Sony uses), but it suffers in the black level division unlike its competitor VA panels, and it is not a competitor for OLED. Samsung's most expensive QLED TVs have an updated panel design and anti-reflective coating, which makes out-of-angle viewing less of a problem. While OLED still beats these models in the end, the void is quickly closing.
However, OLED TVs can be viewed at drastic viewing angles – up to 84 degrees – without a drastic degradation in luminance. Compared to most LED TVs that have been tested to allow a maximum viewing angle of 54 degrees or less, OLED has a clear advantage.
Winner: OLED televisions
size
OLEDs have come a long way in this category. When the technology was still emerging, OLED screens were often eclipsed by LED / LCD displays. As OLED manufacturing has improved, the number of respectably large OLED displays has increased – it is 88 inches now – but they are still dwarfed by the largest LED TVs that can easily reach 100 inches , and with new technologies far beyond.
Winner: LED TV
lifespan
According to LG, you have to watch the OLED TVs five hours a day for 54 years before they drop to 50% brightness. Whether this is the case remains to be seen, as OLED TVs have only been in the wild since 2013. For this reason and only for this reason we will assign this category to LED televisions. Well worth it to have a proven track record.
Winner: LED TV
health
Can one type of TV be healthier for you than another? If you think we need to be careful with blue light, especially towards evening, the answer might be yes. Both OLED and LED TVs produce blue light, but OLED TVs produce significantly less of it. LG claims that its OLED panels produce only 34% blue light compared to 64% for LED TVs. These statistics have been independently verified, and LG's OLED panels have been awarded the Eye Comfort Display certificate by TÜV Rheinland, a standards organization based in Germany.
Will it make a difference to your overall health? We think the jury is still not there, but if blue light is an issue, then you should take a serious look at OLED TVs.
winner: OLED TVs
Screen burn-in
We're reluctant to include this section, both because burn-in is a misnomer and for most people the effect won't be a problem.
The effect we know as burn-in dates back to the days of the box-type CRT television when displaying a static image for prolonged periods caused an image to "burn" on the screen. What actually happened was that the phosphors covering the back of the television screen glowed continuously for extended periods of time, wearing out and creating the appearance of a burned-in image. We feel that this should be referred to as "burnout" but we will put this aside.
The same problem occurs with plasma and OLED TVs as the connections that light up can degrade over time. If you burn a pixel long and hard enough, it will darken prematurely before the rest of the pixels, creating a dark impression. In reality, this isn't very likely for most people – you would have to intentionally abuse the TV to achieve this. Even the “mistake” (logographic) that certain channels use disappears or is made clear enough often to avoid burn-in problems. You would have to watch ESPN on the brightest setting for a long, long time every day all day to cause a problem, and even then it is still not very likely.
However, the potential is there and it should be considered. (This also adds to the shortage of OLED computer monitors in the market, as computer screens are more likely to display a static image for hours.) Since LED TVs are not prone to burn-in, they win this battle by technical.
Winner: LED TV
power consumption
OLED panels do not require backlighting and every single pixel is extremely energy efficient. LED televisions require backlighting to produce brightness. Since LEDs are less energy efficient than OLEDs and their light has to get through the LCD shutters before it can reach your eyes, these panels need to use more power for the same brightness.
Winner: OLED televisions
price
OLED televisions are premium televisions. There's virtually no budget or mid-range for OLED (you might be lucky enough to find a newer OLED for less than $ 2,000). As companies like TCL, Philips, and Vizio continue to produce state-of-the-art LED, QLED, and mini-LED TVs, OLED brands will have to lower their prices to stay competitive.
Conversely, LED televisions can range in prices from a few hundred dollars – even for a high-quality large-screen model – to several thousand dollars, making them overall more accessible than OLEDs. While the prices of the highest quality LED TVs are almost in the same range as the price of OLEDs, LED TVs can be purchased based on price and price compared to a small price.
Winner: LED TV
We have a winner!
In terms of picture quality, OLED TVs still beat LED TVs, although the latter technology has seen many improvements lately. OLED is also lighter and thinner, uses less energy, offers by far the best viewing angle and, while still a bit more expensive, is significantly lower in price. OLED is the superior TV technology today. If this article was all about value, LED TV would still win, but OLED has come a long way in a short time and deserves the crown for its accomplishments. Whichever technology you ultimately choose, this isn't the only factor you need to consider. So be sure to read our TV Buying Guide to make sure you are buying the right TV for your needs.
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