Today, OLED & QLED are the top technologies, and while both provide an incredible picture, there are some differences. Throughout each generation, consumers have had some tricky decisions to navigate. But I am here for your help. This article will go over the differences between OLED and QLED technologies.
OLED TVs and QLED TVs generally occupy the top spot in premium TV comparisons. Abyssal blacks are characteristic of OLED TVs, while QLED TVs offer very high peak brightness. The two technologies are sometimes confusing, but there are fundamental differences between the two that influence the image.
When choosing between an OLED or QLED TV, it is good to know the advantages of each of these display technologies to select the one best suited to your needs.
Table of Contents
QLED VS OLED – Introduction :
QLED Technology:
QLED is basically the most advanced version of conventional LCD-LED technology. These sets, made popular by the Korean tech giant Samsung, are basically LCD TVs with quantum dots—microscopic particles that when hit by light, emit a certain different colored light.
QLED TVs have been designed for use in all lighting conditions with technology to help absorb or redirect external light to reduce the reflections.
There’s a problem with this TV that backlight color—and how it’s rendered as an image by the LCD screen—can vary pretty widely from set to set. QLED tries to solve that by putting a thin layer, called a quantum – dot filter, between the LED backlight and the LCD screen (that’s where the “Q” comes from). The quantum – dot filter essentially purifies the color of the light coming from the LEDs to get a better, more vivid, and more saturated color.
So it’s still a conventional LCD – LED sandwich, just with a fancy quantum – dot layer in there to brighten things up a bit.
OLED Technology:
OLED in TVs, meanwhile, is a fundamentally different technology than that of conventional LED – LCD TVs. OLED stands for organic light -emitting diode.
In an OLED TV, the pixels emit their own light, which means there is no need for the LCD screen to display the image. There are three so-called “micro pixels” in each OLED pixel, corresponding to the red / green / blue color matrix used to produce colors.
A film transistor that transmits an electrical current to turn each individual subpixel on and off covers both sides of the OLED panel (the film on the front is transparent). This design, which does not require any backlighting, makes it possible to produce ultra – thin and very light OLED panels.
The takeaway is that despite the unquestionable advantages in overall picture quality and wide-angle viewing, OLED panels just do not look as sharp as QLEDs in brighter rooms.
QLED VS OLED – Features :
QLED TV Features:
- Complete Television: QLED turns the ordinary into the extraordinary with immersive sound, endless detail, minimalist design and unrivaled technology. It is the most complete television ever.
- Easy to Fit: QLED (Quantum dot LED) offers an unparalleled visual and auditory adventure from the comfort of your living room. The QLED series was designed with options to fit any space and budget.
- QLED 4K: QLED 4K features stunning scenes with 8 million pixels – that is four times the pixels of Full HD.
- QLED 8K: QLED 8K offers unreal clarity with 33 million pixels – that is 16 times the pixels of Full HD.
- Q – Symphony: The speakers in QLED TVs sync in harmony with your Samsung soundbar.
- Ultra slim frame: Black edges are shrunk to almost nothing, and an ultra – slim frame removes any distractions so you can get a more immersive viewing experience.
- Remote Control: There is a smart remote which controls QLED TV. You can also download the Smart View app onto your phone to easily control your QLED TV in between text messages. You can even use it as a game controller for cloud games.
OLED TV Features:
- Much higher contrast: OLEDs enable a greater contrast ratio and wider viewing angle compared to LCDs, because OLED pixels emit light directly. This also provides a deeper black level, since a black OLED display emits no light.
- Higher refresh rates: OLEDs can switch on and off much faster than QLEDs.
- Better power consumption: OLEDs only consume light on lit pixels. The power consumption of OLEDs depends on the image shown, but in most cases OLEDs will be more efficient than QLCDS.
- Flexibility: The simple design of OLEDs enables next-generation flexible, bendable, foldable, and even rollable displays.
- Flexible Plastic Substrates: OLED displays can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates, leading to the possible fabrication of flexible organic light-emitting diodes for other new applications, such as roll-up displays embedded in fabrics or clothing.
- Better Power Efficiency and Thickness: LCDs filter the light emitted from a backlight, allowing a small fraction of light through. Thus, they cannot show true black. However, an inactive OLED element does not produce light or consume power, allowing true blacks.
- Smooth Motion: OLED Motion is technology you see, but don’t notice. It’s motion handling for fast movements in sports and action sequences.
QLED VS OLED – Pros and Cons :
OLED Pros and Cons:
QLED vs OLED – What is best for gamers?
If you are mainly interested in a television that is good for gaming, I would encourage you to focus on different criteria than OLED vs QLED.
With the PS5 and Xbox Series X coming this year too, you may want to futureproof with a set carrying HDMI 2.1 ports that can carry 8K video from consoles (at 60 Hz), as well as 4K video at 120 Hz. Low input lag is not always specified on TV product pages, but I recommend keeping an eye out for it.
OLED For Gaming:
Certainly, OLED sets will be best for achieving natural contrast and help make cinematic games, whether the intergalactic horizons of Halo Infinite or the lush forestation in Shadow of the Tomb Raider – look truly breathtaking.
LG’s OLED TVs come with Nvidia G – Sync to help smooth out gameplay on screen too.
However, QLEDs go a lot brighter, and may be better for practical visibility in the games you are playing, and drawing out environments and in – game objects clearly.
It may depend on what you are playing – but getting a set with low input lag, VRR (variable refresh rate), or an HDMI 2.1 port, will be more important than the underlay panel technology.
QLED vs OLED – Which One To Choose For Your Room?
Is your room generally bright with a good amount of windows? The extra brightness of QLED is for you. Make sure to get a screen with HDR for the best picture quality.
Is your room generally dimmer, like a basement or a home theatre room, with light control like heavy curtains? You need OLED for those beautiful rich blacks without the blinding brightness of QLED. Once again HDR is always a good choice for the better colour dynamics.
In short, pick OLED screens in a dark room or QLED in a bright room.
To Sum Up:
Both of these technologies are impressive in their own ways, but If I have to choose only one then it is OLED.
With better performance in the categories that most people will notice while watching TV shows and movies, it’s the best picture quality you can buy.
QLED comes out on top on paper, delivering a higher brightness, longer lifespan, larger screen sizes, and lower price tags. OLED, on the other hand, has a better viewing angle, deeper black levels, uses less power, and might be better for your health.
Both are fantastic, though, so choosing between them is subjective; QLED is the better all – rounder, but OLED excels when you can control your room’s lighting.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes QLED is better for gaming. It allows your console to automatically optimize TV setting, for an enhanced gaming experience, with minimal input lag and ultra – fast refresh rates.
Yes OLED is bad for gaming because OLED screens can suffer from burn in, if you play a game which has persistent fixed elements on screen like a HUD or score then that could get etched into the screen with continued use.
QLED comes out on top on paper, delivering a higher brightness, longer lifespan, larger screen sizes, and lower price tags. OLED, on the other hand, has a better viewing angle, deeper black levels, uses less power, and might be better for your health.
In short, they both provide benefits.
TV Burn – in is permanent, persistent images caused by static graphics remaining on screen for a long period of time. OLED TVs are more likely to Burn-in than QLED TVs and their manufacturers do not always cover this known issue in their warranty. QLED TVs are covered against TV Burn – in for 10 years.
Generally speaking, if you’re in the market for a TV, Samsung’s QLED TVs are a good choice, and provide decent value for the money.
LG states their OLED TVs have a lifespan of 30,000 hours, which is equal to watching TV 3 hours per day, for 27 years.
For truly high speed gaming, where reaction times really matter, OLED is the perfect choice. LG’s line buffer operation combined with OLED’s ultra fast response provide an input lag that often exceeds that found in higher refresh rate dedicated gaming monitors.
Dark or blurry picture is most often the result of picture setting. If the screen is still dark after turning off Energy Saving, click Back on your remote to return to the Picture menu. From the Picture menu, select Picture Mode Settings. Select vivid for the highest brightness, and most vivid colors.
OLED TV manufacturers LG and Sony have a panel or pixel refresher feature that you can run if you notice burn-in.
OLED life depends on what kind of content you’re watching most of the time – i.e. things that put a high load on the pixels and processor.
Thanks to the improvements in manufacturing and software compensation, OLED burn – in issue can be easily resolved. You don’t have to worry about it.