Buying a TV these days is like dipping your spoon into a bowl of alphabet soup. Two examples of letter confusion are labels. QLED And OLED,
Frankly, it’s easy to mix up the two phrases because at first glance a capital “Q” doesn’t look all that different from a capital “O.” Although the letters “Q” and “O” may look comparable, there is one main technical difference between QLED TVs and OLED TVs.
QLED
QLED TV is an LCD-based TV. This means that it has an LED backlight and pictures are viewed on an LCD display panel. However, it does provide one other element, a sheet of quantum dots (this is where the “Q” comes from). A quantum dot sheet is located between the LED backlight and the LCD panel to enhance color.
Quantum dots are nano (microscopic) particles that emit a color when hit with a light supply. For a full list of these little guys, read along with our companion article: WTF Are Quantum Dots?
The major companies that make QLED TVs are Samsung and TCL, but others such as Vizio, Hisense, and Amazon also offer QLED models.
TV QLED Panorama has several advertising labels:
- QLED (Samsung, TCL, Amazon)
- Neo-QLED (Samsung QLED TV with Mini-LED backlighting)
tip: Other labels may also be used at the discretion of the TV manufacturer.
For more on LCD-based TVs, check out our companion article: WTF is an LED TV?
OLED
OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, Diodes are used to show the photo. Organic LEDs are self-emitting when electricity is passed through them. This means, unlike LCD-based TVs, no edging or backlighting is required.
LCD panels can be erased because organic LEDs produce both light and color and contain all of the image data. As a result, the internal development of OLED TVs reduces the variety of parts desired to display photos to viewers.
TV manufacturers that offer OLED TVs as part of their product options include LG Electronics, Sony, Vizio, Panasonic, Philips, and many more.
tip: All OLED TV panels used by the firms listed above are made by LG Display Co., a subsidiary of LG Electronics.
To learn more about OLED TVs, talk to our companion article: WTF is an OLED TV?
QD-OLED (a type of OLED)
To further complicate the alphabet soup is that just as there are LCD-based TV versions, there is a variation of OLED TV technology that is making inroads into the market: QD-OLED
QD-OLED TVs are a form of OLED that takes advantage of a single layer of blue light-emitting OLED pixels located on the back of the TV. Blue light hits a layer of quantum dots, which produce green and red light, while a portion of the blue light from the OLED layer passes through the screen. The combination of blue OLED light with green and red light quantum dots produces the images.
QD-OLED panels are made by Samsung Display Company and are used in select models from Samsung Electronics and Sony. It is expected that more companies will participate.
To go deeper, discuss with our companion article: WTF is a QD-OLED TV?
OLED and QD-OLED Advantages Compared to QLED
- Capable of showing absolute black.
- Better to watch in dark room.
- Better performance consistency.
- Low power consumption (when evaluating similar options and display sizes).
Advantages of QLED over OLED and QD-OLED
- High brightness functionality (model dependent).
- More accurate HDR performance (model dependent).
- Better for viewing in well lit rooms.
- More display sizes can be found (varies by model).
- Overall cheaper (mannequin dependent).
related reading
Buying a New TV: Everything You Need to Know
WTF is an LED TV?
WTF is an OLED TV?
WTF is a QD-OLED TV?
WTF Are Quantum Dots?
WTF is Mini-LED?
WTF is a NanoCell TV?
WTF is MicroLED?
WTF is a Plasma TV?
WTF is a Smart TV?
