QLED vs. OLED: QLED and OLED are the two display technologies that are currently dominating the market for modern television screens. Companies such as LG, Sony, and Panasonic, along with others, brag about the impressive contrast and black levels of their OLED TVs, while companies such as Samsung, TCL, and Hisense brag about the incredible brightness of their QLED TVs.
Is this an example of a company trying to hype their product by using fancy terminology, or are there actually differences between QLED and OLED televisions?
This is an in-depth explanation of QLED vs. OLED, where these two competing display technologies came from, how they are distinct from one another, and what each one does particularly well (and not so well). We’ll also let you know which one we believe will bring the most joy to the greatest number of people. Confession: it’s an OLED television, but there are some important things you should know before buying one.
Check out some of the best QLED TV deals and the best OLED sales that are currently available once you have decided which type of television technology is ideal for you.
What is QLED?
Quantum Light-Emitting Diode is the abbreviation for QLED. Simply put, this means that a QLED TV is identical to a conventional LED TV, with the exception that in order to boost its brightness and color, it makes use of something called quantum dots, which are very small nanoparticles.
The complete explanation of how these nanoparticles function can be found in our quantum dot explainer, but the following is a condensed version: the light source in a typical LED television is white LEDs. However, in practice, so-called “white” LEDs typically lean more toward the blue, red, or green regions of the color spectrum.
When a television’s color filter is exposed to less than full-spectrum white light, it is unable to perform its function of accurately displaying the colors that are supposed to be on the screen to the viewer. The backlight source of a QLED television is composed of a layer of blue LEDs, onto which a layer of red and green quantum dots is added. Because of the precision with which these quantum dots can be added, the combination of red, green, and blue can produce a nearly ideal, full-spectrum white light without sacrificing even a single unit of the light’s intensity. The color filter in television needs that perfect white light in order to produce an accurate palette of the billions of colors that can be seen on the screen of a television.
Sony was the first company to present this technology to the public in 2013. Shortly after that, Samsung began selling its own QLED TVs and established a licensing partnership with other manufacturers. This is the reason why you can also find QLED TVs from brands such as Vizio, Hisense, TCL, and many other smaller brands as well. Even Amazon has jumped on the QLED bandwagon with its most recent iteration of the Omni Fire TV.
Despite the fact that quantum dots are incredibly fascinating, a QLED TV still generates light in the same manner as a conventional LED TV. This is accomplished by employing a backlight that is composed of hundreds, or even thousands, of LEDs, with this backlight layer sitting behind an LCD panel layer. The images that appear on the screen are created when the backlight is shone through the LCD panel, which then works to mold the light into the desired shape. LED TV and QLED TV get their names from these light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Together, the color filters and the LCD panel, which are essentially millions of tiny shutters that open and close too quickly to see, create the picture that you see by allowing just the right amount of light and color to escape and reach your eyes. It’s a smart system, but in order to produce accurate blacks on-screen, it relies on a combination of turning down the LED backlights and using the shutters to block the remaining light, and it doesn’t always work. It’s a clever system, but it doesn’t always work. Below, you’ll find further discussion on this topic.
It’s rather peculiar that the use of the term “QLED” in marketing is what sparked the conflict between LG and Samsung in 2019. LG alleged in a complaint that it filed with the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) of South Korea that Samsung’s so-called QLED TVs are not, in fact, genuine QLED TVs. This is the case because, as stated by LG, a genuine QLED television would make use of quantum-dot LEDs that are capable of producing their own light, as opposed to the quantum-dot film that is placed over an LED backlight by Samsung.
In an act of retaliation, Samsung complained to the Federal Trade Commission about all of the advertisements LG had been running that were critical of Samsung’s QLED TVs.
In the end, the FTC sided with Samsung, but under one condition: the company must make it abundantly clear in all future advertisements for its QLED TVs that the televisions contain a backlight. Details, details.
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What is OLED?
Organic Light-Emitting Diode is the abbreviation for OLED. The “Light Emitting Diode” portion of that name has absolutely nothing to do with an LED backlight, which comes as something of a surprise. Instead, it is a reference to the fact that each and every individual pixel in an OLED panel is a teeny-tiny LED light. However, this particular LED light is incredibly thin and is able to produce light as well as color in a single element. Simply put, OLED televisions do not require a backlight because each pixel of an OLED television generates its own source of light. You can use the industry terms for these different types of displays, which are known as emissive or self-emissive, in order to impress your friends.
This design has a number of benefits, but most people would agree that when it comes to OLED TVs, the most significant benefit is the excellent black level that can be achieved. This is one of the many advantages of this design. In order to achieve a dark or completely black scene on a QLED or LED TV, the backlight must be dimmed and any remaining light must be blocked. However, an OLED TV can achieve this effect by simply turning off the pixels that comprise the dark parts of the screen. When the pixel is turned off, it does not emit any light and also does not produce any color; as a result, the area is just as dark as when the TV itself is turned off.
LG Display is the only company that produces OLED TV panels at this time. It then goes on to sell those panels to its sister company, LG Electronics, which then puts them to use in the production of some of the most cutting-edge televisions money can buy. However, because LG Display also sells OLED panels to other companies, such as Sony, Vizio, Philips, and Panasonic, you will also be able to find OLED televisions manufactured by these other companies. There are still going to be differences in the picture quality between different OLED TVs, despite the fact that the panels themselves are essentially the same. This is because the image processing that Sony, LG, and others do is proprietary.
What is Mini-LED?
You might come across some products advertising their use of mini-LED technology as you research the various new TV options available to you. It may sound like a competitor to QLED and OLED, but in reality, it is just an improvement of the LED backlighting that is used by QLED TVs and LED TVs when you rate QLED vs. OLED.
When compared to standard LEDs, mini-LEDs have a much smaller footprint. This translates to the fact that a QLED television, which could traditionally house up to hundreds of LEDs, can now house up to tens of thousands of Mini-LEDs. What is the result? Greater control over the backlighting results in black levels that are much more comparable to those of OLED than those achieved by any display that is not an OLED.
TCL began selling the 8-Series in the latter half of 2019, which was the very first QLED TV to be powered by a Mini-LED backlighting system.
In the year 2022, Mini-LED finally entered the mainstream. In addition to TCL, you can find Mini-LED TVs manufactured by Samsung (marketed as “Neo QLED”), LG (which refers to these models as “QNED”), and Sony. The latter company asserts that the backlight control technology used in its Mini-LED TVs is superior to that of its competitors.
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Which technology is better, QLED or OLED?
Let’s compare QLED and OLED in the categories that matter the most when purchasing a TV, including brightness, contrast, viewing angles, and other notable performance considerations. Now that you know what all those letters stand for and what they mean in terms of display technology, let’s compare QLED and OLED in these categories. When it comes to spending a significant amount of money on a new television, each of these aspects is critical to consider.
The levels of black and contrast
The difference between the darkest part of an image and the brightest part is referred to as the image’s contrast. If a television is capable of displaying a truly black portion of the image’s dark portion, then it does not need to make the bright portions quite as bright in order to achieve satisfactory levels of contrast. Because of its capacity to display an absolutely black image whenever it is required to do so, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology is currently the unrivaled king of black levels.
In comparison, QLED televisions are required to turn down the brightness of their LED backlights and block any remaining light, which is a task that is notoriously difficult to execute flawlessly. Because light leaks from an area that is supposed to be dark onto another part of the screen that is supposed to be bright, this can result in a phenomenon known as “light bleed.”
But can you tell the difference? Definitely. If you are watching an intense action movie and two characters are running through a parking lot at night, for example, you may notice a slight glow on parts of the scene that are supposed to be pitch black. You may also notice this glow in the letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the screen when you are watching a movie that uses an aspect ratio that is wider than 16:9.
As was mentioned earlier, one strategy that manufacturers of QLED TVs are employing in an effort to find a solution to this problem is the use of Mini-LED backlights. Although it shows great promise, we are not yet prepared to call it a competitor to OLED technology when you rate QLED vs. OLED.
At this point in time, the advantage goes to OLED. It is impossible for an OLED pixel to produce any light when it is not receiving electricity; as a result, the pixel will appear completely dark.
QLED vs. OLED: Brightness
When it comes to the level of brightness, QLED televisions have a significant advantage. These LED backlights can be made incredibly bright because they use separate backlights (instead of relying on each pixel to create its own light). In fact, they can be made more than bright enough to be seen clearly in even the most well-lit rooms because they don’t rely on each pixel to create its own light.
On the basis of sheer brightness, OLED panels are unable to compete. It’s just physically impossible for their light-emitting individual pixels to produce the same amount of light. This is not an issue in a place where there is a lot of darkness. In point of fact, we would argue that it is preferable because OLED can achieve the same contrast with less brightness, making it an experience that is less retina-searing when viewed in a dark room. (This is in addition to the fact that it will make paying your monthly power bill significantly less difficult.) But in places that have a lot of ambient light or windows that let in a lot of natural light, QLED televisions are easier to see. This is especially true if you are playing HDR content in these kinds of settings.
Even though OLED panels have seen significant improvements in their brightness over the years, they still cannot compete with QLED TVs when you rate QLED vs. OLED.
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QLED vs. OLED: Color space
OLED used to blow all of the competition out of the water in this section, but the use of quantum dots in QLED TVs has allowed it to inch forward in terms of color accuracy, color brightness, and color volume, according to Samsung. Samsung claims that a wider range of better-saturated colors at extreme brightness levels is an advantage. Color volume OLED once blew all of the competition out of the water in this section.
Although there is no denying the fact that these quantum dot TVs deliver fantastic colors, we have not seen better-saturated colors at high brightness levels deliver a real advantage in normal viewing situations, so for the time being, we are going to say that it is a draw between the two technologies. To determine whether or not QLED is successful, we will need to see some tangible evidence.
The response time, the lag in the input, and the refresh rate
The amount of time it takes for a pixel to transition from one state to another is referred to as its response time. The response time determines how crisp an image will be, especially during fast-paced action scenes. Even though there is probably a threshold of response time beyond which the human eye is unable to discern a difference, we know from standardized measurements that OLED TVs are significantly faster than QLED TVs. In fact, OLED TVs are faster by orders of magnitude.
When compared to the response time of an OLED, which is approximately 0.1 milliseconds, the typical response time of a QLED, which ranges from 2 to 8 milliseconds, sounds like it performs quite well. Yup, it’s no contest.
On the other hand, the term “input lag” refers to the delay that occurs between performing an action (such as pressing a button on a game controller) and seeing the result of that action displayed onscreen. As a result, input lag is really only something that should be of concern to gamers; it does not have any discernible impact on the experience of passively viewing content at all.
In addition, the amount of input lag that you experience has little to do with the display technology that you are using and more to do with the amount of image processing that is taking place behind the scenes on your television set. You can achieve very low levels of input lag on both QLED and OLED TVs by turning off any additional video processing or by simply using the TV’s Game Mode, which does the same thing in practice as turning off the extra processing.
Another criterion that will inherently be more important to gamers than it will be to casual viewers is the refresh rate. The number of times in one second that the TV will update what it is displaying onscreen is referred to as the refresh rate. It has a close connection to the frame rate, which is the number of times per second that a new update is sent to the television by a video game, a television show, or a movie.
You won’t ever notice a problem as long as these two rates are close multiples of each other. For example, if you have a frame rate of 30 frames per second and a refresh rate of double that, which is 60 Hz, then you won’t have a problem. As a result of the fact that movies and television shows that are broadcast on regular television are always broadcast at the same frame rate, this issue is almost never a cause for concern.
However, the frame rate of some games, whether they are played on consoles or personal computers, can change from one scene to the next. TVs need a feature known as VRR, which stands for variable refresh rate, to ensure that everything appears as it should at all times. This enables your TV to adjust its default refresh rate so that it remains consistent with the new frame rate. When you play games that require VRR, but your television doesn’t support it, you might experience some unwelcome side effects like tearing on the screen. This can be avoided by purchasing a television that does support VRR.
In the past, only OLED TVs were able to provide VRR; however, as of 2022, it is now also available on select QLED TVs, which is evidence that this competition is still one that is being fiercely contested.
However, due to OLED’s unbeatable superiority in response time, we’ve decided to award victory to OLED, despite the fact that the vast majority of people are unlikely to ever notice the difference.
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QLED vs. OLED: Viewing angle
When it comes to QLED screens, the optimal viewing angle is directly in the middle of the display, and the picture quality suffers in terms of brightness, color, and contrast as you move further to the left or right or up or down the screen. Despite the best efforts of TV manufacturers to eradicate the problem, it is always apparent, even though the severity of the problem varies from model to model.
OLED screens, on the other hand, can be viewed at extreme viewing angles (up to 84 degrees) without any noticeable degradation in the brightness of the image. Although anti-reflective layers have helped some QLED televisions improve their viewing angles, OLED televisions continue to have a significant advantage in this regard. Therefore, an OLED TV is the best option for you if you like to organize family screenings of your favorite movies and you want to make sure that there isn’t a bad seat in the house.
QLED vs. OLED: Lifespan
According to LG, you would need to watch one of its OLED TVs for five hours every day for 54 years before the brightness level dropped to 50%. Since OLED TVs have only been available to consumers since 2013, it is impossible to say for certain whether or not this is accurate. Even though QLED is relatively new, its source of backlighting, the LED, has been around for quite some time and has a solid track record. Because of this, and this reason alone, we have decided to grant QLED victory in this category.
QLED vs. OLED: Size
OLEDs have come a long way since their infancy. OLED displays could only go as large as 55 inches in size when the technology was in its infancy. There are OLED televisions available in sizes up to 97 inches and QLED televisions available in sizes up to 98 inches that can be purchased today. OLED displays still have a tendency to be more expensive with increasing screen sizes, but QLED is no longer the only option for extremely large displays.
Screen burn-in
Image retention is a phenomenon that can occur on occasion with QLED as well as OLED televisions. This is the phenomenon in which a television continues to display a portion of an image after the whole image has been removed from the screen. When it does show its face at all, it appears to be some kind of shadow most of the time.
When you have the same visual element onscreen for extended periods of time, you are more likely to experience image retention than you would otherwise be. There have been reports of it being caused by network logos in the top left corner of the screen. It can also be caused by video games that continually use the same user interface elements.
When you switch to a different type of content that does not display the elements that are causing the image retention issues, the problem usually goes away on its own. Image retention.
Because of the self-emissive nature of OLED TVs, they are also susceptible to “burn-in,” a much less common but more permanent form of image retention. Burn-in happens when one or more of an OLED pixel’s normal brightness is permanently reduced to a lower state. This can happen to one or more pixels. The only way to fix this issue is to bring the state of all of the remaining pixels down to the same level, which is not exactly an ideal solution.
The user manuals that accompany LG’s OLED televisions acknowledge the possibility of image retention, but they also state that this phenomenon should not occur under normal viewing conditions. LG is the industry leader when it comes to the production of OLED televisions.
The question now is, what exactly are “normal” viewing conditions? To start, it’s not exactly typical behavior to leave the television set tuned to the same channel for ten hours a day, every day, for two months straight. This was accomplished by one of our readers who watched MSNBC on his LG C8 OLED TV, which, according to him, resulted in the creation of a burn-in shadow of a portion of the MSNBC peacock logo and a portion of the “Live” graphic that frequently accompanies it in the bottom-right corner of the screen. One of our other readers also performed this action (see image above).
Should you let this information dissuade you from purchasing an OLED TV? Never in a million years. However, this is something that you should be aware of if you plan to use the television as a commercial display in a store or perhaps in a waiting room, or if you think you’ll use it to play the same video game exclusively for a period of months at a time.
The QLED TV is your best bet if you want an ironclad assurance that you won’t have any problems with burn-in.
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Eye comfort (QLED vs. OLED)
In this day and age of viewing, it is possible to stare at television screens for long periods of time with very few breaks in between. Eye strain is a real symptom of the act, and it is typically brought on by the production of an excessive amount of blue light. LED-based sets have a propensity to emit a more intense blue light than anything else, and this is true even in scenes that don’t feature a significant amount of the shade. If you continue on this path, your already irritated eyes may eventually cause you to lose sleep, which in turn can contribute to a wide variety of other health issues. Because of this, a few OLED manufacturers, most notably LG Display, are actively pursuing Eye Safe certification for their respective panel products.
Eye Safe certification was developed by the German safety testing company TÜV Rheinland and was formerly marketed under the less enticing names “Eye Comfort Display” and “Ocular Guard.” This certification examines a variety of elements in television panels to determine whether or not they are too taxing on the eyes.
Because OLED televisions emit a significantly lower amount of blue light than LED-backlit QLED televisions, they should, in theory, provide a greater overall sense of comfort to the eyes than QLED televisions as well as any other LCD-based screen. It is nothing that can’t be handled by a special pair of glasses, but if you want to guarantee that you have the safest viewing experience possible that doesn’t require you to purchase new glasses, then OLED is your champion.
Power consumption
You are now well aware that OLED panels do not require an extremely brilliant backlight in order to function properly. Because those backlights use quite a bit of power, OLED televisions are inherently more energy-efficient than conventional televisions. In addition to this, they produce less heat than QLED televisions.
Price
QLED TVs used to dominate this category handily, but OLED TVs have become more affordable in recent years, and given that we’re discussing only premium products here, comparable QLED TVs now cost about the same as their OLED counterparts (or more, depending on the size). The year 2023 will see the greatest number of TVs based on OLED technology to date, and as has been the case historically, prices will decrease as production numbers increase. In 2021, the most expensive OLED television from LG measured 88 inches and cost $30,000. In 2022, the company will offer a larger, 97-inch model at a reduced price of $25,000.
It is important to keep in mind that, in contrast to OLED TVs, QLED TVs come in a wide variety of picture quality. This is due to the fact that the design, picture processing, and construction of QLED TVs are significantly more variable than those of OLED TVs. If you are doing some window shopping and come across some cheap QLED TVs — and some of them are incredibly affordable — you should keep this in mind. Only the very best QLED TVs can produce images that are on par with those produced by OLED televisions.
Our top pick is still QLED because, when compared inch-for-inch, it offers better value for the money; however, the price gap between the two technologies is narrowing with each passing year.
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QLED vs. OLED: Here Are the Results
Although each of these technologies is impressive in its own right, the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) appears to be the clear front-runner at this point. With improved performance in the areas that the vast majority of viewers will take note of while watching movies and television shows, it continues to offer the highest possible picture quality that money can buy.
Would you like to read more about QLED vs. OLED-related articles? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
