Difference between OLED and QLED

OLED and QLED are modern display technologies used in a variety of electronic devices, such as TVs, monitors, laptop screens, smartphones, etc. However, they are completely different from each other in several aspects like technology, characteristics, performance, viewing angles, and more.

The most fundamental difference between OLED and QLED is in their display technology, i.e. OLED display uses organic semiconductor materials to emit light and display images on the screen, while QLED display uses LED backlights and quantum dots to produce images on the screen.

Read this article to learn more about OLED and QLED and how these two display technologies are different from each other.

What is OLED?

OLED is the acronym for Organic Light Emitting Diode. OLED is a modern display technology used in a wide range of electronic display devices, such as TVs, monitors, laptops, smartphones, bulletin boards, stadium screens, etc.

OLED displays consist of organic semiconductor compounds that emit a bright light on the passage of electric current through them, and hence it is termed as OLED. Since, OLED displays can emit light on their own, thus they are considered as self-emissive types of display. There is no need of backlight panel with LEDs to illuminate the screen.

In OLED displays, a thin layer of organic semiconductor material is placed between two conducting electrodes which produces a bright light that illuminate the screen on the passage of electric current through the organic material.

The primary advantages of OLED displays include better picture quality, relatively wider viewing angles, greater flexibility in design, compact size, faster response time, and low power consumption. OLED displays have relatively shorter lifespan due to higher chances of image burn-in effect.

What is QLED?

QLED is the acronym for Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode. QLED is another modern display technology used in several electronic devices like TVs, monitors, etc.

QLED displays combines two different technologies namely, quantum dots and LED backlight system. This combination improves the picture quality and color reproduction, resulting in the enhancement of overall performance of the display device.

Quantum dots are nothing but very small semiconductor nanocrystals, typically made up of indium phosphide or cadmium selenide. These quantum dots can emit light of a certain wavelength when either energized by an electric current or exposed to an external source of light. The size of the quantum dots determines the wavelength of the emitted light.

In a QLED display, a layer of the quantum dots is placed between the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel and the LED backlighting system. The light produced by the LED backlight panel illuminate the quantum dots to produce a light of a certain wavelength to display highly pure colors on the screen. The LCD panel controls the amount of light to create the final image on the screen.

The major advantages of QLED display technology, include enhanced color accuracy, high brightness levels, improved contrast ratios, wider viewing angles, and higher energy efficiency. Also, QLED displays more affordable than OLED displays.

Difference between QLED and OLED

The following table listed all the significant differences between QLED and OLED displays −

Parameter	OLED Display	QLED Display
Full form	OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode.	QLED stands for Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode.
Display technology	OLED displays use organic material that emit their own light on the passage of an electric current.	QLED displays use quantum dots along with LED backlight and LCD panels.
Primary component	In OLED displays, the organic material used serves the primary component.	In QLED displays, the primary component is quantum dots.
Function of primary component	The organic material emits light to illuminate the display screen.	The quantum dots improve the color reproduction and accuracy of the screen.
Need of backlight panel	OLED displays does not require backlight panel to illuminate the screen.	In QLED displays, an LED backlight panel is used to illuminate the screen.
Viewing angle	OLED displays have a wider viewing angle.	QLED displays have a narrower viewing angle than OLED displays.
Contrast ratio	OLED displays have comparatively better contrast ratio because their individual pixels can be completely turned off.	QLED displays have lower contrast ratios than OLED displays.
Screen thickness	OLED displays are thinner than QLED displays.	QLED displays are thicker than OLED displays.
Brightness	OLED displays have low levels of brightness.	QLED displays have comparatively better brightness levels.
Weight	OLED displays are comparatively lighter.	QLED displays are heavier than OLED displays.
Response time	OLED displays have faster response time.	QLED displays have slower response time.
Image burn-in	OLED displays have higher changes of image burn-in.	QLED display do not have this problem.
Power consumption	OLED displays consume less power.	QLED displays consume more power than OLED displays, as they use backlighting system to illuminate the screen.
Color accuracy	OLED displays offer good color accuracy.	QLED displays offer better color accuracy.
Light wastage	The wastage of light is minimum in the OLED displays.	QLED displays have higher light wastage than OLED displays.
Lifespan	OLED displays have shorter lifespan.	QLED displays have longer lifespan.
Cost	OLED displays are more expensive.	QLED displays are less expensive.
Motion blur	OLED displays have reduced motion blur due to faster response time.	QLED displays exhibit motion blue due to slower response time.
Suitability	OLED displays are better suited for smaller screen sizes like smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.	QLED displays are suitable for larger screen sizes like televisions, monitors, etc.

Conclusion

Both OLED and QLED displays are widely used in various modern electronic devices like televisions, monitors, smartphones, tablets, and more. OLED and QLED display technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The most significant difference between OLED displays and QLED displays that is OLED displays use light emitting pixels made up organic materials that provide better contrast ratio with faster response time, whereas QLED displays use quantum dots that provide improved color quality with better brightness levels. However, QLED displays have slower response time than OLED displays, resulting in motion blur.