What are the differences between a QLED screen and an OLED screen? Which one is the best? Everything you need to know
It's easy to say LED TV, but not all displays with a panel composed of "Light Emitting Diode" are the same. On the contrary: LED technologies are many and varied, although the most common are QLED and OLED.
And, to be precise, to include QLEDs in the family of LED displays is a bit of a stretch, given that they have many more features in common with LCD panels than with actual LEDs. From this point of view, in fact, it must be admitted that the name QLED is a bit confusing for the consumer. However, both technologies have now reached very high levels of sophistication and offer excellent visual quality (in top of the range models). But what are the real differences between a QLED TV and an OLED TV and what are their respective merits and demerits?
QLED TV: features, merits and demerits
The acronym QLED stands for Quantum Dot LED, that is, LED with quantum dots. The technology has been developed since late 2010 to improve the quality and performance of LCD screens. Samsung and Sony are the two big electronics companies that have invested the most in QLED technology, which consists in applying "Quantum Dot" (microscopic molecules between 2 and 10 nanometers in size) in front of a backlit panel. Each quantum dot can be activated or deactivated by electric current, to emit a color or remain off. This technology, therefore, closely resembles LCD technology (especially in the need for backlighting). The merits of QLED are various: very high brightness, excellent colors (especially with HDR content), theoretical reliability over time of Quantum Dot greater than organic LEDs. On the other hand, the black of QLED TVs is never absolute because of the backlighting panel that is always on (and this can have a negative effect on power consumption).
OLED TV: features, merits and demerits
Unlike QLED, OLED screens are real LEDs: each pixel consists of a diode that emits light, in this case produced from organic material. OLED, in fact, stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. There is, therefore, no backlight panel and the black is obtained by turning off the pixel, not obscuring it. That's why OLED screens have the deepest black depth on the market and infinite contrast. They also have a great viewing angle and lower response times than other technologies (including QLED). As for the durability of organic LEDs, however, is a bit of a mystery: manufacturers claim tens of years, but since this technology is still very young there is not enough data to say, with certainty and data in hand, how and how much OLED panels "age" over the years.