The display principles of OLED and LCD: OLED screens, also known as Organic Light Emitting Diode displays, consist of a layer of light-emitting material embedded between two electrodes. When an input voltage is applied, charge carriers move through the organic layer, reaching electrons and holes, and recombine, achieving energy conservation and releasing excess energy in the form of light pulses.
At this time, one of the electrodes is transparent, and the emitted light can be seen. Simply put, the screen is self-emissive. Based on the driving method, they are divided into PMOLED (passive-driven) and AMOLED (active-driven).
AMOLED, first introduced by Samsung, is characterized by high brightness, high resolution, high color performance, and low power consumption. PMOLED, introduced by LG, is cheaper and has a faster response time than AMOLED, but is mainly used in micro-devices due to size limitations.
The display principle of LCD screens mainly relies on the electric field effect generated by the twisting nematic molecules of liquid crystals, thereby controlling the brightness and darkness produced by the transmission of light during power switching, thus displaying the image. Color display mainly relies on color filters. Simply put, the screen does not emit its own light; it relies on a backlight layer to emit light, which is then transmitted through a color filter to form a color image.
The differences between OLED and LCD: OLED has a faster response time. While LCD screens typically have a response time of 10ms, OLED's is only 0.001ms, allowing for better audio-visual synchronization and eliminating ghosting, resulting in a superior viewing and gaming experience. OLED has higher contrast. When displaying black, some light passes through the color layer of an LCD panel. The black seen by users on an LCD screen is actually a gray mixed with white and black—a gray with significantly reduced brightness, not pure black. OLED screens have higher contrast, allowing them to directly turn off pixels in black areas to achieve near-pure black.
LCD suffers from light leakage, while OLED does not. The biggest problem with LCD panels is light leakage, caused by the use of backlight units. OLED, however, is self-emissive; each pixel acts as an independent light source, illuminating only the pixels that need illumination. Therefore, OLED screens have virtually no light leakage.
OLED has a wider viewing angle. OLED screens offer a wider viewing angle than LCD screens. Taking televisions as an example, the viewing experience is the same regardless of where you sit when watching an OLED TV, whereas with LCD TVs, sitting to the side can sometimes affect the viewing experience.
OLED screens are thinner but have a shorter lifespan. LCD screens consist of a backlight layer and a liquid crystal layer, making them thicker than OLED screens. The thinness of OLED screens also makes bending possible. Most curved screen products on the market use OLED screens.
Because OLED screens are made of organic materials, they age faster and are prone to burn-in, resulting in a shorter lifespan. OLED screens are more expensive. In terms of panel manufacturing costs, OLED costs twice as much as LCD. OLED screens are mainly used in high-end electronic products and flagship phones and tablets. LCD screens are more eye-friendly than OLED screens. The main harm electronic products cause to the eyes is blue light and screen flicker.
Both emit blue light, but in low-light environments, OLED screens are more harmful to the eyes. Regarding screen flicker, the low flicker of OLED screens is more harmful to the eyes, and prolonged use can easily lead to severe eye fatigue and migraines.
OLED and LCD screens each have their advantages and disadvantages. In terms of selection advice, LCD screens are more suitable for those with a low budget, sensitivity to light, and less demanding requirements for pure black levels. If you are fashion-conscious and have a sufficient budget, you can choose an OLED screen for a better viewing experience.