When you are in the market for a new television, the world of acronyms can be clues to a sea. Two of the more commonly used and significant terms you’ll encounter are OLED and QLED. Both of these cutting-edge technologies offer tantalizing promises in picture quality, color, and image accuracy. But they accomplish their goals in very different ways. This is what makes each one great at a variety of things and ideal for different kinds of viewers and home setups.
This comprehensive guide will clear up the OLED vs. QLED debate. We’ll dissect the technology at the heart of each, put them head to head against each other according to key picture quality criteria like peak brightness, black levels, and uniformity, and get into which is better for movies, sports, and gaming. And by the end of this, you’ll have an excellent grasp on the positives and negatives of both so you can decide which one is right for you (and your budget).
The Distinction Between OLED and QLED: How Do They Work?
Before we get into a true comparison, there’s a thing or two you ought to be aware of about the core systems that differentiate the two types of TVs.
What is an OLED TV? OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode)
An OLED TV is magic — thanks to its pixels. Picture an OLED display as a giant grid of millions of tiny, individually controlled light bulbs. If a scene is meant to be entirely dark, pixels in the appropriate section of the screen can switch themselves completely off.
OLED’s signature strength is its ability to produce perfect true black. This provides an “infinite” contrast ratio — or, in other words, the difference between the brightest white and the darkest black, which produces a picture with a level of depth, detail, and realism that’s tough to fathom. That’s why many videophiles consider the best OLED TV models to be the epitome of picture quality.
What is a QLED TV? (Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diode)
It is a more advanced version of an ordinary LED TV, but an inferior version of the present OLED TV. Let’s be clear, there’s one thing you need to know before we dive deep into the QLED vs. LED TV guide, and that is this: All QLED TVs are LED TVs, but not all LED TVs are QLED TVs.
They rely on a traditional LED backlight to beam through a screen of layers, with one central add-on: a layer of “quantum dots.” By the way, they are tiny little semiconductor pieces that, being illuminated with the backlight, shine in very pure and vivid colors. This allows QLED TVs to deliver brighter highlights and a wider range of color detail than typical LED TVs can. Traditionally, that tech has been a risky business for image quality, but with a Mini LED backlight in the Neo QLED, brands like Samsung have taken it to another level, gaining near limitless control over brightness.
What’s the deal with all these acronyms, and why should you even care? That’s the groundwork laid, so how does this all play out in practice, in terms of picture quality – the one thing that all of them are supposed to impact the most?
Black Levels & Contrast
OLED: The ability to turn pixels all the way off to achieve a Perfect black / no light bleed. This creates an infinite contrast ratio for dark movie and game scenes that look incredibly detailed and authentic.
QLED: Though premium QLED TVs have great dimming technology, they still require a backlight. Which is to say, even in the darkest scenes, some light can “bloom” or spread around bright objects, keeping them from being as perfectly black as an OLED.
Winner: OLED. Couple that jaw-dropping black with OLED’s infinite contrast, and, for the film fan and perfectionist out there, there is no beating it.
Brightness
OLED: It has self-emissive technology, and because of self-emissiveness, it has a maximum brightness in total, overall peak, lower than that of QLED. They’re bright enough in a dark-ish or poorly lit room, but not so effective if you’re trying to see past a ton of glare in a brightness-boosted, sun-lit room.
QLED: Here is where QLED technology especially shines. The efficient LED backlighting can make QLEDs much brighter than OLEDs. That makes them great for viewing in bright living rooms, and it lends HDR content a pretty impressive pop.
Winner: QLED. If brightness is important and you’re watching in a well-lit room with… the most brilliant HDR highlights possible, QLED is the winner.
Color Accuracy and Color Volume
OLED: OLEDs provide exceptional color accuracy and a lifelike picture. These perfect blacks not only serve as a lovely canvas for colors, but they also make those colors appear more saturated and lifelike.
QLED: The quantum dot layer we reported on QLEDS has a broader color volume at greater brightness. The result is colors that are uncharacteristically rich and vivid, perhaps oversaturated, even in the brightest scenes.
Winner: Tie. This depends on preference. Opt for OLED for true-to-life colors. Opt for QLED for the most brilliant, vivid, and full array of colors.
Viewing Angles
OLED: With every pixel self-illuminating, the picture quality is very nearly perfect from extreme off-angle viewpoints. The color and contrast do not decrease.
QLED: QLED TVs have improved when it comes to viewing angles in recent years, but most of them still show some color and contrast shift when you view from off-center. It can be a consideration, though, if you regularly have family, friends, and the like with eyes from various seats around the room.
Winner: OLED. Regarding wider viewing for large viewing groups, OLED gives a huge lead due to its better viewing angles.
QLED vs. OLED for Gaming: Which Is Right for You? What Gamers Should Know
Gamers require Quick response times, low input lag, and a vibrant picture. Both are gaming-focused tech, but with different USPs.
Response Time: This is how fast a pixel can change from one color to another. Response time: OLED pixels glow and dim almost instantaneously, a response time that is one thousand times faster than LCD, enabling clear, sharp, no lag on moving content, which is, of course, ideal for fast-paced action rather than natural motion. It’s good for action and competitive games. QLEDs are significantly faster than normal televisions, but they can’t compare to the speed of OLED.
Input Lag: Both modern OLED and QLED TVs feature fantastic low input lag when “Game Mode” is enabled, which means you’ll receive the input from your controller quite fast. This is a tie.
Burn-In Risk: This is important. If a static image (a game’s heads-up display, or news ticker) is onscreen for hundreds of hours, permanent image retention (or burn-in) can theoretically occur on OLED screens. Today’s OLED TVs have many layers of protection against this possibility, but it’s not zero risk. These screens can’t experience burn-in, so they’re a safer bet for people who play the same game for hours at a time.
Gaming verdict: It’s the cuts you have to make. For the best motion clarity and response time without blur, go with OLED. Since you have peace of mind with QLED against burn-in for long gaming sessions.
Neo QLED vs QD-OLED: Best of Both Worlds?
The OLED vs. QLED war has prompted a wave of innovation and some new hybrid technologies.
Neo QLED vs. OLED
Neo QLED is Samsung’s name for a TV that has a Mini LED backlight with a quantum dot layer. The thousands of tiny Mini LEDs permit far more precise dimming than conventional QLEDs, resulting in much better black levels and far less blooming. Neo QLED and OLED have the smallest gap yet, which makes for the ideal balance between QLED brightness and OLED-like contrast, though it’s still not quite as good as OLED.
QD-OLED
An even more newfangled technology that combines an OLED panel with a quantum dot layer. It aspires to deliver the best of both worlds — perfect blacks and pixel-level control of OLED, and the increased brightness and color volume of QLED. They are high-end TVs that many experts believe are the future of display technology.
Price, Lifespan, Etc
Price: Samsung’s QLED TVs span a range of costs and sizes, with offerings running the gamut from budget options to top-of-the-line models that will drain your bank account to the breaking point. OLED TVs are typically advertised as luxury items, and cost more when you buy them.
Lifespan: Both technologies are built to last a long time. There are two long-term issues for OLED and QLED, because strictly speaking, the backlighting could eventually go down a little bit over a very long period (tens of thousands of hours). In reality, you’re more likely to swap out your TV for new features before either panel even approaches that time.
OLED vs QLED: Which is better for your eyes?
Some studies have shown that since OLEDs don’t have a strong backlight and can put out less blue light, they might be marginally less wearisome on the eyes over a long viewing session in a dark room.
That said, different folks are different, but both are safe.
The Bottom Line: What Television Should You Buy?
It’s a toss-up between an OLED TV and a QLED TV depending on your preferences, your room, and your wallet.
Pick an OLED TV if:
- You are a filmophile and love the cinema as close to the real experience as you can get.
- You mostly watch television in a dark or softly lit room.
- You really, really must have perfect black levels and infinite contrast.
- You want wide viewing angles for a large family or group of friends.
- You are a gamer who demands top performance, precision, and easier tracking from any surface so you can pull off the impossible.
You need to buy a QLED TV if:
- Most of your viewing is done in a bright and sun-streaked living room.
- You crave the brightest, punchiest HDR picture that you can get.
- You are a gamer who plays one game for many hours and worries about burn-in.
- You want more affordable or more size-inclusive options.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is it worth buying an OLED or QLED TV to watch movies?
Is the additional cost of an OLED TV justified?
What is the downside of QLED?
Is QLED the same as 4K?
Are QLED TVs prone to burn-in?
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