5 Perks Of Switching To OLED Displays

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Whether you’re a movie buff wanting to watch the latest releases in the best visuals available or a game hobbyist desiring unmatched screen clarity, you’ve likely considered getting an OLED TV. Superb color and white-black contrast are the main selling points, but they can be pricey, often 2x or even 3x the price of a budget-friendly LCD. With OLEDs being as costly as they are, you should know what other perks you’re getting by opting for an OLED TV or gaming monitor.

OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode, and that is also what explains its biggest advantage over other screen types. LCD TVs need a backlight to function, while OLEDs produce their own light. That means when you see black on an LCD, there’s still a light shining on it to help you see the screen. OLEDs merely stop emitting light when needed. Complete black colors are not the only visual improvements over alternatives, though, and there are benefits beyond the screen too.

For example, OLED TVs typically weigh less than their LCD counterparts because they don’t have that extra light or other bulky internal components. Similarly, OLEDs can afford to be much thinner since there are fewer parts to sandwich between the two outer sides. These advantages, paired with other technical aspects, such as better pixel response times and better viewing angles, make OLEDs an excellent choice for those looking for an upgrade.

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The primary reason OLEDs are so highly sought after is because of the deep color contrasts and specifically ink-like blacks they offer. Black differs from other colors on a fundamental level; there’s no combination of colors that results in black, and as such, black “light” cannot exist. What lets OLEDs stand so far above other types of displays in white-black contrast is a fundamental difference in how OLED technology works compared to alternatives.

When an LCD attempts to display a black color, the liquid crystals (LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display) inside the screen move to block the white backlight from those specific pixels. However, since the backlight is still turned on, part of the light still goes through or disperses in different directions, leading to washed-out blacks that look closer to gray.

OLEDs, by comparison, produce their own light and color. So, to show black in certain areas of a screen, the specific diodes simply turn off. Since each diode is isolated from the rest and controlled independently from one another, this lets an OLED display essentially an absence of light where it’s needed, leading to the purer blacks that people pay a premium price for.

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The faster your TV screen refreshes, the smoother the movement will appear. This is incredibly important for competitive gamers, for whom research shows that faster screen refreshes can actually make them better at video games. Even general users can get a better visual experience from a display that updates the image more quickly.

You can typically find the refresh rate of a TV in its settings, or on a back sticker. Refreshes are measured in Hertz (Hz), describing how many new frames get painted on the screen each second. For example, a 60 Hz monitor shows approximately 60 frames per second, whereas a 120 Hz screen displays double that amount. 

However, even if two displays have the exact same refresh rate, there may be a difference in how quickly each individual pixel changes. A monitor’s pixel response time may vary from its refresh rate, and LCDs typically have worse pixel response times than OLEDs. When a pixel updates in an LCD, the liquid crystals inside have to physically move to change the color. This mechanical motion takes time, and even the best LCD pixels require as much as 5 milliseconds to update. This is why TVs sometimes seem to blur or smudge the image. 

By comparison, each pixel in an OLED functions independently from the others and produces its own light and color, OLED displays have a sub-millisecond pixel response time, often as low as 0.03 milliseconds. This helps make OLEDs particularly popular with gamers and sports fans.

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To get the most out of your screens, it’s important that you put them at the optimal viewing angle. Even though TVs are getting bigger, size isn’t everything. Many people forget to check to see if they’re sitting at the best distance from their TV. With monitors, height is the biggest placement mistake almost everyone ignores. Even if you set devices up correctly, though, you won’t always be sitting in the same spot or position you started from.

With an LCD, that can be a problem. When an LCD shows an image on the screen, light is projected from the back of the display. This light passes through various layers, including polarizers that control the movement of light. When this light goes through the two polarizers, it travels in a single direction toward the front. This directional nature makes it so that only those in the center can see the emitted light as it is, and those sitting away lose out on visual clarity. The end result is that if you’re sitting away from the front during a movie night or slouching in your chair during a long gaming session, you may not see the same brightness and color accuracy as when you’re sitting perfectly in front of an LCD.

In an OLED, there is no backlight. Instead, the light originates from the diodes on the surface of the screen, which means more angles get good amounts of light. This leads to much better color retention and a more consistent brightness across different viewing angles, making OLEDs superior for large gatherings and ease of use in a wider variety of positions.

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When the advantages of an OLED display are discussed, the focus is mainly on the visual aspect. However, there are many things beyond display quality that make OLEDs superior to other types of screens. One of these is the weight, as OLED displays are almost always lighter than non-OLED counterparts.

Those backlights on an LCD panel are just one of a series of specialized components that aren’t necessary for an OLED, and each component has its own weight. When all of these add up, it often leads to a much bulkier TV than a similarly sized OLED. This might not seem like a huge deal to many, but it’s an important thing to consider when you’re moving your monitor or TV. 

This isn’t limited to larger tech items either; if you’re planning on getting a handheld like the Steam Deck, the OLED versions may be ever so slightly easier to hold for extended periods of time because they’re lighter. But OLEDs can also need more energy for those brighter diodes. As a result, handhelds with the same battery might not last as long with an OLED screen as opposed to an LCD.

Another attribute that helps OLEDs command high prices is their thinness. These screens can seem impossibly thin, and the companies often market them like paintings on walls. That thinness doesn’t make the visuals on the screen any sharper or more colorful, but it does help elevate the overall beauty of your home theater setup.

For example, the 65-inch QNED92A Mini LED from LG has a thickness of 2.3 inches, whereas the similar 65-inch LG C3 OLED is much thinner, having a depth of 1.8 inches at its thickest point. The reason OLEDs can afford to be thinner than their LCD counterparts is that, again, they don’t require the same number of internal parts to function, such as the backlight or the reflector sheet.

There are technologies, like edge-lit LCD, that can help make TVs thinner. Samsung’s 65-inch The Frame LSO3HE, for example, has a thickness of just 1.1 inches. The TV manages to be this thin by changing the position of the backlight; instead of being placed at the back of the display, it’s placed near the edges, usually on the sides or toward the bottom. However, despite being much slimmer than typical LCD TVs, even the priciest ultra-thin ones can’t keep up with premium OLEDs, such as the Samsung 65-inch OLED S95F, which has a paper-like thickness of just 0.4 inches.