OLED vs QLED vs QD-LED TVs — which is the best

As TVs have advanced over the years, manufacturers have moved from fluorescent-lit liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to LED-lit displays that distribute light differently and offer improved viewing experiences.

Commonly used display technologies include QLED and OLED. However, Samsung recently developed QD-LED technology, which promises to offer further improvements over the older display types.

While QD-LED TVs are not commercially available yet, there are many examples of QLED and OLED TVs sold by common manufacturers, including Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, TCL, and Skyworth.

However, it is important for those in the market to buy a new TV to consider the benefits and drawbacks of each technology before making a decision.

The differences between the QLED, OLED, and QD-LED technologies are summarised below.

QLED

Photo-emissive quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) TVs use tiny particles called quantum dots and separate backlights to provide light for their displays, allowing them to achieve higher brightness levels than OLED TVs.

QLED TVs are favoured mainly by Samsung. However, they are available from other brands, including Sony, Hisense, and TCL.

According to Samsung, QLED TVs use a quantum dot layer — or filter — in front of their LCD backlights, improving brightness, contrast, and colour vibrancy.

The tech giant has rebranded its newer QLED TVs to Neo QLED, which replaces the LCD backlight with mini LEDs.

According to Samsung, implementing a mini-LED backlight allows for more precise brightness control, widens viewing angles, and increases peak brightness.

QLED layers. Source: ViewSonic

OLED

OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and these TVs use a carbon-based film between two conductors to produce light and colour when an electric current is passed through.

Each pixel on the TV emits its own light rather than relying on a backlight.

OLED TVs, while unable to achieve the brightness levels that QLEDs can reach, offer incredibly realistic blacks, often allowing them to trump QLED TVs when it comes to contrast.

This is because the organic light-emitting diodes can switch off completely, unlike the LCD backlights used in older QLEDs.

The ability of OLEDs to switch off entirely makes these TVs a great choice for those who want a higher contrast and deeper blacks. They also provide better picture quality in bright rooms than QLEDs.

OLEDs offer fast refresh rates, making them an ideal choice for gamers. Typical OLED TV manufacturers include LG, Sony, Panasonic, and Skyworth.

OLED diagram. Source: ViewSonic

QD-LED

Samsung recently developed electro-emissive quantum dot LED (QD-LED) technology, which, to some extent, combines the above two technologies.

However, this technology uses a stack of blue OLEDs to illuminate pixels containing red and green quantum dots.

Samsung says its 4K QD-LEDs will have around 8.3 million individual light sources, which can be controlled separately, enabling a high contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1.

These individual light sources can also switch off entirely when they need to produce black.

With the omission of the LCD layer, QD-LED TVs benefit from improved display response times, viewing angles, and screen reflection reduction compared to traditional LCD TVs.

The manner in which quantum dots perform the light transformation only uses a fraction of the light energy needed in LCD-lit TVs, improving energy efficiency.

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