QLED and OLED TVs are methods and technologies a tv uses to display an image onscreen. When purchasing a TV, it is only natural to want to know which is best for your needs whether it’s for building a home theater, or gaming. Each technology has its pros and cons, and sometimes you will find that you require one over the other for your needs.
Beginners and even TV enthusiasts still wonder what’s better for specific purposes, there are so many instances where you’ll require one over the other, one example would be if you’re room is particularly bright, you may require a QLED TV over an OLED since it’s able to get much brighter, therefore, being visible in a bright room. Or you may require an OLED TV for its infinite contrast ratio.
In this post, we will go over many instances and find out which technology is best for that particular purpose such as – HDR Content, Color, and Movies. Also, we will discuss what problems each type of panel suffers because no panel is perfect on top of that, we will talk about what is more durable.
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What Are OLED And QLED Technology?
OLED and QLED are technologies used to produce an image on a display. They are quite different from each other but their main purpose is to display an image on a screen, but they have varying effects which cause many to choose one technology over the other depending on their needs.
OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, and this technology works differently from traditional LED TVs. OLED uses a thin carbon-based film that is placed between two conductors, when electricity is passed through them, they will then light up producing an image as a result. You can find this type of technology in not only TVs but smartphones, computer monitors, and handheld game consoles.
QLED stands for Quantum Dot LED names by Samsung, and this technology works differently from OLED, because instead of a thin carbon-based film, they use microscopic dots to emit colors when hit with light. QLED TVs are similar to LCD displays because QLED panels use LCD technology, due to this, they are able to produce more saturated colors due to the layer filters which are placed between the LCD layer and the backlight.
Whats Best For HDR Content OLED Or QLED?
OLED TVs are better for HDR content compared to QLED TVs even though they don’t get as bright as QLED, they are still way better in terms of contrast ratio which is extremely important for HDR content. OLED TVs have an infinite contrast ratio due to them being able to completely shut off individual pixels, and OLED TVs are still able to get pretty bright making for the superior HDR experience.
HDR content is essentially a way for a TV to give you more accurate colors and contrast when watching movies and TV shows. Most 4K and 8K TVs support HDR content, and there are different HDR formats such as HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision, and Technicolor. Essentially these HDR formats are all doing the same thing, improving the contrast and color accuracy in dark scenes.
QLED TVs are able to get much brighter than OLED TVs and this may be a big deciding factor for you especially if you get a lot of direct sunlight in your room, so it would make sense for you to go for a QLED panel for HDR if you have a very bright room which you cannot easily control. But if you’re serious about HDR content, then you should pick up an OLED panel and find ways to darken your room for the best HDR experience.
OLED Vs QLED For Color
QLED TVs produce superior levels of color accuracy compared to OLED TVs, this is because QLED TVs are able to choose from a wider range of colors. From any given color space, the average QLED panel should be able to produce a higher percentage of color compared to an OLED panel. A few popular color spaces are sRGB which is popular with computer monitors and BT.709 or Rec.709 for HDTVs.
Color accuracy is an extremely important aspect when it comes to watching movies. Colors evoke emotions and generally make scenes in a movie or TV show stand out much more, so when you have a TV that displays washed-out images and bland colors, it will make for a less memorable experience, consequentially causing the immersiveness to suffer.
However, high-end OLED TVs can match and sometimes beat QLED TVs when it comes to color accuracy, the LG G1 is one of these TVs. it really comes down to what you choose and how much you spend. With TVs, there are some budget options, but usually, you get what you pay for, so the average OLED TV will not beat the average QLED TV with colors.
OLED Vs QLED For Movies?
OLED TVs are better for enthusiasts for movies and home theaters. With the proper setup with low brightness and a decent OLED TV, it will make for a superior cinematic and immersive experience compared to QLED TVs. OLED TVs are better for HDR Content and improving contrast and colors in dark scenes which is extremely important for watching movies. Color and brightness levels shouldn’t be a problem if you pick up a decent OLED TV and your room is sufficiently darkened.
QLED TVs are not useless in any capacity and you should probably pick up a QLED TV if your environment is particularly bright. If you’re not trying to create a home theater and you want to watch movies casually on a really nice-looking screen, then QLED TVs are probably the best option. QLED TVs are good at producing higher levels of colors and are able to get much brighter.
QLED TVs can get much larger than OLED TVs, so if you have a large enough room to fit a massive 98 inch screen, QLED is the best choice because they have more options for massive screen sizes. QLED TVs also last much longer than OLED and do not suffer from burn-ins which makes QLED TVs are a more alluring option for beginners looking to get into home theaters.
The Biggest Problem With OLED TVs
The main problem with OLED TVs would be the fact that they don’t get nearly as bright as QLED TVs. Brightness plays an important factor in HDR content, and if your room is really bright, it makes it difficult to see any detail on an OLED TV due to it getting washed out by external lights. This is why when you’re going for OLED TVs, it’s best to invest time into darkening whatever room you’re in beforehand so you have the best experience possible.
Another issue with OLED TVs is screen burn-ins. Screen burn-in is caused when a static image is being displayed way too long on an OLED display, this causes those pixels to wear out faster than the surrounding pixels resulting in a permanent ghost of that image. The most common causes of burn-ins would have to be channel logos or any subtitles. Logos and subtitles rarely move, therefore they’re causing whatever pixels they’re activating to wear out are a much faster rate than other pixels.
The final issue with OLED TVs would be the fact that they’re not cheap. OLED is an expensive technology to produce, they’re more expensive than QLED TVs making OLED TVs less accessible for users on a budget or people just getting into TVs. We wouldn’t recommend an OLED TV if you’re not serious about using them to their full potential as it would just be a waste of money.
The Biggest Problem With QLED TVs
The biggest issue with QLED TVs would have to be the contrast levels. QLED TVs aren’t able to achieve the same level of contrast as OLED panels, this is due to the nature of how QLED TVs work. The backlight of a QLED TV cant compete with the self-emissive pixels of an OLED TV when it comes to darkness control, therefore QLED TVs result in grayish blacks as opposed to full deep blacks OLED TVs produce.
Another issue with QLED TVs is the poor viewing angles and this is also due to how QLED TVs work. QLED TVs use a backlight to produce an image, so when you view the TV at an angle, you will have a washed-out experience with poor contrast levels and colors. This is detrimental to home theaters as if someone isn’t placed in the middle of the screen, their experience will be severely diminished.
The final issue with QLED TVs is their response time which is lower than QLED TVs. So when you’re watching sports, movies, and TV shows, you might experience ghosting and blurring of the image. This won’t always happen, but if you’re running applications that require high frame rates such as competitive games, then QLED TVs aren’t worth it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if your main goal is to watch movies to a high standard without leaving anything on the table, the OLED TVs are the best options as they’re superior when used to their full potential. But QLED TVs which are basically LCD TVs are great if you’re looking for a TV that can withstand bright environments. Also, QLED TVs are much cheaper compared to OLED, and they last longer.
OLED TVs aren’t all perfect, they suffer from issues such as burn-in which can leave permanent marks of logos and subtitles which can be quite annoying. Burn-in happens due to the continuous activation of a set of pixels, so try to disable subtitles and logos if possible.
