The new-age OLED models come with cutting-edge technology that can change your viewing experience forever. They offer sharp image quality, incomparable colour accuracy, and minute detailing. 

The OLED technology along with the smart features offers a fresh and enhanced experience. You can now watch your favourite movies and television shows in high definition. While OLED televisions are a little expensive, the range of additional features you get justifies their cost. 

Here is what makes OLEDs Ultra Slim TV better than conventional TVs!

What are OLEDs?

Modern televisions typically use two display technologies, LCD and OLED. While there are more LCD TVs than OLED, the latter offers better picture quality. 

OLED refers to an organic light-emitting diode. In displays that use OLED technology, every pixel is made from a material that begins to glow when hit with electricity. This process is called electroluminescence, where electro means electricity, lumin means light, and escence stands for essence.

The electroluminescent materials used in OLED televisions are organic compounds containing carbon and some other ingredients. For each colour, a different organic compound is required. 

In OLED screens, a pixel creates light based on how much electric current it is hit with. Lots of current results in lots of light, while an absence of current can result in no light. And this is one of the reasons behind OLED's excellent picture quality.

Another reason why investing in OLED TV is a good idea is because of the infinite contrast ratios. It is an important aspect of defining picture quality. Since OLEDs can produce black without emitting any light whatsoever, its contrast ratio (the brightest divided by the darkest black) is infinite. 

Which are the best features offered by an OLED?

• OLEDs offer perfect blacks.

• They do not have excessive brightness like most LCDs.

• They provide the best contrast ratio among any current display type.

• In OLEDs, there is no blooming around the objects on a dark background.

OLED vs LCD: What are the differences?

• Yellow and blue make green:

At present, the best OLEDs are made by LG, and they have made them unusually. The screens use red, green, and blue mixed together to create the colours of a rainbow. On the other hand, for creating coloured light, LCDs use PGB colour filters, and plasmas use RGB phosphors. 

The apparent downsides of using yellow and blue to make green, like light output and colour accuracy, are not very concerning issues. While OLEDs may not be as bright as the brightest LCDs, they are still good and have the same colour saturation as LCDs.

• Blacks:

Unlike LCDs, OLEDs can deliver absolute blacks and unmatched whites on a per-pixel basis. It is so because the liquid crystals that make up LCD block the light by backlight. Even the best LCDs fail to block all the light. So, to get the theatre-like blacks, you have to turn down the backlight. 

Since, in most LCDs, the entire backlight works as one, this results in the dimming of the entire screen. With OLEDs, the dimming works at a per-pixel level. While the best LCDs have 1000 dimming zones at best, the 4k LED has 8 million. No LCD has that level of control over each pixel’s brightness.

• Lifespan:

According to LG, their OLEDs have a lifespan of 50,000 hours, which is longer than conventional TVs. So, if you watch about 6 hours of television every day, you have 22 years of use. With modern TVs, the power supply dies long before the panel.

Is it worth investing in an OLED?

Let’s begin with the advantages:

• Widest viewing angle:

While watching television, not everyone gets a seat right at the front. For such viewers, wide viewing angles are important so their visual experience is not affected. This is where the OLED TVs win since they offer the widest viewing angles compared to their traditional counterparts. While QLEDs have improved in the past years, OLEDs are still at the top.

With OLEDs, there is unnoticeable or no brightness or colour disintegration, even at off-angles. This means an outstanding viewing experience no matter where you are seated in the room.

• Blackest blacks and infinite contrast ratios:

Since OLED TVs have self-illuminating pixels, they are at an advantage when it comes to black-and-contrast ratios. During the black scenes, the individual pixels turn off. Since they emit no light in their off state, the screen turns black as if the screen is off. This results in the blackest blacks.

The infinite contrast ratios are also because of this same reason. Since the black levels are 0 nits of brightness in an OLED, the contrast ratios are the best.

• Energy-efficient option:

Unlike conventional LED screens, OLED televisions do not have a backlight. This makes them energy-efficient. Depending on the scene, black pixels that are turned off do not use power.

But, you should note that the brightness settings of your OLED are crucial for determining energy consumption. If you typically watch HDR content, the OLED will consume more power than it does when showing SDR content.

• Incomparable response time:

Response time refers to how quickly the pixels change from one colour to another. If your screen has a quick response time, this will mean clearer images during fast-paced scenes. OLED displays have a quick response time of 0.2 ms, which is far better than the 3.5 ms offered by the conventional LCD and QLED.

If you are into gaming and use your OLED screen for the same, this will enhance your experience.

• The screens are thinner:

OLED screens are typically thinner than conventional screens. They have a slim panel section with a hardware enclosure housing speakers, processors, and other connections. It is because OLEDs do not require a separate backlight because of which the panel is only 2.5 to 3 mm thick.

But, with that said, it must be noted that a few models also have a thicker uniform body to sit flush against the wall. Such designs are typically 2 mm thick.

Cons of OLED TV:

• Average brightness:

While the OLEDs have incomparable picture quality, the brightness level is not that great. For people who watch television in a bright room, this can be concerning. While displaying the HDR content, the peak brightness offered by OLED is only 600-800 nits which is very low compared to some of the QLEDs available in the market.

• Susceptible to burn-ins:

While uncommon, this factor cannot be discarded. In some OLEDs that have been used for a long while, the screen burn-in or image retention occurs. This means retaining static images displayed on the screen for hours, like channel logos.

It happens because of the uneven degradation of pixels. The individual pixels that display the static image on TV degrade quicker than the pixels surrounding them. The retention of the image is permanent and can be noticed most when the screen is white.

• Colour volume:

While OLEDs promise better colour accuracy, QLEDs are known to deliver better colour volume. If you are looking for a screen that makes the colours pop, then QLEDs might be better. It is so because OLEDs are not bright as QLEDs, so they do not display colours at their maximum efficiency.

In a nutshell

While OLEDs are somewhat costlier, the advantages they offer are unparalleled. They provide the best picture quality and have a long lifespan. Moreover, brands like LG are innovating with OLEDs, and the results are unbelievable. We already have impressive huge 8k models and roll-up TVs that are revolutionary. 

So, if you have some money and are not bothered by one of the cons mentioned above, you should consider bringing home an OLED TV.