With endless overlapping terminologies like QLED, OLED and UHD being thrown around nowadays when shopping for new TVs, it can get downright confusing to understand the key differences between technologies to decide which is right for you.
That‘s why this guide aims to comprehensively compare today‘s QLED, OLED and UHD display technologies across crucial categories like picture quality, pricing, performance metrics and more. You‘ll learn how they stack up on specs that matter so you can confidently pick your next TV type.
We‘ll distill the tech jargon into plain language explanations supplemented by supporting data. Let‘s dive in…
Brief Background
First, a quick history refresher so you understand where QLED and OLED come from:
OLED – OLED (organic light emitting diode) TVs arrived in the early 2010s, pioneered by LG. They utilize self-illuminating pixels made from organic particle compounds that can be individually controlled to achieve perfect blacks. This yielded ultra high contrast but organic particles proved difficult to manufacture affordably on a mass scale.
QLED – Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that enhance light efficiency. Samsung rebranded them as “QLED” in 2017 by integrating a quantum dot layer into regular LED TVs. The ultra sharp color provided OLED-like quality for lower cost than manufacturing actual OLED displays.
Important to note – QLED TVs are still LED-backlit LCD displays at their core. The "Q" quantum dots enhance their picture performance.
Both technologies leverage 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolutions, which we‘ll also examine.
Picture Quality Showdown
Brightness
Winner: QLED
- With a separate backlight, high-end Samsung QLED TVs like the QN90B can blast up to 2,000 nits in peak HDR brightness. This allows amazing specular highlight details.
- The most advanced LG OLED TVs max out around 800 nits peak. Still great, but QLED‘s extra brightness helps overcome reflective/sunlit rooms.
Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash
Black Levels & Contrast
Winner: OLED
- With independent pixel-level illumination control, OLED TVs can turn off pixels completely to achieve infinite contrast and perfectly dark blacks.
- Even with advanced local dimming, QLED still has some minor backlight bleed blocking full black. OLED wins this contrast battle.
Image: Rtings.com
Color Production
Toss up: Both excellent
- The latest RGB OLED panels, with added color filters, can achieve up to 95% of advanced HDR color gamut standards like Display P3.
- Quantum dots in QLED panels likewise provide over 90% wide color volume for lush, accurate colors that pop.
Viewing Angles
Winner: OLED
- OLED screens maintain full color accuracy and brightness retention at wider viewing angles while QLEDs lose vibrancy and contrast when viewed off-center.
Verdict: OLED wins on contrast and viewing angles while QLED takes brightness. Both excel on color reproduction. Your environment‘s lighting impacts which holds advantage.
Now let‘s explore some other device factors…
FormatAvailability & Lifespan
Sizes
- OLED panels remain challenging to manufacture at 65"+ sizes, topping out at 83" currently.
- Samsung QLED TVs span a wider range from 43" screens up to 98" plus 8K ultra large options, catering to more space needs.
Formats
- Both come in curved and flat options but QLED TVs offer more display types overall – transmissive, reflective etc suited to a wider range of applications like monitors and mobile devices due to LED/LCD base.
Lifespan
- OLED panel compounds degrade over time, resulting in gradual loss of max brightness after around 30,000 hours (10 years for most). Avoiding static content mitigates this longevity downside.
- QLED TVs last longer without burn-in risks thanks to stable quantum dots integrated on consistent LED/LCD architecture.
Verdict: QLED takes it for greater size options, flexible form factors and lifespan.
Gaming Performance
Both premium display types support key next-gen gaming capabilities:
- Up to 4K 120fps high frame rate
- Variable refresh rate (VRR)
- Auto low latency mode (ALLM)
- Ultra fast response time
OLED panels reach lower response times while Samsung QLED TVs currently support more gaming features like:
- Freesync Premium Pro dynamic refresh rate
- Integrated cloud gaming platforms
For most, these minor gaming differences come down to preference. Either display excels for gaming.
Price Comparison
The manufacturing complexities of OLED panels, especially at 65" and above, translate into premium pricing reaching upwards of $3,000 for 77" LG G2 OLED TVs today. Competing Samsung QLED 4K TVs often run 25-50% cheaper for same sizes. Value seekers benefit from quantum dot color/brightness enhancement without the organic premium.
However, smaller OLED TVs at 55" sizes offer comparable pricing, especially during sales. It comes down to your budget flexibility.
The Outlook
OLED TV tech continues to gradually evolve, with manufacturers aiming to mitigate the aforementioned brightness loss over time along with potential image retention issues. As production scales, costs should decrease as well.
Samsung innovates quickly on its QLED TV lineup too. We‘re seeing quantum dot technology integrated into laptops and monitors now as well, bringing the benefits beyond living room TVs. Future display techs like microLED and QD-OLED aim to merge the self-illuminating pixels of OLED with quantum dot color filters to maybe get ‘the best of both‘ eventually.
For now, your unique room lighting and content viewing preferences really determine whether to invest in OLED picture quality or brighter, more affordable QLED displays.
Still Confused About Something?
Q: Is "QLED" just a marketing buzzword? What‘s the difference vs normal LED TVs?
A: QLED TVs have an extra quantum dot layer that normal LED-backlit LCD TVs lack. The nanoparticles convert blue LED backlight exceptionally efficiently into very precise red and green shades too. This expands the color volume capabilities closer to OLED levels while keeping higher peak brightness than OLED. So QLED is definitively more advanced than baseline LED TVs thanks to semiconductor nanocrystal integration, albeit still LED based.
Q: Why is burn-in such a risk for OLED only? My old plasma TV experienced it too.
A: The organic compounds in OLED panels wear out unevenly when subjected to static image elements on screen for very prolonged times. Plasma had similar risks. But with QLED TVs still relying on regular LED/LCD base structure and protective pixel shifting instead of independent lighting pixels, burn-in is extremely unlikely under normal viewing.
In closing, both premium display technologies continue pushing picture quality forward in different lighting conditions. Let your personal preferences, room dynamics and budget determine whether QLED or OLED works better for your next TV upgrade. We hope demystifying the key tech differences here guides your buying decision!
