When buying a phone, monitor, or upgrading your device and you will come across gadgets with OLED or LCDs, and you might wonder which one is the better choice. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and you can compare your needs to choose the best one according to your preferences.
OLED And How Does It Work?
OLED displays have a high refresh rate and brightness and don’t use separate backlights as every pixel produces its light. They are much thinner than LCDs and much more expensive as they have a better contrast ratio and viewing angles. An OLED display uses a diode that is made up of 6 different and when current is passed through, the layers of diodes produce light that is further passed through the color refiner producing the images on the screen.So in a similar context, you get to know about the OLED vs IPS display technology as well, here in this guide.
Pros.
- Thinner and more flexible than IPS.
- Power-efficient.
- Better contrast ratio.
- Large viewing angles.
- Excellent color gamut.
Cons.
- Image burn-in can occur.
- Expensive.
LCD (IPS) And How Does it Work?
LCDs use an array of LCDs that shift color according to the requirements and most of the devices use LCDs which include monitors, smartphones, and laptops. They don’t produce the light on their own and that is why they need backlights made up of a light-emitting diode. These displays are easier to manufacture and cheaper while they have good color accuracy with no image burn-in. IPS monitors or In-Plane switching monitors use shifting patterns of the liquid crystals to produce images on the screen.
Pros.
- Easy to manufacture.
- Cheap.
- Produce good-quality images.
- No burn-in occurs.
Cons.
- Limited contrast ratio.
- Backlight can leak sometimes.
Comparison Between IPS and OLED
| Factors | IPS Displays | OLED Displays |
| Brightness | High | Low to medium |
| Black levels | Imperfect | Perfect |
| Contrast Ratio | Low | High(Infinite) |
| Backlight leak | Possible | Doesn’t occur |
| Response time | Medium | High |
| Viewing angles | Medium | Large angle and extremely wide |
| Burn-in Issues | Yes | No |
| Price | Low | Extremely High |
Advantages Of OLED:
- OLED emits their own light so they can be switched off completely to provide e high contrast ratio.
- OLED displays offer a wider and large viewing angle as they can provide better quality images.
- They are slimmer and more flexible as there is no need for an extra source or panel since they produce light on their own.
Disadvantages Of OLED:
- OLED displays can suffer from image burn-in where the images that are left on for too long will stick to the display appearing like a ghostly dark patch.
- As the OLED display gets older, the quality decreases, and since this process is quite slow so you don’t need to worry about it.
Advantages Of IPS LCD:
- IPS LCDs use separate sources for emitting light and powerful backlight resulting in more brightness as compared to OLEDs.
- They are cheap and easy to manufacture and there is less number of OLED manufacturers as compared to IPS.
Disadvantages Of IPS LCD:
- IPS can suffer from backlight bleed or leak but there are fewer chances of a leak in the newest models but old ones can suffer from the glow, backlight bleed, and leak. Check out how to utilize this issue in this guide about backlight bleed test.
