As we head into the peak of 2023’s shopping season, many of you will probably be looking to buy a new TV, especially as sales and deals become available throughout the remainder of the year. If you’ve paid any attention to the TV market as of late, you’ve probably noticed two main types of TVs being offered: QLED and OLED. You wouldn’t be alone in feeling confused at exactly what these terms mean and which is the best choice for your living room. Here’s everything you need to know.
What does QLED stand for, and how does it work?
To start, let’s take a look at QLED. This is the biggest mystery of the two, as OLED displays have also appeared on tons of other devices and tech hardware—like smartphones—over the past few years. If you’ve looked at any of the high-end Samsung TVs marketed in the past several years, you’ve probably noticed that QLED label on the end of the TV.
According to Samsung, QLED stands for “quantum dot LED TV.” The best way to look at QLED is to consider it an evolution of the LED LCD TV. It isn’t wholly the same, but it also isn’t wholly different. Instead, it’s essentially an LED LCD TV that adds in a quantum dot film, which is meant to increase the quality of the image while still relying on an LED backlight.
Essentially, quantum dots are microscopic molecules that emit their own differently colored light when another light hits them. The dots are contained within a film in QLED displays, and when light from the LED backlight hits them, it transmits the light through the dots, giving them all their own distinct colors and brightness. Still, it builds off the same technology that powers a standard LED LCD TV.
It is worth noting that Samsung is one of the only brands that uses quantum dots in its TVs and brands them as QLED. Other brands like Vizio also use quantum dots in their LED LCD TVs. However, they do not brand them QLED. As such, the QLED term is more of a buzzword meant to make you feel like you’re getting something higher quality when you’re ultimately just getting a standard modern TV display.
What does OLED stand for, and how does it work?
OLED, or “organic light-emitting diode” fundamentally differs from LED LCD TVs. Instead of building off the LED backlight system that QLED displays us, OLED displays work off emissive technology.
Being emissive means that the pixels in the OLED display each emit their own light. This allows them to have individual brightness and contrast, as well as the ability to turn off completely in dark scenes. This is what gives OLED TVs their distinct look: Their infinite contrast ratio, where dark scenes are totally black, is something no LED backlight can reproduce, even when using the quantum dot film that QLED offers.
In fact, an OLED TV is not an LCD TV in any way. LCD TVs are much cheaper to manufacture, especially in larger sizes. While they can still provide great color and visuals, they lack the individual pixel lighting that makes an OLED look so good.
OLED pros and cons
If you’re planning to choose between QLED and OLED, then it’s going to be helpful to know exactly where each option succeeds and where it falls short. For starters, OLED displays offer better contrast and black levels, thanks to the individual lighting that comes from every pixel. This results in an ultimately higher quality image that makes each scene in a movie or television show shine through at its best. It also means you can expect fantastic quality HDR when using an OLED TV.
While that is certainly worth praising, OLED TVs are not without their weaknesses. Because they rely on individual lighting, they’re dimmer than your top-of-the-line QLED displays, which often have a higher overall brightness. Currently, OLED TVs max out at around 1,500 nits on the high-end models from companies like LG. (The LG G2 offers a peak brightness of 1,100 nits, and the LG G3 tops out at 1,500 nits.) The reason that OLED TVs are much dimmer is due to their individual lighting. It’s much harder to make them all brighter effectively than on a TV with a single backlight, like a QLED TV.
This means you’ll probably want to mostly use OLED TVs inside of darker rooms—like home cinemas, or just rooms with blackout curtains over the windows. If you have brighter rooms where you need TVs, then OLED displays might not look as good, as the image will be harder to see overall.
There’s also the possibility of burn-in. If you had a plasma TV back when they were considered the top-of-the-line, then you’re probably already aware of what burn-in is. Essentially, burn-in happens when an image is shown on a display for too long, and the effects of that image become engrained or burned into the display. This can ruin a display by making it impossible to enjoy content without seeing the burned-in image. While OLEDs are susceptible to burn-in, most users aren’t going to have a single image on their display long enough to cause any kind of burn-in. As such, I’d recommend avoiding running any kind of 24/7 newscasts for long periods at a time, as the banners that stay in one place along the bottom of the screen (as well as networks logos) can result in burn-in on the display.
QLED pros and cons
As I noted above, most companies use QLED displays in their LCD televisions. However, they just don’t brand them as QLED. Samsung, on the other hand, has used QLED as a bit of a marketing term to try to make its TVs stand out from the competition, and it has worked in some regard.
QLED displays might not be as contrasting and might not offer the deeper black levels of OLED, but they don’t look bad by any means. Most of your standard QLED displays are more than powerful enough to do what you want them to do. In fact, QLED TVs are exceptionally great for really bright rooms, as some models, like the 65-inch Hisense Class U8 can reach peak brightness levels of 2,000 nits. That isn’t a brightness that you’ll be running the entire time, but it’s something you’re going to be able to take advantage of in really bright situations.
The downside of this extra brightness if that you lose some of the contrast and black levels that OLED TVs offer. For most people that probably isn’t going to be a huge deal breaker, but if you want the highest quality image on your TV, an OLED is going to fit the bill here.
So which is better?
Ultimately, this will come down to what type of quality you’re looking for in your television. Right now, OLED displays offer a better contrast and black level, thanks to the individual lighting that comes from every pixel. QLED displays are often brighter and can get brighter than any of the current OLED models. That said, OLED displays are still more than bright enough to tackle the lighting conditions of most rooms, though they might not have the same high brightness as the QLED.
If you want to pick a new TV for the best overall display quality—counting superior contrast, better blacks, and even better overall HDR image and color quality—then OLED TVs have far more to offer. They also offer better viewing angles and uniformity, meaning you’ll get close to—if not exactly—the same viewing experience from every angle of your living room.
If you’re looking for a great new television that’s big and cheaper, though, QLED still offers a really solid viewing experience that will deliver bright colors and solid contrast, though not nearly at the same level of quality as an OLED display.
Future variations of QLED TVs may offer the same level of contrast and black levels that OLED can hit, but that tech is likely still a good few years off. For now, OLED is the best option for superior image quality, as long as you don’t mind the extra cost.
