Is a QLED TV better, or is an OLED TV the best choice? With so many acronyms and new tech terms appearing in TVs lately it can be nearly impossible to decipher what is going on. The good news is these technologies have differences that are fairly easy to understand. In this article we’re going to go over the basics of QLED and OLED technology as well as which one is better for you and your unique entertainment setup.

First let’s go over what the initials stand for. OLED means Organic Light Emitting Diode and QLED stands for Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode. That may seem like quite a mouthful so let’s simplify things a little. First, practically all modern TVs available today use LEDs - its a way to light up the screen while consuming very small amounts of power. Most laptops and desktop monitors also use LEDs thanks to their power efficiency. That means both OLED and QLED are using the same core technology for lighting. But what about the technology that is in charge of producing the picture itself?

The next key ingredient to a modern TV is its display. The vast majority of modern TVs today use a technology called LCD, or liquid crystal display. So a TV that markets itself as an “LED TV” is most likely an LCD with LED lighting. This is in comparison to other technologies like plasma which does offer some advantages over LCDs but consumes far more power and are more expensive. OLED, on the other hand, doesn’t use LCD technology. Instead, OLED technology is able to do both the picture and the lighting of the display at the same time. This gives it some advantages over competing technologies that require a mixture of both LEDs and a display tech.

QLED Goes Quantum For Display Tech

To understand the unique benefits of QLED, we need to dig in to what makes the technology so compelling. A QLED display makes use of both LED and LCD, but it also has an additional layer on top which is made up of quantum dots. The quantum dots control what colors are displayed by the LCD, and lit up by the LEDs.

The result is that QLED displays are capable of displaying a huge range of colors. That means images can be more vivid, and can show a more accurate color range. This also means that QLED screens perform much better in bright locations. If you are sitting in a sunny room, for example, a QLED screen will perform much better than an OLED. However, there are still some aspects that OLED handles better.

OLED Gives The Best Clarity, Viewing Angle

OLED displays have tech that allows the screen to discretely turn on and off each individual pixel. That means screens that use OLED tech will have enhanced clarity, and won’t suffer from what’s known as light leakage and afterglow. The end result is a picture that is sharper and has more defined edges and lines for detailed imagery. This also allows OLED screens to have deeper blacks and a sharper contrast between light and dark portions of the screen.

Another way where OLED offers a better picture is when we factor in viewing angles. Not everyone in your living room or home theater will be looking straight at the display. This means that screen clarity from other angles needs to be factored in when deciding which tech is right for you. According to Tom’s Guide, a popular hardware review site, OLED is the winner when it comes to offering the best and widest viewing angles. Specifically, at a viewing angle of 30 degrees, QLED sets will suffer from some color distortion. OLEDs, on the other hand, do not suffer from color distortion at this angle.

Which Costs More (and Which Should you Buy)?

Price is always a factor when buying a new display - so which one is cheaper? Our search for a 55-inch TV yielded a massive array of results that was difficult to compare. But not including additional features and only looking at QLED and OLED sets, our conclusion is that QLED sets were available for a lower price than comparably sized OLED sets. That doesn’t mean QLED is always cheaper, but the tech boasts the lowest-priced options. We found a 55-inch QLED TV was available in the $500 range, but a comparably sized OLED TV came in at the $1,000+ range.

With that out of the way, it’s time to decide which tech is right for you. Unfortunately there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. If your biggest concern is price, color range, and visibility in bright rooms then QLED is the clear winner. But if your goal is overall picture quality, flexibility of viewing angles, and vivid light to dark color contrasts, OLED will be your best choice. In the end, if you aren’t incredibly picky then either of these technologies will likely suit your needs just fine. But if you have some highly specific demands, it would be best to consider the pros and cons of each technology and pick based on that.

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Source: Tom’s Guide