Which screen is better, LCD or OLED?

For people who are highly dependent on digital devices, in addition to sleep time, the time spent facing various screens in a day may be the longest. Various screens include computers, TVs, mobile phones, tablets, etc. Do you have some ideas about the materials for these screens?  Today, we take mobile phone screens as an example to popularize screen knowledge for everyone. Here is a detailed introduction to OLED.

In fact, most of the screens on various devices we see are TFT screens. TFT is the abbreviation of Thin Film Transistor. Perhaps many people think that TFT is LCD. In fact, it is not. According to the definition of TFT, every transistor is controlled by a transistor. The color of each pixel plays a role in enhancing the display of the screen. At present, LCD is the most widely used TFT screen, and OLED screens also use TFT technology. LCD and OLED each have their own advantages, let's take a look at LCD and OLED.

Type: There are too many types in subdivision

If the screen material is further subdivided, LCD and OLED can also be divided into many sub-categories. Due to the relatively early development of LCD technology and the very mature technology, there are many types of LCD, while OLED has only emerged in recent years. OLED screens are mainly AMOLED, Super AMOLED, and PMOLED.

At present, LCD screens on the market can be divided into a hard screen, semi-hard screen, and soft screen. The screens on mobile phones and tablets are covered with a glass touch layer, so the screen material cannot be touched. If you touch the screen material, you can touch the computer screen. Or the TV screen.

LCD soft screens are mainly TN, MVA, PVA, etc., semi-hard screens are represented by LG's IPS, and hard screens are represented by Sharp's ASV or other more small types. The most commonly used LCD screens on mobile phones are IPS, PLS, etc., and TN screens can also be seen on some very low-end machines. TN screens are cheap but have poor viewing angles.

Principle: Backlight and self-illumination

According to the principle, the simplest difference between LCD and OLED is whether it is self-luminous. Due to the characteristics of OLED, the OLED screen does not need a backlight, and every pixel of the screen can emit light. This has the advantage of bringing higher contrast. In terms of black performance, OLED screens have inherent advantages. They can achieve a non-luminous black display, and this will also make the power consumption of the screen lower than that of LCD.

Since OLED does not require a backlight, OLED screens can be made thinner, which also means that the thickness of the phone can also be reduced when used on a mobile phone. Of course, the thickness of a mobile phone does not depend on the thickness of the screen alone. At present, many mobile phones use OLED screens but the thickness is not low. There are also mobile phones that use LCD screens with slim bodies. The thickness of the mobile phone still depends on the mobile phone. The overall design, the screen is not a decisive factor.

LCD screens need a backlight source because LCD screens are not self-luminous like OLEDs, and LCDs bring different colors by adjusting the angle of liquid crystal molecules. The existence of an LCD backlight makes the contrast not reach the level of OLED, but with the development of LCD technology, LCD screens can also achieve better contrast.

Color: vivid and natural

When Samsung launched AMOLED in the early days, it was often criticized by users for inaccurate colors and too gorgeous colors, and the color saturation was particularly high. After years of development, OLED has improved a lot in terms of color performance but still has the problem of high color saturation. The colors are particularly bright, which is particularly eye-catching, and it may be difficult for some users to adapt.

LCD color performance is relatively natural, which is related to the color mechanism of the LCD itself. LCD screens usually compensate for red to a certain extent while suppressing green to make the displayed color more realistic. Some people may say that the color gamut of LCD is not as good as that of OLED, but it is certain that the current high-end LCD can achieve better color gamut performance. The high-end professional displays on the market are basically LCD screens, after all, true colors for professional work Restoration is the most important thing.

Lifespan: LCD has a longer lifespan

Since OLED emits light at every pixel, it also means that every pixel is an independent LED luminous point, which may not be as good as a whole LCD in terms of reliability. There have been many examples of "burning screen" and discoloration on mobile phones. On the one hand, there are problems in the quality and reliability of OLED screens. On the other hand, as the use time increases, the OLED screens have color casts, dead pixels, etc. The problem. As many mid-range mobile phones use OLED screens, the price of these phones may be very strict. The quality of the OLED screens used may not be as good as the OLED screens on flagship phones, and the long use time may be more prone to problems.

LCD screens The lifespan of liquid crystals is generally relatively long, such as computer LCD monitors or flat-panel TVs, the general life span can exceed 10 years, of course, the theoretical life span of LCD screens on mobile phones can also reach more than 10 years. Most of the problems with LCD screens are backlight problems. As the time of use increases, the backlight light source of the screen will age and the brightness will decrease. However, as long as the liquid crystal layer is not bad, it can still be used. The reliability of the screen is better than that of OLED.

Eye protection: LCD natural DC dimming

The topic of OLED screen DC dimming has been very hot. Many mobile phone manufacturers have equipped their mobile phones with OLED screens with DC dimming function, and DC dimming can effectively reduce the stroboscopic problem of OLCD screens. Then, the LCD screen said that I was born with DC dimming.

The problem of OLED stroboscopic has been around for a long time, but we usually don’t notice it because of the high stroboscopic frequency when we look at the OLED screen. Speaking of stroboscopic problems, we must understand the dimming principle of OLED screens. OLED screens will produce a jelly effect at low voltages, so the LCD cannot be used to reduce the voltage to adjust the brightness of the screen, only the switch method can be used to adjust the brightness. In the case of normal high brightness, the switching frequency of OLED is very high, so the naked eye can hardly feel the occurrence of stroboscopic, but in the case of low brightness, the switching frequency of the screen will be reduced, and too low stroboscopic will make people produce Eye fatigue, dizziness, headaches, etc. are not conducive to health. In view of this, DC dimming of OLED screens appears.

The DC dimming used on OLED screens is actually not very mature, and there may be some minor problems. When we actually tested a mobile phone with DC dimming, we found that the brightness of the screen will decrease when DC dimming is turned on. Although there is no color cast in the contrast of the three primary colors, there is a decrease in brightness.

To sum up

For OLED screens, the biggest advantages may be power saving, thinness, and bright colors (this may also be a disadvantage). With the continuous popularity of OLED, the reason why mobile phone manufacturers are willing to choose OLED is that OLED appears to be "tall." "On the other hand, OLED may be thinner, which is more conducive to the internal stacking of mobile phones, but OLED is still not as mature as LCD, and its reliability is still not as good as LCD.

For LCD, although there is no OLED screen to save power and no OLED screen is thin, natural color performance is its biggest selling point, and it has natural DC dimming and no stroboscopic problems. LCD mature technology has become the choice of many mobile phone manufacturers, but with the popularization of OLED, the use of LCD screens has become less and less common on flagship phones. Many netizens even called out the slogan "LCD will never be a slave". LCD also has its own charm, but fewer and fewer people will appreciate it.