An OLED screen – Advantages and disadvantages

OLED is the display technology of the future. We are already seeing it reach the mainstream by appearing in portable electronic devices.

For example, while older Zune models had LCD screens, the Zune HD uses OLED technology. The Creative Zen V MP3 player also uses OLED (however, the iPod Touch and iPhone still use LCD technology). We will eventually see OLED HDTVs become more common than LCD HDTVs.

What exactly is an OLED screen and how does it compare to LCD screen technology?

What is OLED?

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. An OLED is a more advanced form of an LED (light-emitting diode), which is nothing more than a semiconductor that generates light when an electrical current is passed through it. But while LEDs are made from crystalline materials (glass), OLEDs are made from organic material like plastic.

Advantages of OLEDs

• An LCD screen uses backlight and blocks certain areas of the screen to produce images. In contrast, an OLED screen does not require a backlight to produce images. Therefore, it is more energy efficient. This is especially important on portable battery-powered devices as it results in longer battery life.
• An OLED screen can generate sharper colors than an LCD screen. For example, an LCD screen cannot output a pure black color. As a result, images appear brighter and colors more vibrant on an OLED screen.
• An OLED screen can be viewed at wide angles (nearly 170 degrees). In contrast, an LCD screen should be viewed from the front to avoid image degradation.
• Because it uses plastic instead of glass, an OLED screen is thinner, lighter, and more flexible than an LCD screen.

OLED Disadvantages

• Water can easily damage an OLED screen.
• The cost of production is still high. An OLED screen costs more than a similarly sized LCD screen. This is more of a problem for large-screen HDTVs than it is for portable devices that have smaller screens.
• OLED screens are difficult to see in sunlight compared to an LCD screen. This is significant in the case of portable electronic devices such as the Zune HD or iPod Touch.

In short, OLED is the display technology of the future. As manufacturing processes improve and the cost of production becomes cheaper, more and more LCD screens are replaced by OLED screens. Perhaps we will also see the change from iPhone to OLED!