What is OLED?
Mechanism and Features Part 1, we explained what OLED is and how it works. This time, we would like to explain how it is different from the familiar "liquid crystal". The difference between OLED and LCD displays. Until now, LCD displays have been the mainstream for television and computer screens. LCD displays are displays that use the property of liquid crystal molecules, which change direction when an electric current is applied, to allow light to pass or not. By placing a light source (backlight) behind the LCD and illuminating it, the amount of light that passes through each part can be adjusted. By placing filters of each color of RGB (red, green, and blue, the primary colors used in additive synthesis) in front of the LCD, the brightness of each color is adjusted to display an image in full color.
In contrast, OLED displays use an array of OLED elements that emit RGB light. Each OLED element lights up by itself, and there is no need for a backlight, so it consumes less power and is a simpler mechanism. With LCDs, even if all the elements are darkened, some light from the backlight leaks through, so it is not possible to make it completely dark, but with OLEDs, it becomes completely dark when the elements are turned off.
It can produce a solid black, so it can reproduce images and videos with good contrast. In other words, with an LCD display, what you see is the color of the backlight light overlaid with an RGB filter.
Therefore, the color of the image is greatly affected by the color and brightness of the backlight, and to produce natural colors, you need an expensive, high-performance backlight.
However, on the other hand, displays that use OLEDs, which emit light themselves, are not affected by this because they do not have a backlight, and you can freely produce natural colors by properly controlling RGB. OLEDs also have many other advantages. Because they do not require a backlight or color filters, the displays can be made much thinner than LCDs, etc. The thickness, excluding the substrate and protective glass, is only a few ten-thousandths of a millimeter. If the substrate is made of plastic, a bendable display is also possible.
What did you think?
OLEDs have many advantages. Please give them a try.