Whats the difference

between LCD and OLED

displays?

By Mehmet Tugrul, Field Applications Engineer

for OSD Displays (an OLED panel supplier and
division of New Vision Display)
Display Technologies
 There are two main competing display technologies in the market
today: LCD and OLED. The mature and dominant technology is
the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), while the up-and-coming challenger is
the Organic Light Emitting Diode Display (OLED display). The main
difference between LCD and OLED displays is how they create the light
and the colors of the image being displayed. This leads to application
dependent strengths and weaknesses of either technology.

OLEDs operate via a solid-state technology, where the individual pixels

can emit light in various colors and intensity without the need for an
additional light source or color filter. The light-emitting portion of an
OLED display is comprised of multiple layers of very specific organic
semiconductor materials which can be adjusted to emit light in
specific wavelengths. These organic layers have a typical thickness in
the order of 100nm. In addition, no backlight is required, allowing for
a very thin display module.
Layers of an OLED cell

The organic layers beginning on

the cathode side of the device
consist of several electron
transport layers, a recombination
layer and end with a hole
transport layer on the anode side.
The electron transport layers in
the OLED stack-up allow
movement of electrons from the
cathode toward holes supplied
from the anode. The electrons
and holes recombine in the
emissive recombination layer of
the film stack-up.
 This recombination relaxes the energy levels of the electrons, which produces
an emission of light. The wavelength of the emitted light is dependent on the
chemical composition of the organic materials used in the recombination layer.
The intensity of the light is controlled by the amount of current flowing through
the OLEDs organic layers. In OLEDs, the individual pixels can emit red, green, or
blue light, or alternatively they emit white light, which must then pass
through color filters.

In LCD display technology, the individual pixels modulate light. An applied

voltage changes the orientation of liquid crystal molecules that in conjunction
with a pair of polarizers function as a light shutter by either blocking or
allowing light to pass through. LCD displays, therefore, require an additional
light source, either from reflected ambient light or more commonly from a
backlight (an array of LEDs arranged behind or next to the LCD panel). LCD
color can be created by either switching the backlight quickly between red,
green and blue, or more commonly by adding color filters to the individual
pixels. Because OLED displays dont require the additional backlight, polarizers,
or color filter components of an LCD module, they can be made much thinner
than LCD displays of equivalent size and resolution.
LCD Example
 OLED display technology can offer power-saving advantages over LCDs,
which is important, especially for battery-powered applications such as
mobile phones. An OLEDs power consumption will vary with image
content and brightness, as light is generated only at the individual pixels
needed to display the image. A dark image or a graphic on a black
background will consume much less power than bright images or
graphics. In contrast, LCD backlights must be ON while the display
operates. Its possible to control individual zones of the backlight
separately to save power, but this added complexity is usually only
applied in larger displays.

OLEDs can achieve a much higher contrast ratio if reflections from the
front surface are carefully controlled. If no current flows through an
OLED pixel, it does not emit any light. In contrast the shutter effect of an
LCD pixel does not block 100% of the light. Depending on the specific
LCD technology used and the angle of observation, a small percentage of
the light generated in the backlight can escape. This can wash out dark
areas of an image. It is possible but expensive to limit this light leakage
to a point where the contrast of an OLED and LCD display become
perceptually equivalent.
 RGB OLEDs naturally generate a narrow bandwidth of light. This
leads to very saturated primary colors and a wide color gamut.
This enables OLED technology to display colors which are not
easily accessible to LCDs unless RGB backlights or quantum dot
phosphors are used for the illumination. Often OLED colors are
used as is, however, for very high image color fidelity, such high
color saturation needs to be electronically tuned down, to match
the color bandwidth of the rendering chain.

LCDs offer an advantage over OLEDs in applications where a

continuous static image is required. The light emitting materials
(also called phosphors) in OLEDs are affected by luminance decay
as a function of the total amount of current that has passed
through the pixel. This decay differs for red, green and blue
phosphors. The dimming effect is subtle, but when adjacent pixels
are illuminated at the same time it can become noticeable as an
undesired brightness variation or color shift. LCDs dont suffer
from this dimming effect, which makes them a more suitable
solution for applications with static images or images with static
elements.
LCDs are still preferred technology for laptop applications due to lower cost trade-off
 Another advantage of LCD technology is the wide variety of
different variations to choose from. Depending on the
application certain trade-offs can be very attractive. An
example is much lower cost for a laptop display compared to
a tablet. This is achieved by allowing poor image
performance when viewed from the direction the is usually
blocked by the keyboard. In a tablet where good viewing
performance is required from any direction, much higher
cost LCDs or OLEDs must be used.

OLEDs offer an excellent solution for a variety of

applications: Glucometers and thermometers, fitness
trackers, professional audio equipment, Wi-Fi hotspots,
radar detectors, dive computers, biometric transaction
devices, and military communications equipment.
 Fitness watches often use OLED displays

They can be used to replace old TN

LCDs or add dynamic push buttons on
industrial equipment. They can be
customized to various resolutions,
FPC configurations, colors and shapes
(e.g. octagonal, round, etc.) and can
even be made into flexible and
transparent displays offering
OLED display panel suppliers some
exciting capabilities for their
customers things that were
previously impossible with LCDs.
 New Vision Display and OSD Displays (a
Division of New Vision Display specializing in
OLED displays) are happy to discuss each
technologys strengths and weaknesses, and
provide product designers with expert
guidance on choosing the right display module
solution for their design. Contact us today to
learn more!
 Source:
http://newvisiondisplay.com/difference-lcds-ol
ed-displays/
Thank You