Screen Showdown: Evaluating OLED, AMOLED & IPS in the Market

OLED, AMOLED, and IPS LCD are the three most common display technologies used in smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices.

Each display technology has different properties and comes with its own set of pros and cons. Let’s compare the three and see which display is right for you.

What Is OLED?

OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode, and it’s the type of display you see on almost all modern high-end smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches. OLED was invented in 1987, but because the tech was so expensive to produce at the time, it only started appearing in consumer electronics around the mid-2010s.

OLED has become more affordable over the years, but it’s still far more expensive to make than LCD—this is one of the reasons why MacBooks still don’t have OLED panels .

OLED laptops are available on the market, but only a limited selection. Most laptops today, even high-end ones, still use LCD. Similarly, most TVs are LCDs, but if you want the best image quality and are willing to spend more, the best OLED TVs can be worth it.

OLED uses organic molecules to emit light and is self-illuminating, meaning each pixel produces its own light. Because of this, OLED provides an infinite contrast ratio and perfect blacks, as pixels that aren’t needed can be turned off. The color black on LCDs looks more grayish in comparison.

OLED monitors are thinner, lighter, energy-efficient, color-accurate, offer wide viewing angles, and have faster response times than LCD monitors.

Of course, OLED comes with its own unique problems. For starters, OLEDs are susceptible to burn-in, which is a permanent discoloration of parts of the screen that have displayed the same image for a long period. For instance, navigation buttons or status bar symbols on your phone or a screen saver on your PC monitor.

OLEDs also have a shorter lifespan than LCDs because the organic materials used in OLEDs tend to degrade over time. One lesser-known con of OLED is that it has lower peak brightness than LCD, so it’s more suited for indoor use. And, of course, OLED is more expensive—but you know that already.

What Is AMOLED?

Image Credit:Samsung

AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode, and it’s simply a newer and more advanced variant of OLED. AMOLED panels use a thin-film transistor (TFT) array to control the flow of current to each individual pixel.

This allows for more precise control of the brightness and color of each pixel, resulting in even better image quality and energy efficiency. Like OLED, AMOLED also offers deep, inky blacks and wide viewing angles.

Naturally, all the cons of OLED apply to AMOLED, too. However, a unique downside to AMOLED is its limited availability. AMOLEDs are almost exclusively found on high-end Android smartphones and Samsung tablets.

What Is IPS LCD?

Before we see what IPS LCD is, let’s first recap LCDs. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, one of the older types of displays, invented in 1968 and mainstreamed in the 2000s. It’s the successor to CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) displays, used in one of those big boxy TVs your grandma might’ve owned in the 1950s.

Unlike OLED, LCD panels use a backlight to illuminate the pixels; this backlight can be fluorescent lamps or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The liquid crystals in an LCD panel are what block or allow the passage of light.

LCD and LED are not the same things. LCD is a type of display, whereas an LED is a small semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Simply put, all LED displays are LCDs, but not all LCDs use LEDs. This is because LCDs sometimes use fluorescent backlights instead of LEDs, although LEDs are superior and far more common.

Liquid crystals are molecules that can change their physical orientation when an electric current is applied. They allow light to pass through when they are aligned and block light when they’re not aligned. Simply put, LCD selectively blocks light, whereas OLED selectively produces light. You can learn how an LCD works in detail if you’re curious.

IPS LCD stands for In-Plane Switching Liquid Crystal Display, and it’s simply a newer iteration of LCD, invented in 1996 and still widely used today. IPS LCD uses a different alignment method for the liquid crystals than traditional LCDs, which results in better viewing angles, improved color reproduction, and faster response times (especially when compared to other LCD technology, such as vertical alignment or twisted nematic ).

OLED vs. AMOLED vs. IPS LCD: Which to Buy?

If you want the best image quality, then OLED and AMOLED are great options. They provide rich colors, high contrast, perfect blacks, fast response times, wide viewing angles, and are quite energy efficient, which is useful if you have a portable device and need to save battery.

That’s not to say that IPS LCDs have bad image quality. Modern IPS LCDs that use LED backlight are better than they get credit for, especially for the price. They don’t have a severe burn-in issue and have a longer lifespan, so you can use them for longer before replacing them.

Here, let’s simplify things a bit:

If you’re buying a new phone, OLED and AMOLED are the two most common options today; LCD is only used on entry-level phones. However, if you’re buying a PC monitor, an IPS LCD is a great and affordable option. However, if you do a lot of graphic design or 3D artwork, the color accuracy of OLED will benefit you.

As far as TVs are concerned, it depends on your needs. OLED TVs bring fantastic image quality and are great for watching movies or shows, but they can sometimes be eye-wateringly expensive (and AMOLED televisions aren’t really a thing unless you have ludicrously deep pockets). In comparison, IPS LCD TVs with LED backlight (aka LED TVs) offer a good price-to-performance ratio.

OLED Is Immersive, IPS LCD Is Affordable

Both OLED and IPS LCD are great display technologies, but depending on your needs, budget, and the device you’re buying, the right one for you will vary.

However, the overall gist of this comparison is this: OLED is more immersive and offers a more pleasing media consumption experience. IPS LCD is not as vivid and immersive, but its modern iterations are not too far behind and are an affordable alternative.

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Screen Showdown: Evaluating OLED, AMOLED & IPS in the Market