How Does An OLED TV Work

Typical – you get to grips with the latest flat screen technology, and another comes along! LED backlighting has been used in certain LCD TV models for a  while now, and has been the cause of some confusion. Some people think LED televisions are a different beast altogether, when they’re actually just LCD televisions that have replaced traditional CCFL backlighting techniques with LEDs. And now another form of technology is emerging – OLED. In light of that last statement you’d be forgiven for thinking that OLED is just another form of backlighting. But it’s not – OLED technology is likely to cause a revolution in television manufacture on a scale not seen since the rise of the flat screen. So, what is OLED, and how does it work?

OLED stands for organic light emitting diode. Essentially it’s an LED with a layer of film containing organic compounds, that emits light when an electrical current is passed through it. The advantages of OLED over existing technologies are numerous. Unlike LCD, OLED displays don’t need to be backlit, meaning that OLED televisions can be built far lighter and thinner than comparable LCD models. OLED screens also display deeper blacks than LCD televisions, have much higher contrast ratios, wider viewing angles, and perform better in rooms with low lighting. In fact, OLED is capable of even better display quality than a plasma screen, while weighing less, consuming far less power, and being far more eco-friendly on disposal. Simply put, OLED trumps both LCD and plasma in all departments.

OLED is so revolutionary that we’re likely to see the technology adopted beyond the TV market. Computer monitors, mobile phones, watches – theoretically anything with a visual display could be improved by the use of this technology. OLED screens have the potential to be so thin, that at some time in the future we may even be able to roll them up when we’re finished watching! The possibilities are enormous, and it seems the industry is excited at what the future holds. At the recent SID 2010 trade show, Samsung Executive VP Sang-Soo Kim said that he believed OLED to be the future of visual displays.

When used in televisions, the technology is most effective as an active-matrix OLED – or AMOLED – display. Basically this consists of OLED pixels that are held together in a thin film transistor array. The pixels emit light when the display is activated, with the overall matrix serving as a sequence of switches that manage the flow of electricity to each pixel. An AMOLED display performs significantly better than a normal, passive-matrix OLED screen, as it provides higher refresh rates and uses far less power. Although this will make AMOLED technology particularly suitable for portable devices that run off a battery, the current climate of carbon-reduction and energy conservation will also make it attractive to television manufacturers, as well as anyone who is environmentally conscious or simply wants to reduce their energy bill.

There are some OLED televisions on the market already (although they come with a pretty hefty price tag) but the technology is in its infancy, and is still being refined to overcome problems of lifespan and vulnerability to water damage. However, it’s only a matter of time before OLED overtakes both LCD TV and plasma TV as the most widely-used display technology. As soon as this happens, prices will inevitably come down.

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