Many of us stream on the go, on our phones and tablets. Maybe on a laptop, in bed, while snug under the covers. But plenty of us still rely on the largest screen in the house when it comes to a Netflix binge. After all, the latest season of Dark deserves the biggest screen, right?
It's not just the size of your screen the matters, however. A larger display might be nice, but you still need to consider picture quality. Back in the day, plasma vs. LCD was one of the major considerations you had to make when purchasing a TV. Instead, the decision you now need to make is OLED vs. LCD.
The key difference between an OLED display and an LCD display is how they're illuminated. OLED screens are self-lighting - individual pixels switch on as needed, or otherwise remain black. If a shot in a movie was entirely black, you wouldn't able to tell if the TV is on or off. This also creates greater contrast.
LCD screens require a backlight, which means that even a pure black screen will look a little grey due to the constant source of illumination. However, local dimming can help address this.
OLED vs. LCD: Blacks
"Perfect black" is often touted as one of the major benefits of an OLED display. As aforementioned, this is due to self-lighting pixel technology. Individual pixels in an OLED display only light up when they're needed. When a pixel isn't being used, it's indistinguishable from when the TV is off. Since an OLED TV can reach "perfect black", it's also able to provide more definition in the darker colour spectrum. Where an LED might be limited to a range of colours between "grey" and "dark grey", an OLED can go from "grey" all the way to "black".
Since LCD screens have a backlight, black will appear as grey as long as the backlight is turned on. TV manufacturers have tried to address this with technology known as a local dimming. If a scene requires the use of darker colours, a LCD TV can intelligently switch off parts of its backlight to appear darker and remove the greyish tinge you'd typically get.
The effectiveness of this will depend on the type of backlighting. Cheaper LCD TVs are edge-lit, which means the LEDs are along the edge of the screen, facing in. Given the lack of precision, this form of local dimming is rarely effective, and in some cases, can actually make your picture quality worse.
Pricier LED TVs have full-array local dimming, which is when a matrix of individual LEDs exist behind the panel. The greater number of LEDs means greater flexibility when it comes to adjusting the strength of the backlight. While full-array local dimming is a marked improvement on edge-lit local dimming, you're not going to get quite the same level of contrast as on an OLED TV. For example, white text on a black background will typically exhibit "haloing" - a grey bubble around the words in question, which then fades into black. This is because a full-array backlight doesn't quite have the granular precision of an OLED panel.
A full-array backlight will also make your TV thicker, while OLED panels are essentially paper thin.
OLED vs. LCD: Colour
Thanks to the deep level on black on offer, OLED panels also benefit from richer colours and higher contrast, which helps create a more accurate image. That being said, LED TVs can now almost go toe-to-toe with OLED when it comes to colour accuracy and colour brightness thanks to technologies such as quantum dots on higher-end models. If you're looking at LCD that does an excellent job when it comes to colour reproduction, make sure go for one with HDR support.
OLED vs. LCD: Brightness
OLED screens are typically dimmer than an LCD screen due to the lack of a dedicated light source. This doesn't necessarily affect picture quality due an OLED panel's ability to display "perfect black", so there is still enough differentiation between the darkest and brightest parts of an image. However, it can make an OLED TV harder to see in a bright room. If you've got sunlight constantly beaming into your living room, an OLED panel might be too dim unless you have close the curtains. Newer OLED TV models have become brighter, but they're not as bright as LCD. LCD panels on the other hand, especially high-end models, have a much easier time retaining clarity in bright environments.
OLED vs. LCD: Viewing angles
LCD TVs tend to be viewed best viewed centre on, but this can vary between manufacturers and the panels they use. As you move to the left or right of centre, you may notice distortion in terms of colour and contrast. OLED TVs will still encounter similar degradation, but not until you hit more extreme angles.
OLED vs. LCD: Price
When OLED TVs first became available in Australia, they'd set you back at least $10,000. Fortunately, these premium panels are a lot more affordable now; you can expect to pay around $3,000 for a 55-inch OLED. That is still however a lot pricier a than a comparable LCD. For comparison, a high-end Samsung 55-inch LCD TV can be had for $1,500. If you just want a large TV for a cheap price without much regard for picture quality, you can get a 55-inch LCD for around $600.
This pricing disparity increases if you're looking at 8K TVs, although admittedly, there's almost no reason to be looking at 8K right now. You'll pay $60,000 or so for an 88-inch 8K OLED, or around $18,000 for an 85-inch 8K LCD.
In addition, you won't find OLED TVs in sizes smaller than 55-inch, which helps keeps the cost up. By contrast, there are plenty of LCD options available in sizes as small as 24-inch if you're after a more compact TV.
OLED vs. LCD: Manufacturers
If you're looking at an OLED TV, you'll also have fewer options when it comes to models. LG is main manufacturer of OLED panels, which it also sells to a few other brands. Right now, you can get OLED TVs from LG itself and Sony.
Every other TV manufacturer selling units in Australia is using LCD panels.
Alex Choros
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