Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and active matrix organic-light diode (AMOLED) are two of the hottest display technologies on the market. You’ll often find them used in high-end TVs, digital whiteboards, smartphones and computer monitors. Contrary to what some people believe, though, OLED isn’t the same as AMOLED. While they both contain organic material, each technology works in a unique way.
What Is OLED?
OLED is a display technology that’s characterized by the use of light-emitting organic material. The organic material itself doesn’t actually produce light. Rather, it acts to propagate light as the light passes through it. OLED displays are small and flexible, making them preferable over the larger and less-flexible traditional LED displays.
What Is AMOLED?
AMOLED is a display technology that combines the properties of active matrix systems with those of thin-film transistors. AMOLED uses active matrix systems for the actual display, but the electrical current applied to each pixel is controlled using thin-film transistors.
AMOLED is still a relatively new display technology that’s just recently gained popularity among consumers and businesses. AMOLED devices, like OLED devices, contain organic material for their pixels. Because they are constructed in an active matrix format, however, each pixel in an OLED device is given its own transistor and capacitor. When an electrical current is applied to a pixel, it illuminates to produce the device’s image.
Which Is Best?
Both OLED and AMOLED are two highly effective display technologies. Of those two, however, AMOLED offers several noteworthy benefits over its OLED counterpart. For example, AMOLED devices tend to consume less power than OLEDs. This is because each pixel in an AMOLED is given its own transistor and capacitor, allowing for greater control of power consumption. The end result is lower operating costs for the end user of the AMOLED device.
In addition to increased energy efficiency, AMOLED devices are typically more flexible than OLED devices. As a result, many of the leading smartphone manufacturers use AMOLED in their products.
On the other hand, AMOLED devices cost more to produce than OLED devices. And because of their higher manufacturing costs, consumers and businesses can expect to pay more for AMOLED devices.
In Conclusion
To recap, OLED and AMOLED are two display technologies that involve the use of pixels made of organic material. The difference between them is that AMOLED combines the properties of active matrix systems with thin-film transistors, essentially providing a transistor and capacitor to each pixel in the display.
