Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and liquid-crystal display (LCD) have become two of the most popular display technologies on the market. They are both able to produce high-definition (HD) images. OLEDs use self-illuminating pixels with electroluminescent properties, whereas LCDs use liquid pixels in conjunction with backlighting.
You can’t go wrong with either an OLED or LCD. If you’re looking to minimize energy consumption, though, you might be wondering which technology is more energy-efficient.
Both Are Better Than Plasmas
Before revealing which technology is more energy-efficient, it’s important to note that both OLEDs and LCDs are better than plasmas. Plasma is an older display technology. While they’ve since been replaced with newer displays, plasmas consumed a substantial amount of energy. Most OLEDs and LCDs today consume a fraction of the energy consumed by plasmas.
OLEDs are Brighter
It’s also important to note that OLEDs are typically brighter than LCDs. OLEDs and LCDs can both produce white images. But the white images produced by OLEDs are oftentimes brighter than those produced by LCDs. These bright white images can affect the energy consumption of OLEDs.
With brighter white images, OLEDs may consume more energy than their LCD counterparts. Some reports, in fact, show that OLEDs consume two to three times as much energy when displaying white images.
OLEDs have self-illuminating pixels. Their pixels, however, will only illuminate when exposed to a current. Electricity must flow through the pixels in an OLED to illuminate them. LCDs don’t have self-illuminating pixels. Rather, they have liquid pixels that are illuminated via a separate lighting system known as backlighting. For white images, LCDs are almost always more energy efficient than OLEDs.
Depends on the Color
There’s no definitive answer to which type of display is more energy efficient. When displaying colored images, OLEDs are typically more energy efficient. When displaying non-white, colored images, LCDS are typically more energy efficient.
LCDs can produce non-white, colored images by consuming less energy than OLEDs. This is due to the fact that LCDs don’t have self-illuminating pixels. LCDs use backlighting to illuminate their pixels. Most of them use light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting. Not to be confused with OLED, LED backlighting is able to illuminate an LCD’s liquid pixels.
In Conclusion
Both OLEDs and LCDs are energy efficient. They are up to three times as energy efficient as older plasmas. OLEDs, though, produce brighter white images, resulting in greater energy consumption for white images.
