When you purchase Smartphones or TV or a Desktop Monitor, you may notice after the resolution specs; the manufacturers mention the type of Display like LCD, OLED, AMOLED, SUPER-AMOLED, and Retina Display. In the last few years, we have seen a massive upgrade in display technology.
You may have been trying to understand the actual meaning of the different display technologies used to design smartphones and TV these days. In recent times, the most popular and trending is Amoled Display and OLED display. So what is the actual difference between these two display (Amoled vs Oled) technologies? Let’s find out.
AMOLED VS OLED
What Is The Difference Between AMOLED And OLED?
What Is OLED Display?
OLED Full form Is -Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, is a flat light emitting technology, made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors. When an electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. OLEDs are emissive displays that do not require a backlight and so are thinner and more efficient than LCDs (which do require a white backlight). OLED displays are not just thin and efficient – they provide the best image quality ever and they can also be made transparent, flexible, foldable and even rollable and stretchable in the future. OLEDs represent the future of display technology.
To know in details, let’s start with the basics. Display screens are made up of Pixels. A pixel is made up of 3 sections called sub-pixels. The three sections are red, green and blue(primary colours for display tech). To make a certain colour, each pixel lets certain amounts of light through each pixel at different intensities, showing the colour on your screen.
Where you start seeing differences emerge, is how the light is generated in each screen. On LCD displays, the light is generated from a “backlight”. A series of thin films, transparent mirrors and an array of white LED Lights that shine and distribute light across the back of the display.
OLEDs on the other hand have the unusual property of being able to produce both light and colour from a single diode when they’re fed electricity. Because of this, OLED TVs don’t need a separate backlight. Each pixel you see is a self-contained source of colour and light.
An OLED display has the following advantages:
- Improved image quality – better contrast, higher brightness, fuller viewing angle, a wider colour range and much faster refresh rates.
- Lower power consumption.
- Simpler design that enables ultra-thin, flexible, foldable and transparent displays.
- Better durability – OLEDs are very durable and can operate in a broader temperature range.
An OLED Display have the following disadvantages:
- Their lifetime is shorter compare to other display types.
- It is expensive compare to LCD.
- It is susceptible to water and hence it can be easily damaged by water.
- OLED screens are even worse compare to LCD when subjected to direct sunlight.
- Overall luminance degradation.
- Limited market availability.
What Is AMOLED display?
AMOLED full form is Active-Matrix OLED. The “active-matrix” part refers to the driving electronics or the TFT layer. When you display an image, you actually display it line by line (sequentially) as you can only change one line at a time. An AMOLED uses a TFT which contains a storage capacitor that maintains the line pixel states, and so enables large size (and large resolution) displays.
AMOLED improves basic OLED technology for larger televisions, monitors and laptop displays by introducing a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) layer that enables greater control over the light emitted by the OLEDs. If TFT sounds familiar, it’s because the technology — which dedicates a current-controlling transistor to each pixel — is also important in conventional LED LCDs. The TFT layer provides an enhanced, “active matrix” of light control, accounting for the “AM” in AMOLED (although it’s important to note that even displays labelled simply “OLED” also likely feature an active matrix of some kind; it’s just not always mentioned).
Amoled screens are used in a wide variety of electronic devices like Smartphone, TV, gaming laptops, and monitors as well.
An AMOLED display has the following advantages:
- More colours and truer colour reproduction, with direct, pixel-by-pixel illumination control.
- Greater contrast ratios (i.e., the difference between the lightest and darkest parts of the screen).
- Less energy drain, especially when displaying dark scenes like those common in PC games.
- Thinner, lighter construction, with no traditional LCD panel or (in some models) back-lighting.
- Wider viewing angles, thus there’s no LCD “blocking” certain light, which tends to limit side view.
An Amoled Display have the following Disadvantages:
- It is higher in cost due to the expensive manufacturing process.
- It offers a short lifespan than LED-LCD screens.
- It gets easily damaged by water.
- Poor Outdoor Visibility.
Super AMOLED Display
It is an advanced version of AMOLED Display. SUPER AMOLED, also known as S-AMOLED (super-active-matrix organic light-emitting diode), is a marketing term that refers to a display technology used in a variety of electronic devices. The “super” in its name distinguishes it from its older, less advanced versions (OLED and AMOLED).
Super AMOLED is a more advanced version and it integrates touch-sensors and the actual screen in a single layer. Super AMOLED is even better at this with a 20% brighter screen, 20% lower power consumption and 80% less sunlight reflection.
Difference Between AMOLED And OLED ( AMOLED VS OLED)
Difference In Technology
OLED display emits light when current is passed through as it is made up of thin layers of the organic components and so each pixel transmits its light. An AMOLED display consists of thin-film transistors in which the storage capacitors are responsible for maintaining the pixel states.
Difference In Display
OLED display offers deeper blacks when compared to the AMOLED displays. The display quality of AMOLED is much better and flexible than that of the OLEDs and so AMOLED is much expensive than the OLED display.
Difference In Contrast Ratio
The OLED display offers an excellent contrast ratio as it has a high level of control over pixels. On the other side, the AMOLED display has faster refresh rates than OLEDs and so provides a great artificial contrast ratio in which each pixel transmits light resulting in a better display.
Difference In Power Consumption
The OLED display consumes less power than that of the AMOLED display.
Difference In Display size
OLED provides more efficient and bright displays as these are comparatively thinner as compared to the LCDs, whereas AMOLED display can be fitted into any display size as it does not restrict with the limitation of display sizes.
Tabular Comparison Between AMOLED And OLED
| AMOLED | OLED |
|---|---|
| AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. | OLED is an acronym of Organic Light Emitting Diode. |
| AMOLED displays are more flexible than OLED displays. | OLED displays are less flexible than AMOLED displays. |
| AMOLED displays are more costly than OLED displays. | OLED displays are less costly than AMOLED displays. |
| AMOLED devices consume less power than OLED devices. | OLED devices consume more power than AMOLED devices. |
| AMOLED displays provide true colour contrasts and are more vibrant. | OLED displays are darker and dull compared to AMOLEDs. |
| AMOLED has no restriction on screen size at all. | OLED supports large display technologies like TV but has a restriction on screen size. |
| In AMOLED, TFT(a Thin-film transistor) is responsible for supplying power and charge the pixel. | In OLED, TFT is only responsible for supplying power to the organic light-emitting diodes. |
Conclusion
AMOLED Vs OLED: Which One Should You Choose?
These were the simple differences between AMOLED and OLED displays. There’s not much difference, but now you know what they are. Both the screen types perform admirably, be it on any machine.
when it comes to choosing between these two, it’s absolutely a personal choice and budget. If you have the budget for AMOLED, then you can go with that. When it comes to phones, AMOLED displays rule while OLED is apt for televisions.
I hope you gained some information from this Amoled Vs OLED Blog. If you have any queries regarding the topic, leave them in the comment section below. will be happy to respond.
Which is better display for watching movies oled or amoled?