LED Displays Likely to be Overshadowed by the OLED Displays

A light emitting diode (LED) is basically a PN junction diode. LEDs are electronic devices which emit incoherent light whenever they are injected with carriers across the forward-biased junction. The pixels in LED displays consist of an array of light-emitting diodes. LED displays are made up of many pixel modules that are made up of 4+ LEDs of RGB. The operating principle of LED displays is based on injection luminescence. LED displays to have many advantages over conventional displays such as wide operating temperature range that require less operating voltage which can be easily interfaced to digital logic and has a fast response time.

In late 1970s, the first LED display was developed, which was monochromatic as there was no efficient blue light LED at that time. The inventors were recognized and have also received awards for their invention. The color displays came into picture in the early 1990s, after the development of the effective blue LEDs. LED displays are used in advertising, scoreboards, television, computers, smart watches, mobile phones, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). In February 2010, Samsung released the world’s first 3D LED high definition television that was named Samsung 3D LED 7000 and in March, 2010, LG announced the release of its first 3D LED HDTV, the LG LX9500. 

LED displays are used in many applications such as smartphones, televisions, cameras, wearable devices, automotive infotainment, and so on. LED displays have a limitation in picture quality. LED displays cannot display the dark-colored images as darker, due to the presence of backlight. After the development of Organic LED (OLED), it was possible to overcome this limitation in picture quality, as OLED displays do not require any backlight since they produce their own light.

LED displays are cheaper due to their production costs. However, the production cost of OLED displays is higher than LED displays as the printing equipment used in OLEDs manufacturing is expensive. The production of an OLED display is easier than LED displays and it is also possible to produce in larger sizes. 

In today’s world, OLED displays provide a wider viewing range of around 170 degrees, whereas LEDs provide a viewing range of about 60 degrees. Moreover, plastic and organic layers in OLED are thinner than inorganic crystal layers in LED. Brighter light is generated in OLED when compared to conventional LED and it is also required to support LED with glass, which absorbs some of the light as well. There is no such need in OLED displays.

Some of the companies that produce LED displays are Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic, and so on. 

Samsung Electronics launched QLED 8K display in February 2019 and has stated that these first digital signage products can deliver impeccable picture quality, which can revolutionize the global digital signage.

Sony launched its smartphone “Sony Xperia 1” that has 4K OLED display and claims that the picture quality is amazing with accurate color reproduction.

As the world is being digitalized at a rapid pace and the displays play a major role in the digital world, the newspaper of the future might be an OLED display with automotive dashboards and billboard-type displays. The data in the OLED displays refresh extremely faster almost at a rate of 1000 times than that of an LCD display. Therefore, a device with an OLED display can change information almost in real time and can be constantly updated. OLED displays have the highest picture quality as of now, hence the images or videos viewed in these displays could be much more realistic.

The curved LED displays have already been launched and have been a success, while the foldable OLED displays have been recently launched in February 2019 by Huawei. The question arises whether these displays can sustain in the market?