Liquid Crystal Diode (LCD) is currently the dominant technology in both the mobile device and computer display space and emerging as a significant player in the television space as well.
However, OLEDs offer advantages over LCDs in several key areas that render it superior for both markets.
Contrast Ratio is the ratio between the brightest and darkest spots on a display. Primarily, this is an indication of “how black is the black”. On a typical LCD, the user will notice that the black is actually more of a very dark gray. Even the best LCDs offer contrast ratios of around 10,000:1. In comparison, OLEDs can easily exceed contrast ratios of 1,000,000:1.
Viewing Angle is a measure of how an image on a display changes as a user looks at it from different angles. LCD displays have notoriously bad viewing angles with both the brightness and color of the display drastically changing with angle. Typical LCDs on mobile devices or laptop computers are less than 60 degrees. LCD TVs or desktop displays can improve the viewing angle to over 160 degrees, but at the expense of contrast ratio and a significant increase in power consumption. Since OLED natively emits light in all directions, OLED displays typically have viewing angles approaching 180 degrees.
Response Time is the time it takes for a pixel to change states. LCD users will notice a “motion blur” when watching a movie where the image changes rapidly. This is because LCDs have a very slow response time, typically greater than 5ms. On the other hand, OLEDs have response times of less than 1ms.
Thickness and Weight describe the form factor for the given display. While the flatness of LCDs gave rise to their popularity, OLEDs are even thinner and significantly lighter since they do not require additional components such as a backlight and diffusers. This advantage of OLEDs is particularly suited to the mobile display space, where form factor is a critical aspect of product design.