LCD vs. OLED Screens
If you’re reading this, then you’re no stranger to viewing a digital display. In fact, the average person’s daily screen-time worldwide is nearly seven hours a day according to comparitech.com! But what is it that makes a screen work? What is the technology behind it?
There have been many types of electronic screen over the decades but, today, the most common can be broadly categorized as liquid crystal display (LCD) and light-emitting diode (LED). Phones and tablets all use some form of one or the other. “Organic light-emitting diode” (OLED) technology is considered to be superior due to it’s deeper black levels and bolder colour representation. Without getting too technical, OLED in it’s various forms uses self-illuminating pixels while LCDs require a backlight to be visible.
While OLED has only recently hit the mainstream for TVs, they have been in use as early as 2003. That’s right, some flip phones did use OLED screens, however it was only ever featured as the secondary outer screen.
Samsung has long had the reputation for having the best-looking screens on their flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series’ of phones. This is because they had been using Super AMOLED (yet another form of LED) right from the start.
Despite being a market leader for so long, Apple didn’t jump on the OLED bandwagon until 2017’s iPhone X. Even then, the “budget model” phones like this year’s iPhone SE still use LCD.
Pro tip: If you’ve broken your iPhone screen and you’re ever on the market to have it fixed, ask what kind of screen your repair service uses! Yes, many aftermarket screens are LCD even if the phone was designed to use OLED. Here at GoMobile, we carry both so you can decide if you want a top-notch OLED display or the more affordable LCD. Just give us a call or come on by the shop to see what options we can offer you!