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Mobile Display Type Explained: LCD, OLED, AMOLED

• By Yuvraj Chauhan • No AI - Human Written

LCD

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) uses a backlight to generate light which is passed though a liquid crystal layer to generate image

Pros:

  • Low production and replacement costs

Cons:

  • Narrow viewing angles on some old pannels
  • Low contrast ratio when compared to OLED
  • blacks are not deep as backlight is used

OLED

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) consists of organic electroluminescent layer which emits light when current is passed through it. Unlike LCDs, OLED display don’t need a backlight source and each individual pixel can produce its own light thus can be turned off/on separately allowing deep or true black

Pros:

  • High contrast
  • Deep/True black
  • Wide viewing angles

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Possibility of burn-in after prolonged use

AMOLED

AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED) uses a thin-film transistor (TFT) that access and controls individual pixels. Since black color is produced by turning pixels off, power consumption can be reduced by dark mode and black themes

Pros:

  • Fast pixel response time
  • Deep/True black
  • Thin Profile

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Possibility of burn-in after prolonged use

PMOLED

PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED) current is supplied sequentially to rows/columns rather than to individual pixels. While simple and cheap to produce than AMOLED, they require higher voltages for larger displays. So generally used in small displays like watches, bands etc

Pros:

  • inexpensive compared to AMOLED
  • Suitable for small displays

Cons:

  • not suitable for larger display because of high voltage requirements