This year is all about OLED. Samsung has launched its Galaxy S10 and Note 10 phones with the technology, and Apple is expected to follow suit with a new iPhone next year.

But what exactly is OLED? And how does it differ from other types of display? Let’s break it down:

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a type of display technology used in smartphones, tablets and TVs that offers better contrast ratio and color accuracy than traditional LCD panels. OLEDs produce their own light instead of using backlighting like traditional LCD displays. This means they can switch off individual pixels completely when displaying black — resulting in deeper blacks.

The downside: OLEDs are more expensive than displays using traditional LCD technology, but prices are coming down as production ramps up. You’ll also find that some colors look slightly different on an OLED screen compared to an LCD display because of the way each type of screen handles colors differently.

Last modified: July 29, 2022