The Difference between OLED and TFT Displays

OLED is one of the hottest concepts in the current display industry, and OLED itself has many advantages. For another concept in the real industry - TFT, perhaps not so many people know about it. Today EXSON, an LCD display module manufacturer, will introduce the difference between OLED and TFT. Through the comparison of the two, we can enhance our understanding of the two.

1. Introduction to OLED and TFT

TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screen is a very mainstream display device at present. Each liquid crystal pixel on the TFT display is driven by a thin film transistor integrated behind the pixel; Each independent pixel on the screen is controlled, and the TFT display has the advantages of high responsiveness, high brightness, and high contrast.

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) is an organic light-emitting diode. OLED uses a very thin coating of organic materials and a glass substrate (or flexible organic substrate). When a current passes through, these organic materials will emit light. The OLED display is driven by an electric field, and the organic semiconductor material and the light-emitting material are injected and recombined to realize light emission.

It can be known that OLED is a bigger concept than TFT, because TFT is an improved version of LCD, and screens based on OLED technology include AMOLED, Super AMOLED, ASV and so on.

2. The difference between OLED and TFT displays

The essential difference between OLED and TFT is that OLED has self-luminous characteristics and can be displayed without a backlight panel, while TFT still needs to use backlight technology.

OLED has the advantages of self-luminescence, wide viewing angle and high response speed. The response speed of LCD will be greatly reduced at low temperature, while the operating temperature range of OLED can be between -40°C and 85°C, which is less affected by temperature and has better adaptability.

In terms of technology, the technology of OLED devices is easier than that of LCDs. In addition, OLEDs are self-illuminating, do not require backlight modules and color filters, and also eliminate the liquid crystal perfusion process of general LCD TFT display panel. Therefore, in addition to reducing material costs, The weight of the display can also be significantly reduced. Since OLED can simplify the panel structure, the light utilization efficiency is also higher.

OLED has many characteristics, such as light and thin, low energy consumption, high brightness, good luminous rate, and can be bent. The OLED screen has a wide viewing angle, high brightness, and bright colors. Many high-end mobile phones now use OLED screens.

The response time of TFT is faster than that of OLED; and the life of TFT screen is much longer than that of OLED screen. In theory, the life of OLCD screen is about 5000 times; while the life of TFT screen is about 20000 times.

OLED screens can display images by relying on their own characteristics to emit light, do not need a backlight source, and are not affected by ambient light; OLED true color screens are superior to TFT screens in terms of backlighting and brightness. Moreover, OLED screens are relatively more power-efficient.

TFT screens are active-matrix liquid crystals that need the brightness of the backlight to display images. TFT screens are affected by ambient light; therefore, TFT screens consume more power.

When the overall specifications of OLED technology are standardized and the industry chain is mature, the LCD display module prices of portable products that are extremely sensitive to power will be extremely competitive.