“When buying a phone, of course, you should choose one with an OLED screen, as it displays clearly and has beautiful colors. LCD screens are already obsolete technology, and there’s no need to buy them.” If you often visit offline stores to buy phones, you must have heard similar statements. But has the LCD screen really become obsolete technology?
In fact, this is not the case. At the current technological level, LCD and OLED screen phones will coexist for a long time, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, LCD technology is mature and has natural colors but is not as vibrant as OLED; OLED colors are vivid but not as eye-friendly as LCD. Therefore, which will become the mainstream choice in the market ultimately depends on consumer preferences and the quality of the products themselves. The iPhone XR, which sold over 330,000 units during the Jingdong 618 shopping festival, is a flagship product that uses an LCD screen.
Therefore, whether it is an LCD screen or an OLED screen phone, both are worth purchasing, as long as you consider whether the screen characteristics of these two meet your needs. Now the question arises: what are the differences between these two characteristics? This may need to start from the screens themselves.
What is LCD? What is OLED?
Strictly speaking, the development history of OLED screens is not short. As early as 2003, it was used in MP3 devices, but it wasn’t until the release of the iPhone X in 2017 that OLED screens were truly known and understood by the general public.
OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. On one hand, it is a type of organic self-emitting material that has its own light-emitting properties, requiring no separate backlight layer or color filter; it can emit light as long as it is powered on. Especially when displaying a black interface, you will find that the screen and the black panel of the phone almost merge into one, which is why the dark mode on the iPhone is very cool.
On the other hand, since OLED screens eliminate the backlight, polarizer, etc., this type of screen is very thin. If it is mounted on a plastic substrate, it becomes the currently popular flexible screen, utilizing thin-film packaging technology and sticking a protective film on the back of the panel, making the panel bendable and less prone to breaking. This flexible screen has shone in foldable phones and has pointed out a direction for the application of flexible screens.
As for the AMOLED screens advertised by major manufacturers, they are an extension of OLED technology. Currently, this screen technology is mainly held by Korean manufacturers, with Samsung and LG’s AMOLED screen production accounting for 95% of the global output.
On the other hand, LCD screens are somewhat the opposite of OLED screens. LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display, which is what we commonly refer to as liquid crystal displays. Due to the lack of self-emitting properties, they require backlight support, and because they need to pass through two layers of glass, optical films, alignment films, and color filters to produce polarized light effects, they are much thicker than OLED screens.
LCD vs. OLED
Compared to OLED screens, LCDs have a longer development history, more mature technology, and lower costs, which is why LCD phones at the same level are cheaper than OLED phones. At the same time, this type of screen has more natural and accurate color effects than OLED, so LCD screens are often used in high-end graphics and other professional fields. Currently, the TFT, IPS, and SLCD screens on the market are just different processing techniques; essentially, they all belong to LCD screens.
At this point, you should have a preliminary understanding of LCD and OLED screens. As the two most widely used display technologies in smartphones today, LCD and OLED screens are two different products, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Because of this, the users supporting these two technologies have formed opposing camps, comparable to the debate over salty vs. sweet or whether to drink Pepsi or Coca-Cola.
Advantages and Disadvantages of LCD and OLED Screens
As mentioned above, LCD screens have a long development history, dating back half a century; however, the insistence of the “LCD camp” on LCD screens is not due to conservatism but because OLED has certain aspects that are indeed difficult to accept.
OLED Flicker
Firstly, the most prominent issue is the eye strain caused by OLED screens. This problem essentially stems from the low-frequency flicker generated by OLED screens under PWM dimming. According to a survey report published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the flicker range that has a low impact on eye health should be above 1250Hz, and to minimize health impacts, it needs to reach above 3000Hz. However, currently, the flicker frequency of OLED screens is mostly around 240Hz, which is a significant difference, so it is scientifically valid that some people experience eye pain when looking at phones.
Demo machine still has slight flicker after DC dimming is turned on
Although some manufacturers have introduced DC dimming modes, it does not mean they are healthier; it is merely a way to adjust screen brightness for those sensitive to low-frequency PWM flicker, to reduce the damage of OLED screens to users’ eyes. However, DC dimming may also cause color distortion on the screen, affecting the viewing experience.
Therefore, users often report that looking at LCD screen phones for extended periods does not cause obvious discomfort because the flicker frequency of LCD screens is mostly above 1000Hz, which is more friendly to the human eye, especially when viewing phones in low-light environments, this effect is even more pronounced. If your eyes are sensitive, currently, LCD screen phones may be more suitable for you.
Screen Burn-in
OLED burn-in phenomena are still significant. The so-called burn-in phenomenon refers to the display of a static image for an extended period, leaving a residual image. This is caused by the inherent defects of OLED screens. Once it occurs, users may have to choose to replace the screen to solve the problem. Fortunately, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung have introduced anti-burn-in mechanisms to reduce the occurrence of burn-in phenomena. For example, the iPhone X showed burn-in after 510 hours of continuous testing by Cetizen.
Although LCDs also have a certain probability of experiencing burn-in, it only occurs under the premise of device aging, which is a minor issue compared to OLED screens.
Given that OLED screens have so many flaws, why do most flagship phones still choose this type of screen? This relates to the current trend of full-screen concepts.
The full-screen concept requires that the front of the phone be covered as much as possible by the screen, pursuing an extreme screen-to-body ratio. More and more components are being placed under the screen, such as under-screen fingerprint unlocking and under-screen cameras. Compared to the complex structure of LCD screens, OLED screens, which are simple to cut and process, have transparent display effects, high light transmittance, and thin and light screens, are more suitable for realizing current new technologies. In 2019, in addition to 5G phones, foldable phones were also launched, and this new category of phones relied on flexible OLED screens. Therefore, OLED screens becoming the standard for future flagship products is seen as a development trend.
However, it is worth noting that this does not mean that LCD can exit the historical stage. In March of this year, Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Cao Yong stated in a media interview that the stability and sealing of OLED materials still need to be improved, and that OLED costs have room for further decline, so OLED still has significant development space. As for which will dominate in the future, LCD or OLED, it entirely depends on the products themselves and market choices.
iPhone XR
As I mentioned at the beginning, as long as the product quality is in place, LCD screens also have the opportunity to become the mainstream choice for flagship phones, such as the iPhone XR. Additionally, BOE will mass-produce products that support LCD under-screen fingerprint technology by the end of this year, which proves that LCD screens, relying on their mature technology and low cost, can still shine in today’s mobile phone market.
Final Thoughts
Looking at LCD and OLED screens, the former has advantages such as mature technology, reliable quality, lower prices, and eye protection, but lacks the expandability of OLED screens; while OLED screens are highly adaptable to new technologies, but still have issues like flicker and burn-in that affect user experience. Therefore, overall, both have their advantages and disadvantages, and it is currently difficult to determine which is stronger.
Comparison Chart of LCD and OLED Screens
For consumers, LCD screen phones are still perfectly usable and purchasable. I hope consumers can truly understand LCD and OLED screens through this article, providing an effective reference for future phone purchases to avoid pitfalls and prevent buying a phone with top configurations that do not suit them.
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