OLED, ULED, QLED and Mini-Led. What’s the difference?

New TV technologies, with so many to choose from how do you which will be the best for you and your home? Hisense have created a guide for this to help you decide and spot the difference between all the acronyms we use to describe these technical differences.

What’s QLED?

QLED or Quantum Dot LED is a type of LCD panel that affords you to get a picture quality similar to OLED technologies but at a more reasonable price. The name QLED stands for “quantum dot light-emitting diode” and QLED panels use a metallic quantum dot filter between the back light and LED panel.

The quantum dot filter between the backlight and LED panel is made up from tiny, crystal, semiconductor particles that manufacturer producers can control very precisely in terms of specific colour output. This filter replaces the standard RBG filters which are used in older TV models. The quantum dot filter allows light to pass through more effectively than the older RBG filters, like standard LED screens.

Due to the incredibly bright panels with consistent high performance across all brightness levels, QLED performs significantly better when compared to traditional LED technologies and has been proven to be a better viewing experience when it comes to off-axis viewing, QLED technologies arguably have the best experience when it comes to watching HDR content.

While all this sounds like a modern innovation in technology, it’s important to remember that QLED isn’t a completely new technology, but more of an improvement on the conventional LED technology. This is the main reason why you are able to get a QLED TV which deliver an optimum viewing experience at a fraction of the price which OLED technology demands.

What’s ULED?

ULED or Ultra LED is typically used to refer to ultra-wide colour gamut, ultra-local dimming, ultra 4K resolution and ultra-smooth motion rate. Simply put ULED itself isn’t one technology but a factor of around 20 different patents which refer to the TV’s motion rate, local dimming, and wide colour gamut. ULED technology has regular LED panels with a few adjustments to enhance viewing experience for a smoother and better picture.

With the colour of the image you are viewing, ULED will give you a wider colour palette, with pictures looking clearer and brighter when compared to regular LED. With multiple dimming Zones on the panel the picture will show better contrast with ‘darker darks’ and personification of shadows. With 4K resolution as standard on ULED TV’s the image is guaranteed to be high quality.

ULED technology in terms of motion rate is where things get interesting, ULED panels are smart technologies and use backlight scanning to add frames where there aren’t any. Because of this technology, the panel tricks you into perceiving you are looking at 120 frames when there are only 60 present. This is thanks to the additional frames which have been added in between the images you are watching.

ULED can offer end users authentic colour, brilliant contrast, clear motion and distinct detail through it’s technologies, making ULED a popular option on today’s market.

What’s OLED?

The name OLED stands for “organic light-emitting diodes”, it’s important to factor in that OLED is a new technology and because of this is able to offer elements you won’t receive with traditional LED technologies. Traditional LED panels require a backlight for the pixels in the LED panel to produce light, whereas OLED technologies have the capability to emit their own light, thus there is no need for a backlight.

As OLED technology can radiate their own light if there is a very dark (or even black) section of the picture on screen, the pixels are able to turn off. Meaning in this case black is black, and not grey, because there is zero light behind that section of the screen. You will find, the contrast between OLED and traditional LED pictures noticeably different because of this.

Because OLED technologies can emit their own light this also means that OLED panels can be brighter than regular LED panels. The contrast and brightness give OLED the opportunity to deliver a better HDR viewing experience than other comparable technologies. Multiple angle high-definition viewing with OLED is an often-understated feature with this technology, meaning wherever you are in the room, the image on screen will deliver a high-quality contrast, colour and motion.

The unfortunate downfall of OLED technology however is the price, while the picture quality you receive with OLED is clearly defined with ultimate contrast, colour and smoother motion, the OLED panels are often expensive, making these TV’s unaffordable for a large proportion of people.

What’s Mini-LED?

Mini-LED is a technology which features an LCD panel with LED’s used for backlighting, this panel can then control where the light is displayed on the screen. Mini-LED has smaller diodes that are less than 0.2mm. It’s argued that Mini-LED is a more effective way to backlight an LCD screen.

The tiny LED diodes behind the LCD pixels means that images on screen can be brighter. With this in mind the backlighting control on the panel can be more precise and even targeted. The better level of control through this panel means less ‘backlight bleed’ and stronger contrasts with colours appearing on screen.

With the mini-LED backlighting technology and controlled backlight element considered, this technology can be said to rival OLED technology, as Mini-LED is able to get much closer in terms of viewing performance when compared to that of QLED technology. In short the technologies that mini-LED has looks to offer the benefits of OLED but with the longevity of QLED, making mini-LED arguably the best performing and in demand technology on the market.

But which is right for you?

With many TV’s and respective technologies to choose from, it can often be overwhelming when it comes to choosing the right fit for you. Unless you have a limited budget, Hisense would recommend that you avoid the standard LED technology, as an older technology they often aren’t able to keep up with the more higher quality content which is now streamed or shown on TV, and for a small discrepancy in price this is easily upgraded to a ULED or higher, of course this choice is dependent on your set budget when you are in the market for a new TV.

Each technology has their own benefits and ultimately, it’s choosing which is the best fit for you across all factors of price and level of enhanced viewing technology you would like.