I distinctly recall purchasing my first OLED TV—the LG E8 55-inch—back in 2019, just before the world went into lockdown. Let me tell you, it turned out to be the ideal quarantine companion. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp what OLED (organic light-emitting diode) truly offered. I knew OLED used self-emitting pixels instead of LCD backlighting, delivering infinite contrast. But after diving into Final Fantasy XV’s breathtaking world and battling through The Last of Us Part II’s haunting landscapes, the realization struck: this is what it means to experience nostalgia in vivid, real-time clarity. Naturally, my OLED journey didn’t end with the E8.
A few years later, I upgraded to the LG C2 65-inch and, through reviewing countless OLED-equipped devices, discovered not all OLED screens are equal. In fact, they don’t even share the same underlying tech. You might ask, “How many OLED variants exist?” Frankly, too many—but only three truly matter: WOLED, QD-OLED, and AMOLED.
WOLED, QD-OLED, and AMOLED: How They Work
OLED technology dates back decades, with pioneers like Kodak and Mitsubishi experimenting with early iterations. But it wasn’t until LG’s OLED TV launch in the early 2010s that the tech went mainstream.
LG’s version, dubbed WOLED (White OLED), avoids the “WOLED” label in marketing—preferring to brand itself as the OLED authority. So, what’s WOLED? As mentioned, OLED replaces backlights with self-illuminating pixels, enabling infinite contrast and vibrant hues. The catch? Red, green, and blue subpixels degrade unevenly, exacerbating burn-in risks.
WOLED addresses this by overlaying a white OLED layer with an RGBW color filter. Now, pixels emit white light instead of individual colors—but this introduces uneven brightness and diminished color accuracy. (High-end WOLED models mitigate this with Micro Lens Arrays, which direct light more precisely.)
Enter QD-OLED (Quantum Dot OLED), Samsung’s 2022 breakthrough. It replaces WOLED’s white layer with blue OLEDs that excite quantum dot converters. Unlike WOLED’s filters, quantum dots absorb light, preserving brightness while transmuting blue into red or green.
AMOLED, meanwhile, stands apart by incorporating thin-film transistors (TFTs) for pixel-level control, boosting responsiveness—though at the expense of OLED’s famed contrast.
WOLED, QD-OLED, and AMOLED: Which Is Better for Gaming?
Gaming performance hinges on context and priorities. Straight answer? QD-OLED leads—but WOLED and AMOLED have niche advantages.
AMOLED dominates smartphones and laptops due to flexibility (literally—it powers foldables), high refresh rates, and wide viewing angles. Yet it struggles outdoors with low peak brightness and rarely features in TVs.
For monitors and TVs, WOLED (“plain” OLED) and QD-OLED duke it out. WOLED excels in HDR highlights thanks to its white pixel boost, but QD-OLED delivers superior full-screen brightness and richer colors via quantum efficiency.
Ambient light tips the scales, though. My WOLED TV maintains deep blacks despite window glare, while my QD-OLED monitor reflects a purple haze—Samsung sacrificed anti-reflective layers for extra nits.
QD-OLED wins on sheer vibrancy, but WOLED handles reflections better. Ultimately, budget dictates quality: higher-tier models polish either tech’s weaknesses.
Soon, though, we might get a third contender.
The Future of OLED Is PHOLED
Among OLED’s evolution, PHOLED (Phosphorescent OLED) stands out by using phosphors to achieve near-perfect light conversion. The hitch? Blue subpixels historically degraded too quickly.
Recently, LG announced a breakthrough: stable blue PHOLEDs, rebranded as “Dream OLED” for their 4x efficiency over fluorescent OLEDs. This means brighter screens with lower power draw—though TVs will wait. Smartphones and tablets will debut PHOLED first.
