OLED vs AMOLED: Understanding the Differences in Display Technologies

This article compares OLED and AMOLED technologies, highlighting their differences based on various parameters.

Introduction

Both OLED and AMOLED technologies operate on the principle of “Electroluminescence.” This phenomenon describes how a material emits light when an electric current passes through it or when exposed to a strong electric field. Both technologies are widely used in displays for devices like televisions, smartwatches, laptop screens, and portable music players.

OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) represent an advancement over conventional LED-based displays, while AMOLED is an improvement on basic OLED technology.

OLED

OLEDs generate light by applying current to a semi-conductive material known as organic compounds. This allows for pixel-by-pixel illumination and color control.

OLED structure

OLED is a thin-film display technology that uses organic materials. It emits light when an electric current is passed through it. For a deeper dive, refer to an OLED tutorial covering the basics and types of OLEDs.

Benefits of OLED Displays:

• Uses wide energy gap semiconductors.
• Consumes less power.
• Offers remarkable color fidelity, higher efficiency, and operational stability.
• Very thin, smaller in size, and lighter in weight.
• Faster response time than LCDs.
• Safer for the environment.

Drawbacks of OLED Displays:

• Shorter lifespan compared to other display types.
• More expensive than LCDs.
• Easily damaged by water.
• Performance worse than LCD screens in direct light.
• Overall luminance degradation.

AMOLED

In AMOLED (Active-Matrix OLED), an active matrix of OLEDs is deposited on a TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) plane. These OLEDs are activated when an electric current is applied. The TFT array acts as switches for each pixel and uses a storage capacitor.

Essentially, an OLED display with a back panel consisting of TFTs is known as AMOLED.

AMOLED display screen

The TFT layer provides greater control over the light emitted by OLEDs. AMOLED typically consists of four layers: an anode layer, an organic middle layer, a cathode layer, and a substrate layer.

Benefits of AMOLED Displays:

• Offers true color reproduction and greater contrast ratios.
• Consumes less power.
• Lighter and thinner than other display screens.
• Offers wide viewing angles.
• Super flexible.
• Brighter than LED screens.
• Can be made in big screen sizes.
• Resistant to instant pressure.

Drawbacks of AMOLED Displays:

• Easily damaged by water.
• Higher in cost.
• Shorter lifespan than LED/LCD screens.
• Due to direct pixel-by-pixel illumination, some OLEDs are used for longer durations, leading to faster performance degradation. This results in a “burn-in effect,” where very bright screen elements never disappear completely.

Tabular Difference Between OLED and AMOLED

Let’s compare OLED and AMOLED to highlight their differences in the following table: