OLED vs AMOLED | Difference between OLED and AMOLED

This page compares OLED vs AMOLED and mentions difference between OLED and AMOLED. The comparison between OLED vs AMOLED has been done based on various parameters.

Introduction:
Both OLED and AMOLED works on principle of "Electroluminescense". As per this phenomenon, a material emits light in response to an electric current passed through it or to a strong electric field.

Both are used for display in many devices such as televisions, smart watches, laptop screens, portable music players and so on.

OLED

OLEDs (Organic LEDs) are improvement to conventional LED based display where as AMOLED is improvement to basic OLED technology. OLEDs generate light by application of current to different kind of semi-conductive material known as organic compounds. This enables pixel to pixel illumination and color control.

OLED structure

It is thin film display technology which uses organic material. It emits light when current is passed through it. Refer OLED tutorial >> covering OLED basics and types.

The benefits of OLED display are as follows.
• It uses wide energy gap semiconductors.
• It consumes less power.
• It offers remarkable color fidelity, higher efficiency and operational stability.
• They are very thin, smaller in size and lighter in weight.
• Faster response time than LCDs.
• Safer for the environment.

The drawbacks of OLED display are as follows.
• Lifetime is shorter than other display types.
• OLEDs are expensive than LCDs.
• It is easily damaged by water.
• When subjected to direct light, OLED screens are worse than LCD screens.
• Overall luminance degradation.

AMOLED

In AMOLED, active matrix of OLEDs are deposited on TFT plane. These OLEDs are activated when electric current is applied. The TFT array functions as switches for each pixel. It uses storage capacitor. Typically, OLED display with back panel consisting of TFTs (Thin Film Transistors) is known as AMOLED.

AMOLED display screen

The TFT layer provides greater control over the light emitted by OLEDs. As shown, AMOLED consists of four layers viz. anode layer, organic middle layer, cathode layer and Substrate layer.

The benefits of AMOLED display are as follows.
• It offers true color re-production and greater contrast ratios.
• Consumes less power
• Lighter, Thinner than other display screens
• Offers wide viewing angles.
• Super flexible
• Brighter than LED screens
• Can be made in big screen sizes.
• It can resist instant pressure.

The drawbacks of AMOLED display are as follows.
• 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 more duration and hence their performance degrades faster over time. This results into "burn-in effect" in which very brighter screen elements never disappear completely.

Tabular difference between OLED and AMOLED

Let us compare OLED vs AMOLED to derive difference between OLED and AMOLED in following table.

Parameters OLED AMOLED
Full Form Organic Light Emitting Diode Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
Flexibility OLED display is less flexible compare to AMOLED display type. AMOLED display is more flexible compare to OLED display type.
Cost Less expensive More expensive
Display sizes Support larger sizes than conventional LCDs. No restrictions on display sizes though it works on the same principle as OLED.
Contrast ratio Exceptional Higher
Power consumption Less More
TFT Capacitor Not used Used
Active matrix Not used Used

Fiber optic resources

SONET versus SDH    What is PDMA?   What is WDM?   SONET SDH tutorial   Optical Isolator   Optical Circulator   Optical Amplifier   Optical Filter   Optical Coupler   Optical MUX DEMUX   Optical Equalizer   Optical Switch   Wavelength converter  

5G cellular resources

5G basic tutorial   5G Frequency Bands   5G millimeter wave tutorial   5G mm wave frame    5G millimeter wave channel sounding    Difference between 4G and 5G   5G testing and test equipments   5G network architecture   5G NR Physical layer    5G NR MAC layer    5G NR RLC layer    5G NR PDCP layer   

What is Difference between

5G vs 6G    LTE vs 5G TF vs 5G NR    4G vs 5G   

RF and Wireless Terminologies