Electroluminescence has evolved over the years, making the display system of our electronic gadgets incredible day by day. Smartphones, Television screens are enabled with impeccable light-emitting systems that make the picture quality the best too. OLEDs and AMOLEDs are the ones best suited as they consume relatively less power compared to the others.
OLED vs AMOLED
The main difference between OLED and AMOLED lies in its basic structure. OLED consists of thin layers of organic compounds, while AMOLED has an additional thin layer of thin-film transistors. The organic material in the OLED helps to propagate light while AMOLED works on the active matrix system.
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) is an incredible display technology that uses organic materials for its display purposes. Though the thin layer of the organic compounds does not produce light on its own but helps send and direct light in the desired direction. The light passes through it, forming a definite structure of display as required.
Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode (AMOLED) is a new display technology that combines the use of organic material as well as the thin film of transistors. The technology of OLED is used in the form of the organic compound while the thin film transistors control the pixels.
Comparison Table Between OLED and AMOLED
| Parameters of Comparison | OLED | AMOLED |
| Basic Structure | OLED contains only the thin layer of organic compound that facilitates the display function | AMOLED contains the organic layer as well as a thin layer of transistors that shall combine in its display function. |
| Power Consumption | Higher when compared to AMOLED | Lower when compared to OLED |
| Flexibility | Less Flexible in usage | Highly flexible |
| Cost of Production | Very Less | Relatively higher than the OLED |
| Refresh Rates | Slightly higher than the AMOLED | Significantly less than a millisecond |
What is OLED?
Organic Light Emitting Diode is a display technology used in our day-to-day electronic gadgets, uses organic compounds to emit light. It is one of the cost-effective technologies used in mobile phones and other electronic display instruments. The pixels are made of organic material, and it propagates light as it passes through them.
An OLED display works without a backlight. This is only because it emits visible light. This makes it thinner when compared to the LCDs. As the backlight unit in display systems can increase the size of the display unit. It is also observed that, in a room with very less light or even no light, OLEDs perform the best than the LCDs.
OLEDs are flexible when compared to other display methods. This feature makes it most sought after by the mobile phone manufacturing industry. Incidentally, OLED is a technology that gave rise to two different and advanced display science. One is the AMOLED, and the other is the PMOLED.
The passive matrix OLED is overlooked as AMOLED has taken the best stride in terms of flexibility and energy consumption. The production cost of the OLEDs is very less and thus, most interest television as well as smartphone manufacturers.
What is AMOLED?
AMOLED is the advanced display technology that couples the Active matrix system with the organic compounds that shall emit light. Like the OLED, the thin film of organic material forms the electroluminescent material while the Active matrix controls the entire pixels as well as its functionality.
AMOLED is in use since the year 2007. From then on, it has loomed large in several industries. Primarily because of its low-cost manufacturing methods as well as its energy consumption features.
AMOLED consists of thin layers of pixels that are made from organic materials. It generates light upon activation of electrical current. This is fed by the thin film of transistors that is present. Indeed, this is the layer that controls the emission of light.
Thin Film Transistor backplane technology is highly critical in the manufacturing of AMOLED. The mode in which these AMOLEDs are manufactured makes it more flexible than the traditional OLED. The touch panels and their respective responses are triggered only by the AMOLED.
The refresh rate of the screen is a lot faster than the OLED. The display sizes can be large too. AMOLED enables a wide-angle view. This makes the televisions more conducive and electric. The production cost is relatively higher than the OLED, yet this is sought by the industries because of the advanced features.
Main Differences Between OLED and AMOLED
- The main difference between OLED and AMOLED is the basic functional structure. The OLED has just one thin layer of organic material while the AMOLED has two layers, one being the organic compound layer and the other is the thin-film transistor layer.
- The price of OLED is always less when compared to the AMOLED.
- OLED and AMOLED are most looked out for the fact that the energy consumption is fairly less compared to other display technologies. However, OLED consumes less power than AMOLED.
- The contrast ratio of OLED is high compared to the AMOLED.
- OLED has a few limitations, and one such is the display size. It is conducive only to the TVs, while AMOLED can be a lot flexible and can be used in foldable smartphones too.
Conclusion
The advancement in display technology makes gadget manufacturers always look out for better options. OLED and AMOLED are blessing in disguise, especially since the cost of the end product becomes very lower. OLED is always looked upon by television manufacturers because of its cost. At the same time, AMOLEDs flexibility makes it more liked by smartphone manufacturers.
OLED has still not been confidently used in the small screen industries. Of course, AMOLED is a bit expensive than the OLED. The only worry factor is the degradation of the display screen. Though the AMOLED makes viewing angles far better than other display devices, the screen burn-in is an issue with these two too.
References
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pi.1974
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/918227