Over the time, the purpose of using mobile phone or Smartphone has changed. Initially, mobiles were used as a sign of luxury. Comparatively, it has now become a basic necessity of every individual. Smartphone has dramatically transformed the lives of individuals. It has now become a mini-computer that everyone carries in their pocket. It is no longer used to take calls only. You can multiple things at your fingertips in a few seconds.
Before purchasing any Smartphone, everyone goes through a list of specifications. This list includes display type, screen size, battery backup, supported operating system, total internal memory, and many others. Today, we have brought a comprehensive study of the major types of display technologies available nowadays.
In this article, we will introduce you to the OLED and AMOLED display technologies. We will discuss the properties of both display technologies followed by the difference between them.
Let us discuss OLED and AMOLED, one-by-one.
OLED
OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. The OLED display contains an LED which is comprised of an organic material that emits light when the current is passed through it. It is used to display rich and vibrant colors. The OLED is much smaller, flexible and relatively thin as compared to the traditional LEDs. They also consume less power while illustrating dark colors.
The OLEDs are widely used in different areas or fields such as:
- It is used in creating a display for televisions.
- It is also used in developing screens for Smartphone.
- It is widely implemented in creating a computer monitor screen.
- It is also used for creating flexible and bendable lighting, wallpaper and even for transparent lighting.
Different types of OLED, displayed in Figure 1 are as follows:
PMOLED
PMOLED stands for Passive Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. The PMOLEDs are easy to find and much cheaper as compared to other LEDs, but they are not capable of working for a long duration as their lifespan is very short. This type of display is generally used in small devices up to 3 inches.
AMOLED
AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. This type of display is generally used in large platforms. It contains TFT, which further consists of a storage capacitor. It also works on the same principle of OLED displays.
Advantages of OLED
There are various advantages of OLED. Some of them are as follows:
- It provides a good quality display.
- It is cost-effective.
- It is much brighter than LEDs.
- They do not require backlighting.
- It has a much faster response time as compared to the traditional LCDs.
Disadvantages of OLED
There are very few limitations to OLED. Some of them are as follows:
- The lifespan of OLEDs is much shorter as compared to LCD, LED and PDP display technologies.
- The OLEDs have variation in color balance.
- It does not provide resistance against water. Water can easily damage the OLED displays.
AMOLED
AMOLED is short for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. It is based on the active matrix system, having a thin film transistor (TFT) to control the flow of current in each pixel. It basically contains two TFTs in which one is required to start and stop charging of the storage capacitors and other to facilitate the charging of the capacitors. AMOLED offers no limitation on the size of the display. The power consumption of AMOLED is much less than other display technologies. The AMOLED offers incredible performance. It is thinner, lighter and flexible than any other display technology like LED, LCD technology.
The AMOLED display is widely used in mobiles, laptops, and televisions as it offers great performance. SAMSUNG has introduced AMOLED displays in almost every product. For example, Full HD Super AMOLED in Samsung Galaxy S4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Super AMOLED in Samsung Galaxy S3, HD Super AMOLED in Samsung Galaxy Note, and HD Super AMOLED Plus in Samsung Galaxy S3. Apart from this, it is also used in creating the following:
- Smart watches
- Tablets
- Portable music players
- Games consoles
- Music production hardware
- Digital cameras
Advantages of AMOLED
There are various advantages of AMOLED. Some of them are as follows:
- It can be easily embedded into a display of any size.
- It has a much faster refresh rate as compared to PMOLED.
- They are also used in industrial applications.
- They offer much better viewing angles as compared to the IPS LCD.
Disadvantages of AMOLED
There are very few limitations to AMOLED. Some of them are as follows:
- The quality of the display degraded with the time. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of the AMOLED display.
- The AMOLED display is very likely to screen burn-in.
- The AMOLED displays are very costly as compared to other display technologies.
So far, we have discussed OLED and AMOLED display technologies. Now, we will look at some of the differences between OLED and AMOLED display technology.
Technology
OLED is made up of thin layers of the organic component which emits light when current is passed through it. In this technology, each pixel transmits its own light. On the other side, AMOLED consists of an additional layer of thin film transistors (TFTs). In AMOLED, the storage capacitors are used to maintain the pixel states.
Display
OLED display much deeper blacks as compared to the AMOLED displays. You cannot see the screen in AMOLED display under direct sunlight. The AMOLED display quality is much better than the OLEDs as it contains an additional layer of TFTs and follows backplane technologies.
The AMOLED displays are much flexible as compared to the OLED display. Hence, they are much costly than the OLED display.
Working
The OLED devices are simple solid-state devices, which consists of a thin layer of organic compounds in an emissive electroluminescent layer where the electricity is formed.
These organic compounds are present between the protective layers of glass or plastic. Comparatively, AMOLED comprises of an active matrix of OLED pixels along with an additional layer of TFTs. This additional layer is responsible for controlling the flow of current in each pixel.
Contrast Ratio
The OLED display offers a high level of control over pixels and hence can be turned off completely, which further results in excellent contrast ratio as compared to the AMOLED displays and less power consumption. On the other side, AMOLED has faster refresh rates than OLEDs. Also, they offer great artificial contrast ratio as each pixel transmits light but consumes more power than OLEDs.
Display size
OLED displays are comparatively much thinner as compared to the LCDs. Hence, it provides more efficient and bright displays. OLED provides support for large display sizes as compared to the traditional LCDs. AMOLEDs removes the limitation of display sizes. It can be fitted into any display size.
So, on the basis of the above-mentioned points of difference between OLED and AMOLED display, you can choose any of the two display technology as per your convenience. Both are good and offer great performance and can be customised according to your requirements.