In this year's sensational OLED gaming monitors, it's common to hear feedback that they're too dark. This criticism casts a shadow over an otherwise stunning color and perfect contrast. Photometric measurements seem to confirm this suspicion, showing that they sometimes offer less than half the brightness of traditional LCD displays. But is OLED really too dark?
To better understand what makes OLED unique, I interviewed Jacky Qiu, vice president and co-founder of OTI Luminicics. OTI is not a panel manufacturer, but its research on OLED technology is critical to how major companies use OLED today. According to Qiu, OLED is dull for a reason – be careful what you ask for.
OTI is a company with a deep understanding of OLED technology. Its main achievement is CPM patterning, which opens a "window" to place the sensor on the display under the material. Qiu uses the camera, IR emitter, and IR camera in Face ID as examples to illustrate how to implement them.
However, for our purposes, the company is researching OLED technology, backed by companies like Samsung, LG, and General Display. So, my first question focused on the feedback that people often hear about OLED panels being too dark. Qiu points out the fundamental difference between LCD and OLED: "With LCD, you actually have a backlight....You can be as bright as you would with it. ”
As Qiu points out, LCD and OLED are fundamentally different. This distinction makes the brightness comparison between LCD and OLED a doomed comparison: "You compare the things used for lighting to the things that you can use very, very brightly compared to each cell on each monitor in the same way as a separate little light-emitting diode, but when the lights are off." ”
Since OLED can't rely solely on a bright backlight, it's always a bit darker. Qiu pointed out the example of LED bulbs that you might use in your room, so you can make the light very intense. LCD displays increase contrast by selectively selecting areas of the screen that emit strong light. Certain technologies, such as small LED backlight technology, include a large selection of areas to carefully control the contrast.
Unlike OLED displays, which don't do that. Each pixel is its own light-emitting diode (basically a small channel that conducts current). Therefore, you can't simply turn on the backlight and expect higher brightness. No backlight is present.
The next step in the absence of LCD background light should be to energize the electronics to increase brightness, but this is precisely the part where OLED can be problematic.
The first thing people hear about OLED displays is that they are too dark. Secondly, what people will hear is that they are prone to screen burning. This is a situation where static elements are gradually printed on the screen over time. The solution to this is to choose the screen carefully when buying** and the purpose of use, and clean the screen regularly to avoid dust and grease buildup.
However, the risk of screen burn-in is exaggerated. Qiu said that most use cases do not have the problem of screen burn-in. "Most of the things used, even if they were 10 years ago – such as the PlayStation Vita – burn-in isn't a particularly obvious problem. He added, "As long as you're not using OLED TV 24 7 to watch CNN or watch sports, screen burn-in won't be as obvious." Qiu made it clear: "We are committed to working on OLED, and anything we say should be discounted slightly. ”
Burn-in is a reflection of how much a single light-emitting diode is used. If you place a static element in a specific area and the static element is displayed in that area all the time, the LEDs in that area will wear out faster than the LEDs in areas that display other dynamic content. Modern OLED displays have a few ways to reduce this risk, but these LEDs wear out over time.
To ensure that the display remains consistent over time, modern OLED displays regularly check each pixel and make the necessary adjustments. Qiu also pointed out how modern OLED displays handle the risk of screen burn-in. First of all, when you're in content, the pixels move the position of the static elements, trying to wear down the pixels evenly to reduce the visibility of burn-in. Then, about once a day, the display adjusts the voltage threshold given to the LEDs to ensure that they are consistent. Finally, after approximately every 1,000 hours of use, the display refreshes all LEDs to ensure consistency across the screen. Although the material is still wearing out, these features ensure that you don't see visible burn-in marks at any point.
All these efforts are aimed at delaying the inevitable aging process of organic materials. It degrades over time, but as long as the degradation is uniform, you should not notice burn-in.
So what does this have to do with brightness? You can't avoid the wear and tear of the light-emitting diode, but increasing the current and increasing its brightness will speed up the process. "You can choose to make it brighter or make it last longer," Qiu said. "Usually it's a trade-off. ”
As an example to illustrate this, Qiu points out that it is theoretically possible to increase the brightness by 20%. "Consumers want it a little bit brighter, right? Then it can not just need to be a little brighter, but it can have 15 times longer life. "Then the risk of screen burn-in becomes.
post by tom