OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, meaning each pixel creates its own light. This is beneficial because it allows for:
• True blacks: pixels can completely turn off
• Better contrast
• More vibrant colors
• Thinner screens
• Better viewing angles
• Faster response times (great for gaming and video)
However, OLED displays also have a few downsides:
• They're more expensive
• They can experience burn-in over time
• They are usually less bright in direct sunlight compared to top LCDs
• They can be more fragile on phones
On the other hand, LCDs, meaning Liquid Crystal Displays, have a backlight that produces all of the screen’s light, while the pixels only change colors. Some advantages of LCDs include:
• They're cheaper
• They're often more durable
• They do not suffer from burn-in
• They can still look very good (especially IPS LCDs)
However, LCDs are often thicker, have less color differentiation, and cannot achieve true blacks like OLEDs because there is always some light shining through.