Buying a TV once upon a time was as simple as going to the store, choosing the size you want to buy, paying and then waiting for the TV to be delivered to your home. A 21″ TV, for example, is too big to put in a car and is also dangerous to handle alone because it is heavy. Small screen sizes and increasingly heavy TVs limit cathode ray tube (CRT) technology. This ushered in the era of thin LCD screen TVs.
However, in 2023, there are so many different types of panels for smart TVs that can be purchased that it confuses consumers. We ourselves have problems distinguishing between the panels that exist because TV screen technology moves faster than phone, tablet and computer screens. This article will hopefully help you distinguish the types of TV screens and then you can choose which panel is most compatible with your needs.
LCD TV
This is the cheapest panel synonymous with laptop and desktop monitors. It's thin but the downside is that it can't offer. True black color because it needs a light source from behind. The light source from the back is a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL). As a result, the color that should be black looks gray. Another drawback is that the viewing angle is less than satisfactory and cannot be seen clearly in a well-lit room. At the end of 2007, LCD TVs overtook CRT TVs for the first time in history.
LCD TVs are thinner than CRTs but are very thick by model standards. A 2-3 inch thick TV is normal because the CCFL needs to shine all the way through to provide perfect illumination of the visuals you want to display.
LED LCD TV
LED TV is the same as LCD TV except CCFL is replaced by light emitting diode (LED). This reduces energy consumption, heat production and a brighter screen can be achieved. The first LED TV was released by Sony in 2005. Because of its better technology, it quickly replaced LCD TV with CCFL. Now all LCD TVs are of the LED type and no more of the CCFL type are offered.
Under LED TV there are several different technologies used. The Edge Lit type places the LED lights only on the part of the TV frame. As a result the image is darker at the edges and darker in the middle. When displaying an image that should be black, the near side of the TV frame will appear brighter.
Then there is also a Direct LED (DLED) that puts lights on the entire back of the panel. Each light can be turned off to display a dark image in an image. This technology is called Local Dimming. Lastly is the Full Array which has more lights on the back for better screen brightness control compared to DLEDs.
OLED TVs
Organic LED (OLED) panels that many must know about its advantages and disadvantages because it is now the most used panel on smartphones. OLED does not require an external light source to illuminate the screen. On the other hand, the OLED layer emits its own light directly. Each pixel consists of red, green and blue LEDs. The combination of three LEDs will produce different colors on the surface of the OLED screen.
Because there is no external light, the OLED panel is getting thinner. The Samsung OLED 4K S95B that we have reviewed before has a TV panel that is thinner than a smartphone. OLED screens are also more flexible allowing them to be used for curved TV screens. Another advantage of OLED panels is blacks are blacker but in terms of LED TV's description is better.
Another drawback is the burn-in issue where the image remains on the screen even after the TV is turned off. If the TV only displays one channel for a long time, the logo (for example TV3) will "burn" directly on the screen which distorts the view.
QLED TV
Quantum Dot LED (QLED) is actually Samsung's answer to the lack of OLED TV technology. Basically, QLED is an LED LCD panel with quantum dot technology with full array lights. A quantum dot is a nano-sized semiconductor particle that emits different colors when receiving a light source.
Billions of QDs are placed between LCD screen layers of different sizes. The color emitted is dependent on the size of the QD. A QD that emits a green color, for example, has a diameter of 30 atoms and a red one has a diameter of 50 atoms. QLED panels can display higher brightness than LED TVs and OLEDs without burn-in issues. But in terms of color accuracy and contrast, OLED is still better.
Another advantage of QLED is that it is cheaper than OLED for larger TV sizes. "Cheap" is subjective here because the selling price of QLED TVs is still more expensive when compared to LED TVs. Among the companies that manufacture QLED TVs are Samsung, Xiaomi and Hisense.
Neo QLED TV
Lastly is the Neo QLED which is actually an LCD panel only with a quantum dot layer and a light source from a smaller mini LED genie. Each mini LED lamp is 1/40 the size of the LED lamp used on the QLED panel. Neo QLED technology was introduced by Samsung in 2021 to further improve QLED technology on their TVs.
With a combination of mini LED and QD, better black levels and contrast can be achieved due to a more precisely controllable light source. It is still NOT as good as OLED in terms of color accuracy and true black levels. But the gap between LCD and OLED is now narrowing on the Neo QLED panel.
This panel also has no burn in issue and is able to achieve an HDR brightness level of up to 2000 nits. Neo QLED is a trademark used by Samsung. LG has the same technology using the trademark QNED.
MicroLED TV
MicroLED also known as mLED, micro-LED, mLED or µLED is a technology that goes beyond the capabilities of OLED. A smaller LED light source is used which allows for more precise control of brightness and blacks. MicroLED panels produce their own light sources like OLEDs. On a 110" microLED TV, for example, there are 25 million LED lights used.
Unlike OLED, an inorganic material such as gallium nitrate is used on the microLED panel layer. The panel layer is also thinner than OLED. It can burn brighter and longer without worrying about the burn in issue. This higher brightness than OLED is achieved without sacrificing the display's opaque blacks and accurate colors. This is the pinnacle of TV panel technology as it combines the strengths of OLED and LED TV technology.
The microLED panel is also modular and can be combined like LEGO blocks to create a giant TV like Samsung The Wall with a screen ratio according to the buyer's wishes. The disadvantage of microLED is that it is very expensive and is only offered in sizes 110″ and above.
This is a list of panel types used on smart televisions in the Malaysian market right now. Hopefully with this article there will be no more confusion about which type of panel is most compatible with your needs.