WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.120 Remember when OLED was just OLED? 00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:09.040 Perfect blacks, gorgeous colors, and one 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:12.080 price tag that stung. Simple. Now it's W 00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:14.400 OLED, QD OLED, penta stack this, tandem 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.320 that. And with the prices ranging from 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.000 shockingly affordable to, oh my god, 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.520 that's 2 months rent. It's more 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.600 important than ever to know what these 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:23.519 buzzwords mean. So today, we're breaking 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.359 it all down. What these OLED flavors 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:28.720 actually mean, how they work, and which 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:30.720 one is right for you. The OG OLED type 00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:33.680 that dominated the high-end TV segment 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:35.920 in the 2010s was LG's W OLED. You could 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:38.000 say WOLED, but I don't. Where the W 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:40.559 stands for white because the pixels only 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.040 emit white light, which color filters 00:00:40.559 --> 00:00:45.040 then separate into red, green, and blue. 00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:47.520 There's also an extra white sub pixel 00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:49.760 for brightness. Think of WLED like 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:51.840 sticking colored tape over a flashlight. 00:00:49.760 --> 00:00:53.840 It works, but the filter absorbs light, 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.680 so you need more power to hit the same 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:58.079 brightness. That's where the extra white 00:00:55.680 --> 00:01:00.079 sub pixel comes in. But like watering 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.399 down lemonade to make it last longer, it 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:05.040 dilutes color saturation in bright, high 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:06.799 dynamic range scenes. W OLED's been on 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:09.280 the market the longest, and it earned 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:11.280 that run until tandem stacks and quantum 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.280 dots showed up to challenge it. W OLED 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.840 was widely considered the best TV panel 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:18.400 money could buy and arguably the best 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:20.479 ever made. And while OLED wasn't the 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:22.479 first type of OLED to hit the market, it 00:01:20.479 --> 00:01:25.439 was the first to come in large screen 00:01:22.479 --> 00:01:27.439 sizes. Before that, RGB OLEDs like your 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.360 phone screen were already doing the 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.560 whole every pixel emits its own light 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:32.640 and can be turned on and off 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:35.280 individually for individual contrast and 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:37.439 inky black levels thing, just not on the 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.360 big screen in your living room. But LG's 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:42.000 engineers were up against a fundamental 00:01:39.360 --> 00:01:42.960 manufacturing wall and it came down to 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.040 size. 00:01:42.960 --> 00:01:47.840 >> The main problem they tried to solve was 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:50.079 the fact that you cannot deposit and 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.439 pattern OLEDs on a very large substrate. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.079 So, you know, when you make TVs, you 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:56.799 make them on glasses that are like 3 m 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:59.680 by 3 m size, much larger than what you 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:02.159 use for smartphones. The fine metal mask 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:05.280 used to print RGB pixels on phone 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:07.840 substrates literally sags at TV scale, 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.599 causing blurry and uneven prints. LG's 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.640 workound was to ditch colored pixels 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:15.040 entirely. Big W. But there are a few 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:17.120 L's, too. Losing all that light to the 00:02:15.040 --> 00:02:19.520 inefficient color filters meant low peak 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:21.200 brightness and shorter lifespan. and 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.120 cranking up the voltage sent to the 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:25.760 pixels to address the brightness issue 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.840 only exacerbated the lifespan problem. 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:30.560 >> OLED devices are quite limited in their 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:32.800 lifetime. As OLEDs move from smartphones 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.040 and smart watches to applications that 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:36.959 need higher lifetime like laptops and 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:38.640 automotives, this is a challenge that 00:02:36.959 --> 00:02:40.959 display makers had to solve. 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:42.879 >> And blue is the weak link. Today's blue 00:02:40.959 --> 00:02:44.720 pixels need more energy than red or 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.800 green to hit the same brightness. And 00:02:44.720 --> 00:02:48.959 they don't last as long doing it. Every 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:51.200 OLED variant that's come out after W 00:02:48.959 --> 00:02:53.120 OLED is essentially a different answer 00:02:51.200 --> 00:02:55.760 to that problem. And we're going to 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.840 break down how they do it and how well 00:02:55.760 --> 00:03:00.480 or not well right after this message 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:02.800 from our sponsor, War Thunder. It's a 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:05.280 comprehensive vehicular combat game with 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:07.040 an emphasis on realism. Each of the over 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.040 2500 different planes, helicopter, 00:03:07.040 --> 00:03:10.800 ships, and more are modeled after their 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:12.800 realworld counterparts. 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QD OLED, that's theirs, uses 00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:43.840 blue OLED emitters as the base and 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:46.319 covers the red and green sub pixels with 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:49.120 quantum dots. tiny nano crystals that 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.920 absorb the blue photons and remit them 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:53.920 as vivid red or green. Cutie OLED is 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:55.760 essentially X-Men's mystique. The pixels 00:03:53.920 --> 00:03:58.000 don't hide behind a color. They morph 00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:59.840 into it. Color conversion rather than 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.519 color filtering. At the end of the day, 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.920 it's kind of a weird architecture 00:04:01.519 --> 00:04:05.680 because the blue OLED is the most 00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:08.319 challenging of OLEDs to make. It's the 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:10.080 least efficient and the least, you know, 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:12.400 the lifetime is the most limited. So 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.959 they took like the worst performing 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.320 emitter and had to you know convert it 00:04:14.959 --> 00:04:17.919 into the other colors. 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:19.600 >> The reason they start with blue is 00:04:17.919 --> 00:04:22.160 because blue is the highest energy 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:24.320 color. So you shine it into a quantum 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:26.320 dot and step the energy level down to 00:04:24.320 --> 00:04:28.960 whatever color you want. In our case, 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:30.960 greens and reds that are ridiculously 00:04:28.960 --> 00:04:33.120 pure. This all amounts to great color 00:04:30.960 --> 00:04:35.840 accuracy with particularly stunning reds 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:38.639 and golds and higher brightness without 00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:41.199 the shorter lifespan. And with that, 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:45.040 display technology was solved and they 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:46.320 lived happily ever after. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:48.240 Just kidding. There's always a 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:50.160 trade-off, right? The downside is that 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:52.639 the conversion trick forces the sub 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:55.520 pixel layout from a classic sidebyside 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.600 RGB stripe into a triangle. If you've 00:04:55.520 --> 00:04:59.360 ever gotten uncomfortably close to a QD 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:02.000 OLED monitor and thought your eyes were 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.160 broken, they're not. The faint color 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:06.400 fringing around fine text is the 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.880 triangle layout doing its thing. For 00:05:06.400 --> 00:05:11.360 gaming monitors, QD OLED wins on color 00:05:08.880 --> 00:05:13.120 volume, but the text fringing means you 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.600 might not want to be working on it all 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:17.360 day. But technology marches ever 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.919 forward. The newest innovation making 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:23.039 the rounds in 2026 is something called 00:05:19.919 --> 00:05:24.880 Tandem or Pentastack OLED. The idea 00:05:23.039 --> 00:05:26.800 behind the Tandem is that you simply 00:05:24.880 --> 00:05:29.919 have one OLED device on top of the 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:32.160 other. Each level can emit at half the 00:05:29.919 --> 00:05:33.840 brightness. In total, you get the full 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.479 brightness or double the brightness of 00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:39.199 each layer, but the lifetime is longer. 00:05:36.479 --> 00:05:41.520 >> Samsung's version Pentatum keeps the 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.320 QDLE approach with blue emitters plus 00:05:41.520 --> 00:05:46.960 quantum dots, but stacks multiple blue 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:49.600 layers to feed the conversion. The dots 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:51.600 must feed. And most importantly, they 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:53.840 actually got the normal RGB stripe 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:56.400 layout to work. So, text fringing is 00:05:53.840 --> 00:05:59.680 finally fixed. For LG's part, their 00:05:56.400 --> 00:06:02.000 primary RGB tandem ditches the W OLED 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:04.479 color filters entirely, separating red, 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:06.960 green, and blue emitting layers. So each 00:06:04.479 --> 00:06:08.639 color is produced directly. Two of those 00:06:06.960 --> 00:06:10.560 layers are blue though because blue 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:13.039 still needs the help. So they call it a 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:14.319 tandem stack even though it's more than 00:06:13.039 --> 00:06:15.759 two layers. Like you say, it's four, 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.360 even five layers today in some 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.880 architectures. So, it's a confusing 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:21.120 name, but at the end of the day, the 00:06:18.880 --> 00:06:23.520 idea the more is that the more layers 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:25.919 you add, then you can drive the OLED 00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:28.960 brighter and have longer lifetimes. 00:06:25.919 --> 00:06:31.680 >> LG shipped multistack displays in the G5 00:06:28.960 --> 00:06:35.199 last year, and the C6H is now bringing 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:37.039 them to 77 and 83 in sizes, the first 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:39.520 time the tech isn't locked behind a 00:06:37.039 --> 00:06:41.199 flagship. But which tech should you buy? 00:06:39.520 --> 00:06:43.360 Well, you may love the nitty-gritty 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.880 details, but here's a reality check. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:46.800 when you go to a store today, I think, 00:06:44.880 --> 00:06:49.199 and you look at these panels, the image 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.280 quality is stunning in whatever QD OLED 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:52.960 or W OLED you're going to buy. So, 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:53.600 they're pretty interchangeable these 00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:55.360 days. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.120 >> Ron here has been covering OLEDs for 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.360 over 20 years. So, take that as 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.599 permission to relax. Every one of these 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.880 panels is genuinely incredible. But if 00:07:01.599 --> 00:07:05.599 you want to learn more about how OLED 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:07.919 stacks up with LCD, QLED, and exactly 00:07:05.599 --> 00:07:10.960 why some pixels are better than others, 00:07:07.919 --> 00:07:12.240 click right here. I'm not going to point 00:07:10.960 --> 00:07:13.520 because YouTubers are just always 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:16.080 pointing the wrong spot with these 00:07:13.520 --> 00:07:16.080 things.