The basics
LED (technically LED-backlit LCD): Uses a liquid crystal layer with an LED backlight behind it. The backlight is always on. Liquid crystals block light to create dark areas, but some light always leaks through.
OLED: Each pixel is its own light source. No backlight needed. Pixels can be turned completely off for true black.
Contrast
OLED wins by a wide margin. Since individual pixels turn off completely, OLED achieves true black (zero nits). LCD always has some light leaking through, even in areas that should be black.
Use our Backlight Bleed Test to see how much light your LCD leaks in dark scenes.
Brightness
LED and LCD wins here. Backlit panels can push 1000 to 3000 or more nits in HDR highlights. Most OLED panels peak around 800 to 1500 nits and cannot sustain full-screen brightness at those levels.
Color accuracy
Both technologies can achieve excellent color accuracy. In practice, OLED panels tend to have wider color gamuts out of the box. Use our Color Accuracy test to check your specific display.
Longevity
LCD panels last effectively forever. OLED panels degrade over time, with blue sub-pixels degrading fastest. Modern panels are rated for 100,000 or more hours, but the degradation is gradual and accelerated by high brightness and static content.
Which should you buy?
For movies and HDR content: OLED. The contrast is unmatched for dark scenes and cinema.
For bright office work: LCD. Sustained high brightness without any burn-in risk.
For gaming: Both work well. OLED has instant pixel response time but carries some burn-in risk from static game HUDs. LCD avoids burn-in entirely.