Tipping off là gì

OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode, with the 'organic' part referring to the carbon film that sits inside the panel before the glass screen. 

OLED panels emit their own light when an electric current is passed through, whereas cells in a LCD-LED display require an external light source, like a giant backlight, for brightness.

This backlight is what separated LCD screens from their LED variants. A traditional LCD screen has a backlight (called a cold-cathode fluorescent light, or CCFL) which is uniform across the entire back of the screen.

This means that whether the image is black or white, it is being lit by exactly the same brightness across the panel. This reduces what we call "hotspots," or areas of super bright light, because the actual light source illuminating them is uniform.

If you watch an OLED and compare it to your experience with another kind of TV panel, you'll notice the result is remarkably dark blacks in an image, and when you combine this with the bright whites of an OLED panel, you're left with a fantastically vibrant image overall. 

LG and Panasonic, the most consistent producers of OLED televisions on the planet, like to use the term "infinite contrast" to describe how the self-lighting pixels switch off completely when reproducing black giving it an "absolute" black color instead of a "relative" black that only describes how dark one pixel can get compared to the brightest pixel on the screen.

For years there was a question mark about longevity of OLED panels, while production lines have been impossible to make profitable due to high failure rates. 

But as companies like LG invest billions in development of OLED – with the likes of Philips and Sony joining the fray – its affordability is improving, even if it's still more expensive than competing technologies. Current production issues for LG's most recently-opened TV factory won't be helping that price drop come quicker, either.

The advantages of OLED go beyond simple static image quality, though, to the responsiveness and smoothness of the display itself, meaning gamers and home cinema aficionados are going to absolutely love OLED TV. 

OLED panels are capable of a refresh rate of as low as 0.001ms, which for reference, is around 1,000 times faster than a standard LED-backlit LCD panel, while also being superior to the now-discontinued plasma tech, too.

And, because the lighting source they use is so tiny, the depth of screen sizes has shrunk at the same rate. That means OLED TVs have awesomely deep blacks and bright, peak whites, improved color accuracy as well as smooth responsive motion - and all from a form factor that's just a few millimeters in depth and much lighter than standard TVs.

OLED isn't just a TV technology. It's found in countless premium smartphones, as well as the new Nintendo Switch OLED – an updated twist on the beloved gaming console that packs an OLED screen rather than the LCD display used on the existing Switch and Switch Lite.

Its arrival in a revamped Nintendo gaming console is no accident, though. Nintendo's decision to utilize OLED speaks to the tech's ability to deliver premium image quality, and we only expect it to enhance the experience of handheld gaming, just as it's enhanced the viewing experience of countless OLED TVs.

An OLED Switch should make for even more vibrant colors and improved contrast – crucial for the increasingly lavish and detailed graphics of modern games – with the deep blacks associated with OLED panels ensuring stark images in games such as the upcoming Breath of the Wild 2. 

OLED TVs have been on the market since 2012, and a range of manufacturers have tackled the technology over the years. It used to be the case that OLEDs were produced by just Samsung and LG.

Citing its cost and how difficult it was to produce, Samsung dropped the technology and has made clear it has no intention of restarting production any time soon. Back in 2020, Hisense ditched its OLED focus too.

However, LG has been releasing OLED sets consistently over the past few years and the LG TV line-up for 2022 looks even more promising. 

LG has announced that its OLED evo panels will be available in more models this year, thanks to its arrival of the popular C-Series OLED TV. In terms of construction, LG says it's reducing the weight of a number of its OLED TVs by up to 50% moving fowards, too. 

The LG OLED TV models for 2022 include the LG Z2 8K OLED, which is the brand's latest high-end 8K OLED and comes in 77-inch and 88-inch sizes. There's also the LG G2 4K OLED, which is LG’s luxury Gallery Series and this year it's available in a number of new sizes, including the absolutely massive 97-inch model. 

For smaller and slightly more affordable choices, there's the LG C2 4K OLED, which is available in a range of sizes including 42-inches, which is new for 2022. We're also expecting a new B-series TV in the form of the LG B2 4K OLED and a sequel to last year’s A1 OLED, the LG A2 4K OLED.

It's still a little early in the year for us to pass judgement on these models yet, but if you're not into LG TVs, there are still plenty more OLED TVs from other brands available to buy now too. 

Panasonic also makes OLED TVs and at CES 2022 entered the big leagues in terms of screen size with its new 2022 flagship, the LZ2000 OLED TV – it's the first time the TV manufacturer has offered a 77-inch OLED.

From the 2021 range, the JZ1500 is a step-down OLED TV, though one that still makes use of the custom 'Master HDR OLED' panel usually reserved for Panasonic's flagship. There's also the more affordable, mid-spec Panasonic JZ980.

Although it's not just the biggest brands that have OLED offerings. For example, the Vizio OLED 4K TV isn't a perfect TV, but it's affordable and offers stunning 4K HDR pictures, as well as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support.

For more of the latest and greatest OLED TVs, head to our best OLED TVs guide to see the top models we've had the pleasure of reviewing on the site – or our OLED TV deals page for the cheapest sets going right now.

OLED TVs are definitely getting cheaper, but they're still a long way from what we'd call affordable. 

We don't have all the latest prices details of the upcoming 2022 TVs, but the prices of LG TVs last year began at $1,399 / £1,099 / AU$2,130 (that's the LG A1 OLED's price tag, specifically). 

Those made by Panasonic and Sony are usually more expensive still, but we are seeing cheaper competitors enter the market, like the Vizio OLED 4K TV, which starts at $1,299.99 for the 55-inch model.

The scarcity of OLED TVs on the market has meant that those small number of players in the market are more or less free to charge exactly what they want. An increase in competition, though, is helping to change that, as is the introduction of a new 48-inch OLED size and a scaling up of production helping to drop the cost of budget OLED TVs.

Occasionally a year-old model will now drop to three-figure sums, though, with the Vizio H1 OLED selling for $899 in flash sales, or the Philips 754 going for £999 in the UK – and we're definitely at something of a tipping point. The arrival of 42-inch OLEDs down the line would certainly help matters too.

It's definitely worth keeping an eye out for end-of-year sales. Black Friday and Cyber Monday usually have numerous good TV deals on OLED displays – and given their usually high starting price, you can often get hundreds discounted at the right time. Cheaper OLED TV deals though can still see notable price cuts that bring them more within reach of mid-range buyers.

You're going to see a price premium on most OLED display gadgets other than TVs, too. The new Nintendo Switch OLED costs $349.99 / £309.99 / AU$539, which is a notable uptick from the $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$449 price tag of the mainline LCD model.

Burn in, or image retention, is when an image or sequence is played so often and continuously on a television set that it leaves a permanent mark on the panel – obviously not ideal for a home television.

You don't particularly need to worry, as it largely happens only when displaying a static image or sequence on repeat, as with a display unit in a showroom or retail store. You should get several years warranty, anyhow, and we don't see many home cinema fans using their OLED TV in this way.

TV makers like LG are also working to limit the risk of this, with screen saver features, a Screen Shift function that "moves the screen slightly at regular intervals to preserve image quality", and "Logo Luminance Adjustment, which can detect static logos on the screen and reduce brightness to help decrease permanent image retention" (via LG.com (opens in new tab)).

But if you're planning on leaving your TV for countless hours at a time – say, to parent the children in your absence, or to play the same looping video over and over – then OLED may not be the right panel technology for you.

OLED is an expensive panel technology that has finally managed to gain traction and surprised us over the past few years.

It spent so long as an outlier that we wrote an opinion piece in 2014 about how the technology might be dead. We've since done a complete U-turn, with our latest 2022 opinion piece in which we admit we want an OLED TV this year and think you should buy one too. 

That's because we saw plenty of stunning OLED models hit the market back in 2021 alone and the line-up for 2022 looks even stronger. Although price points are still taking an age to drop within reach of regular consumers.

But just because OLED isn't affordable yet doesn't mean it's not getting better. Even at the bottom end, a $1,200 / £1,200 price tag isn't what we'd consider budget, but it's a great deal cheaper than what OLED was retailing for even just a year ago.

That trend is always going to be good news for the consumer, though manufacturers may have other things in mind.