OLED vs LCD: Which TV is more expensive and why?
When you look around the TVs in the market, you’ll see all kinds of labels like OLED, QLED, QD-OLED, QNED, and many more.
It can get confusing, right?
The truth is, there are only two fundamental TV technologies: LCD and OLED.
All the other names you see are just improved or upgraded versions of these two.
In this article, we’ll clear up the confusion by showing you which TVs are really LCDs and which are OLEDs.
We’ll also look at which ones usually cost more, which are more affordable, and why those price differences exist.
OLED
An OLED TV uses organic LEDs in every pixel, making each pixel self-emissive.
Because of this, the pixels can switch on and off individually, creating perfect blacks in dark scenes.
This leads to exceptional contrast, lifelike colors, and stunning visuals that makes OLED TVs stand out.
LCD
An LCD TV is often called an LED TV these days as it uses a backlight made up of many LEDs in order to produce images on the screen.
The number and size of these LEDs can differ depending on the TV’s price and picture quality.
Since an LCD TV relies on a backlight, it can’t match the deep blacks and contrast levels of an OLED.
However, the LED backlight usually makes LCDs brighter than OLEDs, though this is not always the case.
Which is cheaper in the small size segment, OLED or LCD?
LCD TVs are available from as small as 24 or 32 inches of size, while OLED models don’t come in sizes below 42 inches.
Another difference lies in the availability of HD resolution.
LCD TVs can be found in HD or HD Ready options, whereas OLED TVs start only at 4K resolution.
A 4K TV requires far more pixels than an HD TV.
In an entry-level OLED, millions of tiny organic LEDs are placed behind each pixel, whereas an entry-level LCD uses only a few dozen LEDs in its backlight.
This makes the manufacturing of OLEDs much more complex and as a result, they are never as cheap as LCDs.
For example, you can easily find a 32-inch LCD TV for around $200, but finding an OLED under $500 is quite rare.
That said, when you compare an entry-level LCD with an entry-level OLED side by side, the difference is huge.
The LCD may show greyish blacks, poor contrast, and only average picture quality, while the OLED delivers stunning visuals with perfect blacks and infinite contrast that truly bring out the realism of details.
Takeaway: OLEDs are costlier to make than LCDs, which is why they’re rarely cheap. But when compared side by side, OLEDs clearly outperform LCDs with true blacks, infinite contrast, and next level picture quality.
Which is more expensive in the mid size segment, LCD or OLED?
In the mid-size range, say from 42/43 inches up to 65 inches, you’ll find plenty of choices in both OLED and LCD TVs.
OLED models are usually called simply “OLED”, while LCD TVs are marketed under different names like QLED, NanoCell, Mini LED, Neo QLED, and QNED, each placed in different price brackets.
Most TVs in this segment come with 4K resolution, some 65-inch models even offer 8K.
When it comes to pricing, OLEDs in this size range are generally more expensive than LCDs.
For instance, the most affordable 42-inch OLED costs around $700, while many of the 43-inch LCDs are available for about $500 or even less.
The lower-priced LCD models are usually edge-lit or direct-lit and often lack local dimming features.
Because of this, their contrast and overall picture quality fall too short compared to OLEDs.
To narrow this gap, TV makers add advanced technologies to LCDs, such as full-array local dimming and mini LED backlighting.
Some also use quantum dots to produce richer colors and a wide color gamut.
For example, Samsung calls its LCD TVs by the name “Neo QLED”, which combine quantum dots with mini LED backlighting.
Mini LED TVs use thousands of tiny LEDs which are grouped into numerous dimming zones that can switch on and off independently.
This allows them to deliver deep blacks, and with the help of quantum dots, they produce bright, vivid, and accurate colors.
Thanks to the dense LED backlight, these TVs can also get much brighter than regular LED TVs.
That said, OLEDs have also adopted new technologies to keep up—Samsung’s QD-OLEDs use quantum dots, while LG’s MLA OLEDs use micro lens arrays to boost brightness and compete with the powerful mini LED LCDs.
Because of these advancements, high-end OLEDs and LCDs now fall into similar premium price brackets, much higher than standard models.
For example, Samsung’s 42-inch S90F QD-OLED and 43-inch QN90F Neo QLED both cost around $1.1k.
Moving above, both of their 65-inch sizes are priced at about $1.6k.
Their prices stay very close up to 77 inches, but beyond that, the gap widens considerably, about which we’ll explore in the next section.
Takeaway: Basic LCDs can’t match OLED quality, but features like local dimming, mini LED, and quantum dots help a lot.
Which is the priciest TV in the large size segment, OLED or LCD?
In the large-size segment, by which we refer to 77 inches and above size, most LCDs are premium mini LED models with quantum dots, such as Samsung’s Neo QLEDs and LG’s QNEDs.
At this level, TVs are commonly available in both 4K and 8K resolutions.
Earlier in the mid-size segment, we compared Samsung’s QN90F QLED and S90F OLED, which were priced quite close to each other.
That said, it would cost you around $2.2k for the 75-inch QN90F and $2.3k for the 77-inch S90F.
However, as we move into larger sizes, the price gap grows significantly.
For example, the 85-inch QN90F is priced at $3k while the 83-inch S90F OLED costs about $4.3k.
Takeaway: In very large sizes, OLED prices rise much faster than LCDs, creating a big gap despite similar pricing in smaller segments.
Which one costs more, 8K LCD or 8K OLED?
Manufacturing an 8K TV, whether OLED or LCD comes with extremely high costs.
The reason being that an 8K display packs four times as many pixels as a 4K screen.
For an 8K LCD, this means thousands of dimming zones are needed to accurately control the massive number of pixels.
While for an 8K OLED, the challenge is even greater, as each of its roughly 33 million pixels requires its own organic LED to become self emissive.
For instance, let’s look at the prices of two flagship 8K models.
The 85 inch size variant of Samsung’s QN990F Neo QLED 8K TV is priced at about $7k while the LG’s 88-inch Z3 OLED 8K TV is priced close to a whooping $25k.
OLED vs LCD: Which TV is more expensive overall?
In the small or entry-level size segment, LCD (commonly called LED) TVs are far cheaper than OLEDs.
Moving to the mid-size range (42/43 inches to 65 inches), OLEDs are still usually more expensive, though the best mini LED LCDs are priced competitively with them.
In the large-size category of 77 inches and above, OLEDs again cost the same or more than LCDs of similar size.
When it comes to 8K resolution, the manufacturing complexity makes OLEDs far pricier than most 8K LCDs.
Only the best mini LED TVs, like Samsung’s Neo QLED, come close in price.
Takeaway: Overall, OLED TVs are generally more expensive than LCDs. The only size segment where pricing overlaps is mid-size, while in entry-level and large sizes, OLEDs remain significantly costlier than LCDs.
