OLED vs QLED: Which one is better outdoor TV?
Picture this: it’s a sunny winter day and you’re chilling on the couch outside with your family.
Now imagine how awesome it would be to watch your favorite show together right there.
To make that happen, you’d need a super bright TV that can handle all the glare and still give you a crystal-clear picture without any annoying reflections.
In this article, we are going to compare between OLED and QLED TVs to see which ones are perfect for outdoor viewing.
OLED
OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode.
In an OLED TV, there are tiny organic LEDs placed right behind each pixel.
This means every pixel lights up on its own, making the screen what’s called a “self-emissive display.”
Since each pixel can be turned on or off individually, OLED TVs can produce perfect blacks and incredibly high contrast — one of their biggest advantages.
QLED
QLED stands for Quantum Light Emitting Diode.
A QLED TV uses LCD technology and relies on an LED backlight to light up its pixels.
The light emitted by the LEDs hits quantum dots which then produce pure, monochromatic colors.
Because of this, QLED TVs are great at delivering a wide range of rich, true-to-life colors.
OLED vs QLED: Which TV is better suited for outdoor use?
For outdoor use, a TV must have high brightness and glare resistance.
OLED and QLED models with exceptionally high brightness levels are suitable for this purpose.
We’ll compare both types of TVs based on the specific features needed for optimal outdoor performance.
Brightness and reflection handling
Peak brightness is a crucial factor when choosing a TV for outdoor use.
Generally, QLED TVs are brighter than OLEDs, but this isn’t always the case.
Newer OLED models, like Samsung’s QD-OLEDs and LG’s MLA-based OLEDs, offer significantly improved brightness and excel at handling reflections and reducing glare.
QLEDs can achieve high brightness thanks to their LED backlighting.
When they incorporate mini LEDs instead of standard ones, their peak brightness can reach amazingly high levels, with some mini LED QLEDs exceeding 4000 nits.
Moreover, many mini LED TVs can get very bright in SDR which makes them particularly effective at battling glare and reflections in bright outdoor environments.
That being said, the best QLEDs can achieve higher brightness levels in both HDR and SDR content compared to the best OLEDs.
Winner: QLED
Contrast and black levels
While contrast is crucial for a TV’s performance in a dark room, it also plays a key role in bright environments.
The greater the contrast between bright and dark areas, the more lifelike the picture appears.
QLED TVs generally have lower contrast than OLEDs due to the LED backlight, which can’t turn off completely.
However, there are ways to enhance the contrast ratio in QLEDs.
For example, QLEDs using VA panels offer better native contrast compared to standard LCDs.
When equipped with a mini LED backlight, they can achieve even higher contrast thanks to multiple dimming zones that can turn on and off independently.
This significantly reduces blooming and allows for much deeper black levels, bringing the contrast closer to that of OLEDs.
Winner: OLED
Color Gamut
A QLED TV can produce a wide color gamut thanks to its use of quantum dots, which emit pure monochromatic light in specific colors.
Similarly, an OLED TV also offers a wide color gamut, as each self-emissive pixel can emit its own distinct color of light.
As a result, both QLED and OLED TVs deliver a vibrant and wide range of colors.
Winner: Both
HDR Performance
HDR performance on a TV is primarily determined by its contrast and color volume.
The brighter the colors are against a dark background, the more vibrant the picture appears in a bright environment.
High-quality QLEDs and OLEDs typically offer similar color gamuts. However, achieving a high color volume requires a high peak brightness.
The best OLEDs, such as QD-OLEDs and MLA-based OLEDs, are capable of reaching very high peak brightness levels, which allows them to display exceptional color volume.
The top mini LED TVs also achieve high brightness, producing vivid, punchy colors on the screen.
So, the HDR performance of high-end OLEDs and QLEDs is pretty much on par with each other.
That said, if you’re picking a TV for outdoor use, it needs to have extremely high brightness to combat glare and show bright, vibrant details.
The best option for this would be a top-tier mini LED QLED TV.
Winner: QLED
Viewing Angles
In an OLED TV, each pixel acts as its own light source, allowing them to turn off completely when no light is needed, thus resulting in perfect blacks.
This is also why OLEDs offer such wide viewing angles—picture quality stays consistent no matter where you sit.
On the other hand, QLED TVs don’t have self-emissive pixels.
They usually use VA panels for better picture quality, but this comes at the cost of narrower viewing angles.
As a result, the picture quality on a QLED TV tends to degrade as you move away from the center of the screen.
While the mini LED backlight in some QLEDs does help improve viewing angles a bit by offering better control over different areas of the display, it still doesn’t match the wide viewing angles that OLEDs provide.
Winner: OLED
Which TV is better for outdoor viewing: OLED or QLED?
For the best viewing experience outdoors in sunlight, a TV should ideally have as high a peak brightness as possible.
When comparing QLED and OLED, both can perform quite well with their high-end models.
However, we can look at two specific cases to get more nuanced answers.
Which TV is better for outdoor viewing during the day — QLED or OLED?
A high-end mini LED QLED TV, such as Samsung The Terrace, is great for outdoor viewing.
It is dust and water resistant, offers exceptional brightness, excellent reflection handling due to high HDR as well as SDR peak brightness, high contrast, and good viewing angles.
While it is quite expensive, other good mini LED TVs can still perform well for outdoor use.
That said, you should pay special attention to the viewing angles too, as in an outdoor environment, family members might not always sit directly in front of the screen.
Bright OLEDs like the LG G4 and Samsung S95D can also serve the purpose very well, however a high-end mini LED TV has the advantage of no risk of pixel degradation or burn-in, allowing it to reach higher and higher brightness levels without concerns.
Which TV is better suited for outdoor viewing in the evening or at night — QLED or OLED?
If you plan to watch TV outdoors in the evening or at night, rather than during the day, any good OLED TV would be a great choice.
Models like the LG C2 are excellent at handling moderate glare, and if your budget allows, the LG G2 takes it even further.
In a dark environment under the night sky, an OLED will truly shine, delivering the deepest blacks and nearly infinite contrast.
The picture quality will be absolutely stunning, making your outdoor viewing experience truly immersive.
