OLED vs QLED: Which TV is more costly and which is cheaper?

In the ongoing competition between two similarly named technologies—OLED and QLED, buyers often face confusion when trying to determine which offers better value for money.

With both types of TVs available at competitive prices, it’s natural to wonder which one is more expensive and which is more budget-friendly.

In this article, we aim to clear up that confusion. But before diving into the cost comparison of OLED vs QLED, let’s begin with a brief introduction to these technologies.

OLED

OLED stands for organic-light emitting diode.

It is a self-emissive display technology where each pixel generates its own light, eliminating the need for a separate backlight.

In an OLED TV, pixels can turn off completely when not in use, enabling true blacks and an infinite contrast ratio.

This ability to produce perfectly dark backgrounds enhances the vibrancy and realism of colors.

Since the pixels are individually controlled in an OLED TV, it can deliver wide viewing angles along with a broad and accurate color gamut.

QLED

QLED stands for quantum-light emitting diode.

Unlike OLED, it is not a self-emissive technology and instead relies on a backlight for image formation.

QLED TVs are based on traditional LCD technology and use an LED backlight combined with a layer of quantum dots.

These quantum dots, which are nanometer-sized particles, emit pure red and green light when struck by blue light emitted from the backlight.

This allows QLED TVs to achieve a pure and wide color gamut.

Additionally, LED backlights are capable of reaching very high brightness levels, enabling QLED displays to achieve strong peak brightness.

OLED vs QLED: Which TV costs more?

There is a wide range of OLED and QLED TVs available in the market, offered by various brands and featuring different sizes, resolutions, and display technologies—each priced differently.

Some OLED TVs are more expensive than certain QLED models, and vice versa.

Therefore, it’s difficult to make a blanket statement about which one of them is more costly.

To make this comparison easier, we’ve categorized both OLED and QLED TVs into three price segments: entry-level (starting prices), mid-range (median prices), and premium-range (high-end prices).

Let’s now discuss each price segment in detail.

OLED vs QLED: Starting Prices

When it comes to starting price, OLED TVs are significantly more expensive than QLEDs.

The higher cost of an OLED primarily stems from the complexity of manufacturing.

OLED displays require precise control over each individual pixel, with millions of tiny organic LEDs embedded directly into the screen.

Although this process is still cheaper than what’s needed for micro-LED displays, it remains a costly endeavor—making even entry-level OLED TVs expensive.

On the other hand, QLED TVs are based on traditional LCD technology.

Essentially, a QLED is an LED-backlit LCD TV enhanced with a layer of quantum dots.

Since it is not a self-emissive display like OLED, the manufacturing process is far simpler and more cost-effective.

That’s why entry-level QLED TVs are widely available at much lower prices.

In fact, QLED TVs are offered in a wider range of sizes. For example, they can start from as small as 32 inches, whereas the smallest OLED TV starts from 42 inches.

Consider the difference: a 32-inch QLED having only a few dozen backlight LEDs vs a 42-inch OLED display having millions of organic LEDs as individual pixels.

The price gap reflects this technological difference.

For instance, Sony A90K 42” 4K OLED is priced around $1.3K while Samsung Q60D 32” 4K QLED comes in at just $477.

That’s more than $800 difference—enough to buy one more QLED TV!

Now the question is: should you just buy a cheaper QLED and skip OLED altogether?

Well, not so fast. While QLED may win on price, OLED outshines it in performance.

They are able to achieve true blacks with infinite contrast, no blooming or haloing around the bright objects, wide viewing angles and unparalleled dark room performance.

In comparison, entry-level QLEDs often struggle with washed-out blacks, low native contrast with blooming around bright objects and narrower viewing angles.

OLED vs QLED: Median Prices

This is where things start getting interesting, but also a bit confusing.

In the mid-range price bracket, both OLED and QLED TVs are available in 55- and 65-inch sizes with 4K resolution, often at similar price points.

At this point, you might wonder—if the screen sizes are the same, and OLEDs have a much more complex and costly manufacturing process, how do QLEDs manage to compete in price?

The main reason lies in the use of mini- LEDs in the QLEDs in this price segment.

Instead of regular LEDs, these TVs use thousands of incredibly small, sand-like inorganic LEDs which are packed into their backlight essentially resulting in mini-LED TVs enhanced with quantum dots.

But what’s the benefit of doing all this?

A large number of mini-LEDs are grouped into numerous dimming zones which can independently dim themselves when required.

As a result, the QLED TVs which use a mini-LED backlight gain much better contrast as compared to the normal QLED TVs.

They produce very deep blacks on the screen with very less blooming.

The black levels, though not exactly like OLEDs, come close to them. The viewing angles are improved too.

Good mini-LED TVs with a quantum dot layer like the Samsung Neo QLEDs or Sony mini-LED QLEDs give tough competition to the OLEDs in HDR performance as they achieve a high color volume and high peak brightness to fight glare in a bright room.

Obviously, doing this job requires much more cost than just putting a few dozen or some hundred normal conventional LEDs in the backlight.

However, I believe that while the cost of producing a mini-LED TV isn’t as high as that of an OLED, it is its comparable performance that justifies the pricing.

Brands probably use this near-OLED level performance as a ground to price their mini-LED based QLED TVs competitively against the OLEDs.

To keep up with the competition from mini-LED TVs, OLED manufacturers have adopted various techniques to boost brightness and color volume.

For instance, Samsung has introduced quantum dots into its OLED panels—these are known as QD-OLEDs.

This approach enhances both color volume and peak brightness. LG, on the other hand, uses a technology called MLA (Micro Lens Array) in its OLEDs, which involves placing an array of microscopic lenses over the display to improve brightness.

These advanced OLED variants are highly effective at reducing glare, delivering larger color volume, and standing toe-to-toe with mini-LED TVs in HDR performance.

However, these enhancements come at a high cost.

Producing QD-OLED or MLA-based OLED displays is more expensive than producing standard OLEDs (also known as WOLEDs), and this is reflected in their higher price tags.

There’s another emerging display technology called micro-LED. Unlike mini-LEDs, which are used in the backlight, micro-LEDs are embedded directly into the display.

These micro-LEDs are millions of tiny, inorganic LEDs which act as individual pixels in a micro-LED TV.

This method delivers the best picture quality out of all the present display technologies but involves a huge cost due to the extremely complex and costly process of fabrication of inorganic LEDs into the display, which is why micro-LED TVs are currently priced at an extraordinarily high level.

In fact, some of them have actually been sold for more than $1M!

OLED vs QLED: High-End Prices

Now we come to the highest-priced segment of QLED and OLED TVs—those in the massive 83/85-inch to 97/98-inch range.

Among these, the most expensive models are the ones with 8K resolution.

An 8K QLED TV will demand significantly more LEDs in its backlight compared to a 4K model to deliver crisp details with the same precision.

This increase in LED density contributes to a higher cost.

For instance, Samsung’s 85-inch QN900D 8K TV is priced around $8K.

On the other hand, 8K OLED TVs operate on an entirely different level.

Since 8K resolution has four times the number of pixels as 4K, an 8K OLED requires roughly four times more self-emissive organic LEDs in its display than a 4K OLED.

Fabricating such a dense pixel structure is extremely complex and costly, which results in a steep price increase.

For example, the 77-inch LG Z3 OLED is priced at around $10K, which is $2K more than the larger 85-inch Samsung QN900D 8K QLED.

The price climbs even further with the 88-inch version of the LG Z3 OLED, which costs about $25K, which is more than three times the price of its 8K QLED counterpart, the 85-inch Samsung QN900D.

It’s though worth noting that in the 8K OLED category, LG is the only manufacturer whereas other brands like Samsung, Sony, and TCL have focused exclusively on 8K mini-LED QLED TVs.

OLED vs QLED: Which is more expensive?

The price of QLED and OLED TVs can vary significantly based on several factors such as screen size, resolution, and the type of backlight or display technology used.

To sum it up: OLED TVs generally have a much higher starting price compared to QLEDs. In the mid-range segment (55” to 65”), both technologies offer competitive pricing with comparable performance.

However, at the premium end of the market, OLED TVs are substantially more expensive than their QLED counterparts.

Therefore, in conclusion, we can say that OLED TVs are generally more expensive overall than QLED TVs.