Panel Types

AMOLED (Active-Matrix OLED) combines OLED's self-emissive pixels with a TFT active-matrix backplane -- the same one-transistor-per-pixel driving concept as TFT LCD, but switching light-emitting diodes instead of liquid-crystal light valves. It's the dominant OLED format in smartphones, mass-produced by Samsung starting in 2007.

IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels offer the widest viewing angles of the common LCD types -- 178°/178° is standard -- and the most consistent color, making them the default for color-critical monitors and most phone LCDs, at a contrast ratio similar to TN's.

Micro-LED is a true self-emissive display technology, like OLED, but built from microscopic inorganic LEDs rather than organic material -- eliminating both the backlight and OLED's burn-in risk. It remains an ultra-premium, mostly modular commercial technology; some TVs marketed as 'Micro RGB' are actually Mini-LED-backlit LCDs, not true Micro-LED.

Mini-LED is a backlight technology, not a panel type -- it uses thousands of LEDs roughly 0.1-0.2mm in size (versus 0.5-1mm for traditional LED backlights) arranged into hundreds or thousands of local-dimming zones behind an LCD panel of any type, improving contrast and reducing blooming. TCL commercialized it in TVs starting in 2019.

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panels are self-emissive -- each pixel produces its own light and switches fully off for true black -- eliminating the backlight every LCD type requires. Response times run near-instantaneous, but organic material degradation makes burn-in a real, documented long-term risk.

QD-OLED combines a blue OLED light source with a quantum-dot color-conversion layer, an approach Samsung Display commercialized in 2022 -- as distinct from LG's older WOLED, which uses a white OLED source filtered through color filters. Reviewers report wider color volume as the main practical benefit.

QLED, despite its OLED-like name, is not a self-emissive technology -- it's a conventional LED-backlit LCD panel with a quantum-dot film added between the backlight and the LCD layer to produce more precise color. Samsung introduced it in 2017; it still requires a backlight and has the same blooming limitations as other backlit LCDs.

Super AMOLED is Samsung's branded term for AMOLED panels with the touch sensor integrated directly into the display stack, rather than laminated on as a separate layer. Samsung introduced it in 2010 with the original Galaxy S, claiming 20% higher brightness and 80% less sunlight reflection than earlier AMOLED.

TFT LCD refers to the active-matrix driving technology used by virtually all modern LCD panels -- one thin-film transistor per subpixel controlling its voltage -- not a specific alignment type like TN, VA, or IPS, which are all built on a TFT backplane.

TN (Twisted Nematic) is the fastest and cheapest common LCD panel type, with response times as low as 1ms -- traded off against narrow, asymmetric viewing angles and noticeable color shift when viewed from above or below.

VA (Vertical Alignment) panels deliver the highest contrast ratio of the common LCD types -- commonly 3000:1 to 5000:1 on advanced variants, versus roughly 1000:1 for TN and IPS -- at the cost of slower pixel response, especially in dark scenes.

WOLED is LG Display's OLED TV technology, using white-emitting OLED subpixels combined with red, green, blue, and white color filters (WRGB) rather than individually colored OLED subpixels. LG launched the first WOLED TV, a 55-inch model, in 2013, and remains the primary manufacturer of large-panel WOLED, supplying other brands including Sony.