What’s the Difference between LCD, LED, and OLED?
As LCD technologies advance, you may often hear about words like LCD, LED, OLED, as well as popular display techniques using Micro LEDs, Mini LEDs, and Micro OLEDs. Have you ever tried to figure out these confusing terms but still don’t have any clue about them? Here’, we’ll explain the said trendy technologies—in simple words—and compare them to older technologies, so that you can quickly grasp their main ideas.

LCD stands for a “liquid crystal display”. Most LCDs now are produced using thin-film transistor technology (TFT LCDs), whereby a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between two glass substrates, with the upper substrate being a color filter and the bottom one embedded with a transistor. When current flows through the transistor and causes electric field changes, the rotation structure of liquid crystal molecules are twisted, which then alters the rotational degree of light passing from it. The light thus illuminates the color filter in different proportions, enabling the LCD to generate different colors.
                                                                

LED is short for a “light-emitting diode”, a semiconductor light source that transforms electrical energy into light energy, in which voltage is applied through the anode and cathode terminals. When current flows, electrons are combined with holes, prompting the remaining energy to be released through visible light. Depending on the material used, photon energy creates light with different wavelengths. Direct-lit LEDs are often applied to outdoor video walls and traffic lights, while LED chips are the mainstream component of TVs, monitor backlight sources, and illumination products.
                                                               
OLEDs adopt completely different materials. OLED is short for an “organic light-emitting diode”, of which the basic structure comprises an organic-material-based light-emitting layer fabricated on ITO glass. The light-emitting layer is covered with a low work-function metal electrode. Driven by external voltage, anode holes and cathode electrons are combined at the light-emitting layer, generating energy and making the diode glow. The component produces three primary colors (namely red, green, and blue light) using different material properties to create basic colors.
                                                               
The biggest difference between an OLED and LCD is their light-emitting methods. While an LED backplane and color filter is required for LCDs to product light, OLEDs are self-illuminating.OLEDs can present vivid colors, have low power consumption, and are rollable . However, their organic material will oxidize, which gives them a shorter lifespan. Moreover, OLEDs are prone to burn-in, are costly, and require the use of advanced techniques. Consequently, the light source is often used for small-screen products such as smartphones.
Mini LED vs. Micro LED: What’s the Difference?
Now we know the basic differences between LCDs, LEDs, and OLEDs. Let’s look at advanced display technologies like Mini LED, Micro LED, and Micro OLED.
The most obvious difference between Mini and Micro LEDs is their LED chip size,there is another distinction from the conceptual perspective. Mini LED refers to
a"sub-millimeter light-emitting diode",whereas Micro LED is short for a "micro light-emitting diode",The boundary between their chip size is 100 μm (i.e., 0.1 mm).