How LG's OLED displays will shape the future

OLED displays are made by placing thin films of organic (carbon based) materials between two conductors. When electrical current is applied, light is emitted. OLED displays are emissive and unlike LCDs, do not require a backlight (unlike LCDs). OLED TV panels offers several advantages over LCDs:

How does an OLED work?

OLEDs work in a similar way to conventional diodes and LEDs, but instead of using layers of n-type and p-type semiconductors, they use organic molecules to produce their electrons and holes. A simple OLED is made up of six different layers. On the top and bottom there are layers of protective glass or plastic. The top layer is called the seal and the bottom layer the substrate. In between those layers, there's a negative terminal (sometimes called the cathode) and a positive terminal (called the anode). Finally, in between the anode and cathode are two layers made from organic molecules called the emissive layer (where the light is produced, which is next to the cathode) and the conductive layer (next to the anode).

OLEDs are superior to LCDs in many ways. Their biggest advantage is that they're much thinner (around 0.2–0.3mm or about 8 thousandths of an inch, compared to LCDs, which are typically at least 10 times thicker) and consequently lighter and much more flexible. They're brighter and need no backlight, so they consume much less energy than LCDs (that translates into longer battery life in portable devices such as cellphones and MP3 players). Where LCDs are relatively slow to refresh (often a problem when it comes to fast-moving pictures such as sports on TV or computer games), OLEDs respond up to 200 times faster. They produce truer colors (and a true black) through a much bigger viewing angle (unlike LCDs, where the colors darken and disappear if you look to one side). Being much simpler, OLEDs should eventually be cheaper to make than LCDs (though being newer and less well-adopted, the technology is currently much more expensive).