Two of the most popular TV technologies are QLED and the Q-less, regular LED. These two technologies are functionally similar, but their performance tends to be quite different. Generally speaking, QLED TVs are typically more expensive (though that price difference has decreased significantly in the last few years), but are also usually brighter and have better colors.
It's worth mentioning up front that both QLED and traditional LED TVs are versions of LCD. They both use LCD panels to create an image, but use different versions of LEDs to create light so you can see the image on that panel. Neither uses LEDs to create an image directly like OLED or microLED.
What's the difference between QLED and LED?
Ty Pendlebury/CNET
Both QLED and LED use light-emitting diodes to produce the light that passes through an LCD layer to create an image. "LED TVs" are more accurately called LED LCDs. "QLED" is a marketing term that refers to a specific subset of LED LCDs. In other words, all QLEDs are LED TVs, but not all LED TVs are QLEDs.
The main difference is the addition of quantum dots, which I'll explain more in the next section. Because QLEDs tend to be more expensive than regular LEDs, they also tend to have more LEDs. TVs that are just called "LEDs" are often the least expensive offerings on the market, and as such, usually just have a handful of LEDs arranged on one side of the screen (often the bottom).
Quantum dots: The 'Q' in QLED, QNED and more
Blue LEDs, which are used in most backlight designs, excite red and blue quantum dots (the middle layer in this diagram). This, now RGB light, is then manipulated by an LCD layer to create the image you see. Sony
Quantum dots are tiny particles with an incredible ability to change one color of light into another color of light. They can do this with almost perfect efficiency. The color they create can be tuned to the exact color a manufacturer wants, so the TV can create the range of colors needed for HDR content.
So, in general, TVs that use quantum dots tend to be brighter, with more realistic colors, than TVs that don't. Because of that greater performance, they often, though not always, have more LEDs than regular LED TVs, which allows for things like local dimming, which offers even better image quality. These are fairly broad generalizations, however, so it's best to judge each TV's specific features and performance beyond what the company's marketing calls it.
... continue reading