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But which technology wins outright?
Now brace yourself for a big ol flatscreen TV scrap.
Unlike LED and mini-LED, OLED TVs dont use a backlight.
Instead, each pixel on an OLED screen can individually light and dim itself, which benefits contrast massively.
There are a few caveats, though.
First of all, OLED TVs are generally more expensive than mini-LED TVs.
Most mini-LED TV are usually cheaper than their OLED counterparts, too.
The term mini-LED refers to the throw in of backlight thats used to illuminate this TV techs LCD panel.
That means more uniform light distribution and increased screen brightness.
OLED vs mini-LED: black level performance
Spoiler: OLED is going to win round one.
When it comes to black levels, theres no beating OLED.
With that said, mini-LED TVs are capable of delivering far deeper black levels than regular LED TVs.
By contrast, mini-LEDs get so bright, they can compete with daylight for daytime viewing.
OLED just cant reach these levels.
Perceived contrast also tapers off when watched from wide viewing angles on mini-LEDs, leading to slightly washed-out images.
This isnt a problem with OLEDs.
OLED also wins when it comes to color reproduction.
Hues are generally more natural-looking on OLED TVs compared to their mini-LED equivalents.
Once again, this is largely down to OLED techs pixel-by-pixel lighting.
OLED vs mini-LED: motion handling
This is a tight one.
Again, theres really not much to separate the technologies here, but OLED just edges the motion category.
OLED vs mini-LED: screen burn-in
If OLED was Achilles, screen burn-in would be its heel.
OLED TVs remain far more susceptible to this issue than mini-LEDs due to the organic materials their pixels use.
Mini-LEDs dont suffer from burn-in because they dont use organic materials in their pixels.
Mini-LED TVs offer better viewing angles than LED ones, no question.
This is an easy win for OLED.
OLED vs mini-LED: gaming
Another close call.
Where mini-LED wins over OLED revolves around burn-in.
Simply put, OLED TVs have the best screen uniformity because they dont use a backlight.
OLEDs arent blighted with dirty screen effect, so are ideally suited for sports fans and gamers.
The only issue OLEDs can suffer from in terms of screen uniformity is vertical banding.
Like dirty screen effect, you really need to be obsessive to pick out this issue.
OLED TVs are more expensive to manufacture than mini-LEDs, which means they cost more to buy.
OLED vs mini-LED: which TV tech wins?
Judged by pure picture quality, OLED beats mini-LED in most categories.
Its not quite a cut-and-dried win for OLED, though.
