What's the Difference Between CRT, OLED and LCD ?

The monitor is the display screen of the computer system. The result of everything you do on your PC is displayed on this screen. Just like other computer peripherals, the monitors have seen a considerable amount of technological advancement. In the past, there were CRT screens then came the era of LCD and now we have OLEDs. Each of these technologies has their own unique benefits and features. Let’s find out how they are different from one another.

What is a CRT Screen?

CRT or Cathode Ray Tube is the oldest technology to be used as a display screen for computers. It is basically a vacuum tube that has a fluorescent screen and an electron gun present inside it. The images are formed when the electron gun is fired towards the fluorescent screen. Since it is the oldest of all the display screen technologies, its power consumption is quite high and tends to heat up pretty quickly.

What is LCD?

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. It makes use of liquid crystals and a separate light source in the form of fluorescent lamps. The fluorescent lamps only provide the light for creating images while the liquid crystals are used for their light modulating properties. The best use of LCDs is in mobile phone displays. These display screens don’t consume a lot of power and offer a much brighter and clearer picture than CRTs.

IPS LCDs and OLEDs produced by Apple for its computers and Smartphones are branded Retina Displays. These displays have a higher pixel density and thus are able to provide clearer and sharper images. The sharpness of pictures and texts in a Retina Display is so high that you can’t see the individual pixels with the naked eye. You can find display screens of all types at TCM.

What is an OLED?

An OLED is an Organic Light Emitting Diode. It is not that different from an LED and just has a thin layer of an organic compound that separates it from LEDs. OLEDs are the latest technology used for computer monitors. They offer an image clarity that is second to none, allowing it to display movies or motion pictures in a much higher quality than other display screen technologies. Moreover, its large viewing angles mean that there is no chance of image distortion.

How are they Different, Which one is Cheapest?

CRT, OLED and LCDs are all different from one another based on the technology they use for displaying images. Being the oldest, the CRT is the least bright of all the display screen technologies but isn’t that expensive. On the other hand, OLEDs are the latest technology in the computer monitor industry and are thus offer the brightest and most clear picture. However, they are priced the highest too. LCDs came after the CRTs so they are brighter than them but don’t offer as bright a picture as OLEDs. Their price falls in between CRTs and OLEDs.

If any of your display screens start malfunctioning and are in need of repair then you should ask for a professional to fix them. It is impossible for a layman to fix any type of display screen by himself.