QLED vs LED
Most of us are somewhat unsure what is LED and QLED even though we always hear terms like these when people mentioned Smart TV today.
If we hear any topic comparing QLED vs LED during a casual conversation between friends, then it can get even more confusing. You might even hear about ULED!
Why not take a few minutes to find out what in the world they mean, and how it helps to know the difference so you won’t get caught being ignorant when people talk about it.
Don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple and sweet.
What is LED?
LED is the term used for Light Emitting Diode.
It is the technology of light emitted by a semiconductor when electricity passes through it.
Light is produced when the electric current combines with the semiconductor

How does LED work?
- Numerous very tiny R.G.B. LED light bulbs are arranged within a board to create the backlight.
- The resulting backlight is filtered by a few layers of polarized films to produce blacks on screen.
- The above is sandwiched into a final display panel whereby each LED bulb will act as a pixel and separately glow in Red, Green, or Blue depending on the picture input.
What is QLED?
QLED also known as Quantum dot LED is a display technology using phosphorescent crystals to enhance the LED backlight on an LCD TV.
Samsung refers to the layer of crystal film in-between as the Quantum Dot. QLED is considerably brighter and has a true black display giving it a strong contrast.

How does QLED work?
- The same LED bulbs are used to create a backlit display panel.
- The main difference is an extra layer of quantum dots film placed in front of the LED backlight.
- These quantum dots optimize each pixel quality in light emission to generate a display of significantly deeper blacks and brighter whites.
- Amazing display quality is achieved by much deeper black, high contrast ratio, and a wider range of color gamut by the quantum dots.
What is ULED?
ULED or Ultra LED is a proprietary technology by Hisense which is a smarter variation of the QLED.
On top of the hardware features of QLED, Hisense uses cutting-edge software from its 20 patents in 4 key areas namely, Ultra-wide Color Gamut, Ultra Local Dimming, Ultra 4K Resolution, and Ultra Smooth Motion Rate.
The software is similar to a type of artificial intelligence driving the hardware capability to maximize the potential of the quantum dot film.

How does ULED work?
- ULED has the same hardware as QLED.
- The main difference is the addition of patented software to optimize the QLED hardware.
- The picture quality of the ULED display is a notch above amazing with its color and brightness supercharged by intelligent quantum dots.
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QLED vs LED: 3 key differences
The 3 main differences between QLED vs LED lie in the display performance matrices:
- Black Level
- Color Volume
- Luminosity

Black Level
The ability to produce deeper blacks allows the television to reach a higher contrast ratio which accounts for better picture quality.
LEDs work with distinct RGB-colored lights to produce rich and sharper colors.
QLEDs, on the other hand, offer incredible contrast with true blacks and bright whites. QLED TVs can run far more brightly.
Color Volume
QLED is undoubtedly the clear winner when it comes to color volume as it is one of the powerhouses of features built into it.
The expanded color volume results in near-perfect picture quality and lively images. LEDs are good too but they can’t rival QLEDs.
Luminosity
LED TVs are extremely good when it comes to brightness because they can get very bright without consuming more power.
QLEDs, on the other hand, use different technology altogether and they cannot reach optimal brightness levels without consuming more power.
QLED vs LED: Which is better?
Usually, savvy consumers of Smart TV consider these 3 factors when deciding between QLED vs LED:
- Quality
- Performance
- Price

Quality
In terms of display quality, QLEDs definitely have a better definition and contrast over LEDs in general.
Quantum dot displays excellent overall picture quality.
Performance
QLEDs have greater color accuracy, rich colors, dynamic contrast, and peak brightness than LEDs. Though it may sound similar to an LED, it’s a very different technology that covers over a billion colors.
This will mean it is slightly consuming more power to achieve an optimal brightness level. It will depend on the priorities you placed on sacrificing power consumption over performance.
Price
Price-wise, QLEDs are typically higher in price than LEDs. QLEDs have an added layer of quantum dot film for enhanced picture quality. However, if your requirements are higher, be ready to fork out more for extra features.
QLED vs LED: In Conclusion
LED TV is the predecessor of QLED TV has the advantage of being a cheaper option to the budget-conscious consumer who is not too demanding in picture quality.
For the new buyers looking for the extra “oomph” when upgrading their home theater system, QLED TV has become a much more affordable option.
If you are someone who cannot compromise picture quality when enjoying your movies in the darkroom. QLED is an absolute must-have experience. For the diehard fans, get the ULED by Hisense.
Consumers who do some simple market research can find some value buys as QLED becomes more accessible to savvy upgraders.
