What’s different about QLED OLED… How to properly choose a TV Seongsu Bae’s Dada IT line

January-February is the traditional peak season for moving. There are many people buying new home appliances while moving. The key is what kind of home appliance to buy and where to get high satisfaction. From the standpoint of covering the domestic and overseas IT and home appliance industries, we are going to inform you of the criteria for selecting home appliances that can maximize satisfaction.

The first thing is to decide which appliances to buy. The lifespan of home appliances considered by manufacturers is 10 years for washing machines (7 years for drums), 7 to 8 years for TVs and refrigerators, 7 to 10 years for stand air conditioners, and 7 years for kimchi refrigerators. Regardless of when you purchased an existing product, if there are any inconveniences, it is not a bad choice to purchase a new product while moving. This is because it is easier to install and dispose of at the same time as you move.

This time, I would like to introduce the TV purchase method as the’Zipcock’ culture has spread to the recent coronavirus infection (Corona 19) and the usage rate has increased significantly. (Note: How to properly choose a’washing machine/dryer’ that uses 10 years once you buy it [배성수의 다다IT선])

First of all, we need to know how TV types are organized. TVs currently on the market are largely divided into liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs on a panel basis. The difference between the two TVs is whether or not the pixels (pixels) emit light by themselves. OLED TVs are equipped with LEDs, which are organic materials, so that pixels emit light by themselves, but LCD TVs are not.

LCD TVs that cannot emit light on their own require a kind of lighting unit called’backlight’ that emits light from behind the screen. On the other hand, since OLED TVs do not have separate parts such as backlights, they are thinner than LCD TVs, and various form factors such as rollables (specific device types) can be implemented. Also, because the pixels emit light, the color gamut is relatively excellent and the viewing angle is wide. Instead, it has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive.

Then, what does the name of the TV products, such as Neo QLED, QLED, LG QNED, Nano Cell, etc., mean? It is the brand name given by the manufacturers. Most TVs on the market belong to LCD-based TVs, and manufacturers divide them into names such as LCD, LED, nanocell, QLED, and mini LED according to the type of panel and light source. For example, Samsung Electronics(81,600 -1.33%)QLED TV, the flagship TV of Korea, is an LCD TV with a quantum dot sheet placed between the backlight and the panel to improve picture quality. Domestic OLED TV is LG Electronics(167,500 +4.04%)‘S OLED TV is the only one.

However, LG Electronics is not the only self-luminous product. This year, Samsung Electronics launched a micro LED TV for home use, opening up the next generation of self-luminous displays. Micro LED TV is a product in which LED, which is a micro-inorganic material, which is thinner than a hair, emits light and color by itself. The price is over 100 million won per unit (based on 110 type).

Therefore, if we summarize the brand names in the order of premium products, Samsung Electronics is Micro LED TV, Neo QLED TV, QLED TV, and other popular LED TVs (Crystal UHD). LG Electronics is classified in order of OLED TV, QNED TV, nano cell TV, and other low-end LED TVs. Here, you can remember that all except Micro LED TVs and OLED TVs are LCD TVs.

Resolution is also important. Currently, TVs on the market are divided into UHD (3840×2160) and FHD (1920×1080), so-called ‘4K’. By numbers, UHD TV supports 4 times better picture quality than FHD TV. There are also 8K UHD TVs, but there is no content to implement this right away, so it is too early to use it for general viewing at home.

Most of the content we see now supports FHD. Thanks to this, you will be able to watch broadcasts on FHD TV without much inconvenience, but it is worth considering that 4K or more UHD contents are constantly increasing. If you are purchasing 4K and 8K UHD TVs, we recommend one size larger than FHD. This is because the better the quality, the more you can see the difference when you see it on a larger screen.

Once you’ve decided which TV to buy, you need to choose a TV screen size. TVs are determined not by the horizontal length, but by diagonal length’inch’, and the question is what purpose the TV will be used and in which space the TV will be placed.

In the past, it was said that the size of the TV was 1.5 times the size of the house, but rather than the size of the house, it is better to find a TV that is the right size for our house, which is the distance between the place to sit and watch TV and the place to install the TV is.

Based on a viewing distance of 2m, we recommend a product of 75 inches or less for 4K UHD TV and 50 inches or less for FHD. If the distance is longer, you can buy a product larger than this size, and if it is shorter, you can buy a smaller product. The larger the newer TV, the better, but putting an excessively large TV in a viewing distance that is too short may result in a decrease in quality.

If you are buying a TV for a second, you should clarify what purpose you will use it for. If you use it as a PC gaming monitor, we recommend a 48-inch or smaller TV, and if you use it for interior purposes, we recommend lifestyle TV.

In addition, products with a wide viewing angle, whether it supports HDR, a standard that can express delicate brightness, the number of HDMI terminals, and whether it supports smart TV functions, etc., must be carefully examined with your own eyes. TVs are home appliances with good power consumption, so there is little concern about electricity bills. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the energy consumption efficiency rating greatly, but if you are watching for a long time, it is better to purchase a high-efficiency product.

Seongsu Bae, reporter of Hankyung.com [email protected]