When it comes to monitors, things always seem to be changing. It is hard for everyone – whether a casual tech user to experienced gamer to figure out what is better WLED vs LED or even what the two terms mean and whether they are just a marketing term.
After all if you are after the best led monitor, you want to know what you are getting yourself into and whether wled is in fact better.
WLED Vs LED – The simple answer
The simple answer is in the WLED vs LED debate there is no difference. That’s right when it comes down to it they are the same basic technology with absolutely no difference.
What does WLED stand for? White light emitting diode
WLED stands for white light emitting diode, as you might guess WLED is just an extra letter from LED and in this case the white really is no different to a light emitting diode.
At the end of the day a white light emitting diode, what powers the light behind the pixels on your monitor also does other colours as well while so does a light emitting diode.
What does LED stand for?
LED simply stands for light emitting diode, an LED display means that the technology used to color the pixels in the display is LED. That’s it, nothing more fancy tech behind it I’m afraid.
The difference between WLED and LED monitors
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
At some point somebody at one of the big computing companies backing led displays decided that led was becoming overused. It had been around a while and it was no longer a competitive advantage to say your monitor was an led monitor as the same basic technology had caught on in the monitor market.
So what did they do?
Rather than innovate and actually come up with a better technology like cold cathode fluorescent lamps or quantum dot technology they decided to add a word in front of led to make it white led, just a marketing gimmick.
There is no difference in image quality, color richness, it doesn’t use less power or have low energy consumption compared to led backlights. At the end of the day white light emitting diode technology is just an led display with a fancy name.
What’s worse is that as a marketing gimmick it does work, people will pay a higher initial investment cost for their monitor if it has a wled feature. Don’t fall for the led and wled displays debate, the light source is the same led backed displays at the end of the day.
LED display and LCD monitors – What’s the fuss?
In all the hype between wled vs led you might be confused into thinking that LED vs LCD are probably similar as well. This is not the case and LCD monitors are in fact different to a led monitor.
What is LCD – liquid crystal display?
Liquid crystal display (LCD) differ to LED displays in the backlight, yes they are similar but LCDs have two polarized glass layers, these crystals don’t produce light like an led display but do block or pass the light through to the image display based on the picture you are trying to see.
LCD rather than use an LED backlight use ccfl cold cathode fluorescent lamps to power the screen. As you can see there is a real difference in the light source as fundamentally both use different traditional lighting methods. There would also be a power consumption and quality display difference that is larger than the WLED vs LED comparison as these don’t use the same basic technology.
LEDs are used in home light bulbs, traffic lights and laptop screens due to the lower power consumption requirements.
The advantages of led (light emitting diode) monitors
At the end of the day there is a reason why LED and environmental impact led powers so much of the technology we use, the main advantages are:
- The LED monitor will have a much longer lifespan and a lower environmental impact (why they are used for traffic lights as well and have a huge role in the display world)
- They are more reliable than LCD and other newer (fancier sounding) technologies
- A broader dimming range
- standard led has a higher dynamic contrast ratio
Which one is better – LCD displays or LED displays?
As with most technology it comes down to price. Show me the money!
lcd monitors and even lcd tvs using cold cathode fluorescent lamps are cheaper in the short run. So if you are after a quick and cheap monitor that will get you from excel to google and back this is probably all you need.
If on the other hand you want something that might have a higher initial investment cost, and money isn’t an important factor, but will last you longer and at the end of the day is a better technology than we recommend you open up your wallet and go for the led of even a wled backlight display!
They have a better picture quality and the biggest advantages is that it is longer lasting better quality. It is your best bet.
A real difference people often underestimate is the long run damage a low picture quality can have on your eyes. As new monitor technology comes out it takes a while for it’s long run impact on your eyes to be tested.
Any slight difference in picture quality can make a huge difference in the long run given how often most of us stare at a flat screen.
Wrapping up the WLED Vs LED debate
At the end of the day there is absolutely no difference, the term led stands for light emitting diode while digital monitors using a wled backlit display is exactly the same. WLED and LED mean the same thing.
Don’t get tricked by the marketing hype.
On the other hand, led vs lcd is a more valid argument and the two have a real difference is a variety of factors, you should consider both before purchasing your next monitor, or even led tvs as these are a big thing as well.