Tech Talk: OLED vs Mini LED

The Professional's Choice

Gigabyte Notebooks is the world's leader when it comes to creating innovated solid build high-performance laptops designed for professionals. Dedicated to excellence in engineering, design and performance, GIGABYTE Notebooks ensures that each and every model leaving the factory is calibrated and optimized for peak performance. In this article we want you to know why we chose to use the OLED panel vs the Mini LED panel.

In short, it comes down to the quality of the display.

Display technology is increasingly diverse, with options like the multi-process LCD, the exclusive True Black OLED, to the latest high-brightness Mini LED 2020 sees the laptop manufacturers offering more and more choice, but how does the quality compare? Here's a breakdown of the difference between Mini LED and AMOLED (OLED) panel technology and why GIGABYTE Notebooks chose to continue using the OLED technology to support our professional end users.

Mini LED technology relies on backlight modules composed of high-density, ultra-small LEDs. Unlike direct back-lit or edge back-lit design of the previous LED backlight modules, Mini LED requires a light guide plate to achieve a more even backlight effect. Mini LED's small area light control not only results in better contrast effects but also reduces backlight leakage. Coupled with a high-end process IPS / VA panel, it has a wider color range and high image quality.

AMOLED on the other hand, relies on active self-luminous technology and does not require backlight modules. Each pixel on the 4K resolution panel will emit light and therefore has a very short response time (0.2ms). Since it uses a different lighting technology, AMOLED panels can adopt exclusive True Black colorization and achieve industry highest 100,000:1 ultra-high contrast ratio. Compared to various LCD displays with backlight design, blue light is reduced by over 60%, contributing to a more comfortable experience for long-term usage.

In face of a rising popularity of the Mini LED technology, Steven Chen, GIGABYTE’s Senior Vice President of Product & Technology, said: "The biggest advantage of Mini LED technology is its ultra-high brightness and high color contrast ratio. Being able to reach 1000 nits brightness, Mini LED is nearly twice as bright as its counterpart, regular LCD displays, and is suitable for TVs or desktop computer monitors that are used at a longer distance. For devices like laptops, in which the device is used in proximity to the user, high brightness is a burden on the eyes, as well as a strain on laptop power consumption. In contrast, the peak brightness of OLED is about 500 nits. About 30%~50% of brightness is sufficient for daily use, and 70%~90% allows full enjoyment of 4K HDR videos. Furthermore, being self-luminous, OLED displays achieve an excellent contrast ratio of 100,000: 1, which is significantly superior to that of your average LCD (approx. 1,000:1 to 2,000:1). Since OLED technology allows for a thinner panel, the AERO 15 OLED wields an aesthetically pleasing thin body (20mm) and allows for a very narrow screen bezel (3mm). The thin bezel, of course gives the user more workspace.”

The OLED panel is significantly more vibrant, which is why PC Mag rated the AERO 15 OLED Editor's Choice for 2020

GIGABYTE AERO 15 OLED and AERO 17 HDR are equipped with the latest gen Intel Core processor and GeForce RTX 20 SUPER ™ series graphics. In addition to fabulous 4K ultra-high resolution, ultra-wide color range and per unit X-rite Pantone color calibration, both models support Microsoft Azure AI, which can automatically optimizes the performance of various creative software programs. The Red Dot Design Award 2020 winner AERO series creator laptops are now available at the GIGABYTE Notebooks USA Store. CLICK HERE to find your AERO.