Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are used to create digital display in many devices. What are the advantages of OLED displays over Liquid Crystal displays?
- 1.OLED displays can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates.
- 2.Roll-up displays embedded in clothing can be made using OLEDs.
- 3.Transparent displays are possible using OLEDs.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 3
All three statements are advantages of OLED displays. Each OLED pixel makes its own light, so the panel needs no rigid backlight unit as an LCD does, and it can be built thin, on flexible plastic, see-through or rolled up.
- ✓ 1. OLED layers can be deposited on flexible substrates, not only on glass, which is why bendable and foldable phone screens use them. An LCD needs a backlight and a rigid liquid-crystal cell.
- ✓ 2. Because the panel can be made on a flexible base, roll-up and wearable displays, including ones stitched into clothing, are possible. Curved, bendable, foldable and rollable OLED screens already exist.
- ✓ 3. OLEDs can be made transparent, so a see-through display is possible. An LCD depends on a backlight behind the screen, which blocks that.
Remember · OLED pixels emit their own light (no backlight), so screens can be thin, flexible, rollable and transparent. LCDs cannot do this easily.
Sources
- US Department of Energy, Solid-State Lighting: OLED Basics ↗ “OLEDs can also be made in almost any shape, can be deposited on flexible substrates, and can be transparent, emitting light from both sides of the device”
- NASA Technical Reports Server: OLED Technology Evaluation for Space Applications ↗ “Offers weight reduction and shallower display depth, via the removal of the backlight and associated heat sink”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·