Katarzyna Petru
Which TVs are the most durable – OLED or LED LCD? A long-term test conducted by RTINGS brings surprising conclusions that may change the approach of many buyers. In an accelerated longevity test, RTINGS examined 100 TVs from various brands that operated for 18,000 hours over 3 years. This is significantly more than most users will ever "rack up" on their home TV – RTINGS emphasizes that it equates to over 12 years of watching for 4 hours a day.
Extreme conditions, but equal for everyone
The test was deliberately more demanding than normal usage. The TVs were turned off for less than 8 hours a day, increasing the load on components, accelerating heating, and material wear. Such tests are standard in longevity research for equipment, and the key point is that the same conditions applied to all models, making the results comparable.
Emergency LED backlighting is the main problem for LCDs
After just 10,000 hours, RTINGS noticed a clear trend: slim LCD TVs with edge LED backlighting fail significantly faster than models with direct backlighting, FALD, or miniLED. By the end of the test, the situation looked even worse:
20 out of 100 TVs experienced total failure
24 more had serious partial failures
only 2 models could be effectively repaired
“Backlighting issues are definitely the most common point of failure. 34% of all tested LED TVs had at least one damaged LED. Problems with image uniformity are also very common – heat causes the internal layers of the panel to delaminate, leading to spots, discoloration, and image degradation,” says RTINGS. Nearly 60% of LCD TVs with edge LED or without local dimming experienced total or partial failure. RTINGS also notes the phenomenon of 'burn-in' in edge LED LCDs – although the mechanism is different from that in OLEDs.
Domino Effect and Defective Designs
In several cases, RTINGS observed a chain reaction – the failure of several LED diodes led to the complete failure of the backlighting. In one of the tests, just three damaged diodes caused the entire LED system in the Vizio television to stop working, much like old Christmas lights after one bulb burns out. Such designs significantly increase the risk of total failure.
Better LCD, but still worse than OLED
More expensive LCD TVs with FALD or miniLED performed noticeably better – their failure rate was around 25%, which is significantly less than in cheap and thin edge LED models. Interestingly, LG and TCL were the most reliable. RTINGS highlighted two brands:
TCL – only 1 total failure out of 10 tested models
LG – very low failure rate, mainly because LG OLEDs performed exceptionally well
OLEDs the most durable despite burn-in
OLED TVs have also experienced burn-in during testing, which was unavoidable under such extreme conditions. RTINGS notes, however, that previous burn-in tests clearly show that with varied content, this issue does not occur in normal use.
“In summary – despite a slight risk of burn-in, OLED TVs are the most durable technology and cause the least problems. LED TVs deteriorate faster, especially thin edge LED models and budget constructions. If choosing LCD, it is best to go for full backlighting with local dimming” – summarizes RTINGS.
The full RTINGS report is available on their website, and detailed information about which LCD models use edge LED, direct LED, FALD, or miniLED can be found in the FlatpanelsHD database.
