Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute black?

Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by fortnum on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @01:19PM (#34069911)

Thanks, that's exactly what I am wondering

Is #010101 effectively #FFFFFF or does it actually use less energy the darker it is? With LCDs we know it is the former, but what about OLED displays?

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Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by smoldesu on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @01:45PM (#34070336)

I'm not sure. Considering what I know about OLED, I'd assume that #010101 consumes considerably more energy than #000000 since it needs to emit light for that individual diode. The energy efficiency from there will mostly depend on the brightness/size of the display.

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Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by fortnum on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @01:58PM (#34070570)

But does it use less power than #FFFFFF?

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Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by smoldesu on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @02:05PM (#34070708)

Yes, but it's efficiency scales with the overall brightness of the display. True OLED black will always consume the same amount of power, regardless of brightness.

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Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by danudey on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @01:48PM (#34070392)

The brighter the pixels are, the more power they are using. A pixel uses 0 power at 0 brightness, and it goes up from there.

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Re:Ask HN: Do OLED displays only save energy with absolute b... by fortnum on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @01:57PM (#34070559)

Well, with LCD it does not matter. It always uses the same power. Hence the question.

So you are confirming that the statement is actually wrong. The darker a pixel on OLED, the less power it uses. Right?

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