Organic things really sound healthier. Organic foods , Organic Creams and so on. Things are really becoming organic. Well It was back in 2013 when electronics also become organic. In 2013 LED were started to be replaced by their organic version called as Organic LED or simply OLED. OLED were first introduced in Televisions similar to LED. OLED TV’s became a thing then. Sitting in the current year writing about a technology 6 years old doesn’t make a sense, right?. Well it does make sense. OLED panels and screens are being widely used nowadays so it’s important to know about them.

DISPLAY’S

It’s surprising to know that a display panel can be manufactured only in two ways. Market has been fooling it’s customers when advertising about display screens. Retina display’s , Quantum dots and what not ,they are ultimately the same thing under different names. It’s like having two passports with different names on them. That would be fun though.

Two types of technology ever invented to manufacture dislays are:-

Liquid Crystal Display with a back-light
Plasma Display (Now called as OLED )

LCD
PLASMA

LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY

The most basic way to manufacture a display screen is using crystal molecules. I warn you some science is coming your way but I will try to make it as simple as I can.

Let us do this by taking an example. Let us assume we need to manufacture a 1920 vs 1200 pixels screen. It simply means we need a screen which has 1920 pixels side to side and 1200 pixels from top to bottom. It means it has a total of 1920 x 1200=2304000 pixels. But what exactly are pixels? In a layman language pixels are nothing but dots. Dots that make up the screen. In our example our screen is made up of 2304000 dots!

Here is a fun fact Pixel was originally designed as a term for color coding in computer programming but later on it became a unit. A unit to measure quality of display. More pixels better the quality.

Continuing on LCD’s. Behind the screen made up of dots we have a back-light. The source of this back-light can vary from CCFL’s to LED’s. Nowadays LED are preferred because they are smaller than CCFL’s and much cheaper and energy efficient. Use of LED’s in the back-light is what made LCD much much slimmer than what they were. Now you know how TV’s became slimmer without exercising. This is were LED got itself into market.

Screen comprising of dot is physically made up of crystal molecules. When an electric field is applied across these crystals , they polarize and allow light to pass through them. Colors:Red, Green, Blue can mix up and make up any color. By allowing them to pass in different variation and proportion can make up any color. By not allowing to pass any color light, it produces a black screen. Which means to even produce a black color the back-light needs to be on. Without back-light the display doesn’t work. Thus consuming more energy. This is where Plasma technology is better.

PLASMA TECHNOLOGY

There are two kinds of group. One which has a leader and other members support there leader to run the group. Another type of group is in which everyone is the leader. Everyone influences the group same as another members do. Latter one is rare. Quite rare. OLED technology is the latter type. There is no back-light in OLED. Every Pixel is made up three small LED’s. Red , Green , Blue. No Electric field involved, no science to haunt. It’s much easier tech to build than LCD but a lot expensive. If we plan to manufacture a 1920 x 1200 pixel screen. It means a screen with 2304000 pixels in it. It means we require 230400 LED lights each of Red , Green and Blue.

Since we have allowed each pixel or let us say each dot to have it’s own light. It means each of dot has same influence as another. Now every dot can produce it’s own color by switching on RGB LED’s that it has, in different variation and proportion to produce all kinds of colors. But how will they produce black color? There is no filter or crystals in such screen like LCD which will block light coming from pixels. It has a very simple answer. Switch off the pixels of that part of the screen where black has to be displayed. By doing so we are saving energy. We are saving battery.

I have not talked about plasma tech yet. I decided to write first about newer version of plasma which is OLED so that we can understand the difference easily. But you will notice we have not yet used OLED anywhere we were manufacturing both kinds of displays. We used LED’s in both first back-light LED’s and then LED’s in pixels. In both tech we have used LED’s. Now let us first talk about the plasma tech.

Second kind of display which is giving every pixel it’s own light was first used in plasma tech. Plasma tech is not used nowadays. In a plasma, little cells of noble gases, usually Neon and Xenon, are excited into supercharged state known as the plasma state. In this state these gases emit ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light itself is not visible. However pixel are coated with phosphors. Phosphors cells absorb this ultraviolet light and then re-emit it as light in the visible spectrum. All this noble gas thing takes place inside every pixel. Every pixel is coated with RGB phosphors. You will better understand in the below image.

OLED

Instead of applying Red , Green and Blue phosphorus over each dots(pixels) and using noble gases to produce light. It was better to use artificial lights like LED’s. But LED light’s were not so successful in such tech. Since this entire technology was based on organic substances this is what led to invention of OLED.

OLED is basically a LED which consist of organic compound thin layer which emit light when electric current is passed through them. OLED are smaller (almost invisible to naked eye). It’s a nano tech. Hence quite expensive unlike LED’s. Organic layer is situated between electrodes (which are almost transparent). Each pixel is made up OLED instead of noble gases and phosphorous. Each OLED can produce RGB hence it can produce any color.

When we start making OLED display’s we can arrange pixels in two forms:-

Passive-Matrix (PMOLED) :- In such form pixels are interdependent meaning changes to one pixel may affect other pixels. These changes generally occur in row or a column.
Active-Matrix(AMOLED) :- Active matrix every pixel is active and is independent. It is more commonly used form.

DARK MODE THEME

Lot of apps have been coming out with dark mode theme. What dark mode does is that it makes background black which helps to read comfortably even in night with no light. If you are using smartphone which has OLED display it also saves your battery. Because black background means most of the pixel have shut down in the background to make it look black saving you about 10-20% of your battery at the end of the day.

LET’S CONCLUDE

LCD are old but they will remain in the market forever. There has been a lot of improvement in picture quality of LCD after LED were used in back-light panel. But the picture quality that OLED brings on the table is untouchable. It is much lighter and cleaner tech. It’s ability to produce true blacks and high color contrasts means it is tech of next generation. It produces image that looks the same with different viewing angles. Now you can sit on corner seat and still enjoy the movie in movie theaters or even in your living room. The only major disadvantage OLED has in the market is that ; it is expensive.

OLED can also produce flexible screens. Curved TV’s. Fold-able smartphones. Wrist watches with display. All these inventions are being possible because OLED which speaks volumes how big of a invention it was. Next big thing which OLED can produce is “In Air Display“. It sounds like a fantasy but it is very much possible. Creating transparent display or a very slim screen almost invisible to see , only OLED can achieve that.

Below is the list of all kinds of display’s that we know exist in the market :-

LCD with LED back-light
OLED Display
Plasma Display
AMOLED Display (Version of OLED)
QLED (Quantum Dots LED) :- It is a better version of LCD. It uses quantum dots in back-light which emits better and brighter colors. It is a technology introduced by Samsung in 2018. It’s picture quality is surprisingly similarly to OLED.
Retina Display :- It is a term used by Apple. Retina display is nothing but LCD display. While Super Retina Display used by apple means OLED display.
Ultra 4k HD Display :- It is actually not a technology. It simply means a screen usually LCD which can display picture quality 4 times better than HD. HD quality means screen has 1920 x 1080 pixel. While 4k ultra HD will have 1920x1080x4 pixels which is about 8.2 million.

A last piece of information. Every LCD display has a resolution limit to it. For example 720p LCD screen means it can run a video or display a image with a maximum resolution of 720p. If you run a lower resolution video on it the results are average. Picture only looks good when displayed in 720p. This is also where OLED is better as it is self adjusting and can run all kinds of resolution.

Earphones/Headphones are essential part of our life. But what are earphones? Small speakers buzzing into your ears? Yeah! They are pretty much that. But what makes them expensive? Expensive ones have better sound quality , agreed. Expensive ones are more comfortable , agreed. But are expensive ones really expensive? What makes them expensive? You cannot change basic electronics it’s same for all. Let’s find out what really makes these things expensive.

What’s inside?

All speakers work on a basic concept of converting the current coming from the source into sound energy. Sound energy can easily be produced by moment of air. Different types of sounds move the air differently. Earphones are made up of 3 major parts. One that receives current. Another that creates disturbances in air and finally the one that moves to produce different sounds that we hear.

PART 1:- If I open the first layer of the earphone. We get a plastic sheet called as diaphragm or popularly called as “cone” in manufacturing industry. Diaphragm is that final part which vibrates in different ways with different intensities to produce sound.

PART 2:- If I open the earphone further more that is remove plastic sheet or diaphragm. What I get is a brown color circle like structure which is actually a collection of copper wires tightly threaded into each other by machine. This part is called “Voice Coil”. This is the part that receives current directly from the source.

PART 3:- Magnet! Yes the third part is Magnet. Empty space in between copper wires contains a magnet. Magnet is responsible for creating disturbance in the air. When current passes through voice coil it polarizes the magnetic field produced by the magnet. The movement of the magnetic field due to current signal makes the diaphragm move in the similar fashion producing the desired sound waves.

What is the difference?

A Cone , A Voice coil , A Magnet are ultimately the only things which are inside every earphones/headphones. What makes the expensive ones have better sound quality than cheaper ones. Is it a strong magnet? Is it more number of turns in the voice coil or Is it a more sensitive diaphragm?

Let us start from magnets. Stronger the magnet means better sound quality. Stronger magnets produce strong magnetic fields which in turn makes the diaphragm vibrate at a higher intensity. Higher intensity means production of Bass , clearer beats and better sound quality. Neodymium is the strongest magnet to be used in headphones and yes it’s expensive! That what makes these little speakers buzzing into your ears expensive.

Earpiece Disc
Neodymium Magnet

What about the voice coil? Well, the larger you make the voice coil, the more power it can handle but at the same time, it also generates more heat. Smaller coils can be a little more resonant, but larger coils tend to have better control. More resonant means high frequency resulting in louder sound. Larger coil can receive almost all the current coming from the source (meaning leakage current is less) thus improving sound clarity making words more clearer coming out of the speaker. Larger the speaker ; larger the voice coil. This is the reason why large speakers sound better than headphones and latter sound better than earphones.

Larger diaphragms produce more accurate sounds. But size of diaphragm usually doesn’t matter much in terms of earphones or headphones. Most of them have same size of diaphragm in it.

consumer consumption

Lot’s of technical talking. Lot’s of knowledge. Let’s move ahead.

Consumer is usually not worried about how a thing is made or technical aspects of a product to be precise. We are worried about features that a product is going to deliver us. We are worried at what price these features we can buy and of which brand. Lastly we always look for VFM. VFM? Value for Money!. Let’s see which brand makes the best Cone , best Voice coil and best magnets that is best Speakers!.

Harman International – One of the best speakers producing company. Not many people know them by that name. Well JBL , heard of it? Harman is the parent origination of JBL. Samsung a more renowned name is the owner of Harman International. End of the family tree. Surprise! Samsung makes best speakers in the world.

When it comes to producing nano tech it’s not that easy. If you can make good speakers it doesn’t mean your good in making good earphones/headphones. Bringing that same technology to nano scale isn’t that simple because JBL headphones aren’t that good. Here is where Sony comes into picture. Sony not only makes excellent headphones but it makes them at all price ranges.

Manufacturing cheap headphones can be tricky. Cheap headphone can sound as good as expensive ones because this is electronics. It is not about using expensive stuff , it is about the that combination, that combination of turns in voice coil , type of magnet , size of diaphragm which can produce a better sound quality even by using cheap stuff. It’s an art! Electronics specially at nano scale is an art! But talking again in terms of consumer . Money brings comfort. More money you are willing to spend more comfortable product you are buying , that is such a simple concept.

DAILY USAGE

You have bought pair of speakers that goes into your ears almost daily. You definitely don’t want these to burst in your ears because ears are essential part of your body. There has always been major health concerns regarding excess use of earphones. Earphones were largely designed to give everyone there personal space. So that one can listen to music or watch movies without disturbing it’s surroundings. They were never made to always sit on your ears.

There is only one concern with these little speakers that they convert the current incoming from source into sound. This means if an earphone draws excess amount of current from source , more current means more sound that may damage your ears. This danger only exist in wired headsets because wired ones use current to send signals. Most of the wired headsets become useless because of loose wiring. Inner tech never gets disturbed. Hardly ever you will find any technical issues with your earphones it’s just the wiring that goes off. You can’t even do anything with it because they are just soldered. You can just try not to manhandle them. It doesn’t matter how expensive earphones you buy , if you manhandle them they will end up being of no use. Don’t try to re-solder the wires it is of no use, you will end up increasing the risk of damaging your ears. Just a buy a new one! And if you are sure of breaking them then just buy cheap ones and keep breaking them rather than buying expensive ones and repairing it.

is Bluetooth safer than wired ones?

No Wires. No Current. No Risk. More Comfort. Everything is great about Bluetooth technology right now. Bluetooth works on radio frequency tech and not on infra red ray so it’s safer also. Signals are transferred in form of radio waves which is not as accurate as current but works fine and does the job. So answer is YES Bluetooth is safer than wired ones and much more comfortable also. Plus you can manhandle them! Yes! No wires to break. Much more easy to carry. Yes they are little expensive than wired ones but it’s better to buy one expensive Bluetooth headset than to buy multiple cheap wired ones.

Quality of sound is always the issue with Bluetooth headsets. But with every next generation Bluetooth technology it’s just getting better and better.

If you did ask me what should we buy right now:wireless or wired one? I would say if you are die hard music lover who never want to miss a beat than wired ones should be your preference.

If your buying for causal work or watching movies and what not. I would go with a comfy wired headset to be kept at your home and wireless earphones or better known as earbuds for travelling purposes or maybe for carrying them at your work space or educational place.

Mitul Tandon

Data Science / Machine Learning Engineer

Category Uncategorized

ORGANIC~LED IS THE FUTURE