What the government's own test says, at matching screen sizes
Every TV sold in Australia is tested the same way regardless of panel type: a fixed on-mode power measurement under the mandatory GEMS television standard, AS/NZS 62087.2.2:2011, the same test behind the star rating on the box and the registry-median wattage this site's calculator already uses. OLED is registered at other sizes too, but only in small numbers next to LED, and above 65 inches the two types stop lining up at the same nominal size at all (big LEDs cluster at 75 and 85 inches, big OLEDs at 77 and 83), so 55 and 65 inches are the two sizes where a like-for-like comparison holds up. Pulled at those two sizes, the result runs against the assumption OLED simply draws more: a 55-inch LED tests at 92 W against a 55-inch OLED's 95 W, OLED a little higher, but a 65-inch LED tests at 120 W against a 65-inch OLED's 115 W, OLED lower this time. Neither gap is the story a ‘OLED costs more to run’ headline implies.
Run that through this site's own state electricity rates at the calculator's default 4 hours a night and the money involved barely moves: at 55 inches, OLED costs about $1.20 (ACT) to $1.67 (SA) more a year than LED; at 65 inches, OLED actually costs about $2.00 (ACT) to $2.78 (SA) less. Either way it's loose change against a power bill, not a reason on its own to pick one panel type over the other.
What this costs, state by state
Same registry-median wattage our TV calculator already uses, run at its default of 4 hours a night, at 55 and 65 inches: the two sizes where the registry holds a large same-size cohort of both panel types (726 LED against 72 OLED models at 55 inches, 802 against 80 at 65, July 2026 snapshot).
| State | Rate | 55-inch LED (92 W) | 55-inch OLED (95 W) | 65-inch LED (120 W) | 65-inch OLED (115 W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 32.4¢ | $43.52 | $44.94 | $56.76 | $54.40 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | $40.03 | $41.33 | $52.21 | $50.03 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | $41.91 | $43.27 | $54.66 | $52.38 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | $51.18 | $52.84 | $66.75 | $63.97 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | $45.13 | $46.60 | $58.87 | $56.41 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | $38.82 | $40.08 | $50.63 | $48.52 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | $36.80 | $38.00 | $48.00 | $46.00 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | $42.58 | $43.97 | $55.54 | $53.22 |
Reference rates for 2026–27. Your row is highlighted once you set your location.
Why one independent test found OLED using far more power
The government test isn't wrong, it's just measuring one specific kind of content. An LED TV lights every pixel from the same backlight, so its power draw stays fairly steady no matter what's on screen. An OLED lights each pixel individually, which means its power draw tracks the average brightness of whatever's actually playing: a dark movie can sip power because most of the panel is genuinely switched off, while bright sport or a sunlit HDR scene can push it well past an LED of the same size. Independent power-meter testing reported by SlashGear (citing RTINGS' own measurements of its own review units, not the registry-median models above) found a 65-inch LED averaging around 88 W against a 65-inch OLED around 116 W across a range of real content, OLED drawing roughly a third more, the opposite direction to the registry figures above. Both readings are correct; they're just measuring different things on different sets, not two figures for the same televisions. The GEMS test runs one defined clip at a fixed brightness for every TV regardless of panel type, which is why it can't capture how far an OLED's draw can climb once real, bright content is on screen. Put dollars on that real-content gap at the same 4 hours a night and it comes to roughly $11 (ACT) to $16 (SA) a year more for the OLED, several times the like-for-like registry gap at the same size, though still nothing that should shape a buying decision on its own.
What that means in practice: panel technology doesn't move the bill much either way, what's actually playing and which picture mode it's playing in matter more. Our companion guide on how picture mode changes what a TV costs to run found a 37% swing on the same single television just from a menu setting, a bigger effect than the LED-versus-OLED gap this page measures at matching sizes. Checking that the picture mode isn't left on Vivid or Store cuts a bill further than choosing LED over OLED, or the other way round, ever could.
Common questions
Does the LED vs OLED gap grow if the TV runs more than 4 hours a night?
It grows in proportion, and stays small. Running costs scale directly with hours on, so a household watching 8 hours a night doubles every figure on this page, which still only takes the widest same-size registry gap from about $2.78 to about $5.56 a year. The one caveat runs in OLED's favour on dark content and against it on bright content: an OLED's draw tracks what's on screen, so heavy sport or daytime-bright viewing pushes its real-world figure up faster than an LED's.
How do I check what a specific TV model draws before buying?
Every TV registered for sale in Australia has a tested on-mode wattage on public record. The model finder in our TV running cost calculator searches those registered figures by brand and model, or you can read the kWh-per-year number printed on the Energy Rating Label on the box. Either number tells you more about the machine in front of you than any panel-type average can.
Do OLED TVs use more power in standby?
No. Standby draw comes from the TV's electronics staying half-awake for the remote, not from the panel, and measured standby results in the registry sit around 0.4 watts regardless of panel type, roughly a dollar a year left plugged in around the clock. If standby cost is the worry, a switched-off wall socket removes it for either panel type.
Are the SlashGear/RTINGS real-content figures for the same 65-inch models as the registry test above?
No, they're a different pair of televisions entirely. The registry gap above uses this site's own registry-median wattage across every currently registered 65-inch LED and OLED model; the real-content figures come from RTINGS' own testing of its specific review units, reported by SlashGear. The two can't be reconciled model for model, which is expected: one measures a defined test clip across the whole market, the other measures real playback on two particular TVs, and that difference in method, not a data error, is why they point in opposite directions.
Sources
TV size/wattage registry medians by panel type (LED and OLED): the same energyrating.gov.au registration database (July 2026 snapshot) as our TV running cost calculator. GEMS television on-mode power test methodology: Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Television) Determination 2012, AS/NZS 62087.2.2:2011 clause 2. Independent real-content power-meter testing (65-inch LED vs OLED, RTINGS measurements): SlashGear, LED vs OLED: Which TV Technology Uses More Electricity? Self-emissive pixel and average-picture-level explanation: this site's own companion guide, does picture mode change what your TV costs to run?. Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer and each state's regulated reference tariff, current for 2026–27. All fetched July 2026.