OLED monitors: introduction and industry news
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology offers bright, efficient and fast displays, outperforming LCD display. OLEDs deliver the best picture quality ever and are used in many devices, from smartwatches through smartphones and tablets to TVs and more.
OLEDs are also used to enable high-end monitors that offer excellent contrast, image quality, colors and new form factors. This article will explain the benefits, the current status and the future of OLED monitors.
OLED monitors vs LCD monitors
- OLED provide a better image quality with a much higher contrast (true blacks), wide color gamut, better viewing angles and a much faster refresh rate (great for gaming!)
- OLED panels are much thinner and lighter compared to LCD panels
- OLED monitors consume less power - as only lit pixels draw energy on OLED displays
- An OLED monitor can be flexible, bendable, rollable - and transparent
Of course OLED technology is not perfect. One of the major drawbacks of an OLED display is image retention / burn-in. In an OLED display each pixel is driven independently and each pixel ages differently - and as brightness is reduced with use (the lifetime of OLED materials is limited), we have burn-in problems.
For mobile phones and TVs this is less of a problem - but in a computer user interface many UI elements are quite fixed (toolbars, icons, etc) which means that burn-in is a real problem. There are some technologies to handle this problem - for example by measurement and compensation, or by adopting a tandem architecture to increase the lifetime. In addition user-interface designers can design a user interface that will be more suited for OLED displays. As there are already millions of OLED monitors on the market, it seems that this problem has been mostly solved.
OLED monitors on the market
OLED technology is very popular in smartphones, wearables and TVs - and in recent years OLED monitors has entered the market as display makers now target this market, starting with high-end models aimed towards gaming and content creation. OLED producers, led by LG Display (WOLED) and Samsung Display (QD-OLED) are offering several high-end OLED panels for monitor makers, and today many leading monitor producers have already adopted OLED displays in their high-end models - including LG Electronics, Samsung, Viewsonic, Asus, Dell, Acer and more.
Click here for our comprehensive list of OLED monitors.
Further reading
Omdia: large-area OLED panel shipments to grow 116.5% in 2024, and 32.7% in 2025
Omdia estimates that shipments of OLEDs over 9-inch in size (which Omdia defines as large-area OLEDs, although most companies will refer to these sizes as medium-sized OLEDs) will increase 116.5% in 2024, and will rise a further 32.7% in 2025.
This growth is driven by increasing demand for OLED monitors, tablets and laptops.
Applied Materials launches a maskless OLED production technology, to support 8-Gen high efficiency OLED deposition and encapsulation
Applied Materials announced a technology, branded as MAX OLED that enables OLED display production on large glass substrates, aiming to provide a cost-effective solution to produce TV and TV displays. Applied developed and patented a new OLED pixel architecture and a "dramatically different manufacturing approach" that the company says enables brighter, clearer, more energy-efficient and longer-lasting.
Applied's new MAX OLED systems can scale from 6-Gen substrates to 8-Gen substrates, supporting the new wave of IT OLED production lines. Applied says that its new solution has strong customer interest - and already achieved repeat orders from several leading display makers (see below). Specifically, Applied announced that it will supply an R&D system to Samsung Display that will test the new production technology for its AMOLED and QD-OLED production technologies.
TCL starts mass producing inkjet printed OLEDs, with a 21.6" 4K OLED monitor panel as the first product
TCL CSoT announced several times in the past that it plans to start producing OLED display using an inkjet printing process by the end of 2024, and yesterday it officially announced it has started mass producing printed OLED displays at its 5.5-Gen production line.
The company brands these displays as APEX OLED displays. In fact it seems as if all of TCL displays (OLEDs and LCDs both) will be branded as APEX OLEDs, with the slogan PACE to APEX.
The Elec: TCL CSoT's first inkjet printed panel will be a 21.6" 4K monitor panel, targeting medical applications
TCL CSoT has announced several times in the past that it plans to start producing OLED display using an inkjet printing process by the end of 2024, and a new report from Korea updates the latest status from the company.
TCL CSoT originally said it will produce OLED TV panels, but later updated its plans to produce IT displays. According to the Elec, the company has decided that its first panel to be produced is a 21.6" monitor displays for medical devices. The company has unveiled this panel in SID 2024 - it has a 4K resolution and a peak brightness of 350 nits.
BOE progresses with the construction of its 8.6-Gen flexible AMOLED line in Chengdu
Towards the end of 2023, BOE officially announced its plans for a 8.6-Gen flexible LTPO AMOLED line in Chengdu. The agreement with Chengdu's local government was signed in early 2024, and in April BOE announced it is starting to construct the new fab.
CEOLED launches a 30" transparent OLED monitor based on LGD's T-OLEDs
Earlier this year LG Display started producing its 30-inch 1366*768 transparent OLED panels. China-based CEOLED are now offering a monitor based on this panel.
The monitor offers a brightness of 600 nits (peak), a 0.1 ms response time, and HDMI, DP, Dc and USB interfaces. The lifetime of LG's 30-inch transparent WOLED is quoted at 30,000 hours. Contact us if you're interested in this monitor, or in other solutions based on LG's range of transparent OLED displays (30-inch, 55-inch and soon 77-inch) or BOE's transparent OLEDs.
Visionox shares more details on its upcoming 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED line in Hefei, construction will begin towards the end of 2024
In May 2024, Visionox announced its plan to build a new AMOLED production line, targeting the IT display market - laptops, monitors and tablets. The company said that it will best 55 billion Yuan (around $7.6 billion USD) to build a 8.6-Gen production line in Hefei, Anhui province, with a monthly capacity of 32,000 substrates.
Yesterday Visionox shared some more details about its project and plans. The company will build the new fab with support from two local government-owned firms, both of which are partners at Visionox's existing 6-Gen AMOLED line in Hefei. In the first step for this new project, the three partners (Visionox and the new government firms) will invest a total of $282 million USD. Visionox will only hold 20% of the JV.
LG Display starts mass producing 27" QHD 480hz OLED gaming monitor panels
LG Display announced that it has started to mass produce its 26.5-inch 480Hz QHD (2560x1440) Gaming OLED panel. This is the world's first 480hz OLED panel, and it offers a 0.02 ms response time, and it is equipped with LG's MLA technology to ehance the light output.
A few weeks ago Acer announced its Predator X27U F3 monitor, that is based on LG's 480Hz OLED, and it's likely that this monitor will start shipping soon.
DSCC: OLED panel shipments jumps 50% in Q2 2024
According to DSCC, OLED panel shipments increased 50% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to the second quarter of 2023. Compared to the previous quarter, shipments increased 13%.
DSCC says that OLED tablet shipments increased 356% in the quarter compared to last year (led by Apple's adoption of AMOLEDs in its iPad Pro devices). OLED smartphone spanel shipments also 49%, while OLED TV panel shipments increased 30% from 2023.
LG Display demonstrates its latest OLED displays and technologies at K-Display 2024
LG Display is showing its latest OLED displays at the K-Display 2024 trade show, in Seoul. You can see LG's large-area OLED TVs, gaming monitors, automotive OLEDs and more.
All of these displays have been shown before, but this video is still a nice demonstration of LGD's latest OLED technologies.
