OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a display technology that is brighter, more efficient, thinner and feature better refresh rates and contrast than an LCD display. OLEDs deliver the best picture quality ever and OLED displays have been used in smartphones, wearables and TVs.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Carbon photo

Why are OLED displays better than LCDs?

  • In OLED displays, each pixel emits light independently (in LCDs, there is a white backlight).
  • The contrast ratio of OLEDs is much better than in LCD, so are the refresh rates and the viewing angles.
  • OLEDs are thinner and lighter than LCDs, and can be made flexible, foldable, rollable and transparent.
  • OLEDs are more efficient, as only lit pixels draw energy. A smart user interface can result in very power efficient OLED displays!

2019 - OLED laptops finally arrive

OLEDs are already very successful in smartphone displays (over 500 million panels produced annually, adopted in smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Sony and others), OLED TVs and wearables. While in early 2016 several laptop makers announced the first OLED laptops (such as the Lenovo X1 Yoga with its 14" 2550x1440 AMOLED and the HP Spectre X360 with its 13.3" 2560x1600 AMOLED display), these laptops were produced in small quantities and quickly discontinued.

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro X 15 photo

In early 2019, Samsung finally announced it start mass producing OLED displays for laptops. Since then we have seen many laptops from HP, Dell, Asus, Gigabyte, Lenovo and others adopt OLED displays, first at premium models and slowly in medium-range laptops as well. Click here for our complete list of laptops with OLED displays. Samsung, and other display makers, are expanding OLED laptop production capacity as demand for IT in general is rising and consumers prefer OLED displays.

Image retention (burn-in)?

One of the major drawbacks of an OLED display is that because each pixel is driven independently and because the lifetime of an OLED emitter is limited, OLED panels suffer from image retention (known as burn-in). A much-used pixel is less bright than a pixel that hasn't been driven a lot (for a more technical explanation, click here).

In computer user interface this is a problem - as some UI elements are quite fixed (toolbars, icons, etc). There are some technologies to handle this problem - for example by measurement and compensation, by using a tandem architecture to extend lifetime, and more. The situation has improved much in recent years, to the point where OLEDs are very much suitable as laptops displays.

Further reading

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The latest OLED Laptop news:

Samsung Display starts ordering equipment for its 8.6-Gen IT OLED production line

According to report from Korea, Samsung Display has established a dedicated organization to head its new 8.6-Gen IT OLED Production line, and has started to order equipment. Samsung is converting an existing LCD line in Asan to OLED production, with an estimated cost of $3.1 billion.

Samsung Display 8-Gen IT OLED line slide (2022-08)

According to the report, SDC's decision to have a dedicated organization was made to give that team independence from the company's current small-area (smartphone/wearable) focused business and TV-focused business. 

Read the full story Posted: May 16,2023

A slowdown in Apple's laptop sales may delay Samsung's and LG's investment in OLED IT production lines

Samsung Display and LG Display are both gearing up to build 8-Gen AMOLED production lines, aiming to supply Apple (and others) with OLEDs for IT devices - laptops and tablets, mostly. Last month Samsung announced that it will convert an existing LCD line in Asan to OLED production, with an estimated cost of $3.1 billion

Samsung Display 8-Gen IT OLED line slide (2022-08)

According to a new report from Korea, the slowdown in Apple's laptop sales is a cause of worry for the OLED producers, who have delayed the plans to build the new fabs, and delayed equipment orders. The main problem for the OLED makers is that the slowdown in Apple's sales may drive Apple to want to low the price of the laptop displays, which would put a stress on the profitability of new OLED fabs.

Read the full story Posted: May 11,2023

Omdia: Apple to switch to OLED displays in almost all of its tablets, laptops and monitors by 2027

Omdia released its latest IT OLED display forecasts, with some interesting projections. 

The company sees very nice growth ahead for OLED displays in the IT market, with shipments rising from around 9.7 million units in 2022 to over 70 million units in 2028. Most of the growth will come from adoption in laptops, but tablet adoption will also increase sharply.

Read the full story Posted: Apr 22,2023

Samsung Display to invest $3.1 billion to convert an LCD fab to an IT 8.5-Gen AMOLED line

In August 2022, Samsung Display announced that the company decided to build a 8-Gen (2200x2500 mm) production line, which will begin production in 2024. The company now updated that it will convert an existing LCD line in Asan, South Chungcheong province, Korea - and the total cost of the project is $3.1 billion. Samsung Display received government subsidy for this project. 

Samsung Display 8-Gen IT OLED line slide (2022-08)

Samsung says that the new production line will enable it to more than double its AMOLED tablet panel production. The company acknowledges the drop in demand for displays in general, but the company expects that demand for premium mid-sized panels will keep increasing. 

Read the full story Posted: Apr 07,2023

DSCC: OLED revenues to decline 7% in 2023, due to low demand for TV and smartphone panels

DSCC estimates that the OLED market will contract 7% in 2023, by revenues, to reach $38.7 billion. In terms of shipments, there will be a 1% decline from last year.

The two main OLED markets, smartphones and TVs, will both decline - OLED smartphone revenues will decline by 8% in 2023 (shipments will remain the same), while OLED TV panel revenues will drop 15% (12% by shipments).

Read the full story Posted: Mar 28,2023

Samsung Display launches new OCTA 120Hz laptop OLED displays

Samsung Display announced that it is beginning to produce touch-enabled OLED displays for the laptop market. These panels will adopt the company's latest OCTA (on-cell touch) technology, and will support a 120Hz refresh rate and will offer a 3K resolution (the company did not detail the size).

Samsung Display's AMOLED displays for tablets and laptops photo

Samsung says that the first laptops to adopt the new panels will be Samsung's own 2023 Galaxxy Book notebooks, but the panels will also be offered to other laptop makers.

Read the full story Posted: Jan 24,2023

ETNews: Apple signs contracts to develop tablet and laptop OLEDs, gets ready for the first OLED iPad in 2024

Korea-based ETNews reports that Apple has finally committed to adopt OLED displays in future tablets and laptops, and the company has signed a contact with a "local OLED developer" (which means either Samsung Display or LG Dispaly) to develop four different OLED displays.

According to the report, Apple decided to adopt a 10.86" and 12.9" AMOLED displays for future iPad devices, and 14" and 16" displays for future MacBooks. The first OLED iPad will be released in 2024, while the first OLED MacBook will come later in 2026.

Read the full story Posted: Jan 21,2023

Coherent launches a new 150 W infrared industrial femtosecond laser for large OLED display glass cutting

Coherent has launched a new Monaco infrared industrial femtosecond laser configuration with 150 W of output power. The company says that the new laser is ideal for cutting of large OLED display glass.

The OLED industry is now entering the IT display market (tablets, laptops and monitors) and this accelerates the demand for laser tools with higher output power that can process larger glass sheets than those currently used in smartphones and wearables. Coherent says that the new Monaco 1035-150-150 outputs more than double the power and pulse energy of existing configurations, enabling high-precision cutting of large glass panels in very high volumes to produce large OLED screens with perfect assembly fit in next-generation IT devices. Coherent says that its new laser is the smallest femtosecond laser of its kind on the market and the easiest to integrate into laser tools.

Read the full story Posted: Jan 20,2023