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
OLED monitors and the burn-in challenge?
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.
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.
Display makers LG Display, Samsung Display and others target premium applications and mostly produce OLED panels in the range of 27-inch to 42-inch. One example of an OLED monitor is the ViewSonic VX2776-2K-OLED, based on a 26.5" 1000 nits (HDR) 2560x1440 240Hz 0.03 ms G2G VRR WOLED display (made by LGD).
Asus has several OLED monitors. The PG32UCDM and PG34WCDM are two gaming monitors, each based on a different OLED panel technology. The PG32UCDM uses a 32" 4K (3840x2160, 16:9) 240Hz VRR 1000 nits (HDR peak) QD-OLED panel, produced by Samsung Display. The PG34WCDM monitor, on the other hand is based on a 34" 3440x1440 (21:9) 240Hz VRR 1300 nits (HDR peak) MLA (microlens) WOLED curved (800R) panel, produced by LG Display.
Samsung has its own high-end OLED monitor, the Odyssey OLED G95SC. This is an ultra-wide gaming monitor based on a 49-inch 5120x1440 resolution, 240Hz, 1800R curved QD-OLED panel. The G95SC is now shipping, for around $2,000. LG also offers OLED monitors, including the UltraGear 27GR95QE-B a gaming monitor with a 27" 2560x1440 240Hz 0.3ms (GtG) response time OLED display. The 27" UltraGear OLED monitor is now shipping for around $850.
Click here for our comprehensive list of OLED monitors.
Further reading
DSCC sees 2.4 million OLED monitor panels shipping in 2026, up from 600,000 in 2022
DSCC says that it expects the advanced monitor category to grow 328% in 2022, to reach 3.6 million panels. OLED monitor shipments will jump 641%, to reach 600,000 units. The growth in OLED shipments will continue, but even in 2026, OLEDs will still take a small part of the market segmented, which is dominated by mini-LED LCDs.
In 2022, DSCC sees QD-OLED panels to grab a 27% market share, while WOLEDs have a lead with a 52% market share. In total, OLEDs will have a 15% market share of the advanced monitor market.
DSCC: the OLED market remained flat in Q1 2022 at $9.5 billion
DSCC says that global OLED revenues in Q1 2022 were around $9.5 billion, the same as in Q1 2021, even though unit shipments declined 4%.
Smartphone remained the leading OLED application, with a 79% revenue share, even though shipments decreased 8% (and revenues decreased 3%). The second largest application by shipments is wearables (16% in Q1 2022 by shipments and in 6% market share by revenues).
A study by LG Display shows that OLED is the optimal gaming display technology
LG Display says that according to an original research it has conducted, OLED is the optical gaming display technology.
In this research, several gamers played different gaming genres on LCD and OLED displays, and on curved and flat displays. The study results show that a gamer’s reaction time can be improved by using OLED, while a display’s curvature provides a more immersive gaming experience.
LGD: no immediate plans to start producing OLED monitors panels, but looking at several technologies
LG Display says that it has no immediate plans to start producing OLED panels for monitor applications (at sizes of around 30-inch), but the company is looking at two different architectures for such panels.
Specifically, LGD is considering whether its WRGB OLED panels, used currently to make TV panels (sizes 42-inch and up) are suitable for 30-inch monitor panels. Another option that LGD is looking into is adopting its RGB mobile OLED (p-OLED) technology to produce monitor panels.
Dell's Alienware 34" QD-OLED monitor is now shipping
Dell's Alienware AW3423DW QD-OLED gaming monitor is now shipping for $1,299. This is the world's first device to sport a QD-OLED panel (produced by Samsung Display).
The Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor sports a curved 34-inch 175Hz 3440x1440 QD-OLED panel, Nvidia G-Sync and DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification.
DSCC: there are 11 8.5-Gen IT OLED production lines under development
Demand for larger mobile OLED displays, for laptops, tablets and monitors is on the rise, and OLED makers (Led by Samsung Display) are planning to establish 8.5-Gen OLED production fabs dedicated for IT panels. The leading maker is
DSCC posted a very interesting article with predictions on this new development in the industry, saying that there are currently 11 different 15K G8.5/G8.6 IT OLED lines under development.
Dell says that the Alienware 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor will cost $1,299
Last month Dell announced the Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor, the first one to spot Samsung's 34-inch QD-OLED panels. The company announced that the AW3423DW will ship in the spring, with a price of $1,299.
The Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor sports a curved 34-inch 175Hz 3440x1440 QD-OLED panel, Nvidia G-Sync and DisplayHDR 400 True Black certification.
DSCC sees a $63 billion OLED market in 2026, driven by high demand for laptop, monitor and tablet displays
DSCC has released its latest OLED market forecast, and the company forecasts a 8% CAGR revenue growth, with the market reaching $64 billion in revenue in 2026. The growth will be fueled by high demand for laptop, monitor and tablet displays. The smartphone and OLED TV market will also continue to grow.
DSCC sees a 31% CAGR shipment growth for laptop displays, to reach around $2.4 billion in 2026, and a 95% CAGR unit growth for monitor OLED displays, which will reach $1.3 billion in 2026 (up from $200 million in 2022). This is fast growth for monitor OLED displays, but slower than DSCC previously estimated, due to competition for miniLEDs, rigid OLED capacity that will be used for laptops and tablets and lower demand to mirroring display monitors.
Tom'sGuide: the new samsung QD-OLED displays are the best we've have ever seen
Earlier this week at CES, Samsung Display officially launched its QD-OLED display panels, and the first few products were announced, including the 34" 3440x1440 175Hz Alienware AW3423DW gaming monitor.
It will be very interesting to see how these displays compare to other OLED (and LCD) displays on the market, and we don't have any real reviews yet... but Mark Spoonauer, a writer at respected site Tom's Guide said that the new QD-OLED displays is "the best he has ever seen".
Samsung Display officially launches its QD-OLED panels at CES 2022
We already know that Samsung Display is starting to produce QD-OLED panels, and the first products have already been announced: Sony's A95K QD-OLED TV and Dell's and Samsung's 34" QD-OLED monitors.
It is great to see Samsung Display officially announce its QD-OLED panel lineup at CES 2022. The company is indeed producing three kinds of panels, 55" and 65" 4K panels for TVs and wide 34" panels for monitors. SDC says it will start mass producing the panels "in the first half of 2022".
