A brand new report has proven that OLED gaming displays have taken off like a rocket this yr – no chopsticks required – with gross sales information from Trendforce tallying with our personal expertise, which exhibits monitor producers have massively ramped up manufacturing this yr and patrons are making the change too. Main the cost is Samsung, with its QD-OLED panel expertise proving to be a success. Nonetheless, there are a number of different nice choices on the market too.
This pattern in the direction of OLED can also be mirrored in our greatest gaming monitor information, with round 1 / 4 of our prime picks being OLED shows, together with fashions from MSI and Samsung. Issues nonetheless exist about the truth that OLED has a finite life (particulars beneath) and LCDs stay the higher choice for a lot of functions, however OLED is clearly a compelling selection for avid gamers.
The Trendforce report particulars how OLED monitor shipments are projected to achieve 1.44 million items by the top of 2024, which works out as a 181% rise from 2023. This could hardly be stunning given we’ve seen various new producers enter the OLED monitor house these days, with costs dropping quickly in comparison with final yr.
Regardless of this higher affordability, it’s Samsung’s enormous 49-inch shows which have led the cost. The corporate is forecast to achieve a 31% share of the market this yr, with its superwide panels being amongst its hottest choices. Certain sufficient, one in every of our long-running favorites is the Samsung Odyssey G9 G95SC, which was a $1,500 monitor final yr however often dropped to round $1,000 this yr – it has since offered out, with the G93 (LS49CG932SNXZA) being the brand new go-to choice.
Subsequent up is LG, which was the unique greatest participant within the OLED world, however its WOLED panel tech has been a trickier promote than Samsung’s QD-OLED tech. We discovered this to be the case in our LG 27GR95QE assessment, the place this 240Hz, 1440p, 27-inch show had glorious gaming efficiency however low brightness and poor textual content sharpness. LG additionally doesn’t have the availability of tempting 49-inch superwide panels, so it has missed out on choosing up prospects for these panels. LG is projected to finish the yr with a 19% share of the market.
Nonetheless, whereas LG has struggled in some areas, its 31.5-inch 4K shows have made a splash, significantly its fashions that supply the power to modify from a 240Hz 4K mode to a 480Hz 1080p mode, such because the LG 32GS95UE (assessment coming very quickly). As a result of a 4K decision on a 32-inch display screen makes for such a excessive pixel density, these setups largely overcome the issues with poor textual content readability on lower-resolution LG shows.
Subsequent up are Asus and Dell (together with a number of well-liked Alienware fashions), with each firms providing a spread of premium OLED choices and securing a 14% share every of the market. The Asus PG27AQDM is a notable spotlight from Asus, with its 27-inch measurement, 240Hz refresh charge, and affordable $699 worth – sure, that’s affordable for an OLED.
Nonetheless, it’s MSI that’s the actually noticeable winner in these figures. It has recorded the very best progress charge and leaped to an 11% market share, having been largely a bit participant within the monitor market beforehand. Its give attention to aggressive pricing and easy, no-frills designs is what impressed us with each the 27-inch MSI MPG 271QRX and 49-inch MSI MPG 491CQP. MSI makes use of Samsung’s QD-OLED panels for its shows.
Gigabyte is one other winner off the again of utilizing Samsung QD-OLED panels repackaged into keenly-priced choices. Shows equivalent to its 27-inch Aorus FO27Q3 and 49-inch Aorus CO49DQ each provide improbable worth for the specs on provide.
As for the general execs and cons of OLED gaming displays, the most important benefit for gaming is the primarily prompt response time of OLED. The place LCD panels can take between 0.5ms and 15ms (relying on panel kind and different elements) for a pixel to vary shade, OLED takes sometimes round 0.03ms, which is between 10x and 100x sooner. Meaning you don’t get the ghostly trails behind shifting photographs that may plague LCDs, making for a snappier-feeling, sharper-looking show.
The opposite key benefit is the power for OLED pixels to fully flip off. With out having many 1000’s of particular person backlights that flip off independently (these exist, however are uncommon), LCDs can’t obtain true blackness, so “black” on LCDs appears barely grey. This ends in comparatively poor distinction ratios between 1,000:1 and three,000:1, whereas OLEDs have successfully infinite distinction, typically labeled as 1,500,000:1.
As for the downsides, the most important one is that OLED panels don’t final eternally. The natural a part of the natural light-emitting diode breaks down with use, inflicting points equivalent to burn-in, which is the place a everlasting picture begins to look etched onto the display screen. OLED tech has improved in recent times, with panels persistently lasting a number of years with out a lot proof of burn-in, however you’re unlikely to get ten years out of a panel (I personal LCDs which might be many years previous and nonetheless work completely), particularly in case you use it every single day for work in addition to gaming.
The opposite downside is that the way in which OLED panels are made means textual content can look a bit fuzzy in comparison with the identical pixel density (decision/display screen measurement) on an LCD. It’s worst on LG WOLED panels, however it does have an effect on Samsung QD-OLED panels too. It’s unhealthy sufficient that we flat out don’t advocate LG WOLED panels for work if they’ve a pixel density decrease than 140ppi (4K on a 32-inch display screen). QD-OLED panels are okay at 110ppi (1440p on a 27-inch show), however we’d nonetheless select an LCD at this density if the display screen is for use for work all day.
Regardless, it’s clear OLED is right here to remain, and actually dominate the market in years to return. We hope producers handle to maintain producing top-tier LCD panels too, as these stay nice decisions for work and play (it’s significantly alarming to see how the availability of 34-inch IPS gaming displays has all however dried up). Nonetheless, for avid gamers searching for one of the best in efficiency and gorgeous picture high quality, OLED is the selection proper now.
In the event you’ve already succumbed to the temptation of an OLED monitor and located your self needing a GPU improve to get essentially the most from it, take a look at our greatest graphics card information to seek out the only option in your wants.
