Gloves off for Samsung, LG in high-end OLED display fight

Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co., the global leading organic light-emitting diode panel makers, are fiercely competing in the professional OLED sector.

LG Display said on Thursday it started mass production of its 27-inch 480Hz QHD Gaming OLED panel to target the premium gaming market.

The OLED panel features the industry’s highest refresh rate of 480 Hz and fastest response time to meet rapidly growing demand for gaming displays, the world’s top manufacturer of large-size OLED panels said. A refresh rate is the number of images displayed per second and response time is how long it takes to display graphics card signals.

The South Korean display major partially owned by LG Electronics Inc. was the only company to achieve a refresh rate of 480HZ for a gaming OLED panel. A higher refresh rate gives a gaming screen smoother and sharper images.

“We will create differentiated customer value and secure leadership in the high-end gaming display market based on the advantages of LG Display’s unparalleled OLED technologies such as an ultra-high refresh rate, fast response time and ultra-high resolution,” said Kang Won-seok, vice president and head of LG Display’s large display product planning division.

LG Display is expanding its presence in the gaming display market with a full lineup of OLED panels ranging from 27 inches to 45 inches.

The global gaming monitor market was forecast to grow $15.1 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.8% from an estimated $12.8 billion won this year, according to industry tracker Omdia.

SAMSUNG, CHOICE OF THE FINISH LINE

Samsung Display said that The Finish Line, a major British post-production company, selected its QD-OLED technology to facilitate high-end work on content for global media services such as Netflix Inc. and Disney+.

The Finish Line has adopted the XMP550 reference monitor equipped with Samsung Display’s 55-inch QD-OLED panel, according to the subsidiary of the world’s top TV maker Samsung Electronics Co.

The XMP550 has been known for its superior color grading capabilities since its launch by renowned broadcast equipment maker Flanders Scientific Inc. in 2023. The monitor received awards from the Hollywood Professional Association and Cine Gear in the US, Samsung Display said.

“The XMP550 represents a significant leap in HDR technology, providing high luminance levels, excellent viewing angles, no blooming, detailed shadows and no display color volume collapse. They are without a doubt the best displays I’ve ever seen,” said Zeb Chadfield, founder of The Finish Line, in a statement released by Samsung Display, referring to the monitor's high dynamic range.

The company’s QD-OLED technology merges the superb black expression of traditional OLED screens with the amplified color performance of quantum dots, yielding richer color expression and distortion-free image quality viewable from any angle, according to Samsung Display.

This effectively caters to the needs of video and broadcasting professionals who prioritize the ability to accurately evaluate the original colors of content and make precise adjustments to editing effects, the South Korean panel maker said.

Samsung Display aims to leverage QD-OLED’s image quality to target the broadcast reference monitor market.

“We will continue to distinguish our image quality with monitors of even higher resolution, further solidifying our position in the professional market for content production,” said Brad Jung, vice president and head of Samsung Display’s large display marketing team.

Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.