The Future of OLED TVs: Adapt or Die

OLED TVs have changed the game for movie and gaming enthusiasts, with their deep blacks, pixel-perfect contrast, and rapid responsiveness. However, the W-OLED technology that has dominated the market for years is showing its limitations, especially in terms of brightness. This has made the technology less suitable for consumers whose living rooms receive direct sunlight.

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The limitations of W-OLED technology mean that bright LED or mini-LED TVs, such as the best Samsung TVs, have the advantage of standing out more prominently in store windows compared to classic OLED screens. Moreover, classic OLEDs like the CX have long suffered from a brightness problem, and even the C2 from 2022 is only a little brighter than that TV.
 
With mini-LED TVs falling in price every year and getting closer to OLED levels of precision in contrast while delivering high levels of brightness, classic OLED technology is facing tough competition. Samsung and Sony are leading the way with QD-OLED TVs, which use a blue layer of OLED pixel underneath an extremely efficient quantum dot filter to change it to other colors. This technology has resulted in peak brightness levels of over 1,000 nits in Standard mode, compared to the roughly 800 nits of the LG C2.
 
However, it is not all doom and gloom for classic OLED technology. The new LG G3 OLED features a Micro Lens Array panel, which uses billions of microscopic lenses to focus the light of the OLED pixels to massively improve brightness, as well as new brightness-managing software systems and the Vanta Black reflection reducer. LG says the G3 can reach 1,470 nits in the same kind of real-settings test that was done on the Samsung S95C. With the same kind of panel coming to the Panasonic MZ2000 and Philips OLED+908, there will be an array of TVs this year blasting to nearly double the brightness of the more traditional OLED panels we have been living with so far.
 
In conclusion, the traditional OLED panel with its middling brightness is caught in a pincer movement. OLED technology has always been about pushing the envelope, and LG, Samsung, and Sony are all taking OLED to a brighter, more vibrant place. The future for classic OLEDs isn't helped by new screen tech being championed by Samsung and Sony, but the OLED technology can adapt and evolve with the introduction of Micro Lens Array panels, new software systems, and Vanta Black reflection reducers.
 

2023.02.25 - [About IT] - OLED vs. QLED: The Ultimate Battle for TV Supremacy

OLED vs. QLED: The Ultimate Battle for TV Supremacy