OLED gaming monitors emerge as shining light in dim display market

An explosion rips through a dark video game scene — a blinding flash that bursts across the screen. Yet the darkness around it remains pitch-black. That's the beauty of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology: Each pixel generates its own light and switches off completely when it isn't needed.

"An OLED monitor made a bigger difference to my gaming experience than a major graphics card upgrade," wrote a user on Quasar Zone, a Korean online tech forum. "The contrast between deep blacks and sudden flashes of light makes the experience feel remarkably immersive and realistic."

Most monitors on the market, including the bulk of gaming models, are still liquid crystal displays lit from behind by a layer of light-emitting diodes (LED), which is why they are often sold as “LED” monitors. Because the backlight is always on, the liquid crystal layer in front of it can only dim the light, not block it entirely, so dark scenes can look washed out.

Pricier mini-LED models narrow the gap by dimming the backlight in thousands of separate zones, but bright objects can still leave a faint halo against black backgrounds.

For gamers, it's no longer just about how powerful their hardware is. The screen itself is becoming just as important. That shift is breathing new life into a stagnant monitor market, as OLED gaming displays gain traction for their sharp picture quality and rapid response times.

The shift is already visible in global sales figures.

Gaming monitor shipments grew 8 percent on year to 7.7 million units in the second quarter, even as conventional monitor sales declined 2 percent to 24.1 million, according to industry sources and market researcher International Data Corporation on Thursday.

Gaming monitors also accounted for 24.2 percent of global monitor sales in the second quarter, up from 19.8 percent in the same period of 2024.

The biggest force behind that boom is OLED. Global shipments of OLED monitor panels are expected to surge 79 percent from a year earlier to 6.1 million units this year, according to market researcher Omdia. Shipments are expected to rise further to 7.5 million units next year.

Intensifying competition among monitor makers and expanding OLED panel production capacity are helping accelerate market growth.

OLED gaming monitors are also becoming more affordable. Prices for 27-inch models with 240-hertz (Hz) refresh rates have dropped more than 40 percent this year, according to Omdia. A 240Hz refresh rate means the screen updates 240 times per second, which allows for smoother motion even in fast-paced games.

The price of premium OLED monitors has also fallen to about $350 this year and is expected to approach $300 by next year. That marks a turning point for OLED, which is beginning to move beyond its traditional niche in high-end gaming displays.

Samsung Display and LG Display are locked in an increasingly fierce technology race as the market grows. Both want to make screens sharper and faster. The problem is that higher resolutions require more pixel data, which makes it difficult to improve both without compromise.

Samsung Display's Quantum Dot panels use tiny semiconductor particles to convert blue light into red and green, producing richer, more accurate colors.

"Next year, we plan to introduce products that offer resolutions of 4K and above, as well as models that let gamers choose from different combinations of resolution and refresh rate depending on the type of game," the company said.

LG Display's new 24.5-inch OLED panel delivers a 720Hz refresh rate at Full HD resolution, while its pixels can change color in just 0.02 milliseconds. Launched last month, the panel minimizes motion blur and suits first-person shooters, where every fraction of a second counts.

Chinese rivals are also entering the fray. CSOT, the display subsidiary of China's TCL, is challenging established OLED makers with inkjet printing technology, which precisely deposits light-emitting materials much like an inkjet printer sprays ink.

"Gaming monitors have emerged as virtually the only growth engine in an otherwise stagnant monitor market," said a display industry source. "As OLED prices fall and the technology finds wider applications, competition over technology and production costs will only intensify."

BY KIM SU-MIN [[email protected]]