LG intros the 32-inch UHD UltraFine 32EP950 OLED monitor

[HEXUS]

This is the first time LG has brought its OLED tech to PC monitors – what does it offer?

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[Terbinator]

Whilst I do use a LG B9 for my PC, I'm not sure I'd want to use one as an out and out monitor just yet in regards to panel dedrigation.

Also seems that this isn't bright enough to actually meet the Ultra HD Premium spec of 540nits brightness for OLED?

https://displayhdr.org/#tab-400-true-black


Will need to see more, but given LG are going to be doing a 42" OLED as well, this (32") could well land in no mans land.

[Spud1]

Interesting, i'll be keeping an eye on this as they develop

I'm curious if they have found a way to deal with image retention when these are used with a Windows taskbar 12 hour a day. Maybe that is part of why they didn't really bother with HDR (HDR400 doesn't count!) - if the brightness has an impact? Not sure.

I'm a fan of OLEDs in general, and from an image POV I think it's a nice step up from VA. One to keep an eye on!

In a few years, hopefully we'll have a nice 34" ultrawide OLED panel, with G-Sync, DP2.0 and/or HDMI 2.1. That's the dream!

[Kato-2]

Interesting, i'll be keeping an eye on this as they develop

I'm curious if they have found a way to deal with image retention when these are used with a Windows taskbar 12 hour a day. Maybe that is part of why they didn't really bother with HDR (HDR400 doesn't count!) - if the brightness has an impact? Not sure.

I'm a fan of OLEDs in general, and from an image POV I think it's a nice step up from VA. One to keep an eye on!

In a few years, hopefully we'll have a nice 34" ultrawide OLED panel, with G-Sync, DP2.0 and/or HDMI 2.1. That's the dream!

It's not possible to solve the image retention issue with OLED, there are things you can do on a PC to mitigate it and yes OLED brightness levels do count.
* auto hide taskbar
* switch OS to dark mode (black pixel = off)
* video wallpaper or none at all
* screensaver on short timer

Person buying this kind of display likely has a multi-display setup with the OLED only used for specific jobs.

[Terbinator]

Interesting, i'll be keeping an eye on this as they develop

I'm curious if they have found a way to deal with image retention when these are used with a Windows taskbar 12 hour a day. Maybe that is part of why they didn't really bother with HDR (HDR400 doesn't count!) - if the brightness has an impact? Not sure.

Auto hide taskbar + black wallpaper and any icons middle of the screen is what I've done to minimise wear. There isn't anyway around OLED wear due to how it works.

Saying that there are conflicting takes on whether brightness does impact life span.

In a few years, hopefully we'll have a nice 34" ultrawide OLED panel, with G-Sync, DP2.0 and/or HDMI 2.1. That's the dream!

I think for desktop/work use the actual best solution is going to be a Mini/MicroLED solution if you're after good blacks and no wear problems.

[atomicus]

Interesting, i'll be keeping an eye on this as they develop

I'm curious if they have found a way to deal with image retention when these are used with a Windows taskbar 12 hour a day. Maybe that is part of why they didn't really bother with HDR (HDR400 doesn't count!) - if the brightness has an impact? Not sure.

I'm a fan of OLEDs in general, and from an image POV I think it's a nice step up from VA. One to keep an eye on!

In a few years, hopefully we'll have a nice 34" ultrawide OLED panel, with G-Sync, DP2.0 and/or HDMI 2.1. That's the dream!

The infinite contrast is what will separate this from LCD. The fact it's "only" HDR-400 won't make that much difference, it's still going to look amazing. People get WAYYYY too hung up on brightness. Yes it matters, but contrast matters more, and when you combine infinite contrast and per pixel illumination, LCD is just left in the dust.

I strongly suspect the brightness has been lowered in order to increase the lifespan and mitigate the risk of burn-in, but it REALLY doesn't matter as much as people think. What matters is the as yet unannounced refresh rate and price of this particular monitor.

[atomicus]

I think for desktop/work use the actual best solution is going to be a Mini/MicroLED solution if you're after good blacks and no wear problems.

Mini-LED and Micro-LED are two very different technologies, the latter of which we won't be seeing in PC monitors for a loooong time. Mini-LED we will, but it still won't hold a candle to OLED for its per pixel illumination and inifnite contrast.

For mixed use, i.e lots of static work based use-case scenarios, Mini-LED may be the best option, but it's yet to properly materialise and the handful of monitors with it on the horizon have insane price tags... although so will this OLED I suspect.

For a pure gaming set-up though, OLED is going to look the best, although no refresh rate has been announced for this model, so if it ends up at 60Hz, that's far from optimal. There's a concern with burn-in if someone is playing the same game, day in, day out, but for the average gamer it won't be an issue.

[Solex]

If this monitor can do 4k 120hz+ it will be a great gaming monitor.

[Terbinator]

60Hz limit apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qssoX0nOJAg

[Essexboy]

Yea shame on the limit but we are heading in the right direction with monitors in the last two years.

[moizhaq99]

Samsung all the way

[RedDwarf]

Auto hide taskbar + black wallpaper and any icons middle of the screen is what I've done to minimise wear. There isn't anyway around OLED wear due to how it works.

I use a black desktop with no wallpaper so a total black screen, plus auto hide the taskbar and DesktopOK (freeware) to save icon locations and it has an option to autohide the desktop icons giving a totally black screen except for the cursor. Gaming could cause some problems though.

[Spud1]

The infinite contrast is what will separate this from LCD. The fact it's "only" HDR-400 won't make that much difference, it's still going to look amazing. People get WAYYYY too hung up on brightness. Yes it matters, but contrast matters more, and when you combine infinite contrast and per pixel illumination, LCD is just left in the dust.

It depends on your use case. As others have mentioned - this is definitely more of a "pro" display where colour accuracy etc matter - its not really intended for gaming/home use.

Brightness absolutely does matter when it comes to HDR - displays with a HDR400 certification simply cannot product a good HDR picture - if they could, they would be rated higher when it went through the process. It's pure marketing rubbish, equivalent to the "HD Ready" TVs that could barely product a 720p picture.

Look at the HDR quality of the early "HDR Capable" OLED TVs vs say a 2018 model and the difference is striking, all because of the brightness.

If they have not solved the screen burn issues then this will not be a gaming display - too many compromises on a screen that costs that kind of money VA seems to still be the best option for gaming at the moment if you want that high contrast, IPS if you don't, and TN if you are on a budget.

Still, its nice to have options right and I don't want to this to come over as me hating on OLED - I think its a great tech that provides some of the best images i've seen on a screen...just needs to be used int he right situation