Smaller 20 To 30 Inch OLED Screens Are Coming

Smaller 20 To 30 Inch OLED Screens Are Coming

With the addition of smaller-size OLED TVs, more gamers have begun using larger size TVs as an alternative to traditional gaming monitors. Their deeper blacks and infinite contrast makes technologies like HDR shine, something that PC gamers are still largely missing out on. But proper monitor-size OLED screens could be on the way.

LG’s display business — LG.Display — has confirmed to FlatpanelsHD plans to massively expand their existing range of OLED TVs. Currently, the smallest size LG OLED screen available is the 48-inch CX. It’s a great screen, but it’s also a screen that’s way too big to sit in front of as a regular monitor.

But smaller screens are coming. LG’s display team will start manufacturing a 42-inch OLED screen from this year:

“The company is set to strengthen its lineup by producing 83-inch and 42-inch OLED TV displays starting this year, adding to the existing 88-inch, 77-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch, and 48-inch OLED TV displays. It also plans to significantly expand its mid-range TV display lineup down to the 20-30-inch range, enhancing not only TV, but also gaming, mobility, and personal display options.”

I’ve bolded that last part, because screens in the 20-30 inch range is the exact kind of territory where gaming/PC monitors lie. And LG confirmed via a separate statement that those 20-30 inch screens would be OLED displays, which means proper OLED gaming monitors are properly on the table.

That’s a huge deal for those who have been waiting to properly enjoy HDR gaming on PC. Current gaming monitors are only just starting to adopt the HDR 600 display standard. But because most PC monitors don’t have a huge amount of local dimming zones — or only edge-local dimming — HDR games, and content, often looks horrible. OLED screens have a massive advantage because they’re lit on a per-pixel basis, and there’s no nasty bleeding effects either.

What’ll be interesting is how LG rectifies issues with burn in. Burn in isn’t a huge issue on TVs because the image on screen is changing constantly. But on a PC, where you have a higher degree of fixed images — like the Windows taskbar — that problem will naturally be a bigger concern. LG Display’s statement says they’re targeting gaming specifically, so I can’t see these screens coming out without some kind of strategy for dealing with the world’s biggest operating system.

Only production of the 42-inch OLED panel will begin from this year, however. 42 inches is still a pretty large screen, but it’s big enough to use as a regular monitor/gaming screen. Here’s a shot from a 43-inch LG monitor from a couple of years ago.

Now imagine that size screen but as an OLED. Imagine games like Cyberpunk 2077, Flight Simulator or something vibrant like Ghostrunner with that kind of contrast and pop.

Of course, I’d wager we’re at least a year away from seeing these sorts of screens available in Australia, if not 18 months or more. But it’s still nice to look forward to. And hopefully by the time they’re finally available, manufacturers will have worked out a way to make sure regular folk can actually buy them — as opposed to the madness that’s happened with the next-gen consoles and next-gen GPUs.


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