Question *Subjective* is OLED actually worth it?

ibex333

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Mar 26, 2005
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So I been looking at OLED TVs and monitors in stores a lot and I even purchased a small 13-inch portable monitor. And for the money, I really think this technology isn't worth it.

First of all, to REALLY see the difference, full darkness is required. I don't care what anyone says, but the effect is very much diminished in well-lit room.

A lot of the time, my IPS monitors look just as good, especially for gaming when I get immersed into action and forget all about color accuracy or quality. I very much doubt anyone stands next to their TV or looks at their monitor 2 inches away, in total darkness, with a magnifying glass. Unless you do all that, all the claims about how amazing OLED is quickly fall apart.

Now, in pitch black room, YES, I see that my OLED is actually truly black. Dark as the void of space itself, around objects which are lit. Only actual image on the screen is illuminated which does feel brighter, more defined, color saturated and sharp. But all this difference is not "night and day" difference. Subjectively, it feels more like a 12-15% difference in quality. The IPS monitor feels maybe 15% worse color wise, 15% more washed out, 15% more gray as opposed to black because of the backlight, etc.

With all that in mind, unless money comes easy to someone, or they are a graphics design professional or a gaming purist, what's the exact justification for spending easily 50-100% more for OLED screens? I just don't get it.

With these technologies, "better" is as subjective as it can get. I think more than anything, we are products of brainwashing by marketing experts.
 
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GodisanAtheist

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I don't disagree, it's another one of those issues where the older, "inferior" tech is so mature that the new stuff in its infancy just isn't enough of a jump to really justify itself (i.e. Raster vs ray tracing imo).

If someone is upgrading an old 15-20 year old screen, they'd still see a massive improvement just going to a new IPS or VA display.
 

aigomorla

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Mini LED for better contrast...
Nano IPS for better color in a well light room.
OLED for single display setups, in a somewhat dark room, or if your just a gamer / content watcher.

Although 90% of PC OLED's have a very agressive anti-burn in dynamic contrast... where it will auto dim the hell out of the monitor if certain triggers are met.
And those triggers be like making the explorer window larger then a certain size.

So i really do not like OLED's as PC monitors.
But my shield TV and main TV will be nothing but OLED's.
 
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gdansk

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I am using an 240Hz OLED as a PC monitor now for a few weeks. I think it might be worth it. It all depends on your uses.

But my 160Hz IPS panel was pretty good too and higher DPI. So it's not really a strict upgrade.
 

Mopetar

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Jan 31, 2011
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It depends on the environment you use it in. Before I had gotten an OLED TV I had purchased a Plasma specifically for the blacks and in a dark room it's a big difference for me.

For my office where the lights are always on, I probably wouldn't bother. For gaming in a dark room, maybe. I guess it depends on the games and what kinds of games.
 

jarablue

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May 3, 2004
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Profanity is not permitted in the tech forums
My LG C2 is leagues better than any lcd tech I've used. TN, VA or IPS. This REDACTED is so bomb I will never EVER go back to any REDACTED lcd tech ever again. OLED TVs have become such good pc displays now. It's just a no brainer to me.
 
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I got a super nice Gawfolk 1800R 100 Hz 27 inch 1080p VA panel monitor for $109. So my guess is that prevalent TV technology five years from now will be a mix of IPS/VA panel TVs. The average person doesn't care about the technology used in the panel. They care about the quality of the picture. Both IPS/VA deliver good enough quality at dirt cheap prices for probably like 80% of worldwide needs. Plus, I don't see these Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese/Taiwanese business owners upgrading their factories for newer technologies. They tend to milk their investments as long as they can.
 

CakeMonster

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Nov 22, 2012
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I've been reading a lot of reviews lately, and feel that I might be getting ready for 2x 32" 4K >=240hz monitors, when they get DP2.x. When it comes to finally getting OLED, I'm leaning toward no though, and rather make that the upgrade after next.

I need the brightness because I have very little flexibility where my main rig is located, both with windows and lighting. I also leave it on 24/7, and often don't let the monitors sleep, because of the DP bug that's been there since its infancy where Windows will move all content to one monitor if it sleeps. So the burn-in is a worry just because of heavy use for work and leisure, I doubt that a black screensaver is anything to worry about, but if that actually turns the OLED monitors off and causes the bug, then I'd be royally screwed...

I got my first IPS monitors back in 2006 IIRC, the 30" and 27" Dell ones, which had excellent color, although response times were not that great. However, when I upgraded to 32" 1440 IPS monitors ~3 years ago, now supporting 175hz, I realized that they'd come a long way with regards to response times. I'm very happy with them, and its just the pixel density and 4K that tempts me to upgrade again (I'm in no big hurry though).

I'll be watching very closely as DP2.0 monitors come out, and really crossing my fingers that the upcoming NV and AMD cards support the full DP2.0 bitrates. If so, I'll probably get another LCD based monitor, if OLED or related technologies doesn't improve with regards to burn-in and brightness.
 
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I'll be watching very closely as DP2.0 monitors come out, and really crossing my fingers that the upcoming NV and AMD cards support the full DP2.0 bitrates. If so, I'll probably get another LCD based monitor, if OLED or related technologies doesn't improve with regards to burn-in and brightness.
Yeah, it seems like the perfect monitor is never out there. There's always some compromise you need to make and just have to settle with the one that marks the most checkboxes.
 
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CP5670

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As a mainly dark room gamer, the LG OLEDs are the best upgrade of any kind I did in the last 10 years. I have zero interest in anything LCD now. Things like new CPU or video cards don't compare at all. They aren't 100% perfect and have some issues like the black crush and VRR gamma shift, but come much closer to that than anything else I have seen. I would really like to see 120hz BFI brought back though. The CX/C1 had this feature but they got rid of it, even though the newer evo panels are a much better match for it with high brightness.
 

Glo.

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Glo. said:
I actually prefer MiniLED because of the brightness, instead of OLEDs.
I have to retract this.

I have used OLED display for longer time period, and man.

The difference in quality of the display for OLEDs is so big its now even funny. I prefer now OLED displays for everything.
 
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The difference in quality of the display for OLEDs is so big its now even funny. I prefer now OLED displays for everything.
Which one are you using?

My impression here with a brand new 2024 Samsung model: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/time-for-a-new-tv.2619753/post-41232756

I have had better experience with small AMOLED phone displays and LG OLED TVs.

This is the model: https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...nitor-with-sleek-metal-design-ls27dg602snxza/

Just wasn't expecting such low brightness. A firmware update may fix it. Will have to look into that.

EDIT: Just looked at the specs. 250 nits brightness. Yuck!

Serves me right for buying something without even taking a glance at the specs!
 

Glo.

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Which one are you using?

My impression here with a brand new 2024 Samsung model: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/time-for-a-new-tv.2619753/post-41232756

I have had better experience with small AMOLED phone displays and LG OLED TVs.

This is the model: https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...nitor-with-sleek-metal-design-ls27dg602snxza/

Just wasn't expecting such low brightness. A firmware update may fix it. Will have to look into that.

EDIT: Just looked at the specs. 250 nits brightness. Yuck!

Serves me right for buying something without even taking a glance at the specs!
iPad Pro M4, and LG G4 55 inch.

I have never been more "destroyed" by Image quality. All other displays are dead to me. My parents use 2020 iPad Air, and the difference in quality is clearly apparent.
 
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My parents use 2020 iPad Air, and the difference in quality is clearly apparent.
Yeah non-OLED Apple displays look pretty dull.

I turned off Night mode and enabled HDR in Win11 as well as dropped the resolution to 1080p to better match my lowres media and now the Samsung monitor is boosting the light output pretty good. So it's lame in SDR and shines in HDR.