LG Display’s research results reaffirm OLED is the optimal gaming display
LG Display (Seoul, Korea), the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, unveiled its original research results on the ergonomic requirements of gaming displays, providing further evidence that OLED is the optimal gaming display. The research was introduced during the 2022 SID Business Conference at Display Week in San Jose, California.
With demand for gaming displays surging since the onset of the pandemic, this move aims to establish new and reliable standards that can objectively judge the performance of gaming displays from the perspective of consumers.
For the study, LG Display tested a handful of gamers to discover which display conditions provide the best gaming experiences. The players tested games of different genres on a wide spectrum of displays, from OLED and LCDs to flat and curved form factors. The study results show that a gamer’s reaction time can be improved by using OLED, while a display’s curvature provides a more immersive gaming experience.
Reaction time is the time it takes for the user to recognise the input signal on the screen and then react to it by clicking their mouse or keyboard. Because a shorter reaction time increases the player’s chances of winning, it is widely considered one of the most important factors when choosing a display. Study results reveal that an OLED’s average reaction time was 50ms faster than an LCD. “Considering the gamer uses a special mouse or keyboard for gaming which usually provides speed advantage of 10 to 20ms, 50ms is critical in determining a game’s outcome,” said Dr Jang Jin Yoo, research fellow and the head researcher of the study at LG Display.
Curvature, which refers to the display’s degree of curve, is another determinant factor of a gaming display’s performance. The research study shows that 800R was selected as the display curvature to deliver the most immersive playing experience, although less curved screens performed slightly better for specific sports games. The curvature of today’s gaming monitor screen ranges from 1800R to 4000R, while the study found out that the optimal viewing distance from the monitor display and the person for gaming is around 800mm. This suggests that gamers are missing out on the optimal curvature, and therefore the ultimate gaming experience, too.
“Given its flexible nature, OLED can maximise a display’s degree of curve to the highest level, which is impossible on an LCD,” said Chang-han Kim, VP and head of Gaming Display Business Division at LG Display. “Finding out that the optimal curvature for gaming is 800R was definitely an exciting discovery for us.”
With its reputation for introducing the world’s first Rollable OLED TV in 2018, LG Display has now set its sights on developing game-changing displays that bring the next-level immersion gamers crave. The company is backing its recent studies, which identified a bendable display as the ideal gaming monitor, by developing a Bendable OLED display that leverages its flexible nature to safely bend from curved to straight on command while maintaining unmatched picture quality.
“Bendable OLED display will be one of the most fun gaming devices that gamers will find in the market,” remarked Kim. “We will continue to expand our gaming OLED lineup to offer new and exciting gaming experiences for our customers.”
Globally renowned for its excellent performance, OLED is considered the perfect choice for console or high-end PC games. It also boasts outstanding three-dimensional image quality across an infinite contrast ratio, the fastest response time, and a wide variable refresh rate that ranges from 40Hz to 240Hz.
Another crucial aspect of gaming performance is eye health. LG Display’s OLED displays boast the lowest blue light level in the industry, emitting 60% less than that of premium LCD displays of the same size. The OLED’s exceptionally low blue light allows players to enjoy longer, flicker-free gaming experiences without side effects such as eye fatigue or headaches.
Caption: LG Display is developing gaming-exclusive OLED panels with unique and distinctive form factors which shift between curved and flat states, and plans to collaborate with major global gaming brands to release the most innovative gaming displays in the future (photo: LG Display)