OLED vs. LCD: How Energy Star Classifies Consumer and Commercial Monitors

In recent years, OLED technology has made significant strides in the monitor display market, with major players like Samsung Display and LG Display pushing for its adoption. However, navigating the landscape of energy efficiency certifications has presented challenges, particularly with the recent changes to Energy Star qualifications for commercial monitors in 2024. 

According to Omdia’s Large Area Display Technology Tracker – 2Q24 Analysis, engineers of Tier 1 brands are planning to adopt OLED technology for their premium commercial and consumer models in the future. However, there are currently several issues with OLED monitor displays that are preventing Tier 1 brands from expanding this market. These issues include high power consumption, jagged subpixel rendering of words on the screen, limited capacity, and high costs.

Table 1 shows the comparison of 27-inch UHD OLED displays and LCDs with Energy Star.

Based on Table 1, JOLED’s RGB OLED monitor displays were the first to surpass Energy Star standards in the OLED monitor market. The displays were adopted by Philip and Asus for their medical and creator monitors. Following its bankruptcy JOLED sold all its inkjet printing (IJP) equipment to China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSO)T. In 2H24, CSOT stated that it plans to mass-produce inkjet-printed OLED displays by using its Gen 6 LTPS fab in 2026. As a result, medical, creator, and tier-one brands are looking forward to CSOT’s successful mass production of IJP OLED monitor displays with lower display prices.

From a technology point of view, OLED displays have high-power consumption issues with a 100% opening pixel ratio under the office white screen model. Both South Korean display makers and Tier 1 brands had negotiated with Microsoft to change the Microsoft Office color from white to yellow color to reduce the power consumption of OLED displays.

Table 2 shows the power consumption of OLED gaming monitors 

Based on Table 2, OLED technology has been primarily adopted in gaming monitors as these monitors are not required to meet Energy Star qualifications and typically place less emphasis on power consumption.

In conclusion, OLED technology has seen successful adoption in gaming monitor displays but its high-power consumption may become an issue due to rising environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. The European, US, and Chinese governments may implement carbon taxes or tariffs on products with higher carbon footprints and OLED’s energy demands could be a liability in this context. South Korean and Chinese OLED display makers are actively improving OLED materials and processes to reduce power consumption and meet ESG requirements.