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As I outlined recently, keeping track of all the various OLED panel generations from LG and Samsung is a Herculean, perhaps even Sisyphean, task. But one half of that seemingly ceaseless job just got a lot easier thanks to a couple of new cheat sheets released by TFT Central.
The first is basically a table that shows Samsung QD-OLED panel generations by year and lists the key features and specs for each. Samsung used to have a generational nomenclature, starting with Gen 1 panels in 2022. But with its latest panel tech, what might have been called Gen 5 or 5th Gen QD-OLED, the company has shifted to a system using the year of introduction to signify the panel generation.
As TFT Central says, this is all further confused by some monitor makers—as opposed to LG and Samsung, which produce the actual OLED panels that go into monitors—implementing their own generational marketing cues. Whatever, the table makes for an easy reference guide.
The website also has a graphic that provides a visual guide to the progression of QD-OLED technology. One issue that's worth noting if you're in the market for a QD-OLED panel is how the electroluminescent material used by Samsung, in other words, the actual light-emitting OLED material, has evolved over the years.
Samsung is now on its third generation of electroluminescent material, known as HyperEfficient EL 3.0. While much of the attention, when it comes to those materials and OLED performance, is around brightness, particularly full-screen brightness, Samsung has claimed a doubling in durability with each new generation.
That means the current 3.0 material is supposedly four times more durable than first-gen panels, including the Alienware AW3423DW, which was the first QD-OLED on the market and the first gaming OLED I ever reviewed, way back in the mists of 2022.
If you're worried about OLED burn-in, then that's definitely something to consider. Just to be clear, I'm not sure that one can assume four times the material durability means the latest QD-OLEDs will last four times longer before evidence of burn-in emerges.
However, the point is that the difference between generations isn't just about how bright the out-of-box experience is, as there are other factors at play. Anyway, for Samsung QD-OLED panels at least, and until Samsung introduces some more confusing generational upgrades, TFT Central's guides are a handy primer for anyone shopping OLED monitors.
1. Best overall / 4K:
MSI MPG 321URX
2. Best budget 4K:
Asus ROG Strix XG27UCG
3. Best 1440p:
MSI MPG 271QRX
4. Best budget 1440p:
KTC H27T22C-3
5. Best 1080p:
AOC Gaming C27G4ZXE
6. Best Ultrawide:
Gigabyte MO34WQC2
7. Best budget ultrawide:
Xiaomi G34WQi
8. Best 32:9:
Samsung Odyssey OLED G9
9. Best dual-mode:
Alienware AW2725QF
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