atomicusNo way, forget it. Never happening. I don't know what would make you think OLED will ever be anywhere close to LCD prices, even IPS... not in the monitor market anyway.

I remember people were pessimistic about 4K IPS as well (inlcuding me), and IPS also initially suffered from various issues, like infamous image burn and backlight issues. And just in a few years most issues have been resolved, most kinks have been worked out, new tech emerged, and we went from $2000+ unobtainable professional monitors to sub-$350 consumer models. Two years ago I bought my sammy for just under $400. That was a case of IPS being already cheaper than equivalent TN (excluding off-brand chinese and korean stuff).
Now, regarding OLED, there are hints everywhere. Just look at latest smartphones, where AMOLED is now present not just in flagships, but pretty much everywhere across $150+ market segment (Galaxy J6 is actually under $150 nowadays), more laptops with OLED screens appear on the market every day(e.g. it finally became cost-effective for this segment), and a demand for OLED TVs and monitors is on the rise. Another big motivation for cheap OLED panels is competition, and now we know that not just Samsung and LG have the tech, but also AUO, Sharp and possibly Chimei Innolux (they had prototypes, but no confirmation on mass production yet).

It may cost you around $2500+ to get an OLED TV or monitor today, but mark my words - you'll be able to afford one no later than 2023.


EDIT: forgot one more thing, which may sound irrelevant, but is actually important to the topic of price... Some Chinese "entrepreneurs" started making counterfeit Samsung display modules that are actually real OLED, not TN or IPS. Same price as old IPS fakes, which means they already have the tech and a decent manufacturing capability, at least for small displays. Just found out about it today, when looked to restock some parts.

silentbogoI remember people were pessimistic about 4K IPS as well (inlcuding me), and IPS also initially suffered from various issues, like infamous image burn and backlight issues. And just in a few years most issues have been resolved, most kinks have been worked out, new tech emerged, and we went from $2000+ unobtainable professional monitors to sub-$350 consumer models. Two years ago I bought my sammy for just under $400. That was a case of IPS being already cheaper than equivalent TN (excluding off-brand chinese and korean stuff).
Now, regarding OLED, there are hints everywhere. Just look at latest smartphones, where AMOLED is now present not just in flagships, but pretty much everywhere across $150+ market segment (Galaxy J6 is actually under $150 nowadays), more laptops with OLED screens appear on the market every day(e.g. it finally became cost-effective for this segment), and a demand for OLED TVs and monitors is on the rise. Another big motivation for cheap OLED panels is competition, and now we know that not just Samsung and LG have the tech, but also AUO, Sharp and possibly Chimei Innolux (they had prototypes, but no confirmation on mass production yet).

It may cost you around $2500+ to get an OLED TV or monitor today, but mark my words - you'll be able to afford one no later than 2023.


EDIT: forgot one more thing, which may sound irrelevant, but is actually important to the topic of price... Some Chinese "entrepreneurs" started making counterfeit Samsung display modules that are actually real OLED, not TN or IPS. Same price as old IPS fakes, which means they already have the tech and a decent manufacturing capability, at least for small displays. Just found out about it today, when looked to restock some parts.

I bought a professional grade EIZO IPS monitor for £700 (about $1000) over 12 years ago. Maybe some were $2000+, but you could get damn good ones for far less. This isn't (and has never been) the case with OLED. There have only ever been insanely priced small sub-20" options, or big 55"+ TV's (which aren't monitors). Dell had a 30" OLED a couple of years ago, but it was discontinued because no one was interested in a 60Hz monitor for $3000 that was at risk of burn-in. And burn-in will never be fully resolved... OLED is an emissive technology and burn-in is simply inherent. I do think the problem is significantly overblown for TV use, and even gaming... unless you're playing the same game for 5+ hours a day, every day, for weeks on end. That may be a problem, but doesn't represent how the vast majority of gamers play. When it comes to general PC use though, especially people who work in front of a screen 12+ hours a day, using Photoshop, video editing, word/DTP applications etc. it IS a problem, and the risk of burn-in under these scenarios is massively increased.

Plenty of gamers would want (and could legitimately get away with using) a 27-32" OLED monitor... but they aren't going to pay the $10,000 price tag that it would most likely have. And OLED will never achieve mass market adoption beyond the gamer audience due to the burn-in risk.

As mentioned, TV's actually offer the best chance for people who want OLED for PC, with LG's cheaper 48" due next year. If that does well, they might see the market for smaller models. Yes, $2500 is what an OLED TV costs today... but it IS a TV, not a monitor, it's just that you can use it in the lounge hooked up to your PC. Smaller TV's, certainly 32", generally don't sell very well and feature lower specs. With HDMI GPUs sure to arrive next year, it's fantastic some OLEDs can now be used to their full potential for PC gaming... but no one is making smaller more practical desktop sizes, or even talking about doing so, and that's my point. We have two very divergent markets here, even though there is some crossover with PC lounge gaming.

Where in the market would you propose a sensibly priced OLED monitor sit exactly? It would involve such a major shake-up of the industry, I don't see any company standing for it given the money tied up in LCD production, sales and marketing. LCD isn't going anywhere for a long time, and we are seeing a push for further improvements on it, with FALD, Mini LED etc. and prices only increasing... $1000+ for a high end LCD is common, $2000+ for FALD options, $4,000 for professional models... ALL LCD, not an OLED in sight.

Micro LED will make an appearance at some point, which will offer all the benefits of OLED but minus its faults... although I believe this is a solid decade away at least.

Where are these cheap Chinese OLEDs and has anyone actually taken a good look at them? There have been some shocking LCD knock offs over the years, barely fit for purpose, so I wouldn't get too excited about that at this stage.

atomicusI bought a professional grade EIZO IPS monitor for £700 (about $1000) over 12 years ago.

12 years ago? in 2007? What monitor was that?

atomicusNo way, forget it. Never happening. I don't know what would make you think OLED will ever be anywhere close to LCD prices, even IPS... not in the monitor market anyway. TV's are different, sold in vastly different volumes, not to mention the larger size... and that hasn't stopped Alienware charging $4000 for a non-HDR 55" monitor! Phones are also a very different market, far smaller obviously, and again sold in far greater volume and used differently. The burn-in issue with monitors is enough to stop manufacturers even going down this road... as mentioned, even EIZO are issuing this warning before this Foris display is even available!

Furthermore, just look where we are with OLED monitors. The small sizes have been around for years and always at extortionate cost. Sony have a 60Hz 30" OLED monitor retailing at £35K. It's clear no progress is being made in bringing such products to an affordable level, and no interest from the manufacturers in doing so... they aren't even talking about it. Instead, as mentioned, you have Alienware releasing their obscenely priced 55" despite the LG C9 offering a better spec... albeit minus DP 1.4 connectivity, but at a third of the price. Plus once GPUs have HDMI 2.1, this becomes irrelevant.

As I mentioned, If LG's 48" OLED TV sells well next year, they may consider smaller sizes, but even that's years away, if it ever happens.

OLED might crop up periodically as a halo showboat product, possibly at a larger size, but certainly not at anything remotely affordable. Why would any manufacturer do this? Given how costly LCD monitors have become, they'd cannibalize all LCD sales by offering a 32" high refresh OLED at those prices... and that makes zero business sense. It's far more realistic (albeit a long shot) that they might release a £10K OLED in limited numbers (similar to this Foris), knowing that there are consumers out there who will pay any price for one... but it will never be a mass market affordable product.

LG is coming out with a 48" OLED? cool! Maybe I could afford that, well, maybe. I am still using my 11+ year old Pioneer Plasma, 600hz, colors still look better than anything else on the market, except for LG's OLED's which dont look more accurate, but as good as my 11 year old Pioneer.

londiste12 years ago? in 2007? What monitor was that?

It was an EIZO actually, can't remember the model... had a superb 5-year warranty though, and it developed some dark patches on the screen after about 4 and a half years and they gave me a new one (which I promptly sold), so I can't fault their CS. Shame they lost interest in gaming monitors, as they'd do a damn sight better than most.

voltageLG is coming out with a 48" OLED? cool! Maybe I could afford that, well, maybe. I am still using my 11+ year old Pioneer Plasma, 600hz, colors still look better than anything else on the market, except for LG's OLED's which dont look more accurate, but as good as my 11 year old Pioneer.

Yes but no release date yet, so could be anytime next year. They will be targeting a lower price point, so will def undercut the 55" models, but we don't know what spec is or any other details yet. Might be quite basic (doubtful they'll have same features as top end W9 model, and could just be a 'basic' B9 equivalent.), but as long as it has HDMI 2.1, 120Hz and works with Nvidia/AMD GPUs then it'll be far better than any LCD. Plus if it's cheap enough, this will somewhat mitigate fear of burn-in if being used intensively on a PC. 48" is still too big IMO, but this is absolutely the best we're going to get regards PC OLED options for years.

atomicusThere will never be affordable OLED dedicated monitors. Best hope is if LG's 48" OLED TV next year sells well and they decide to do a 40-43" model. At least with HDMI 2.1 firmly established by then it will be a usable high refresh option for PC. That really is the best and only chance, because no one is going to make a 32" 144Hz dedicated OLED PC monitor. Heck, they aren't even doing high refresh 4K LCD yet at that size, and when they do it will be very expensive, so I don't know what anyone is smoking thinking OLED is remotely realistic. Not to mention the high risk of burn-in for long term PC usage... even this EIZO comes with a warning to that effect.

Stop destroying my dreams will you

atomicusShame they lost interest in gaming monitors, as they'd do a damn sight better than most.

Still very much liking this FG2421. Rock solid

21 inch display should only be sold for $ 200 at maximum.