It doesn’t matter which OLED monitor you buy, so stop worrying

Looking to buy an OLED monitor? You aren’t alone. Though still relatively expensive, interest in OLED monitors is soaring and monitor makers are set to debut dozens of new OLED models in 2025. It’s shaping up to be the best year ever to buy a new monitor.

Some of these new models will push prices lower, with some OLED monitors falling below the $600 threshold. Others will chase higher resolutions (like 4K) and faster refresh rates (like 480Hz). Your options will only continue to grow from here on out.

And that might leave you feeling overwhelmed, even intimidated. But I have a rare bit of good news for you: don’t fret because it doesn’t really matter which OLED monitor you buy. They’re all fantastic.

The OLED panel duopoly is a big deal

As of this writing, there are only two manufacturers — Samsung and LG — who are capable of producing panels for OLED monitors in high volume, and they don’t offer monitor makers much choice.

This is actually a recent development. For as long as LCD monitors have existed, monitor makers have relied on LCD panels produced by third-party suppliers including companies like BOE Technology Group, AUO Optronics, Innolux, CSOT, JDI, and, of course, both LG and Samsung. The large number of competitors led to a huge variety of LCD panels.

But OLED panel production is more centralized, with Samsung Display and LG Display dominating the market, offering just a handful of panels. These include 27-inch 1440p and 32-inch 4K QD-OLED and WOLED panels alongside 34-inch 1440p options. It’s the same story with refresh rates — most offer 4K up to 240Hz or 1440p up to 360Hz, with a few dipping into 1080p resolution at up to 480Hz.

That might sound like variety at a glance, but consider what it doesn’t include. No budget 60Hz or 120Hz options. Nothing smaller than 27 inches. Nothing at 5K (5120×2880) resolution or beyond. Ultrawide fans have even fewer options, with nearly all OLED ultrawide monitors packing either 34-inch 1440p or 45-inch 1440p panels. (We might be seeing the first 5K2K OLED ultrawides in mid-2025, though!)

Samsung’s QD-OLED vs. LG’s WOLED

OLED panel choice is slim on paper, but it’s even more narrow when you consider the finer details. While Samsung QD-OLED and LG WOLED panels come in few different sizes, resolutions, and refresh rates, that’s where image quality differences end. All Samsung QD-OLED panels deliver similar metrics in SDR brightness, contrast ratio, color gamut, color accuracy, and gamma/color temperature performance. The same is true for LG WOLED panels.

It’s even true among the different generations of OLED panels. For example: the Alienware AW3423DW QD-OLED from 2022 is almost identical to the new MSI MPG 272URX QD-OLED in terms of SDR brightness, contrast, color gamut, and color accuracy. It’s a similar story with LG WOLED panels, though the latest of those do offer a slightly better color gamut than their predecessors.

And I’d take that a step further: QD-OLED and WOLED look nearly identical. Sure, technically and objectively, Samsung QD-OLED panels and LG WOLED panels are different. Samsung QD-OLED has a slight lead overall, mostly due to the QD-OLED’s color gamut, which is a bit wider than LG’s WOLED. But that aside, both the objective image quality (as tested using a colorimeter) and subjective viewing experience is similar between QD-OLED and WOLED.

Of course, there are differences, too. QD-OLED can look a bit reddish or purplish when displaying certain hues at higher brightness levels, a problem WOLED solves with a dedicated white sub-pixel. Meanwhile, QD-OLED can look noticeably more saturated when viewing very vivid content. Even so, most won’t notice these differences outside of a side-by-side comparison (and even then, less discerning viewers might miss it).

It’s the same with motion clarity. Both QD-OLED panels and WOLED panels offer extremely low pixel response times, with most quoting a gray-to-gray pixel response time of 0.03 milliseconds. That’s very much born out in my own experience reviewing dozens of OLED monitors. When it comes to OLED, 240Hz is 240Hz.

If there’s one metric where OLED monitors can truly vary to a non-trivial degree, it’s HDR (high dynamic range). Newer OLED monitors perform better than older models, with newer panels able to reach higher levels of brightness. That’s only for HDR, though, which remains unpopular on the PC. (That’s a whole different can of worms.)

Okay… so, what matters then?

If Samsung’s QD-OLED and LG’s WOLED panels look the same, and if their panels are all available in only a handful of sizes, resolutions, and refresh rates, then what should a buyer pay attention to?

The price! Since all current OLED monitors are so similar, you should simply decide what you need in terms of size, resolution, and refresh rate, then find the cheapest OLED monitor that meets your desired specs. That’s why the Alienware AW3423DWF, a relatively ancient OLED monitor released in late-2022, is still a great option in 2025. It’s frequently on sale for $650, which is a couple hundred less than newer 34-inch OLED ultrawide monitors, yet its image quality is close to the same.

There are exceptions, of course. I don’t recommend buying monitors by random off-brand companies who show up on Amazon overnight. Stick with reputable monitor brands like Asus, BenQ, Dell, LG, MSI, Samsung, Innocn, etc. As long as you keep to well-known companies, you should have no issues going for the most inexpensive models.

But also pay attention to warranties. Most monitor makers offer a 3-year warranty, but a few have less generous terms. LG, for example, only offers a 2-year warranty despite the fact it makes the very panels in its OLED monitors. (Weird, but true.) These warranties are especially important for OLED monitors due to burn-in risks.

Connectivity is the final piece of the puzzle. I generally prefer monitors that have USB-C over those that don’t, yet even this difference is beginning to fade as more OLED monitors add USB-C and other newer display standards like HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1.

Ultimately, all of this is great news for buyers.

The huge variety in LCD panels offered lots of choice, but it was arguably too much of a good thing that made shopping hard. I review over 50 displays every year (across monitors, laptops, and TVs) and even this volume gave me little insight into the massive LCD market.

But OLED is different. With only two major panel makers, the panels they make are more similar than they are different… and they’re all excellent. So, stop worrying and buy that OLED. You’re going to love it.

Further reading: The best gaming monitors we’ve tested

Author: Matthew S. Smith, Contributor, PCWorld