LG’s Latest Flex-OLED Display: Curved for Gaming, Flat for TV
by Dr. Ian Cutress on January 4, 2021 8:00 AM EST LG Display 48-inch Bendable Cinematic Sound OLED at CES 2021_678x452.jpg)
Ever since LG displayed its first rollable OLED TV at CES 2019, and perhaps even before then, the vision of these flexible displays was that they could encompass any curved surface to provide a display with a vivid color profile in line with state-of-the-art OLED technology. At the time, this meant watches and other such wearables, but as LG has promoted these flexible displays a lot for TV, it made sense that at some point they would come up with a curved display for gaming. The trick is to make it work for both TV and gaming.
One of the first announcements for this year’s remote CES show is that LG’s latest flexible display is a 48-inch model that can be used flat for regular TV viewing, or as a 1000R curved display for gaming. This means that in both viewing modes, the display aims to offer a uniform viewing distance with comparable depth and quality, even with a curvature radius of 1000mm. This is a tighter curvature than a lot of gaming displays currently on the market, such as 1200R to 2000R models, and those only serve the curved display gaming community. LG doesn’t state what the resolution is, however they do confirm that the display has a variable refresh rate range from 40 Hz to 120 Hz, along with a supposed 0.1 millisecond response time.
Combined with this, the display implements LG’s CSO technology, which enables the display to vibrate to create sound, rather than have external speakers. This is down to a new thin film ‘exciter’ (the bit that actually vibrates), which LG states that they’ve managed to reduce down from a thickness of 9mm to 0.6mm. The display also has a low-blue-light mode to reduce eye strain.
As often with these promotions for CES, we expect LG to be around 3-9 months from actually launching the product commercially. LG did not go into detail about how the display transitions from curved to flat, for example, and nor did they mention price. Leading edge features like this will likely come at a premium.
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mooninite - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
I guestimate the MSRP will be $2999.shabby - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
Curved 48" for gaming? How far do they think the gamer is from the screen? 4 feet?SirMaster - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
Are you saying that's far or close?Ideally I would sit about 3.5ft from a 48" diagonal 16:9 display for gaming.
at_clucks - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
Looking in the picture above accompanying the article, the player sits far enough from the screen to make the curve an unnecessary gimmick. But to each their own. Curved screens are this decade's 3D screens. Companies have probably spent more on marketing than on the engineering and they're still just a gimmicky solution in search of a problem.dullard - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
I doubt that you have really watched/gamed on a curved screen. You want to be sitting at the center of the screen's radius. It is hard to tell from the photo, but the gamer seems at about the right spot.I can't think of a single thing that I want to watch in 3D; and I especially don't want to wear cumbersome expensive glasses to do so. But, I want everything that I do on computer or TV to have the best viewing experience possible -- which is sitting at the center point of a curved screen. Curved screens may fail (probably because people don't realize the benefits), but there are very compelling reasons for curved screens.
inperfectdarkness - Thursday, January 14, 2021 - link
You must never have used a quality curved-screen in the appropriate setting. They are far from a gimmick. Yes, the R-rating of the curvature needs to match the user's nominal distance from the screen. When done correctly, the result is nothing short of amazing.On a large-size flat the corners/edges will be a significantly further distance from the viewer's eyes than the center of the screen. Thus the periphery will appear smaller to the viewer than the center. On a proper (r-value appropriate) screen, the periphery will equidistant to the viewer's eyes as the center of the screen.
In laymen's terms, that means that a large screen that is properly curved will actually APPEAR as a flat display from the user's point of view. And that is why it is hardly a gimmick. Please stop trying to obfuscate. This is a desperately needed quality improvement in this segment.
2160p, 60fps, 40-48", curved (1500-1800r). Sell it for $999 or less and you can take my money now.
antonkochubey - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
Well, did you see the picture in the post?gfody - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
I use the 48" CX as my primary and sit about an arm's length plus a few inches - it's a comfortable dpi but a curve would be welcome to unskew the cornerstecknohow - Monday, January 4, 2021 - link
This post has left me scratching my head about what the actual product(s) is here. Have they created a display that they can reuse in multiple products - a curved monitor AND a flat TV - or have they created a display than can be placed into a single product that can be adjusted by the owner to either be curved or flat depending on use? I'm really hoping for the latter.inperfectdarkness - Thursday, January 14, 2021 - link
I think it's the latter. The issue is going to be what the resolution is. 1ms response is great, and 1000r is fantastic for immersion. I'm currently using a 60 FPS, 2160p 40" curved screen (3000r), and I would love a bump on the refresh rate, size, response time, curvature, and HDR support.I hate how the industry keeps tap-dancing around what I want. The lack of 2160p, curved, 40" options is shocking. And no, 5760x1080 is not "4k". Stop trying to sell us 1080p ultrawide as "4k"; that's as horrible of a lie as convincing the market that 1080p was somehow an improvement on WUXGA (it's not).
So now we have about a bazillion 27" panels with 144hz or 240hz refresh, most of which are 1080p. All of which are total garbage to a true videophile such as myself. It's as maddening as when the industry purged 16:10 from the market.
Who are these tyrannical overlords who keep trying to brainwash the public into thinking that less is more?