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Will the next iMac will be OLED?
- Thread starter 8CoreWhore
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Too expensive I would wager. Does any manufacturer mass produce ~21" OLED screens at the moment?
A couple of years ago, Samsung was the clear leader on small OLEDs, and LG the clear leader for large OLEDs, and I don't think this has changed. But 21" is kind of the mid ground.
I could imagine Apple skips OLED in Macs, and jumps directly to µLED in 2-4 years.
A couple of years ago, Samsung was the clear leader on small OLEDs, and LG the clear leader for large OLEDs, and I don't think this has changed. But 21" is kind of the mid ground.
I could imagine Apple skips OLED in Macs, and jumps directly to µLED in 2-4 years.
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Then again, CES 2019 did show a few MicroLED panels. Maybe the switch is now?
While they are technically microLED by definition, what was shown was essentially more like miniLEDs, ie. the LEDs are not of a small enough scale that they can be used in screens we sit close by without sacrificing on resolution (Cell phones, computer screens, "smaller" TV). For instance, the Samsung microLED tv is 4K resolution at a minimum of 77" while most competition are announcing 8K OLED/LED screens at smaller resolutions! We're absolutely getting there, but they are likely still 2 years away for anything in the ~50" size, and at least 3 years for cell phones.Then again, CES 2019 did show a few MicroLED panels. Maybe the switch is now?
It uses either a Samsung or LG panel, as Dell doesn't have OLED manufacturing capabilities.
That screen specifically was rumored to use a Samsung panel before it came out, but at this point I believe it to use an LG panel. The display was first announced two (!) years ago, and at CES last year it was believed to be shelfed due to quality issues (Hence, likely a Samsung panel), but it is now out, and they have likely sourced the panel from LG instead, who shouldn't have issues producing 30" panels.
The question if is A. can LG produce panels at 21" or thereabout? And B. can they produce it at the quality levels that Apple would want? We have to remember that computer displays are likely to have higher requirements that TV displays, since you sit closer and often work with stuff that requires correct color representation and fluidity.
Want to? Yes. Can? Probably not for a few years...
I'm wondering if they do a redesign when OLED becomes available. iPhone X-size bezels?
They theoretically could separate 21" and 27". It took a year before the 21" iMac was updated with retina. I don't see OLED as a viable option either way but I do think HDR is on the way especially useful for Final Cut HDR editing as you need an external display. If Apple gets a HDR display and gets the DRM for streaming UDH down I'll have my order in for one day one.
Burn-in occurs when the display shows a static image for a long time which is more likely on a Mac than a Watch or iPhone. I guess it'll come with a non-user-adjustable one-minute screen saver setting.
Alienware had a 13" OLED gaming laptop for a short time. It was quite expensive ($2000+), as was the Dell 30" display ($3500) and as I expect this upcoming batch of 15" OLED gaming laptops will be.
And as sunapple noted, a static Dock / Task Bar / Menu Bar is more likely to cause image retention / burn in. Most images on phones and watches are not static.
And as sunapple noted, a static Dock / Task Bar / Menu Bar is more likely to cause image retention / burn in. Most images on phones and watches are not static.
The OLED Touch Bar in MacBooks dims or turns off to save the screen. The phone or watch isn't used that long on a per day basis, and using different apps make sure that the screen changes.
A computer that always shows a dock and the clock will be worse. Maybe if they use the hybrid OLED/LCD which LG calls white OLED (WOLED?) in their TVs (compared with RGB OLED in phones), but it still seems like there will be uneven OLED usage leading to visible artifacts. OLED wears out like a plasma-based screen, so I doubt they will fix it before micro LED shows up.
A computer that always shows a dock and the clock will be worse. Maybe if they use the hybrid OLED/LCD which LG calls white OLED (WOLED?) in their TVs (compared with RGB OLED in phones), but it still seems like there will be uneven OLED usage leading to visible artifacts. OLED wears out like a plasma-based screen, so I doubt they will fix it before micro LED shows up.
Production was an issue as well, not that they couldn’t be produced at all, but large volumes like iMac would be a challenge. Is this still the case?
You probably could make volumes of big OLEDs, but the cost would be extremely high. The iPhone XS carries a $250 premium over the similarly sized iPhone XR, and at least most of that is the OLED screen. OLED laptops carry a ~$1000 premium over otherwise similar LCD laptops, at ~13" screen sizes. Assuming it's roughly linear with screen area (4 iPhones is not a terrible approximation of the screen area of a 13" laptop), an OLED 27" iMac might carry something like a $4000 premium over an LCD equivalent... How many people would want a $7000 computer with a Core i9 9900K, 32 GB of RAM, a 1 TB SSD and a midrange Radeon?
Well, a 55 inch OLED TV goes for $1700 right now, and that's with all the TV stuff in it - full retail. Apple used 5K displays for iMacs at a time when a 5K display by itself was over $1,000. I bet a 27 inch OLED panel would cost Apple under $500 from LG.
I might get the 55" LG OLED and connect it to a Mac Mini. And just use that for all my video needs.
Burn in is too much of an issue with OLED. The latest Hisense idea would be great. A second greyscale LCD behind the main one to increase contrast to almost OLED levels.
Hell No!, with rumours only circulating that all future iPhones will get the OLED displays. With iPads and MacBooks too still using LCD displays.We will be waiting quite awhile for that too happen.
In fact Apple hates OLED displays and are investing with Samsung for Micro LED tech (weren’t the Apple Watches supposed to go Micro LED!). I love OLED, but there has been way too much hate for them, who cares I watch a lot of sci fi films and shows and the deep black works wonders.
In fact Apple hates OLED displays and are investing with Samsung for Micro LED tech (weren’t the Apple Watches supposed to go Micro LED!). I love OLED, but there has been way too much hate for them, who cares I watch a lot of sci fi films and shows and the deep black works wonders.
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with the menu bar and even the dock to a lesser extent, i'd prefer no OLED due to burn in.
I'd be more happy with a dual bonded display like the hisense's ULED XD TV that was shown at CES.
in a nutshell its a secondary Display behind the initial one that only does black and white contrast, so it blocks most light on black scenes. but lets the light through to the main when appropriate Thus you end up with near OLED level inky blacks but all the benefits of the current LCD technologies.
Not to mention due to apple' s t-con they already do low level display controlling so a t-con 2.0 that handled the "contrast LCD Layer" feels like something apple could do.
I'd be more happy with a dual bonded display like the hisense's ULED XD TV that was shown at CES.
in a nutshell its a secondary Display behind the initial one that only does black and white contrast, so it blocks most light on black scenes. but lets the light through to the main when appropriate Thus you end up with near OLED level inky blacks but all the benefits of the current LCD technologies.
Not to mention due to apple' s t-con they already do low level display controlling so a t-con 2.0 that handled the "contrast LCD Layer" feels like something apple could do.
We'll know what's in the pipeline when the new monitor is released for the Mac Pro. Like the MP, it's being developed for the film and animation industry.
Yes, because the TV OLED production industry has been designed around producing only 55 and 65 inch panels.
Dell's UP3017Q with 30" LG display had an MSRP of $3500 - $1000 more than their 65" TV of the time - and this was certainly due to LG charging a fair bit more than $500 for the panel because they would have had to build a new production line just for that panel (and then improve the yields) and that was surely very expensive.