Many of us spend hours in front of screens every day, whether it's TVs, monitors, or smartphones, and LG Display says it has the certifications to prove that OLED is better for your eyes.

The company announced that its latest generation of panels, MLA OLED or META OLED, recently received two additional certifications.

- "UL Solutions, a global leader in applied safety science, tested LG Display's third-generation OLED TV panel for blue light wavelengths that can cause eye fatigue and sleep disorders. LG Display's advanced OLED panel earned a score of 36%, the lowest level among all existing TV panels, and received a Platinum rating and the UL Mark for low blue light. For comparison, blue light wavelengths emitted by conventional LCD TVs reach levels ranging from 70 to 80%," announced LG Display.

- "In addition, LG Display's third-generation OLED TV panel also offers minimal reflections from nearby objects, earning it the 'Reflection-Free' certification from Intertek," the company said. "From Intertek's testing process on the ratio of external light reflected on the screen, the third-generation OLED TV panel achieved an industry-leading reflection ratio of less than 1%."


Flicker-free and circadian friendly
LG Display's OLED was previously the first display to receive the 'Eyesafe' certification from TÜV Rheinland and Eyesafe Inc. This certification takes into account the level of flicker, which can cause eye strain and headaches in severe cases.

The company boasts another first with the OLED's 'Circadian Friendly' certification by TÜV Rheinland, given to products that "meet the standards of minimizing their impact on people's quality of life during the day and promote better sleep at night".

'Flicker Free Display' and 'Discomfort Glare Free' certifications were awarded by UL Solutions.

MLA OLED is currently used in LG G3, Panasonic MZ2000 and Philips OLED908, while LG Display's regular OLED panels are used in TV models from all brands that currently offer OLED TVs including some Samsung models.


Not just hot air
While the certifications have typically been commissioned by LG, these organizations also test other display technologies from competing brands. Samsung Display, for example, has previously highlighted similar results from some of the same certification bodies for its QD-OLED panels.

- "Eyesafe Certified 2.0 confirms once again that QD-OLED is recognized as a superior display not only for its stunning picture quality but also for its eye health benefits. We are confident that QD-OLED is the optimal display for consumers who enjoy long hours of gaming and high-definition content," Samsung Display said in February 2023.

 Also read: LG Display welcomes Samsung's QD-OLED, says miniLED is bad for eye health
 Also read: Why text looks bad on the new OLED and QD-OLED monitors

The key difference is that OLEDs – both LG Display's WOLED and Samsung Display's QD-OLED – rely on self-emissive pixels rather than an LED backlight in an LCD panel ('QLED', 'QNED', 'ULED', 'miniLED' etc.).

While the health claims regarding blue light are contested, there is little doubt that flicker, including PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to control LED brightness and scanning backlights, can cause issues for viewers, depending on their own sensitivity threshold.

This type of flicker may or may not be consciously visible to the naked eye. An example of flicker on an LED LCD panel versus an OLED panel is shown, captured with a high-speed camera by LG (video doesn't work with the Firefox browser):




This is also something that FlatpanelsHD has covered in reviews, particularly in reviews of the latest generation of Samsung's 'Neo QLED' miniLED LCD TVs that use persistent PWM and scanning backlights. As noted in the reviews, I felt severe eye strain after a full day in front of Samsung's QN95A and QN95B models. My eyes are also affected in general by PWM in all types of displays.

An alternative is, of course, to reduce screen time. Yet, when we do engage with screens we should perhaps care more about eye comfort and health.