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First impressions of TCL's promising RGB OLED display

20 Jan 2025 | Rasmus Larsen |

TCL takes another step toward the commercialization of RGB OLED displays. At CES 2025, the company showcased its first monitor panels, including a 27-inch 4K model.

Chinese companies have been making strides in the OLED smartphone market, but LG Display and Samsung Display – with WOLED and QD-OLED, respectively – continue to dominate the OLED TV and monitor segments.

That may soon change. In October 2024, TCL's display manufacturing division, CSOT, announced breakthroughs in printed RGB OLED technology. The next month, in November 2024, the company officially kicked off low-scale mass-production of printed RGB OLED, initially focused on monitor and laptop panels.


RGB OLED vs. WOLED and QD-OLED

At CES 2025, FlatpanelsHD had the opportunity to examine TCL's latest panel; a printed 27-inch RGB OLED with 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, designed for gaming monitors. Like other OLED monitors, it delivered great picture quality, with deep blacks, wide viewing angles and vibrant colors. However, we are still not fans of matte coating, which impacts black levels and contrast.

TCL 27 RGB OLED

TCL's 27" RGB OLED panel. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

TCL 27 RGB OLED

TCL's 27" RGB OLED panel. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

The most significant difference, however, is that it uses striped RGB pixels, meaning only red, green and blue are arranged in a line. No extra white subpixel (WOLED) or a triangular pixel layout (QD-OLED) to be found here. Also read: First look at 2025 QD-OLED If you have used a WOLED or QD-OLED monitor, you may have noticed shadows to the left of text (WOLED) or color fringing around text and objects (QD-OLED). We did not observe these issues on TCL's 27-inch RGB OLED, which delivered high-clarity images thanks to its 4K resolution – something Samsung Display is bringing to market this year.

TCL 27 RGB OLED

TCL's 27" RGB OLED panel. Photo: FlatpanelsHD

TCL's panel is specified to 250 nits of full-screen brightness, which is comparable to current WOLED and QD-OLED monitor panels. However, TCL's peak brightness of 600 nits is an area that leaves room for improvement. The company claims over 80% Rec.2020 color coverage, which is more or less on par with QD-OLED monitor panels.

Next steps for RGB OLED

The 27-inch 4K panel is new but was initially revealed in November 2024 as one of the first panels to enter mass production, alongside a 21.6-inch 4K OLED designed for professional monitors. A specific launch date has not been disclosed. At CES 2025, TCL CSOT teased additional developments, but with low-scale mass production only starting in late 2024 and plans to ramp up in 2025, the CES showcase focused on the first batch of OLED panels. While the panels show promise, TCL still needs to prove its ability to scale up production, manage costs and expand its range to more screen sizes. The company did not provide an update on plans for OLED TV panels.

Other new OLED panels from TCL CSOT

TCL OLED

Photo: FlatpanelsHD

TCL OLED

Photo: FlatpanelsHD

TCL OLED

Photo: FlatpanelsHD

TCL OLED

Photo: FlatpanelsHD

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