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IPS Black, Dual-mode Refresh Rates and other New LCD Panels for 2024 – LG.Display Roadmap

Simon Baker
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Introduction

Today we’re going to be taking a look at the LCD panel roadmap plans from one of the main panel manufacturers in the market, LG.Display. We’ve published these roadmap updates over the years as it gives a really interesting indication of what we might expect to see released in the monitor market in the future. A sneak peek at what the panel manufacturers are developing and the advancements they are making.

Please keep in mind that we’re talking here about LG.Display here who are one of the leading panel manufacturers, not LG Electronics who are an actual monitor manufacturer. LG.Display make the actual panels which various display manufacturers then adopt and release in their monitors later on.

The production dates we will talk about here are the current expected panel mass production dates, but there is usually around a 3 – 4 month lag from when the panels go in to production, before a monitor is released to market that might use that panel. So keep that in mind if there’s something in here that grabs your attention. Also these dates aren’t set in stone, especially those which are further out, but these are the latest dates we have for these planned new panels.

We’ve also got content available now which look at other panel manufacturers including AU Optronics who produce a range of LCD panels too. We’ve also got information on LG.Display’s OLED panel plans and Samsung’s QD-OLED panels, so check those out if you want all the latest panel development news for the OLED segment and what’s in store there.

Video Walk Through

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All the latest LCD panel roadmap news from one of the leading monitor panel manufacturers, LG.Display. Including news on improved IPS Black panels, increased contrast ratios, high refresh rates, dual-mode refresh rates and other news.

Focus Areas for 2024

LG.Display’s focus and strategy in the LCD space is focused around their IPS technology and around Increasing contrast ratio, improving panel reflection handling and increasing the colour gamut, resolution and refresh rate of their panels. For the gaming panel market they are also working on dual mode refresh rate options, a bit like what is on their roadmap for their WOLED panels too.

IPS Black

IPS Black is LG.Display’s latest generation of IPS technology, released a couple of years ago but primarily designed to offer IPS panels with improved contrast ratios. We tested one of the first IPS Black panels back in August 2022, but those panels at the time delivered decent improvements in contrast ratio for IPS, doubling it in fact from a typical 1000:1 spec to instead meet 2000:1.

LG 27GR95UM with 27″ 4K, 160Hz, 1560-zone Mini LED Backlight and A-TW Polarizer

That starts to improve on a long standing limitation with IPS panel technology, and brings them a bit closer to VA panels for black depth and contrast. Some manufacturers have also added Advanced True Wide or A-TW polarizers to some of their IPS models, and if that was combined with these higher contrast IPS Black panels it could help improve dark content viewing angles and reduce IPS glow further which would be a great combination.

The focus in the future from LG.Display for their IPS Black panels seems to be in improving the contrast ratio further, pushing this up to 3000:1 in fact although it’s not clear which forthcoming panels will have this increased contrast ratio spec. Most of the monitors we’ve seen announced using their newest IPS Black panels still have the 2000:1 spec, but it looks like further enhancements are at least on the roadmap longer term. For now there are some new sizes and panel options planned at least based on this technology.

LG.Display say they are also trying to improve ambient contrast ratio of these IPS Black panels. Towards the end of last year we conducted a comprehensive study of how room ambient lighting can influence the perceived black depth and contrast of different panel technologies, including how panel coating can impact this. LG.Display say they are going to double the ambient contrast ratio on their IPS Black panels this year although further details on the changes are limited at the moment.

Let’s run through the IPS Black panels they have in production already, or that are planned for 2024

Higher resolutions IPS Black

LG.Display have been investing in an increase in the resolution and pixel density on some of their professional segment panels, up to 6144 x 3456, or 6K as its commonly called, with a panel already available and in mass production. This 6K resolution is available from a 31.5” sized panel, already used in fact in one monitor from Dell. This complements a traditional 4K resolution 31.5” panel that is already in mass production and used in several models. These 6K panels remain 60Hz by the way.

A smaller 27” sized panel with a 5K resolution of 5120 x 2880 was listed as in planning stage when we brought you our last update in March 2023, and that panel was being explored for possible H1 2024 production. It looked interesting as it was also expected to have a 1560 zone Mini LED backlight for impressive HDR capabilities, although unfortunately this panel no longer appears on our more recent roadmap. It might have been scrapped, or simply pushed back, but there’s no news on that one at the moment sadly.

Ultrawide panels

In the ultrawide IPS Black segment, the 49” super ultrawide panel with a 32:9 aspect ratio and a 5120 x 1440 resolution IPS Black panel that we brought you news about In our last update in March 2023 is now in mass production, and has already adopted in the Dell U4924DW monitor for example.

There was also a new 37.5” ultrawide panel with a 24:10 aspect ratio and 3840 x 1600 resolution which seems to still be a popular option for many viewers, and always asked about whenever we talk about forthcoming panel and monitor releases. The good news is that this IPS black panel with a 2300R curvature and 2000:1 contrast ratio is now in mass production, and we’ve seen Dell release a monitor already using it.

This 37.5” and the 49” super ultrawide panels are 60Hz only though at this time, and we’ve not seen any plans for higher refresh rate versions of these IPS Black panels yet although if these prove popular we wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the future.

Higher refresh rate IPS Black

We’ve already started to see a range of monitors announced and released to market that feature an increased 120Hz refresh rate IPS Black panel, a step up from the first generation that were limited to only 60Hz. This includes models in sizes of 27, 34” and 40”. The 34” ultrawide and 40” ultrawide panels are of particular interest as coming to the market soon as panel mass production started at the end of 2023.

The 34” ultrawide panel has a 3440 x 1440 resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio and 120Hz refresh rate. That’s being used in the forthcoming Dell UltraSharp U3425WE that should be launched at the end of February 2024.

The 40” ultrawide panel has an impressive 5120 x 2160 resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio and 120Hz refresh rate. That panel is being used in the forthcoming Dell UltraSharp U4025QW that should be launched at the end of February 2024.

We’ve not seen any other monitors announced from other brands using these new 120Hz IPS Black panels that are already in mass production yet, it seems to only be Dell so far.

It looks like LG.Display will expand IPS Black further into their gaming panel segment later this year, with even higher refresh rates planned. It looks like this will be an update to their typical IPS gaming panels, now with an increased 2000:1 contrast ratio instead of the current 1000:1 contrast ratio today.

At the moment there is a 27” panel with 2560 x 1440 resolution and 360Hz refresh rate planned for Q4 2024 mass production which could be very interesting. No news on any monitors using that forthcoming panel at this stage but we wouldn’t expect those to be available until Q1 2025 based on the current panel production timescales.

As a teaser of things to come much later on, LG.Display do tantalisingly list “IPS Black version 2.0” for Q4 2025 development in their 31.5” segment, but do not provide any further information at the moment as to what this will include, or the changes that will be made. Perhaps these will be the increased 3000:1 contrast ratio panels we talked about earlier, but more info on that of course when we get it.

Gaming IPS panels

Away from their IPS Black technology we’ve already seen some dual-mode WOLED panels announced by LG.Display, for instance the 31.5” 4K 240Hz panel that is going to be adopted in to a few forthcoming OLED monitors later this year like the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP and LG 32GS95UE for example. That OLED panel allows you to use the screen at its native 4K resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, or you can drop down to 1080p at 480Hz if you’d rather for certain games when you want to prioritise frame rate and speed over resolution and detail. That OLED panel is expected to go in to mass production around May/June 2024 at the moment.

LG.Display are also planning to bring this feature to some of their future IPS LCD panels, including options that can handle 4K 144Hz, or drop down to 1080p at 288Hz, or also 4K 240Hz, dropping down to 1080p at 480Hz. That second option would mirror what they are doing with their OLED panels, but this time in the IPS LCD panel segment. They have a 27” 4K 144Hz panel planned for Q3 2024 mass production, followed by a 27” 4K 240Hz version in Q4 2024 which will both feature that dual mode frame rate feature. No other details are provided at this time on specs and we’ve not seen any monitors announced yet that would use these new IPS panels.

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