Bendable Gaming OLED for the Optimal Gaming Experience | Experience | OLED SPACE

Dr. Yoo is touching Bendable Gaming OLED screen.

For the Optimal Gaming Experience

Dr. Jang Jin Yoo, Research Fellow of the Image Quality Development Department

Jan 11, 2023

Do you think all displays that we see are of the same technology?
Just as movies and games are two completely different things,
a display focusing primarily on gaming content should also be different.

A Paradigm-shifting

Bendable Gaming

OLED Starts Here!

A Paradigm-

shiftingBendable Gaming

OLED Starts
Here!

Dr. Yoo is discussing something about Bendable Gaming OLED with his team members.

Dr. Yoo is looking at Bendable Gaming OLED display with his arms crossed.

27 Years in theDisplay Sector

For my master’s degree, I majored in liquid crystal physics and joined LG Electronic’s LCD SBU (Strategy Business Unit) in 1996, so I essentially spent half my life with displays.

When I initially joined the company, I was assigned to design the wide viewing angle for LCD. Afterward, from 2000 to 2003 I was the head of the FSC (Field Sequential Color) LCD project, which let me experience fast response LCD, high-speed driving circuits, RGB LED BLU and other general display-related technologies. Above all, because FSC LCD was a high image-quality display with fine pitch, wide color gamut, fast response time, etc., my interest in image quality began around that period.

I wanted to study more about image quality, so I received a Ph.D. in studies of “image quality modeling for mobile displays” at the Colour Science department of the University of Leeds in the UK from 2004 to 2008, after which I returned to LG Display in 2009.

Ever since then, I have been working on image quality evaluation and improvement as well as international standards (image and sound quality) in the Image Quality Development Department.

Work Spanning

from Display

Research to

Standardization

Most of you probably aren’t familiar with a “Image Quality Development Department”, so let me elaborate on what I do. First and foremost, we develop relevant image and sound quality evaluation methods based on research regarding display image and sound qualities. Then we take these results for standardization through international standardization institutions such as VESA, IEC, and ICDM. All this happens in the Image Quality Development Department.

Since the Image Quality Development Department coordinates with international standardization institutions, meetings with overseas companies and people are a must. Most meetings took place on-site abroad before Covid, but it’s now mostly done remotely. We are saving travel time, but we need to be very early or very late when working with North America or Europe, so our hours can be a bit erratic.

Bendable Gaming OLED display is presented in gaming room,

SID 2022’s Focus on Gaming

Displays

Gaming displays received a lot of attention during “SID 2022”, the world’s largest display conference. The main focus was on the “Ergonomic Requirements of Gaming Displays” of gaming displays conducted by the Image Quality Development Department, which I will summarize for you.

A display is a tool that connects humans with video content. What we expect in a display will vary depending on the type of video content. Requirements for traditional displays were centered on movies, sports, entertainment programs and other general popular video content. But we thought that perhaps people would expect something else in displays for gaming content. Actually, we were certain that it would be so, which was the starting point for our research in ergonomic conditions.

Added to this, the up-to-date devices tend to disregard the users and focus on competition of specs, but I wanted to go on a different path. I wanted to move away from enhancing specs that are not relevant to users and consider the ergonomically important elements.

The game is being played on the Bendable Gaming OLED display, and keyboards and monitors are visible below.

The Best and Most

Optimal Tech for Gaming Displays

As displays are very complex, there are many factors we need to consider. We looked at papers and conducted internal experiments spanning a long period of time. Close communication with business units and various research within the Image Quality Development Dep. also helped.

We conducted further research with the detailed factors derived from the broad categories of Interactivity, Reality and Safety. After a deep dive, the results surprised not only us but the entire display industry. In a nutshell, OLED was the best and most optimal technology than the previously used LCD for gaming displays.

Response Time
Screen Curvature
Bluelight
Overwhelming in
Every Aspect

Not only did OLED have the strengths of previous OLED TVs such as perfect black, vividness, true-to-life colors and realistic HDR expression, but gaming OLED excelled in all fronts such as response time, screen curvature, bluelight and so on.

In the center of a rectangular model with a black border, three arrows point to a gray lightning bolt, which means interaction.

Fast Response Time

OLED, with its self-emissive structure that does not need a backlight, boasts a response speed that is 100 times faster than LCD. Without inverse ghosting, OLED can also express vivid images and accurate colors.

The display screen is curved according to the curvature.

Screen Curvature

Flexible without a backlight, OLED allows the screen to bend and straighten. Gamers are able to switch effortlessly between flat and curved screens depending on their gaming environment to optimize the curvature for enhanced immersion.

The snow is drawn in the center of the shield, alternately colored in white and gray, which means safety.

Eye Safety

OLED emits less bluelight that is harmful to eye health than LCD, so there is less eye fatigue in the dark or during long gaming sessions.

Response Time
Screen Curvature
Bluelight
Overwhelming in
Every Aspect

Fast Response Time

OLED, with its self-emissive structure that does not need a backlight, boasts a response speed that is 100 times faster than LCD. Without inverse ghosting, OLED can also express vivid images and accurate colors.
Screen Curvature

Flexible without a backlight, OLED allows the screen to bend and straighten. Gamers are able to switch effortlessly between flat and curved screens depending on their gaming environment to optimize the curvature for enhanced immersion.
Eye Safety

OLED emits less bluelight that is harmful to eye health than LCD, so there is less eye fatigue in the dark or during long gaming sessions.

Increase Immersion
and Reduce Distortion

for the Best Gaming
Experience!

There are many genres of games, and an optimal curvature exists for each genre. The Image Quality Development Dept. collaborated with business units to run tests to discover the optimal curvature for each genre.

We selected a representative game for each genre, such as shooters, sports, racing, RPG, RTS and MOBA. Then we executed the games on monitors with curvatures of 600R, 800R, 1000R, 1500R, or a flat screen (infinite R). The results were that for all genres, immersion was highest between an average of 800R and 1000R.

* R = Radius

But images may be distorted on a curved screen, so we conducted another evaluation for video distortion. After endless testing, we found that distortion is acceptable in 1500R and infinite R, but unfortunately, an optimal fixed curvature that satisfies both immersion and distortion levels did not exist.

However, we found a way to solve this issue for gaming OLEDs. The solution was a bendable display that could adjust the curvature.

Increase
Immersion
and Reduce
Distortion

for the Best
Gaming
Experience!

* R = Radius

However, we found a way to solve this issue for gaming OLEDs. The solution was a bendable display that could adjust the curvature.

Dr. Yoo is playing game with Bendable Gaming OLED.

A Gaming OLED
for Gamers

We invested many hours in games. Analyzing the needs of customers is vital for researching the image quality and cognitive behaviors related to gaming displays. Since this requires first-hand experience, I played games several times a day during that period.

These days, I try to play games only during lunchtime or on weekends, but I still average about 7 hours a week. Ever since using the gaming OLED display, I sometimes even win and always feel that the gaming OLED display is on another level, be it about image quality or speed.

The Gaming OLED is a hot topic among gamers, too. As a result, many discussions are being made about it, so let me share some memorable feedback other than just my own experience.

“The high contrast allows me to sense the change in images quickly, increasing my chance of winning.”
“Thanks to the Bendable OLED that enables multi-level curvature adjustment, I am completely immersed in whichever game I play!”
“I can enjoy my game without concern for my eye health because of the low bluelight emission.”

There were other feedbacks, but these were the main ones.