Choosing a good screen for work, study, gaming, or simply watching TV shows these days has become a complicated task: the market is full of different technologies, sizes, and prices that can overwhelm anyone. When prioritizing The best image quality, very high contrast, and truly deep blacks, things become much clearer: the OLED panels They remain the clear benchmark compared to other solutions such as conventional LCDs or even miniLEDs.
In Europe and Spain, where consumption of OLED televisions and monitors As prices continue to rise, manufacturers are making moves to offer more affordable products without sacrificing the key advantages of this technology: pure blacks, wide viewing angles, and very fast response times. At the same time, the sector is undergoing a significant industrial transition, with new processes like eLEAP emerging and increasing pressure to cut production costs.
OLED TV as a PC monitor: an increasingly logical alternative
One of the most curious trends of recent years is the use of OLED TVs as desktop monitorsFor many users who are not heavy gamers, buying a OLED gaming monitor With high refresh rates, dedicated DisplayPort ports, and very aggressive designs, you might be overpaying for features you won't take advantage of.
In contrast to those models designed for gaming, with eye-catching casings, Conspicuous RGB lighting and bulky standsUsing a moderately sized OLED TV (for example, 42 or 48 inches) as your main computer screen can make a lot of sense. These TVs typically offer 4K resolution, good viewing angles, and spectacular image quality for working, editing photos or videos, and consuming multimedia content.
However, OLED technology still has some sensitivity to burn from static imagesThis is a concern for those who spend many hours with static windows, toolbars, or interfaces with elements that don't move much. Manufacturers, especially LG in its European TVs, have added features to mitigate this problem, such as subtle pixel shifting, panel refresh rates, and reduced brightness in static areas.
In addition to the built-in tools, it's possible to greatly reduce the risk of retention by following simple PC habits, such as opting for dark modes in the operating systemAutomatically hiding the taskbar when not in use or setting a screensaver to activate after a few minutes of inactivity. With this minimal care, many users are finding OLED TVs a very convenient option for working and playing leisure activities on the same desk.
In this context, models like the 42-inch LG OLED with a 4K panel and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz have gained prominence; a screen size that can be used at close range without being excessive. high pixel density and native OLED contrast They allow you to keep text, icons and interface elements very sharp, which is essential when you spend the workday in front of the screen.
New processes for OLED: the eLEAP slowdown and the role of LG and Samsung
While end users are seeing more and more OLED TVs in stores, the panel manufacturing industry is experiencing its own earthquake. Japan Display (JDI), one of the sector's long-standing players, had invested heavily in eLEAP, a new OLED display manufacturing process which promised a remarkable leap in brightness, efficiency and lifespan compared to current methods based on thin metal mask (FMM).
The idea behind eLEAP was to leverage a larger emissive surface per pixelreducing the dead space between subpixels. This translates, on paper, into larger subpixels, capable of emitting more light with the same power consumption, or, put another way, the possibility of achieving the same brightness with less energy. JDI even spoke of double the efficiency and maximum brightness and a lifespan three times longer than that of current OLED panels, taking a density of 300 ppi as a reference.
The project didn't stay in the laboratory. JDI and Innolux had announced a partnership to supply 32-inch eLEAP OLED displays For the automotive sector, using a high-mobility oxide base plate. The plan was for JDI to manufacture the panels and for CarUX to distribute them to various vehicle manufacturers, something especially relevant for Europe, where OLED instrument clusters and infotainment systems are starting to appear in high-end cars.
However, in November 2025, an unexpected turn of events occurred: JDI halted production at its Mobara plant and terminated its joint activities with Innolux related to eLEAP. The reasons cited point to a combination of technical difficulties and budget constraints, which has put one of the most promising developments in the field of next-generation OLED panels on hold.
The pause doesn't mean the technology will disappear. In fact, various industry reports indicate that LG Display has shown interest in taking up the mantle and exploring new avenues. the integration of eLEAP-type processes on its production lines. JDI itself has highlighted that the sixth-generation plant where this method was developed theoretically allows for doubling the maximum brightness and tripling the lifespan of OLED panels compared to those currently manufactured, something very attractive for future large-format televisions sold in Europe.
LG, Samsung and Applied Materials: competition and alliances in the OLED of the future
Japan Display's move has further boosted the prominence of LG and Samsung, the two companies that currently control a large part of global production. OLED panels for TVs and monitorsIn the case of LG Display, the firm has already confirmed that it wants to experiment with processes similar to eLEAP on its E4 line, located in Paju (South Korea), where it manufactures WOLED panels that later reach televisions marketed in Europe and Spain under the LG brand and also under other brands.
LG's approach is to not rush things: the first tests will focus on relatively small panels, around 20-30 inchFor professional or computer use, consider moving up to larger diagonals for the living room. If the results with these sizes confirm the promises of greater brightness, efficiency, and lifespan, it will be easier to justify the investment needed to adapt large-format production lines.
For its part, Samsung maintains its commitment to the QD-OLED panelswhich combine OLED emitters with quantum dots to improve color volume and brightness. But the company is also paying close attention to third-party solutions, such as the manufacturing platform. Max OLED by Applied Materials, closely related to advanced processes that pursue similar objectives to eLEAP: cleaner, more efficient and flexible production.
The big difference compared to Japan Display is that both LG and Samsung have far superior financial resources and large R&D departmentsThis allows them to undertake long-term projects, cover the amortization of new factories, and maintain several technological lines in parallel. If the most optimistic projections are met, we could see OLED televisions with peak brightness of 5.000 or 6.000 nits and useful lives that, in practice, make concern about panel wear practically irrelevant.
These types of technologies won't arrive first in budget models; they're expected to debut in high-end ranges aimed at demanding markets such as the European onewhere consumers are willing to pay for the highest image quality. However, industry experience indicates that, over time, process improvements and equipment depreciation eventually drive prices down, bringing these innovations closer to the mid-range market.
Samsung and LG are vying for leadership in OLED televisions
While engineers work on the OLED of the future, the current television market is moving at a good pace. Samsung, which has already been leading the market for almost two decades, continues to thrive. global television sales Adding up all the technologies, it decided to return to the OLED world in 2022 with its QD-OLED panels, and the move is paying off.
For years, LG Display maintained the Key patent for the manufacture of OLED panels for TVsThis forced other manufacturers to buy the panels from LG if they wanted to launch TVs of this type. This control has been loosening with the expiration of patents and the entry of new players, such as TCL and BOE, who are beginning to develop their own organic panels, although for the moment the LG-Samsung duopoly remains dominant, especially in Europe.
According to 2025 data, Samsung would have sold around two million OLED televisions worldwide, representing year-on-year growth of just over 38%. This increase has occurred in a context where the total volume of the television market remains stable, indicating that Samsung is gaining market share at the expense of other manufacturersespecially in the OLED segment.
LG, meanwhile, continues to hold the top spot in OLED TV sales, with slightly more than 3,2 million units in 2025This figure is very similar to the previous year. Samsung's growth contrasts with LG's flatter performance, but the latter maintains a very large installed base and a solid catalog ranging from entry-level OLED TVs to top-of-the-range models with more advanced panels.
Among the manufacturers that complete the podium, Sony stands out, occupying third position with a 560.000 OLED units sold and a year-on-year drop of around 15%. This loss of ground in the premium segment has allowed Samsung to close the gap with LG, especially in markets like Europe, where the presence of Japanese brands has been losing ground to South Korean and Chinese brands.
Looking ahead to 2026, various industry sources indicate that Samsung will continue to expand its range of OLED TVs with more affordable modelsIf it manages to bring certain screen sizes below the psychological barrier of 1.000 euros in Spain and the rest of Europe, it could lead to a significant leap in the mass adoption of this technology, which until now has been associated mainly with mid-to-high and high-end models.
Falling costs and industrial maturity: why OLEDs can become cheaper
The industrial context also plays in favor of greater popularization of the large format OLED displaysAnalyses by firms specializing in the display market indicate that the industry has entered a readjustment phase in which the accelerated depreciation of LCD and OLED factories is structurally reducing production costs.
In practice, this means that a growing portion of global capacity—the surface area of ​​panels that can be produced each year—is already in use. fully amortized or very close to being soIn the case of large televisions and monitors, many Gen 10.5 plants and South Korean factories where WOLED and QD-OLED panels are manufactured will reach very high levels of depreciation around 2028.
Since the depreciation of machinery can amount to approximately one-third of the total cost of manufacturing a screenThe fact that some of these investments have already been recouped provides more room for manufacturers to adjust prices without incurring losses. This is especially relevant for products like the 55- and 65-inch OLED TVs sold in Europe, which compete directly with increasingly capable LCD and miniLED models.
Something similar is happening in the mobile sector. Gen 6 factories dedicated to RGB OLED panels The market for smartphones with thin metal bezels is at a point where, by the end of the decade, much of their capacity will have been fully amortized. This can help maintain reasonable prices even with incremental improvements, such as higher refresh rates or lower power consumption panels.
The other side of the coin is the new state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Gen 8.6 factories for RGB OLED These new plants, currently being built in Korea and China, are designed to produce larger panels more efficiently. These plants will see little significant depreciation until well into the decade, necessitating high utilization levels to spread their fixed costs. In Europe, this will likely mean that the first models produced on these lines will be high-end, priced vehicles, while older factories continue to supply panels for mid-range models.
Overall, the combination of already amortized capacity, gradual process improvements, and increasing competition among manufacturers It points to a scenario in which OLED could continue to gain ground against other technologies in living rooms, desktops and mobile devices, maintaining an increasingly attractive price-quality ratio for the European consumer.
Between the push for new techniques like eLEAP—although it's currently on hold in the hands of Japan Display—, the interest of giants like LG and Samsung in taking OLED to unprecedented levels of brightness and durability, and an industrial context that tends to lower costs, everything indicates that the OLED screens will continue to be key players in televisions and monitors in Spain and the rest of Europe, with more options to choose from whether you're looking for a home cinema TV, a gaming panel or a comfortable screen for working many hours in front of the computer.