To OLED or Not to OLED: Gaming Monitor Pros and Cons

To OLED or Not to OLED: Gaming Monitor Pros and Cons Ft. LG UltraGear 45GR95QE

Many thanks to LG for providing the UltraGear 45GR95QE 45” 240Hz OLED Monitor seen in this video. For more info, visit the LG Product Page:

► TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:42 Unboxing / Overview: LG 45GR95QE 45” 240Hz OLED Monitor
3:44 Key Gaming Features in this Gaming Monitor
4:35 Additional Features / Accessories for the LG 45GR95QE
5:35 OLED TVs vs OLED Gaming Monitors
6:23 OLED Pros: Best Viewing Angles, Light and Flexible, No Backlight
8:48 OLED Pros: Response Time, Eye Strain (Blue Light)
10:09 OLED Cons: Burn-In Risks
12:08 OLED Burn-In Prevention Techniques
14:33 OLED Cons: Sub-pixel Layout and Text Fringing
16:49 OLED Cons: So-so Peak Brightness and High Prices
18:54 Closing Thoughts

► LINKS
Other, less expensive, non-OLED Monitors
27", 2560x1440, 144Hz-170Hz, VRR / FreeSync and GSYNC support, IPS or VA Panel for $200-$300
Ultrawide Option
- References -
RTings Long-Term OLED burn-in Tests:

Please note that links above may be affiliate links -- clicking them earns me a small commission if you make a purchase and helps support my YouTube channel. Thank you!

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► Edited by Joe Aguilar - ShaostylePostProductions

Audio file(s) provided by Epidemic Sound

[bubba]

I've been gaming on an LG C8 OLED for a bit over 4 years now I think it is. I've had the pixel shift on the whole time. I've had no burn-in at all. No problems gaming on it. It's been amazing and I couldn't go back to a non-OLED display.

[Bloo]

I have the alienware qd - oled 34 inch. It's amazing. The dark scenes are very detailed and true to life. It's still super dark, but you can see in detail. For example if it's super dark in game and someone in front of you has a flashlight, it's like a new sensation, it looks real in a way. Can't explain it. But it's worth it

[MrReaver]

Been gaming on a LG C1 48" for a little over a year. Absolutely perfect gaming display. Picked it up at MicroCenter as a refurb. Was significantly cheaper than premium monitors at the time and better feature list. Perfect blacks, great color, 120hz and GSync support. Couldn't pass it up. Ended up doing a major rig upgrade because of the display

[eldritchtoilets]

Pulled the trigger for a C2 recently, absolutely no regrets so far, the picture quality improvement over my older VA is incredible. Great overview of the pros and cons of the tech.

[tamegaming]

In my experience having owned both the AW34 and UG 27 OLED, it's game changing. The way colors pop and the deepness of black levels made me want to replay all my favorite games to experience them with it. The only monitor I've used that comes close to the picture quality was my old 27gl850. The quantum dot layer helped colors stand out it came close, but not quite.

[funkengruven]

I got the 48" LG CX in Aug of 2020 and have managed to put 18495 hours to-date on it as both monitor and TV. It still looks as good as the day I bought it with no burn-in or issues. I took as few precautions like no desktop icons, an auto hide taskbar, and screen timeout, but once you get used to them they're really not concessions. Don't know how much of that was actually necessary, but 18K hours and counting without a bit of trouble has been worth it. 4K/OLED is the best upgrade I ever made to my gaming setup. Once you go OLED you'll never want anything else.

[XBnPC]

Thank God for OLED finally coming into the monitor space! I've had the tech on my phones for so long and once you've gone that way with your TV, you'll Never want to go back. Again, Super excited for this and I've never had any issues with burn in case anyone was wondering. OLED FTW ALL THE WAY 💯

[BOKtober]

Ive used a 65" LG CX OLED as a PC gaming monitor for over 2 years and 3k hours, zero signs of burn in, I even use it for competitive FPS games like valiant and CSGO and i don't feel like I'm at any competitive disadvantage compare to my old 27" 144hz gaming monitor. For single player games its absolutely spectacular, best gaming/PC related purchase I've ever made

[drtaru]

PAUL, Thank you for this! You are the only reviewer who seems willing to discuss the subpixel layout con, it was literally giving me headaches and I had to return the display.

[Qualkkuno]

Very glad to see this video. I've been interested in OLED monitors, but wasn't too familiar with pros/cons. Great video, as always.

[Debate_everything]

Great video I have been using the LG oled for gaming and desktop working for the past six years. My current LG cx for nearly 3 years. I’ve had zero issue since as Paul shows LG has the best mitigation system.

One tip. Set the OLED brightness lower than max.. this alone will also prevent most all issues because this is what drives retention. Max oled brightness drives the leds.. at their max. Lowering this just by 10 is not noticeable but helps a lot.

[corruptedpoison]

I bought a 65" C2 last month and it has made me a true believer in OLED.

[captante]

I would have loved an OLED but I spend WAY to much time with "static" images on-screen. Snagged a nano-IPS 38 inch Alienware instead after much deliberation and I'm happy with it.

[rafenwulf]

I've bought the LG G2 55" tv last year, and it's fantastic. PC, 4K movies, PS5, all looks beautiful, I've not had any issues of any kind. Despite many reviewers on the web praising QD-OLED by Samsung and Sony, after visiting a store to compare them in the real world the LG really stood out for me and my choice was made much less difficult. My only complaint would be the number of HDMI ports (4) but that is something of a complaint about all TVs now. I bought a decent HDMI splitter which solved that problem, and I'm looking into getting a new AV receiver somewhere this year which has a HDMI splitter built in and can extract the best possible audio from the source. Possibly the Marantz Cinema 50. My PC will still be plugged into the TV via HDMI directly to keep the lowest latency possible, and audio through SPDIF to my amp works really well so I'm sticking with that setup. NVidia doesn't like the splitter, causing desktop resolution changes, very annoying. Hope all my research into video/gaming/audio can help someone on their way to a new setup!

[Numik]

I'll be definitely getting OLED panel in (hopefully) near future, I'm just waiting for the 2nd gen QD OLED from Samsung to hit the market.

[hassanarshad]

do you think oled is good for productivity? I've heard of eye strain issues that come up with PWM when used at lower brightness.

[Nightmoore]

I recently upgraded my primary display to the new Alienware ultrawide OLED and I'm just telling you no going back. Ever. The gaming experience is glorious, but if you work with ANY timeline based software (like a DAW or video editing app), the extra width is glorious. Color accuracy is superb as well. The ultrawide ratios are much more similar to our real-life field of vision, and once you get acclimated to using it, all other monitors just look kinda meh. I thought I had made some big upgrades to my rig in the past, but this one easily had the most impact. If you get one that is the same height as your previous monitors, you can easily make a dual-screen setup workable and look nice. You don't have to go "one screen only" just because it's ultrawide. You just need a little extra desk space.

[GramKracker]

Just picked up a 42” c2 for gaming and work (software engineer) - it’s downright amazing. Games never felt so immersive.

[SinnfullDuck]

I spent $900 on a new monitor back in 2021 and now I'm wishing I had waited. These new oleds look amazing and I'd love to try one. I guess by the time I'm ready to replace my current monitor, another new fancy tech will be taking over and these will be old news!

[hedshot]

been on a lg c1 for over year and absolutely no regrets