LG will reportedly switch to OLED displays for next major smartphone

LG is likely to move away from LCD in favor of an OLED screen for its next premium smartphone, the V30, according to The Korea Herald. The change would carry on with an eventual G7, the successor to this year’s G6. Samsung has long used OLED technology for its Android smartphones; the displays offer more vivid colors and deeper blacks than LCD screens, which are currently used by Apple, HTC, and LG’s existing mobile devices.
 
But Apple is rumored to be making the big change to OLED for its upcoming iPhone 8 due this fall, while sticking to LCD for the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus expected to be unveiled alongside it. Google also uses OLED in the HTC-manufactured Pixel phone.
 
LG’s V series of phones are marketed as prosumer devices, offering an array of media creation tools that give owners granular control over camera settings, video quality, and so on. A new, improved display could be one key way of differentiating the V30 from the recently released G6, which borrows many of the V20’s expert features. OLED is also crucial to virtual reality and Google’s Daydream platform, which could really use some new support. The report pegs a V30 release for September.
 
LG Electronics would be turning to sister company LG Display for the OLED components — much in that same way that Samsung sources its OLEDs from Samsung Display. “Most OLED screens produced at LG Display's Gumi E5 plant in the second half will be used for its sister firm LG Electronics’ smartphones starting with the V30,” a source told the Herald. Some OLEDs produced will also be supplied to Chinese phone makers who want an alternative to Samsung, the company that produces most OLED smartphone screens.

---