What is Samsung Display’s new smartphone OLED panel and which phone will use it first?

It is a 6.9-inch OLED panel that combines 2K resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate. Samsung Display said it will first appear on the iQOO 16, a gaming smartphone from Vivo’s premium iQOO brand, when it launches in September.

Why does Samsung Display say the new OLED panel is more efficient than recent gaming displays?

Samsung Display said the panel uses about 30 percent less screen power than recently released 1.5K, 165Hz gaming OLEDs. It also uses a 22-nanometer driver IC, newer organic materials, polarizer-free OLED technology, and AI-based image optimization developed over three years.

How bright can Samsung Display’s 2K 165Hz smartphone OLED get?

The panel reaches a maximum brightness of 2,800 nits in high-brightness mode. Samsung Display said it can also reach 10,000 nits at a 1 percent on-pixel ratio.

Samsung Display advances smartphone OLEDs with 2K resolution, 165Hz refresh rates

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Summary

Samsung Display has developed what it says is the world’s first smartphone OLED panel to combine 2K resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate. The 6.9-inch panel will debut on iQOO 16, a high-performance gaming smartphone from Vivo’s premium iQOO brand, scheduled to launch in September. Samsung Display said the panel cuts screen power consumption by about 30 percent versus recently released 1.5K, 165Hz gaming OLEDs. It also reaches 2,800 nits in high-brightness mode and 10,000 nits at a 1 percent on-pixel ratio.

Key Facts

Samsung Display said the panel is a 6.9-inch OLED.
The display driver integrated circuit uses a 22-nanometer process, compared with 28 nanometers in the company’s previous technology.
Samsung Display said the computational power consumption of the new driver IC is 30 percent lower.
To improve performance, the company increased the thickness of pixel signal wiring by 10 percent and used newer organic materials plus polarizer-free OLED technology.

By Lee Kyung-min

Published Sep 14, 2026 4:22 pm KST

Samsung Display’s plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province / Korea Times file

Samsung Display has developed what it says is the world’s first smartphone OLED panel to combine 2K resolution with a 165Hz refresh rate, bringing sharper images and faster motion to high-end mobile gaming.

The 6.9-inch panel will debut on iQOO 16, a high-performance gaming smartphone from Vivo’s premium iQOO brand, which is scheduled to launch in September, Samsung Display said on Monday.

The company said its new OLED panel delivers about 30 percent lower screen power consumption than recently released gaming smartphone OLEDs with 1.5K resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate.

It reaches a maximum brightness of 2,800 nits in high-brightness mode and can reach 10,000 nits at a 1 percent on-pixel ratio, according to Samsung Display.

Higher resolution and refresh rates require more pixels and more demanding drive circuitry, making it difficult to maintain brightness and power efficiency at the same time, the company said.

To address those demands, Samsung Display increased the thickness of pixel signal wiring by 10 percent, expanding the cross-sectional area through which current flows and reducing resistance to speed pixel charging.

The display driver integrated circuit uses a 22-nanometer process, compared with 28 nanometers in its previous technology, while its computational power consumption is 30 percent lower, Samsung Display said.

For light emission and image quality, the panel uses newer organic materials and the company’s polarizer-free OLED technology, along with artificial intelligence-based image optimization developed over three years.

Samsung Display said those technologies improve brightness, power efficiency and color uniformity while maintaining stable performance at high refresh rates.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

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