The two major OLED subtypes found on gaming monitors are QD-OLED and WOLED made by Samsung Display and LG Display respectively. The purpose of this article is to cover major differences between the two and note changes between generations for the same panel (sub)types.

Note:

• Coatings between QD-OLED and W-OLED are not the same, so “glossy (v1)” refers to different things on both.
• The full screen brightness and trueblack are only indicative of what the panel can do. In some instances models (mainly 2560x1440 Gen 3 QD-OLED as of writing) may be downbinned to lower spec such as 200 nit full screen and no VESA HDR certification.

QD-OLED #

• All generations have triangular RGB subpixel layouts, differing in shape/placement
• QD-OLED has more black level rise with ambient light compared to WOLED (“purple tint”), it is worse on glossy v1
• Only 2024 (SD suffix) and later Samsung models are matte, every other QD-OLED is glossy
• Gen 4+ (EL 3.0) is often marketed as “Penta Tandem”
• Glossy v3 is marketed as “BlackShield Film”, “DarkArmor Film” or “QuantumBlack” coating
• Samsung Display has dropped generation numbering in 2025 so some placements can be considered arbitrary and it’s possible to see different numbering in monitor advertising/specsheets
• See also TFTCentral breakdown for per-gen technological improvements

WOLED #

• Use of an MLA layer adds haze/grain
• Most generations use a stripe subpixel layout with a white subpixel, order varies between generations
• WOLED has worse gray uniformity than QD-OLED (“vertical banding” or “dirty screen effect”), it varies by unit
• Gen 4 is marketed as “Primary RGB Tandem” or “Tandem WOLED”
• Glossy v2 is marketed as “TrueBlack” or “RealBlack” glossy coating

Text clarity #

Both subtypes exhibit different types of text fringing (varying by subpixel layout) on Windows due to its subpixel rendering assuming RGB stripe layout. There is no definitive best which would apply to all people or all content, though consensus appears to be: \(W_{G1/2} < QD_{G1} < W_{G3/4} < QD_{G2} \approx QD_{G3/4} < QD_{G5} = W_{RGB}\)

MU/TechSpot on Gen 4 W (RGWB):

The use of RGWB makes these fourth gen WOLED panels very competitive with the latest high refresh QD OLEDs. Whether it reaches parity with triangle RGB QD OLED is subjective and depends on things like font and text size. QD OLED has its own issues with pink and green fringing above and below text, so neither panel is free of artefacts. We do not have strong thoughts on which is better. We might slightly prefer QD OLED, but really neither is as crisp as an IPS LCD. Overall, it is usable for desktop tasks and a non issue while gaming.

PCM on Gen 1/2 W (RWBG) vs Gen 1 QD:

Really, which fringing is ‘worse’ is situational and quite subjective. Overall, though, we found some of the fringing more noticeable on the WOLED screen than on the QD-OLED.

It is also important to realize higher pixel density easily offsets fringing. MU/TechSpot on 27” 4K QD-OLED:

[Higher PPI] effectively eliminates the slight text artifacts seen in 32-inch QD-OLED panels and delivers text clarity identical to a 27-inch 4K LCD. With the 32-inch 4K QD-OLEDs, we found text clarity to be very good, though not quite on par with 32-inch 4K LCDs. However, the 27-inch 4K QD-OLED is a step better, and we’re comfortable calling it identical to LCD.

Black depth #

TFTCentral has in-depth content measuring black-depth as a function of ambient light between panel types:

• The OLED Black Depth Lie – When Panel Type and Coating Matters [Matte/glossy v1 (MLA) WOLED, glossy v1/v2 QD-OLED]
• Asus ROG Strix XG27AQWMG review / ‘TrueBlack’ Glossy Coating [Matte v1 (MLA), glossy v1 (MLA), glossy v2 (MLA), glossy v2 WOLED]
• Gigabyte MO27Q28G review / black depth and ambient light handling [Matte v2]

I strongly suggest reading their content on the matter, though the gist is that for best black depth with ambient light: \(QD_{G_{v1}} < QD_{G_{v2}} < QD_{G_{v3}} < W_{M_{v1/MLA}} < W_{G_{v1/MLA}} < W_{G_{v2/MLA}} < W_{M_{v2}} < W_{G_{v2}}\)