Paweł Koper
The premium display market has just entered a phase of brutal bidding on numbers. While just a year ago we were marvelling at LG’s Tandem OLED technology (used among others in the latest iPads and televisions), Samsung Display decided to show that a dual layer is just a warm-up for them. The Korean giant has officially announced a new QD-OLED Penta Tandem™ display technology.
What is Penta Tandem?
The principle of the Tandem technology can be explained quite simply: instead of one layer emitting light, several layers are used, which work together. This means that each layer is less overloaded, which theoretically drastically extends the lifespan of the panel and allows for a higher brightness to be achieved.
However, Samsung does not intend to make compromises. While the competition LG Display uses two layers under the phrase Tandem OLED, Samsung has gone straight to five emissive layers (hence the name "Penta" – from Greek: five). It is worth emphasising, however, that from a technical standpoint, the previous generation of QD-OLED panels already utilised 4 emissive layers.
QD-OLED Penta Tandem™ Numbers
The transition to a 5-layer organic structure is not just a marketing gimmick. Samsung Display has presented hard data that may impress you:
Enormous brightness: These panels achieve peak brightness of up to 4500 nits in televisions and 1300 nits in monitors.
Longer panel lifespan: Thanks to the dispersion of energy across 5 layers, the lifespan of the panel has increased by as much as twice compared to last year's designs.
Energy efficiency: Penta Tandem improves luminous efficiency by 1.3 times compared to the previous generation of QD-OLED panels.
What awaits us in 2026?
Samsung Display announces a wide expansion. Penta Tandem technology. For now, these panels will be included in the flagship models of devices such as:
Monitors: 27" UHD, 31.5" UHD, 34" WQHD, and – 49" Dual QHD.
Televisions: According to Samsung Display, key TV manufacturers received these matrices as early as 2025.
In the face of such a powerful offensive, the traditional dual-layer Tandem OLED seems to be merely a transitional technology. Samsung has proven that in the world of quantum dots (QD) and organic emitters, they currently dictate the terms of the game. The question is for how long and what LG has in response?
