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Samsung's New OLED Display Emits Less Blue Light, Uses Less Power

It's certified as an 'Eye Care Display' and uses 15 percent less power than previous OLED panels.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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Your next smartphone will enjoy improved battery life and won't mess with your sleep pattern if it uses Samsung's newly announced OLED display.

Samsung Display this week announced an optimized OLED display aimed squarely at the smartphone market and in particular 5G phones. It boasts two features that manufacturers and consumers will be very happy to embrace: a reduction in power consumption by 15 percent; and a reduction in the amount of blue light the display emits.

In terms of energy consumption, the panel only requires 1.3W compared to Samsung's previous OLED, which required 1.5W. It's a saving that should result in a noticeable improvement in battery life. The drop in power consumption was verified by testing agency Underwriters Laboratories (UL).

Blue light is always highlighted as being harmful due to it having more energy per photon of light than other colors, but generally speaking, blue light alone in consumer electronics devices won't cause harm to your eyes. However, it can disrupt your sleep and therefore a reduction can't hurt.

OLED panels already emit 70 percent less blue light than LCD screens, but this latest panel widens that gap further. Samsung's last OLED panel emitted 7.5 percent blue light, whereas the new one only emits 6.5 percent. The drop earned Samsung "Eye Care Display" certification for the panel by the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), and you can be sure that will be used in marketing.

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About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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