OLED gaming monitors are about to get a lot brighter

By Jacob Roach Published December 31, 2024

One of the biggest criticisms leveled against OLED monitors, despite being some of the best gaming monitors you can buy, is how dim they are. Although brightness is steadily increasing, it looks like the next crop of OLED gaming monitors will make quite the leap when it comes to HDR performance. Ahead of CES 2025, VESA has revealed a new tier of its DisplayHDR standard that’s focused squarely on the brightness of OLED monitors.

The certification is DisplayHDR True Black 1,000. Most OLED gaming monitors, such as the MSI MPG 321URX or Alienware 27 QD-OLED, are certified with DisplayHDR True Black 400. This certification level is reserved for OLED — or extremely high-end mini-LED — displays that achieve nearly perfect black levels. According to VESA’s specifications, the display has to reach 0.0005 nits with a checkboard pattern. Now, VESA is focusing on the other end of the spectrum, adding a more demanding tier that maintains those low black levels while pushing brightness higher.

As the name suggests, the DisplayHDR True Black 1,000 tier certifies monitors that can reach 1,000 nits of peak brightness, which doesn’t sound that impressive. The way VESA defines peak brightness is a bit different than most monitor brands, however. A recent OLED like the HP Omen Transcend 32 can reach up to 1,000 nits, but only for 1% of the screen. Take the window out to 10% of the screen, and the monitor can barely clear 500 nits.

The certification adds some more strict rules around brightness. With the new tier, a monitor needs to clear 1,000 nits, at minimum, with 2% of the screen lit up. In addition, the monitor must be able to reach 500 nits for the full screen, both with a brief flash and during a long-duration stress test. For reference, DisplayHDR True Black 400 monitors only need to hit about 250 nits for the full screen.

There aren’t any monitors using the new DisplayHDR True Black 1,000 standard yet, though that will likely change next week when CES 2025 is underway. Alongside the new DisplayHDR standard, VESA announced ClearMR 21000, which validates motion clarity in monitors. LG has already said that it’s new UltraGear OLED 27GX790A is the first monitor to receive certification. We expect to see it alongside LG’s 5K2K OLED display next week.