'A high-performance monitor is an employee benefit': LG Display unveils first office-focused OLED monitor

A few years ago, major corporations competed to install Herman Miller chairs costing more than 2 million won ($1,360) as a bold perk to win over younger employees who valued work-life balance.

Now, the conversation is shifting from comfortable chairs to eye-friendly monitors as the next workplace benefit — and LG Display has made its move. The company unveiled an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) monitor aimed at the office market, alongside a 51.5-inch large-screen LCD monitor, as it prepares for growth in the premium monitor segment.

The LG Display booth at the K-Display 2026 exhibition, which opened Wednesday at COEX in Seoul, featured a premium office space experience zone. Office monitors were on display alongside humanoid robot displays and oversized OLED TVs.

The centerpiece was an office-focused OLED monitor. LG Display showcased its new 27-inch 5K OLED panel, demonstrating it running a computer-aided design (CAD) modeling workflow.

The OLED screen rendered complex piping structures and component cross-sections from 3D design data, with subtle shadows and depth coming through naturally as the model rotated. OLED's high contrast ratio and fast response time enhanced immersion during the design work.

LG Display applied a resolution of 220 pixels per inch with an RGB stripe structure, arranging red, green and blue subpixels in a row to render small text and numbers more sharply than conventional panels. The company also upgraded its compensation algorithm to maintain image quality during extended static-screen use.

The exhibition also featured the 51.5-inch large-screen LCD monitor, which LG Display says can eliminate the need for multiple displays given its size.

LG Display demonstrated the panel with a stock trading interface to highlight the advantages of a large screen, appearing to target traders who run more than two monitors simultaneously. The 51.5-inch monitor is already on the market, priced in the low 4 million won range.

"Because OLED displays are self-emissive, they are easy on the eyes even after long hours in front of the screen," an LG Display official said. "The 51.5-inch large-screen LCD monitor has also received the industry's lowest-level blue light certification."

LG Display is counting on the office OLED monitor market to replicate the growth seen in gaming OLED monitors, effectively shifting its growth axis toward the office segment.

According to market research firm Omdia, global gaming OLED monitor shipments are forecast to rise from about 3.42 million units last year to about 4.87 million units this year. The segment rapidly absorbed gamer demand on the strength of perfect black reproduction, fast response times and high refresh rates, but after its initial explosive growth, it is expected to settle into gradual average annual expansion of around 2 percent through 2033.

The non-gaming OLED monitor market — which includes office use — presents far greater potential. Shipments projected at around 200,000 units this year are forecast to surge to 650,000 next year, about 1.34 million in 2028 and about 5.06 million by 2033, implying a compound annual growth rate of 50 percent.

Industry observers see this as more than a simple rise in shipments — a signal that OLED's role in the monitor market is expanding beyond its gaming niche into a premium segment defined by productivity and professional work.

"In the AI era, the importance of the display you stare at all day will inevitably grow, not just that of semiconductors," one industry official said. "Competition in the premium monitor market will shift from who can offer the sharpest image to who can provide an environment where people can work comfortably for longer."