LG Display wins top patent award for technology that cut OLED TV bezel width by 34%

LG Display has won this year's top patent technology award for a circuit design innovation that dramatically reduced the bezel — the border around the screen — on OLED TV panels.

The Intellectual Property Office held its 2026 Patent Technology Awards ceremony Tuesday and presented LG Display with the grand prize, the King Sejong Award, for its "OLED TV high-density gate integrated panel circuit patent."

The Patent Technology Award recognizes outstanding inventions registered with the Intellectual Property Office within the past 10 years that have strengthened the country's industrial technology competitiveness.

LG Display filed the OLED TV high-density gate integrated panel circuit patent in 2020 in South Korea and in major overseas markets including the United States, Germany and China.

The technology reduced the bezel width on a 65-inch OLED TV from 6.5 millimeters to 4.3 millimeters — a reduction of about 34 percent. A thinner screen edge produces a cleaner product design, greater visual immersion and an overall higher level of product refinement.

LG Display consolidated the gate-in-panel, or GIP, drive circuits located in the bezel area into a shared core circuit. The redesign maintained display performance while raising circuit integration density. As a result, the number of transistors making up the circuit fell by 74 percent compared with the previous design, and the GIP circuit area shrank by about 40 percent.

The patent has also contributed significantly to production efficiency. By raising circuit integration density to streamline manufacturing processes, the technology has generated cumulative cost savings of approximately 385 billion won ($284 million) to date.

LG Display has applied the technology across its entire lineup of OLED TV panels ranging from 42 to 97 inches since 2022, achieving cumulative mass production of about 28.3 million units. Since 2025, the company has been expanding its application to OLED panels for high-performance gaming monitors.

Shin Hong-jae, a senior research fellow at LG Display's large-format business division and the patent's lead inventor, said he felt a deep sense of pride and fulfillment that years of research had been recognized through a patent and applied to actual products. "We will continue to push beyond limits through relentless research and development, building a technology moat that sets us apart in the market," Shin said.

Hong Bu-seon, head of intellectual property at LG Display, said the ultra-slim bezel OLED TV panel had earned recognition for both its technical originality and its industrial competitiveness. "We will solidify our technology leadership by focusing on advanced research and development and securing core patents," Hong said.