Somehow, Samsung May Make QD-OLED Monitors Even Better

What’s better than four? Five, of course, if you’re Samsung. The Korean tech giant is developing new display technology that may further enhance the beauty of QD-OLED displays. Samsung is promoting its “Penta-Tandem” technology, which will be available in TVs and monitors you can actually buy in 2026. If you’re confused about what that means, just know that we could see more OLEDs with the same deep blacks but with even better brightness and efficiency.

Typical organic light-emitting diode displays use a layer of self-emissive organic polymers that can display red, green, and blue light. These screen types typically offer excellent contrast, thanks to extremely dark levels that contrast with the rich colors on-screen. Today’s high-end TVs and monitors are sometimes enhanced with an extra quantum dot layer—the QD in QD-OLED. It’s made up of extremely tiny semiconductor nanocrystals that react to light emitted from the OLED diodes, enhancing colors and the overall picture quality. Previous Samsung screens were already classified as tandem OLED, meaning multiple diode layers are stacked to enhance brightness.

With all that in mind, we can understand what Samsung’s touted “Penta-Tandem” actually means in context. Samsung’s previous screens used a four-layer stack of blue light-emitting layers. Now, it’s using five. So why does that matter? Samsung claims it allows them to achieve higher resolutions up to 4K without sacrificing pixel density. Samsung claims it can hit 160 PPI (pixels per inch) on the 27-inch QD-OLED Odyssey monitor released last year, likely referring to the G81SF 240Hz gaming monitor. Samsung claims Penta-Tandem technology extends the screen’s lifespan by improving efficiency through stacked OLED layers.

Samsung may be making a new Odyssey G9 QD-OLED ultrawide

Is this just another branding stunt for Samsung? Yes and no. The technology may not be new, but the result is that even more monitors will feature the Penta-Tandem sticker in 2026. Essentially, we’ll have even more screens with high pixel density in 2026, able to achieve a 45,000-nit peak brightness on TVs and 1,300 nits on monitors. Samsung claims its new 31.5-inch 4K penta-tandem monitor meets the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification, which means it can achieve very low black brightness and at least 500 nits of peak luminance.

What’s more, Samsung promises a massive 49-inch curved ultrawide with a stated resolution of 5120×1440, set to enter mass production this year. Based on this resolution, we may be in store for a new version of the fabled G9 monitor—practically the king of gaming monitors for ultrawide nerds. That’s yet another Samsung monitor to look forward to, alongside the 6K Odyssey 3D, which is a new version of the company’s odd, though compelling, Odyssey 3D from 2025.

I far prefer higher pixel density and brightness with new screens to the expanding glut of displays boasting higher refresh rates. At CES 2026, LG pushed a new tandem OLED dual-mode monitor with a max 720Hz refresh rate. I’m more interested in displays that address QD-OLED’s pain points, such as lower-than-typical brightness. Asus ROG is coming in 2026 with a Swift Tandem OLED that uses an additional black film layer to prevent ambient light from turning the screen red. And if you were wondering about OLEDs’ burn-in potential, multiple long-term tests show it’s not a big deal, provided you take care of your screen. OLED is already in its stride, but 2026 may be a landmark year for this panel type.