Monitors for 2023 saw a shift to OLED panels, bringing the long-awaited tech from high-end televisions into more and more offices and gaming setups. But what comes next? OEM display panel manufacturer TCL is looking into “domes,” a screen that’s curved at both sides, the top, and the bottom, as the answer. The company is showing off the new panel to potential manufacturing partners in China.
Spotted by VideoCardz, the 31-inch prototype monitor has a concave curve, a 4K resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and is an OLED panel, which may explain its unique shape.
The advantage of a double-curved monitor is unclear. A machine translation of the promotional text says that it gives a “wide 3D space perspective.” While the immersive qualities of curved displays are still a bit contentious, it’s uncertain if there is any practical advantage for this unique shape.
Monitor makers, especially for gaming brands, are always looking for differentiation. This might be doubly true for OLEDs, where it seems like the same handful of panels get re-used for dozens of different monitor models. If TCL finds any takers for this design, we might see it in products starting in the second half of 2024.
