OLED option for display

Good to know. I’ve only used TVs and desktop displays so I wouldn’t know. Definitely hoping for an option that doesn’t do that then.

Just wondering if there are any plans for an OLED screen option? I want to move from my Macbook because one of the keys has stopped working and Apple wants too much money for the repair. However the screen on this laptop is total crap when compared to the Macbook and it’s matte as well which doesn’t help. Obviously it is probably pretty impossible to source an LCD as good as what Apple is using, but surely OLED is an easier option that will almost be as good?

Thanks.

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Welcome to the community!

Nothing has been announced or officially talked about, so there’s really nothing to provide other than speculation at this time.

Heres some of that baseless speculation, lol. Considering that the 16" Framework laptop isn’t even out yet, I think an OLED option isn’t likely to be available any time soon, even if they do plan to offer one eventually.

I see no reason why Framework couldn’t source a display as good as what Apple puts in their MacBook pros (in fact, I’d say the display IS as good as what Apple use in the Air). Unfortunately, everything is a compromise. They have to balance cost, performance, battery life, customer preference, etc. I only mention customer preference because they actually did surveys and found that the majority of respondents preferred a matte display. Many people prefer glossy displays, but unfortunately, it’s not likely feasible for them to offer multiple options at this time. So they went with the more popular option. I remember when the Framework 13 first came out a couple years ago and only had a glossy display option. The forums were filled with people asking for a matte display or saying they wouldn’t buy until a matte display was an option. Like I said, no one configuration will work for everyone. Unfortunately, they can’t offer multiple configurations right now.

I don’t know if it was for the Framework 16" or the 13", but someone in the community did find an OLED panel from the same manufacturer that Framework sources their panels from and it’s supposedly the same size and has the same connector. No idea of the cost or if the company would even sell a single panel to an individual, nor can we be positive it would work if someone did get their hands on one. But maybe it will be an option at some point.

For now, I think the 165hz panel they went with is a pretty good compromise. Reasonably high resolution, fairly high refresh rate, and very bright for a standard panel. And probably a lot lower cost compared to the mini-LED panel that Apple puts in their 16" pro.

Personally, I wouldn’t want an OLED panel in a laptop. I know, the burn-in issue isn’t as big of an issue in a laptop with an easily replaceable display, and OLED displays have gotten better about resisting burn-in. But I would never be able to stop thinking about it, lol. But I know they can look fantastic (some would argue, better than the mini-LED display Apple uses, though not nearly as high peak brightness).

I think burn on on OLEDs is only really relevant if you are say for example a Best Buy showing the same video on loop for months at a time. Anecdotally, I’ve owned a few OLED devices mostly used for content consumption and the UI of Twitch / Youtube has a lot of static elements that should have burned in to the image but this never happened. I also still have a Plasma TV and this does experience burn in but at least it’s temporary.

Technically it’s image retention, not burn in. Burn in you’d see on something like a Airport Departure board where the titles and gridlines never change.

I’ve been using a Plasma TV for well over 10 years. Game HUDs are about the only thing that cause it on mine nowadays (eg rev counter in a Forza game) and the faint ghosting is usually gone within a couple of minutes when you change to something else.

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You might be thinking of a comment that I shared.

I’ve done a lot of searching for potential compatible displays. I haven’t found any display that perfectly matches what you described, however I have found two Mini LED panels (BOE NE160QDM-NM1 and BOE NE160QDM-NM4) from the same manufacturer that Framework sources their current panels from that seem to be the same size and likely have the same connector. I’ve also found a few 4k OLED panels from Samsung that seem to be the correct dimensions and might have the correct connector (the data sheets I’ve seen aren’t very detailed for the Samsung panels).

Panel manufacturers usually only sell in bulk, but it is pretty common for some random company to buy the panels in bulk and then sell them individually on AliExpress.

For example I just searched NE160QDM-NM4 (which is the model of a high-end 240 Hz Mini-LED panel that I suspect may work in the Framework 16) and found this listing for it.

Although we won’t know if that works until someone tries it.

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Yup, I remembered you talking about it, but couldn’t remember the thread. Thanks for popping in here and correcting me and sharing your findings again. I probably should have searched a bit more.

I do not have any burn in issues on my LG I’ve been using for years on my PC. You just have to make the background black and do some mods to Windows downloding Winaero Tweaker and turning the accent border thing to black, which Windows doesn’t let you do by default. That way you can snap everything and there is no static images on screen. Obviously using things like a dynamic wallpaper helps and having the display to auto turn off, just in case something bugs out and a static image gets put on.

The main problem I have with OLED is they’re not uniform like high end LCDs are. I’m guessing the real high end OLEDs are, but then cost several grand +. Where as the new Macbook Pro screens are uniform throughout, and on OLED you get problems especially with dark greys.

I’m using an OLED on a 16" ASUS ProArt right now. I like the black levels, but I’m pretty sure I’m suffering from much more eye-strain in using it since switching from a normal LCD. I’m going to be glad to go back to a non-PWM screen even if I lose some of the vibrancy, it’s just not worth the headaches.
This’ll depend on if you’re actually sensitive to PWM of course, but just to note, it’s not just burn-in that OLED has issues with.

I would never go for an OLED screen. Burn-in is a very real thing. There are always those who say “burn-in is not a problem anymore” but they are always wrong when you compare your 2 year old screen with a brand new OLED of the same. You can’t change the fact that blue burns out twice as fast as green/red and your OLED slowly shifts warmer and yellower.

That’s just my personal experience with every OLED screen I have owned and I will not be spending any more premiums on these disposable screens.

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relax once base products like FW16 and FW13 AMD etc finish and roll out to users then FW team will be free and they can work on different screen and etc other stuff their market will be full can be changed later.

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OLED + HDR would be yes.

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I wish that offer OLED to Framework 13 & 16.

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Did you ever try to use a laptop outside, which doesn’t have a matte screen?
Good luck finding an angle where you can recognize more than your own visage…

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I second this. Matte vs not matte is unironically like the difference between night and day. Fortunately, the framework is matte.

Maybe using laptops outside is not everyone’s priority

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Matte displays also benefit greatly when indoors as well, it’s a glare reduction technology. Gloss and matte both have pros and cons. From the last time I looked into the topic, glossy is preferred for workloads involving digital media, e.g. photography/video while matte displays are make workloads that involve reading text easier.

Stumbled upon this thread from another thread. I’m fiddling with my FW13 but i recently ordered an edp driver board from aliexpress:
DP to EDP driver board

There are 3 OLED options on the compatibility list. Given all the other LCDs likely follow the standard 4-lane config, I assume at least these 3 do too. Unfortunately, they are all 15.6", but I thought I’d post it here in case it helps anyone.

From the few datasheets I have seen laptop oled pinouts are a bit wild west right now, I have seen some that use the regular lcd de-factor standard pinouts and had the voltage conversion circuitry on board, others went a bit more wild and used a completely different pin-out and expected the mainboard to do the voltage conversion.

Find the datasheet for your particular panel before plugging it into stuff (learned that the hard way XD).

I also have this panel, ATNA60YV02-0 (sdc415d), which I believe is used in a couple Asus laptops.

Would love to see a datasheet on the electrical connectivity, to see how complicated it might be to adapt the panel for use in the FY16.

It’s a full 1.0mm thinner than the panel that ships with the FY16 (1.3mm vs 2.3mm as I measured them), but is otherwise a perfect fit for the chassis. Electrically, beyond voltage requirements and pinout order, the 40-pin connector on this panel uses .5mm pitch whereas the connector on the panel that ships with the FY16 uses .4mm pitch.

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