DC Dimming High-End OLEDs?

[life_at_1ms]

Do all good OLEDs today still use PWM dimming or do some use DC dimming? An aspect of quality to me is the flickering - despite the fact that it is hard to perceive. If I can have an OLED that lasts 5y, text almost as good as a top-end IPS, and fully DC dimmed - then I'd definitely go for it! I know OLEDs are 4k @ 300hz+ now so that's good.

[RealNC]

You can check on rtings.com. The ones I looked up were not using PWM. However, they are not flicker-free since they have a slight dip in brightness that matches the refresh rate. Example:

(It says "backlight", even though there's no backlight. It's just rtings using a standardized graph for flicker measurements.)

backlight-large.jpg (185.75 KiB) Viewed 16950 times

[kyube]

You can check on rtings.com. The ones I looked up were not using PWM. However, they are not flicker-free since they have a slight dip in brightness that matches the refresh rate. Example:
(It says "backlight", even though there's no backlight. It's just rtings using a standardized graph for flicker measurements.)

I've found these graphs from RTINGS to be non-descriptive and counterintuitive for a user to figure out.
Here's a better one:


It seems to be around 15–20% brightness dip across it's brightness range, regardless of setting.
Seemingly related to "gate voltage driver" or how a paper has put it — "internal capacitance of the voltage driver"
LCD's also exhibit this behavior, but to a far lesser degree (usually less than 2% brightness fluctuation every refresh cycle)

Do all good OLEDs today still use PWM dimming or do some use DC dimming? An aspect of quality to me is the flickering - despite the fact that it is hard to perceive. If I can have an OLED that lasts 5y, text almost as good as a top-end IPS, and fully DC dimmed - then I'd definitely go for it! I know OLEDs are 4k @ 300hz+ now so that's good.

Desktop OLED displays do not use PWM-based light dimming. They rely on PAM-based light dimming (similar behavior to certain AMOLED phones with a setting enabled, usually called "Flicker prevention" in Motorola devices)
Due to the reasons mentioned above, this wouldn't qualify as "flicker-free", as the brightness fluctuation must be below 10% (i forgot the source of this claim, take it with a grain of salt)
From my understanding, "DC Dimming" cannot be applied to OLEDs either.

[life_at_1ms]

Love this forum; way too difficult to get decent info anywhere else. So it sounds like IPS is still the only option for high refresh / high resolution / flicker free displays - correct?

[RealNC]

Love this forum; way too difficult to get decent info anywhere else. So it sounds like IPS is still the only option for high refresh / high resolution / flicker free displays - correct?

It used to be, but I've heard that modern phosphors used in LCDs (used to increase color gamut) can introduce slight flicker.

[kyube]

Love this forum; way too difficult to get decent info anywhere else. So it sounds like IPS is still the only option for high refresh / high resolution / flicker free displays - correct?

If by flicker-free, you mean displays which lack the small brightness fluctuation of OLED, yes.
LCD is the only alternative technology which doesn't exhibit it as of now.
Display such as the:
Benq XL2586X+ [FHD 600hz] (doesn't satisfy your vague "high res" criteria),
Acer XV270U F5 [27" QHD 500Hz] or MSI 272QPX [27" QHD 500Hz MiniLED LCD]
Viewsonic XG273-2K / VX2781-2K-PRO-4 [27" QHD 430Hz],
AOC Q27G4K / Acer PG27QFW2A [27" QHD 400Hz],
ASUS PG27AQNR [27" QHD 360Hz],
AOC Q25G4SR [24.5" QHD 300Hz],
LG 27G850A [4k 240hz, DP2.1 UHBR13.5] or Philips EVNIA 27M2N5800P (dual mode DP2.1 UHBR20 LCD)
might fit your bill.

In the smaller form factor display market, options found on the:
Razer Blade 18 (2025) [18" 4K 240Hz]
Acer Predator Triton 14 PT14-51-79QP [14" 16:10 QHD 240Hz. Be aware that the Mini-LED LCD in this model might indicate PWM light dimming flicker]
MSI Stealth 14 Studio A13VE-029 [14" 16:10 QHD 240Hz]

However, with all this being said, I think you could give 480Hz WOLED or the new upcoming 540Hz WOLED's a chance.
You might not be sensitive to this relatively miniscule brightness fluctuation as you think you are.
OLEDs are the only way forward to experience high refresh rate "true-to-theory", without G2G RT's "nerfing" motion performance.

[life_at_1ms]

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll keep those in mind, but I currently have the LG UltraGear 27GP950-B, which is alright for now. And it seems there isn't a big difference between it and the (IPS based) others that you've listed - don't you think?