LG's 2025 OLED TVs have a secret weapon that could blow away the competition

(Image credit: LG)

It’s shaping up to be a big year for TVs. But of all the developments unfolding right now, there’s one TV advancement that piques my interest more than the rest: LG Display’s Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology.

The panel type (also referred to as four-stack OLED) is LG Display’s newest top-of-the-line OLED technology in 2025. To date, both LG and Panasonic have announced that their flagship OLED TV — the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B — will make use of RGB Tandem OLED displays. This means that the flashy, four-stack OLED will immediately be put to the test against QD-OLED competitors like the Samsung S95F. It’s shaping up to be a heavyweight match-up, and my money is on RGB Tandem.

Why am I so bullish about the new, unproven technology? For two reasons: I was lucky enough to see it up close earlier this year, and more importantly, because I’m hopeful it can improve on the advancements QD-OLED has already made.

Here are five ways in which Primary RGB Tandem OLED could prove to be a winning technology — and five reasons why I might end up buying one for myself.

1. Improved brightness for better HDR and daytime viewing

A render of a 4th-generation LG OLED panel displaying a foggy forest scene with the words "4,000 nits" prominently displayed — (Image credit: LG Display)

LG Display’s Micro Lens Array-equipped panels allowed TVs like the LG G4 and the Panasonic Z95A to get bright enough to go toe to toe with QD-OLED TVs from Samsung and Sony. When I first heard that flagship TVs from LG and Panasonic would be leaving MLA technology behind, I wondered how they’d make up the difference.

But Primary RGB Tandem technology is, by all accounts, incredibly bright without any micro lenses. According to representatives from both LG and Panasonic, these new panels are even brighter than previous iterations. In fact, LG Display even went so far as to put a figure on it: 33% brighter than last year, with the capability of hitting 4,000 nits.

Now, this number was certainly measured in a carefully controlled environment using a test pattern, but it’s up from the 3,000-nit figure measured on the third-generation panel. By all accounts, we’re going to be looking at non-quantum dot-equipped OLED TVs that offer brighter highlights and brighter full-screen performance, too.

2. Better color volume than traditional WOLED displays

A wall-mounted LG G5 OLED TV displaying a red-tinted sunset — (Image credit: Future)

Although OLED TVs with MLA technology have mostly kept up with QD-OLED’s next-level brightness, they haven’t been able to keep up with the incredible color volume associated with quantum-dot OLED TVs like the Samsung S95D and the Sony A95L. The LG G4, for example, covers about 73% of the Rec. 2020 color gamut. The S95D — thanks in large part to its quantum dots — is bumping up against 90% of Rec 2020. That’s a considerable difference.

According to LG Display, its new OLED panel delivers a 40% increase in color brightness.

According to LG Display, its new OLED panel delivers a 40% increase in color brightness. Color brightness and purity are why QD-OLED displays are capable of class-leading color, and if four-stack OLEDs can compete on that level, it’s a pretty significant blow to QD-OLED.

3. It’s purported to be more energy efficient

While this has understandably received less attention than this panel type’s brightness- and color-related benefits, LG Display has also gone on record about the technology’s improved energy efficiency. Apparently, these new panels are about 20% more energy-efficient than previous generations (in a 65-inch model).

In addition to the obvious benefit of less energy spent, this could possibly translate to more consistent performance, as well, and it has to do with temperature. Less heat might allow for these OLED TVs to be a bit more liberal with automatic brightness limiting, a built-in measure designed to prevent OLED burn-in.

Panasonic has already leaned into potential temperature-lowering benefits of four-stack OLED panels, as the Z95B will be the first TV to feature Panasonic’s ThermalFlow system, which cools the TV even further by leveraging uninterrupted airflow. The bottom line? If these OLED TVs can keep themselves cooler than the rest, the benefits will be twofold: energy cost and performance consistency.

4. Fewer quirks?

A close-up of the QD-OLED subpixel structure when displaying a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. The image illustrates how rows of pixels appear to be green- and magenta-colored whenever light objects meet dark objects. — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Above is a close-up of a QD-OLED TV panel displaying a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. If you look along the edges of the black squares, you’ll notice green- and magenta-colored rows of pixels — a result of QD-OLED’s subpixel structure.

While you’re not likely to notice this color fringing during real-world content, they’re nevertheless there if you know where to look. As a nit-picky, eagle-eyed TV reviewer, though, I can’t help but notice whenever light-colored subtitles or title cards are tinged with ghostly, green-and-magenta outlines.

Now, minor, near-imperceptible color fringing is absolutely not a substantial mark against QD-OLED TVs. Unless you intend on using a QD-OLED display as a monitor (or if you regularly sit very close to a QD-OLED display), I don’t think it should factor into your TV-buying decision making. And, for all I know, Primary RGB Tandem OLED displays have some quirks of their own that I won’t know about until I spend more time with the technology.

But just as QD-OLED technology managed to iron out some notable wrinkles with standard WOLED displays (like the occasional pink tint I clocked on LG C1 and C2 OLEDs), LG Display’s new OLED technology could iron out QD-OLED’s wrinkles, too.

5. It’s easier on the eyes — literally

LG Display was quick to inform me that this panel type uses less blue light than LCD/LED displays.

Blue light tends to be harsh on the eyes, and LG Display was quick to inform me that this panel type uses less blue light than LCD/LED displays. Because this type of light has been known to mess with our circadian rhythms, I tend to steer clear of screens shortly before bed. Would a four-stack OLED TV allow me to finally realize my dream of cramming way too much TV time into my evenings before bed without it affecting my ability to sleep?

OK, probably not. But I’m into the idea of display technology getting healthier, even incrementally. (And, for the record, the blue light output of QD-OLED TVs are also safe and carefully controlled).

2025 four-stack OLED TVs: outlook

We won’t know the full story of LG Display’s all-new OLED display tech until we’ve had plenty of time to put TVs like the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B through their paces, but I’m already hopeful that it’ll mark the beginning of a new-and-improved era for the best OLED TVs on the market.

I’m not pulling for this new OLED type because I’ve got an axe to grind against QD-OLED. Instead, I see this as an opportunity for OLED TVs in general to get better. And, when popular technology gets better, it incentivizes TV brands to do more with less.

When the dust settles, there’s a very good chance that QD-OLED TVs and four-stack OLED TVs get more affordable. And, when that happens, you and I win, too.

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Michael Desjardin is a Senior Editor for TVs at Tom's Guide. He's been testing and tinkering with TVs professionally for over a decade, previously for Reviewed and USA Today. Michael graduated from Emerson College where he studied media production and screenwriting. He loves cooking, zoning out to ambient music, and getting way too invested in the Red Sox. He considers himself living proof that TV doesn't necessarily rot your brain.