Samsung ups its 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor ante with impressive new 360 Hz, RGB-stripe, HDR 600 panel

Just the other day, I speculated that Samsung is closing in on perfection with its latest 4K, 32-inch QD-OLED panel for gaming monitors. Well, that perfection has quite possibly just arrived. Samsung has announced a new, upgraded panel with a higher 360 Hz refresh and true RGB-stripe subpixel structure. Oh, and it's the first consumer OLED monitor panel to get HDR True Black 600 certification.

Until now, OLED monitor panels, be they from Samsung or its main competitor LG, have topped out at a maximum of 240 Hz. So, the 360 Hz refresh is a clear upgrade. Notably, that panel also supports 680 Hz at 1080p via dual-mode functionality. So, this thing promises to be both great for high-end single-player graphics-led gaming and esports, too.

Next up is true RGB-stripe subpixel structure. Samsung introduced that earlier this year on its new 34-inch 1440p panel, a version of which I reviewed in the MSI MPG 341CQR X36, but somewhat oddly, it wasn't in the mix with the new 4K panel introduced at around the same time. We had a look at that new panel, incidentally, in the MSI MPG 322UR X24.

Until that 34-inch ultrawide, all QD-OLEDs had used some variation of a triangular subpixel structure. They were still RGB, rather than relying on an additional white subpixel to boost brightness as per LG's WOLED panels.

But the triangular arrangement is essentially non-standard from a PC computing perspective. For example, Windows assumes a vertical RGB-stripe subpixel structure to achieve subpixel addressing for features like ClearType font smoothing. Anywho, the text and fonts on this new panel should be pretty sweet thanks to a combination of 4K pixel density and the RGB-stripe structure.

The final major new feature is the HDR certification. "The new monitor panel is certified with VESA’s DisplayHDR True Black 600, achieving higher brightness than existing premium self-emissive monitors," Samsung says, adding that, "this exceeds True Black 500, which has been regarded as the highest grade in the existing premium monitor market."

Samsung hasn't actually quoted panel brightness. However, to meet the VESA True Black 600 certification level, it must reach 350 nits full-screen, a step up from the 300 nits of the latest currently available 32-inch 4K QD-OLED panel, again as seen in the MSI MPG 322UR X24.

So, this is surely an even brighter panel than that, which itself has only been fairly recently introduced. Long story short, this panel looks like it addresses two of the three remaining minor flaws of QD-OLED tech, full-screen brightness and subpixel structure.

The remaining niggle is the purple tint in bright ambient light conditions. The new-ish panels in the two MSI monitors I mentioned introduced a new film that reduced the purple hue a fair bit, but did not entirely eradicate it.

As I understand it, the problem is related to the use of quantum dot material, which is agitated by incoming ambient light and, in turn, then emits some unintended light of its own, leading the panel to turn slightly purple.

Presumably, the idea with the new film is to block ambient light from outside of the panel while allowing the actual generated light from the emissive OLED material to pass through. Samsung hasn't commented on whether this new panel gets that film or perhaps a further improved solution.

Speaking of emissive material, Samsung hasn't commented on whether the increased brightness of this upgraded 32-inch 4K panel is achieved courtesy of yet another generation of that. Again, the panels in those two MSIs both use Samsung's latest 3rd-gen emissive material.

It's possible this panel gets yet another new generation of material. Or perhaps, the brightness is achieved courtesy of something like subpixel aperture tweaks.

Whatever, I have to confess the specs of this new panel look absolutely killer. The only real issue is that it immediately makes the panel that's only just appeared in monitors earlier this year look redundant.

And that's a problem, if for no other reason than the fact that Samsung doesn't expect to begin mass producing this impressive new QD-OLED panel until the second half of this year. So, we probably won't see monitors with this until the end of 2026 at the earliest.

All told, this is an unexpected announcement from Samsung. I certainly didn't think it would announce another upgrade to its 32-inch 4K QD-OLED offering so soon. But I like the look of it. A lot.