LG Display announced Sunday they have achieved a significant milestone, becoming the first company to mass-produce laptop displays featuring dynamically adjustable refresh rates from 1 to 120 hertz, utilizing innovative oxide technology. This advancement promises a breakthrough in power-efficient laptop screens.
The leading display manufacturer revealed that its new LCD panel can intelligently scale down to a mere 1 Hz – updating only once per second – when displaying static content like documents or e-books. Conversely, it can ramp up to a smooth 120 Hz during video playback, gaming, or other graphically demanding tasks.
Refresh rates, a crucial factor in display performance, determine how many times an image is refreshed on the screen per second. While higher refresh rates enhance visual smoothness, sustaining them during static content viewing needlessly consumes power.
“With the successful mass production of our world-leading oxide 1Hz panels, we aim to further widen the technology gap with competitors and cement our position as a technology-driven company,” stated Jang Jae-won, head of medium display product planning division at LG Display.
While variable refresh rate technology is already available, LG Display emphasizes that this marks the first instance of a panel capable of stable operation at an ultra-low 1Hz refresh rate, specifically designed and mass-produced for laptops. This is made possible by cutting-edge oxide-based thin-film transistor technology, which minimizes power leakage.
The innovative panel incorporates LG Display’s proprietary algorithms, optimized panel design, and advanced materials to ensure stable performance throughout the entire 1-120 Hz range.
LG Display reports that these panels can significantly enhance laptop battery efficiency by 48 percent or more by curtailing unnecessary power consumption during periods of screen inactivity.
Given that portability is a primary consideration for laptop buyers, extended battery life is anticipated to boost both mobility and overall user convenience, according to the company. These power-efficient panels are also expected to gain prominence as power consumption intensifies with the growing reliance on AI-driven computing workloads.
These advanced display panels will be supplied to US-based PC giant Dell for integration into its premium XPS laptops, which were showcased at CES 2026.
The panel manufacturer is also planning to extend this technology to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, targeting mass production by 2027, in response to the escalating demand for energy-efficient devices.
“We plan to continue developing and applying energy-saving technologies such as oxide 1Hz panels as part of a broader initiative to reduce carbon emissions during product use by up to 10 percent,” LG Display concluded, highlighting its commitment to sustainability.
