What is LTPO Display? Is LTPO better than OLED?

The main motive behind the plan of implementing LTPO display technology is to make the smartphones more efficient and could be of better use just after a single charge.

LTPO Display.

LTPO stands for low-temperature polycrystalline oxide. It is somewhat referable to the backplane technology also present in OLED displays. OLED stands for organic light emitting diode, it is now used in all types of smart devices starting from the smartwatches to the large consumer displays.

OLED displays employ a unique type of self emissive display in a low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) for the TFTs that is responsible for the backplane of the display. All these technically advanced things are aimed primarily to produce a display with varying refresh rates.

LTPO is an optimum technical leap as it does not ask for any extra components between the display controller and the GPU for a dynamic refresh rate. 

LTPO has been developed by Apple while Samsung is still working on it with an exception of not paying any royalties. The latter’s version is known as hybrid-oxide and polycrystalline silicon (HOP).

What is LTPO Display? Is LTPO better than OLED?


The smartphone used by us has its power mainly consumed due to its power consuming display component. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies too do not consume so much power as compared to this. LTPO’s main aim is to reduce this massive power consuming factor of the display screen. As mentioned above, this could be achieved by having a varying refresh rate. By refresh  rate, it means the number of display updates in a second. It is measured in Hz.

Devices using LTPO technology:

The Apple Watch Series 5 is the first device to have truly used the LTPO technology and its advantages. The company had announced it’s always on display technology, it had then created waves with a refresh rate going down to 1 Hz.

This high rate of refresh rate display as also seen in the iPad Pro but is yet to be seen in an iPhone. But rumours suggest that it would be seen in an iPhone sooner in the middle of 2021.

On the other hand, HOP technology are already out and has been seen in devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

These technologies are an technical advancement and a technological leap in this field. As time passes by, it is expected that more such technically improvised ideas are to come.
