LG Display is finally going to bring its largest 97-inch OLED panel into parity with its smaller ones with a significant upgrade that should see jumbo-sized OLED models finally match the picture quality and brightness of 83-inch and smaller TVs.
LG’s OLED technology has come a long way over the last few years, with the latest iteration being the second generation of its Primary RGB Tandem OLED 2.0 panels, which are found on new models such as the LG G6 OLED television that received a rave review from HDTVTest’s Vincent Teoh earlier this year.
The second-generation Primary RGB Tandem OLED displays introduced some big improvements in terms of brightness, contrast and colour accuracy, but anyone who purchased one of LG’s largest OLED televisions may have been sorely disappointed. That’s because the 97-inch models do not come equipped with the company’s latest panel, but instead an older version of the tech.
The reason for this is that LG Display’s production line just isn’t set up to manufacture Primary RGB Tandem OLED panels in such enormous sizes, but that appears to be changing. According to a report in FlatpanelsHD, LG Electronics has just received a CES Innovation Award for a new television known as the LG OLED evo 97W7, which is a 97-inch OLED model that’s set to debut next year.
The short blurb on the CES Innovation Awards 2027 page suggests that the LG OLED evo 97W7 is the successor to this year’s ultra-slim LG OLED evo W6 Wallpaper TV, which is essentially the same as the LG G6, except that it’s fitted with a Zero Connect box that eliminates the need for all cables bar the power supply. It works by transmitting uncompressed 4K video signals from the box, where the cables go, to the TV, which is designed to be hung on a wall.
As per the description: “The OLED panels combines Dynamic Power Control, 4,000-nit peak brightness, 83% BT.2020 color-gamut coverage, and 1.1% reflectance.” Those specifications sound very much like LG’s most advanced OLED technology, which suggests an upgraded 97-inch OLED panel is very much on the horizon.
At present, LG Display only manufactures the Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 panel in sizes of up to 83-inches, which is why the 83-inch G6 and W6 OLED TVs are significantly better than the 97-inch models. But that will change when their successors arrive next year.
FlatpanelsHD’s report also mentions an “Under Display Sensor,” which suggests that not only will the TV have the standard ambient light sensor for adjusting the TV’s brightness based on how bright the living room is, but also some additional optical sensors. It speculates that this could be used either for additional light detection, or perhaps sensing motion in the room, allowing the TV to wake up when someone enters.
It remains to be seen what impact the new panel will have on the price of LG’s 97-inch OLED televisions. Currently, most people agree they’re a tad overpriced, with the 97-inch G6 costing around £15,999 in the U.K. That’s considerably more expensive than similarly sized RGB LED models such as TCL’s 98-inch RML9 or Samsung’s 100-inch R85H, which cost around £6,499 and £8,999, respectively.
The new panel would presumably make LG’s 97-inch OLED TVs even more expensive, but then again, the company has pushed hard to bring down its prices in order to make OLED more competitive with RGB LED. This year, we saw significant price decreases with the company’s 77-inch and 83-inch OLED models.
The company will almost certainly need to find a way to bring down its costs even further if there’s any truth to reports that it’s planning to manufacture even larger 111-inch OLED TV panels in the next couple of years. LG is expected to unveil its 2027 OLED TV lineup in January at the 2027 Consumer Electronics Show, so we should learn more about its plans by then.
