Lenovo has unveiled the Legion R9000P, a new 16-inch gaming laptop that, according to the manufacturer, is the world’s first to feature an OLED display manufactured using inkjet technology. The technology, known as IJP-OLED, comes from panel manufacturer TCL CSOT and could give the laptop a price advantage over comparable competing models.
Printed Display Instead of Vacuum Deposition
OLED displays manufactured using inkjet printing are increasingly being used in consumer devices as well. Just recently, MSI introduced such a panel for the desktop market in a 27-inch monitor, as we reported amid the current OLED monitor boom. Lenovo is now bringing this technology to a gaming laptop for the first time. Compared to conventional thermal vacuum evaporation (VTE), the inkjet printing process is expected to speed up production while simultaneously reducing manufacturing costs.
240 Hz and Vivid Color Reproduction
The Legion R9000P’s display offers a refresh rate of 240 Hz and covers up to 99 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. This places the laptop among a growing lineup of high-refresh-rate OLED gaming laptops, which also includes the Legion Pro 5 16AFR10. The real advantage of the Legion R9000P is therefore likely to lie less in its raw specifications than in the potentially lower price that the new manufacturing process could enable. However, Lenovo has not yet announced an official price, so an actual cost advantage cannot be confirmed at this time.
RGB Strip Layout vs. Color Fringing
In addition, Lenovo is using a true RGB strip layout for the subpixels in the Legion R9000P. This arrangement is designed to render text and images more sharply and reduce the color fringing that occurs on many OLED displays. Lenovo plans to provide further technical specifications as well as information on pricing and availability shortly before the market launch. Those interested in the latest developments in Lenovo’s gaming division can also find a glimpse of how displays in gaming laptops might evolve in the future in the recently unveiled Legion Pro Rollable Concept. If the new manufacturing process proves successful in practice, IJP-OLED is likely to find its way into products from other manufacturers and across additional device categories in the medium term, as the cost advantages should become particularly noticeable with larger production volumes.
