OLED monitors have become extremely popular in the last three years, especially among PC gamers and enthusiasts who care about contrast, motion clarity, and HDR performance. In fact, I use two Alienware QD-OLED monitors in my multi-monitor setup, one ultrawide and one ultra-high refresh rate panel. But I still haven't ditched my good old IPS LCD monitor, the LG 27GN950, just yet. And the reason for that comes down to everyday desktop use, not gaming.

Sure, OLED monitors may be superior, but they still don't beat LCDs in every single category. Even though I'm a gamer, I still use my PC mainly to browse the web and write articles for XDA. That means spending hours looking at text, white backgrounds, and static UI elements instead of high-res footage in HDR. And for that, OLEDs may not be ideal, especially in the long term. That's why I think it’s worth looking at the specific areas where LCD monitors still do a better job before you go all in on an OLED panel.

Better full-screen brightness

OLEDs may look brighter in HDR, but LCDs stay brighter during regular desktop use

You may have seen many OLED monitors advertise 1000 nits of peak brightness, but that only applies to HDR content. While I do love how bright my Alienware OLEDs get while gaming in HDR, they fall apart the moment I switch to regular desktop use, like web browsing. When I'm working, I'm staring at white screens most of the time, and the brightness disparity between my OLED and LCD panels is hard to overlook. In fact, I have to lower my 27GN950's brightness by more than half to make it comparable to my AW3423DW at max brightness.

Brightness doesn't matter all that much when I'm sitting in the dark, but during the day, it becomes one of the most noticeable differences between these two panels. If your room gets a decent amount of sunlight, using an OLED monitor starts to feel limiting. You'll want to close the curtains, turn off all the lights, and even use dark mode to feel satisfied with the SDR brightness. With an LCD panel, you don't have to worry about any of that. Your screen never dims automatically just because you're staring at a white page for too long.

Superior text clarity

Unlike most OLEDs, LCDs don't suffer from text fringing issues

One of the main issues I have with using an OLED monitor for regular desktop work is how inconsistent text can look depending on the background and scaling. Unlike LCD monitors that use the standard RGB subpixel arrangement, QD-OLED monitors like my AW3423DW and AW2725DF use a triangular RGB layout, which creates color fringing around small fonts, UI elements, and thin lines. I notice it the most on dark text over white backgrounds because the high contrast makes the colored edges stand out more.

Text clarity is never an issue while gaming, but when I'm reading articles on the web or editing documents, it can be pretty annoying. And when I compare the clarity side by side with my LCD monitor, the difference is night and day. Yes, newer OLED monitors have improved when it comes to text clarity, but they still fall short compared to traditional LCD panels. At higher resolutions like 4K, you may struggle to tell the difference, but if you're getting a 1440p panel, don't expect text to be crispy.

No risk of burn-in

Static content is never a problem for LCD panels

Without a doubt, the biggest concern most people have with OLED monitors is screen burn-in. It's the one drawback that still comes up despite all the panel care features available, and for good reason. OLED pixels inevitably wear down over time, and anything that stays on screen for hours can age unevenly. I'm talking about taskbars, icons, in-game HUDs, and other UI elements that barely move while you use your monitor. Whether you notice it or not, they slowly contribute to long-term panel wear.

OLED care features like pixel refresh, panel refresh, and pixel shift surely do help, but they only reduce the risk. You still have to be careful with static elements while using an OLED panel, which is why I hide the taskbar and use a black background whenever I use my Alienware monitors. With an LCD panel, I can be carefree in a way that I never fully am with OLED. I like not having to constantly think about what's on the screen, how long it has been there, or whether certain UI elements leave faint outlines after a long session. That peace of mind is exactly why I mostly switch to my 27GN950 when I'm working.

LCDs are still more practical for day-to-day use

There's no doubt that OLED monitors offer the best picture quality, with perfect blacks, instant response times, and unmatched motion clarity while gaming. But for regular use, the strengths of LCD panels still matter more than most people realize. Even if you're a gamer, you're likely not watching HDR content or playing AAA titles most of the time. You're browsing the web, reading content, switching between bright windows, and leaving apps open for hours. For that use case, LCDs still have the upper hand because you don't have to constantly think about screen burn-in or image retention. They're simply more reliable for the kind of everyday tasks most of us do on our PCs, which is exactly why I'm not ready to ditch my good old IPS monitor just yet.