Samsung Display OLED Laptop Reduces Power Consumption by 25% with 'Dark Mode'

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] It has been found that applying 'Dark Mode' on laptops equipped with Samsung Display OLED can save 25% of display power consumption and extend usage time by about 1 hour.

On the 6th, Samsung Display measured the battery usage time of OLED laptops according to the 'MobileMark 2018' scenario, showing 9.9 hours in White Mode and 11 hours in Dark Mode. MobileMark is a standard commonly used in the IT industry to evaluate laptop battery performance.

The measurement results showed that when Dark Mode was applied, the 'OPR (On Pixel Ratio)', which indicates the proportion of active pixels among all pixels composing the screen, decreased, reducing display power consumption by 25%, thereby increasing laptop usage time by about 1 hour.

This battery-saving effect is only possible when the display is OLED. Samsung Display explained, "Since each pixel in OLED emits light by itself and expresses black by turning off pixels, power consumption is significantly reduced. In contrast, LCD backlights are always on even when displaying black, so power consumption does not decrease even if Dark Mode is applied."

Samsung Display OLED 'Dark Mode' applied to Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 / Photo by Samsung Display

Dark Mode is a UI (User Interface) design that darkens the background that does not contain information on the screen. Instead of black text on a bright screen, white text is displayed on a dark screen. Recently, global companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Adobe have supported Dark Mode in their services, and on the 28th, Samsung Electronics unveiled new laptops 'Galaxy Book Pro' and 'Galaxy Book Pro 360' with Dark Mode applied by default in Windows settings.

Since early this year, Samsung Display has expanded its OLED lineup for laptops from 13.3-inch to 16-inch models to more than 10 types, actively targeting the LCD-centered laptop market. Furthermore, due to increased demand for non-face-to-face and high-performance devices this year, sales are expected to increase about fivefold compared to last year.

Baek Ji-ho, Vice President and Head of Small and Medium-sized Strategy Marketing, said, "Low power consumption technology is important to enhance the portability of mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops, and OLED and Dark Mode are effective solutions to address this issue." He added, "Especially, using IT devices in Dark Mode reduces blue light, which is also beneficial for the eyes."