LTPO OLED Explained
LTPO is not a different kind of OLED. It is a change to the transistor layer that sits behind the pixels, and its practical effect is that the screen can slow down when nothing is moving. This page covers what the term means, how it works, what the battery claims actually say, and which phones in our library use the label.
How does LTPO let a screen change its refresh rate?
LTPO lets a screen change refresh rate by combining two transistor types on one panel, each doing the job it is best at. OLED-Info says LTPO is not a new semiconductor: it mixes LTPS and oxide (IGZO) transistors on the same backplane.
Tom’s Guide says LTPO lets a display change its refresh rate dynamically without extra hardware between the GPU and the display controller. It adds that LTPS on its own does not allow dynamic refresh rates without extra hardware.
| Transistor type | Role in an LTPO panel | What the sources say |
|---|---|---|
| LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) | Driving transistor and on-panel circuitry, where speed matters | Wikipedia says LTPS has far higher electron mobility than amorphous silicon and is used to drive OLED displays in smartphones |
| Oxide (IGZO, indium gallium zinc oxide) | Switching transistor that holds the pixel’s charge | OLED-Info says its ultra-low leakage lets the pixel stay stable between refreshes; Wikipedia says IGZO has very low leakage current |
Wikipedia describes LTPS as polycrystalline silicon made at relatively low temperatures, about 650 degrees Celsius and lower, which is what makes it practical on large glass panels. It says IGZO was developed by Hideo Hosono’s group at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2003 and 2004, and has 20 to 50 times the electron mobility of amorphous silicon. Those are general material facts, not phone measurements.
The low-leakage oxide transistor is what makes slowing down possible. OLED-Info says it can keep a pixel stable between refreshes, which lets the panel refresh less often for a still image and speed up for motion.
Why would a phone want a variable refresh rate?
A variable refresh rate saves power when little is moving and keeps the screen smooth when something is. Wikipedia says variable refresh rate is used in power management by temporarily lowering a display’s refresh rate during periods of little movement. Apple’s 2021 iPhone 13 Pro announcement put it this way: an adaptive refresh rate from 10Hz to 120Hz, for fast frame rates when users need it and preserving battery life when they don’t.
Android Authority says LTPO phones can range from 120Hz down to 1Hz, but in practice shift between steps such as 120Hz, 60Hz, 24Hz and 10Hz. See refresh rates for what each number means.
How much battery does LTPO save?
The sources give an estimate and a company claim, and they do not agree on one number. Treat them as a range.
| Figure | Who said it | Type of claim |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 15 percent of display power versus a pure LTPS backplane | OLED-Info | Trade-publication estimate; depends on the picture |
| 16 percent less power | Samsung Display, as reported by Tom’s Guide | Company claim |
| 10 hours 40 minutes on a battery test with dynamic refresh on; setting 60Hz made no difference | Tom’s Guide, OnePlus 9 Pro | One test of one phone (2021) |
Two cautions. These are display power savings, not battery life: the screen is one part of what a phone draws. And the Tom’s Guide test suggests the real-world gain can be small on a given phone. We have no phone-level battery measurements on this site, so we do not claim a figure for any phone.
When did LTPO arrive in phones?
LTPO reached phones in 2020 and 2021 after starting in a watch. Tom’s Guide says Apple developed and first implemented it in the Apple Watch Series 5, scaling from 60Hz down to 1Hz, and that the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra was the first phone with LTPO, in 2020. The Galaxy S21 range, Oppo Find X3 Pro and OnePlus 9 Pro followed in 2021. OLED-Info adds that Apple filed foundational patents around 2014.
What are the downsides of LTPO?
Tom’s Guide says IGZO transistors are larger than LTPS ones, which could compromise screen sharpness. It also notes that some phones alternate between 120Hz and 60Hz only, so a high refresh rate on a spec sheet does not by itself mean the panel scales smoothly. We found no sourced cost figure for LTPO panels, so we make no cost claim.
How can I tell whether a phone has an LTPO screen?
Read the maker’s own spec wording, because the term and the behavior are named separately. A page that says LTPO names the panel design. A page that lists a range such as 1 to 120Hz or 10 to 120Hz describes the behavior without naming the design. A page that says only “up to 120Hz” tells you the top rate and nothing about how low the screen can go, and some phones switch between just two settings.
Which phones in our library use LTPO or a 1Hz range?
Four phones carry the LTPO OLED label, and ten list a range that starts at 1Hz; two phones are in both groups. We label a phone LTPO OLED only when the maker uses the term. That rule is ours, and it means some phones with a wide range are labelled plain OLED.
| Maker and phones | What the page lists | Our label |
|---|---|---|
| Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL | LTPO OLED, Smooth Display 1 to 120Hz | LTPO OLED |
| Motorola Razr (2026) and Razr+ (2026) | LTPO main display at 120Hz and 165Hz | LTPO OLED |
| Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold | Both screens 1 to 120Hz, no LTPO label | OLED |
| Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, S26, S26+, S26 Ultra, Z Flip8, Z Fold8, Z Fold8 Ultra | Adaptive 1 to 120Hz, no LTPO term | OLED |
| Google Pixel 11 and Pixel 10a | 60 to 120Hz | OLED |
| Galaxy S26 FE | 60/120Hz, switches between two settings | OLED |
| Apple iPhones (10 list ProMotion) | ProMotion adaptive rate up to 120Hz, no LTPO term | OLED |
The Apple pages we checked do not use the term LTPO, so check each phone’s own page. These counts describe our library of 41 phones, not the market. Browse the phone library for each row, or see the Pixel 11 Pro page for an example.
Related
Screens hub, OLED explained, refresh rates, LCD explained, Apple hub, Samsung hub, Google hub, Motorola hub.