Panel Prices Plummet as Production Yields Improve

Just a few years ago, a 120Hz OLED panel was a luxury component reserved for gaming phones and top-tier flagships, often adding tens of dollars to the bill of materials. Today, the cost gap between a standard 60Hz display and a high-refresh-rate panel has collapsed to just a few dollars, and in some LCD categories it has nearly disappeared. The primary reason is the rapid maturation of manufacturing processes. Both LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon) and IGZO backplane technologies, which are needed to drive fast pixel-rewriting rates, have seen major yield improvements. Earlier production lines often discarded many panels due to uneven transistor performance, especially at high refresh rates. Now, equipment improvements and better process control have pushed yields to over 90% for mid-sized smartphone displays. This directly cuts the cost per usable panel, as defective units no longer have to be heavily discounted or scrapped. Chinese panel makers, including BOE, CSOT, and Tianma, have also aggressively expanded their Gen-6 flexible OLED and LTPS LCD capacity. With massive volume, fixed costs such as cleanroom maintenance, lithography tool depreciation, and engineering overhead can be spread across millions of units. As a result, the average selling price of a 6.5-inch 120Hz LTPS LCD has fallen from roughly $30 in 2021 to under $12 in 2025. Even 120Hz AMOLED panels, once extremely expensive, have dropped by more than 50% in cost. This supply-side shift is the fundamental reason why high-refresh-rate displays are no longer a differentiating premium feature but a standard expectation, even in the fiercely competitive budget segment.

Driver IC Scaling and Package Innovation Reduce Costs

High refresh rates demand much more from display driver ICs (DDICs). A 120Hz panel requires the driver to transfer image data from the application processor to the pixel matrix twice as fast as a 60Hz panel, which historically meant using more advanced process nodes, higher-cost packaging, and more power-hungry circuits. However, semiconductor suppliers have found several ways to reduce these costs. First, the industry migrated from older 150nm and 110nm nodes to mature 55nm and 40nm processes, which deliver higher clock speeds and lower leakage without the cost premium of cutting-edge geometries. Second, the packaging method has shifted in many designs from COF (chip-on-film) to COG (chip-on-glass), eliminating a flexible film layer that used to add material and assembly costs. COG is now reliable enough for 120Hz and even 144Hz displays, especially in LCD panels, because signal integrity can be maintained with careful routing and shorter interconnects. Another important factor is integration. Many driver ICs now combine touch sensing and display driving into a single TDDI chip. This removes the need for a separate touch controller, saves PCB space, and reduces overall component count. In the past, high-refresh-rate TDDI chips were scarce, and prices remained high due to a monopoly held by one or two suppliers. That changed when companies like Novatek, Ilitek, and several Chinese IC design houses entered the market. Oversupply of display driver chips in 2023 and 2024 further fueled aggressive price competition. Consequently, the cost of the driver IC solution for a 120Hz screen has dropped by approximately 60% in two years. This cost reduction is a direct enabler for budget phones that sell at $150 or less, yet still offer a 120Hz refresh rate.

Intense Competition Pushes HRR to Mid-Range and Entry Phones

When high-refresh-rate screens first arrived, they were a clear way for smartphones to stand out. But as the technology became cheaper, nearly every brand began using it as a baseline feature, changing the competitive dynamics. In the mid-range market, where profit margins are thin, a 90Hz or 120Hz display is now considered table stakes. The shift began with Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Realme, and vivo aggressively pushing 120Hz LCD screens into their sub-$200 devices. Because panel costs have fallen and driver ICs have become affordable, these brands can slightly sacrifice camera performance or battery capacity but still advertise a "silky smooth" screen experience, which is often the first thing consumers notice in a store. For entry-level phones, the adoption of high refresh rates is even more dramatic. Many models in the $100–$150 range now ship with 90Hz or 120Hz panels, a feature that was virtually unheard of in that category in 2020. This is also supported by the spread of affordable mid-range chipsets from MediaTek and Qualcomm that natively support high refresh rates without requiring additional hardware. For example, the Dimensity 6000 series and Snapdragon 4-series both capably drive 120Hz displays, so phone makers do not need to invest in extra display controller chips. The competitive pressure creates a positive feedback loop: as more brands adopt HRR panels, panel makers achieve higher volume, further lowering costs, which allows even more brands to adopt HRR screens. Some industry analysts even point out that by 2026, a phone with a 60Hz display will be rare in any developed market, simply because the difference in component cost between 60Hz and 120Hz has become small enough that keeping the older, slower panel is no longer a meaningful way to save money.

The Next Leap: LTPO, Variable Refresh and Emerging Panel Tech

The declining cost of high-refresh-rate displays does not stop at fixed 120Hz panels. The next stage of the technology – LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) backplanes – is already moving down the cost curve. LTPO allows the display to dynamically switch its refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz (or even 144Hz), preserving battery life while maintaining smoothness. Historically, LTPO was found only in premium flagship phones because its complex backplane required more masking steps and a dual-layer transistor architecture. However, as with earlier HRR technology, the difference in manufacturing cost between LTPS and LTPO has narrowed from around $18 in 2022 to less than $8 in 2025. Several panel makers now offer third-generation LTPO processes with higher yields, and display driver ICs for adaptive refresh rates have matured. This means that variable refresh rate screens will soon appear in mid-range devices, offering users the best of both worlds: responsive interaction and better battery endurance. Looking further ahead, new panel technologies such as micro-LED and ultra-high 240Hz refresh rates will eventually see the same cost-reduction trajectory. Meanwhile, the supply chain ecosystem for high refresh rates has expanded beyond smartphones. Tablet makers have started using 120Hz and 144Hz panels, and laptop manufacturers are adopting 90Hz and 120Hz screens at lower price points. Automotive suppliers are also integrating high-refresh-rate displays into dashboards and in-vehicle infotainment systems. As production volumes from these new applications continue to grow, scale economies will drive costs down even further, making high-refresh-rate truly ubiquitous – from a $80 entry phone to a $50,000 car console.