When you think of OLED displays on phones, you probably think of Samsung's Super AMOLED. However, LG is a larger display manufacturer overall. Most of its phones and retail panels are LCD, and the few forays into OLED haven't been awesome. However, with the decision to pump a few billion dollars into research, LG Display could quickly catch up.

LG is currently the only major manufacturer of p-OLED (polymer OLED) screens like those used in the G Flex 2 as well as the Watch Urbane and G Watch R. These panels have been a step behind in resolution and clarity compared to Samsung, but they're technologically innovative.

The multi-billion-dollar investment will be made over the next three years. This could signal a move away from LCD in many LG products, as well as the panels it sells to customers like Apple. LCD has more issues with brightness and power usage as resolution scales up, so LG might be anxious to make its OLED tech suitable for 4K resolutions (you know it's happening) before it's lapped again.

Source: Bloomberg