Nintendo explains why Switch 2 is LCD not OLED, sort of

Nintendo finally fully revealed the Switch 2 last week, with pre-orders beginning through Nintendo on 8 April, before the console is released on 5 June. The Switch 2 was first confirmed by Nintendo in January, but it has taken several months to know all the details, and it will be several months longer before you'll have it in your home, so it's been a long time coming.

The second-generation Switch offers several improvements over the original Switch though. Those include more power, a larger display and a bigger battery.

All that said, there is one interesting spec element of the new console that has fans scratching their heads. Nintendo opted for an LCD display for the Switch 2 rather than an OLED display like the Switch OLED that was announced in 2021.

Why is Nintendo using LCD over OLED for Switch 2?

The Japanese company was asked why it made that decision during a hardware-focused roundtable in New York that was attended by IGN, among other publications. In a report then published by IGN following the roundtable, it was said Nintendo didn't take the decision lightly.

Tetsuya Sasaki, General Manager, Technology Development Division and Senior Director, Technology Development Department at Nintendo said: "Now there's a lot of advancements that have been made in LCD technology during development. We took a look at the technology that was available to us now and after a lot of consideration we decided to stick to LCD."

He added: "Even with the OLED version of Nintendo Switch, we didn’t have compatibility support for HDR, but that's something we have the support for now."

This led some to assume that the decision to opt for LCD was for HDR support, though with HDR being supported on most OLED devices from phones to TVs, we think Sasaki was in fact saying Nintendo was able to offer improvements, including HDR support, on the Switch 2, despite retaining an LCD panel.

Based on what we can tell, Sasaki didn't actually directly answer why Nintendo chose to stick with LCD, but with LCD generally being cheaper and better for battery life, perhaps those were elements that made up part of the decision.

Either way, the Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and support for HDR10, as well as VRR up to 120Hz. By comparison, the original Switch has a 6.2-inch display with a 1280 x 720 resolution, while the Switch OLED has a 7-inch screen and the Switch Lite has a 5.5-inch screen.

As mentioned, the Nintendo Switch 2 will be available to pre-order from 8 April, and released on 5 June.