tft vs lcd display in mobile brands

TFT and LCD are two different types of electronic displays used in computers, TVs, and smartphones. However, they are not as different as you might think. Let’s start with what those abbreviations mean.

A key weakness of TFT panels is that they do not have wide viewing angles, so they are better suited to displays that require you to view head-on. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your needs. For example, the narrower viewing angles mean people sitting or standing around you are less likely to be able to snoop on what you are doing on your mobile phone.

TFT panels are cheaper to manufacture, but they also consume much more power than regular LCD panels. Lastly, they have poorer sunlight visibility. You will find TFT displays on feature phones, smart feature phones, and low-end Android phones.

LCD: This is an abbreviation for “liquid crystal display”. It is a flat panel display with wider viewing angles compared to TFT. They also have lower power consumption and so deliver much better battery life than their TFT counterparts.

In summary, while TFT panels have some distinct advantages, they fall short in other areas and so their use have been limited to low end phones, from feature phones to entry-level Android phones. Plastic feels inferior to touch than glass, which means that TFT screens don’t get to feature much on mid-range and premium devices.

As we see improvements to TFT technology, we will see them deployed on higher end devices over time. In 2022, Samsung used TFT displays in its mid-range Galaxy A13 and Galaxy A23. Perhaps those improvements are happening already.

For now, LCD is the most widely used display type in modern smartphones. At the very top end, we have premium flagships using OLED and AMOLED displays.

TFT displays are higher quality components than regular LCD displays. TFT displays are sharper, brighter, and refresh better than LCD panels. However, they have weaknesses that make them unsuitable for higher end phones.

AMOLED panels have all the benefits of OLED screens, which means they are better than LCD panels. They are expensive though, and so are used in high-end smartphones only.

These are improved versions of AMOLED screens and were developed by Samsung. They are also thinner. The name explains it: think of Super AMOLED as AMOLED on steroids.

Founder of MobilityArena. Yomi’s journey in mobile started in 2001. Besides obsessing over mobile phones, he also started creating WAP sites (early mobile-friendly websites created with WML). He began writing about phones in 2004 and has been at it since then. He has owned over 200 devices, from Symbian, Palm, PocketPC/Windows Mobile, BlackBerry/BB10, webOS, Windows Phone, Firefox, Ubuntu Touch, to Android, iOS, and KaiOS operating systems. Share This Article

Steven Van Slyke and Ching Wan Tang pioneered the organic OLED at Eastman Kodak in 1979. The first OLED product was a display for a car stereo, commercialized by Pioneer in 1997. Kodak’s EasyShare LS633 digital camera, introduced in 2003, was the first consumer electronic product incorporating a full-color OLED display. The first television featuring an OLED display, produced by Sony, entered the market in 2008. Today, Samsung uses OLEDs in all of its smartphones, and LG manufactures large OLED screens for premium TVs. Other companies currently incorporating OLED technology include Apple, Google, Facebook, Motorola, Sony, HP, Panasonic, Konica, Lenovo, Huawei, BOE, Philips and Osram. The OLED display market is expected to grow to $57 billion in 2026.

AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a type of OLED display device technology. OLED is a type of display technology in which organic material compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix is the technology behind the addressing of individual pixels.

An AMOLED display consists of an active matrix of OLED pixels generating light (luminescence) upon electrical activation that have been deposited or integrated onto a thin-film transistor (TFT) array, which functions as a series of switches to control the current flowing to each individual pixel.

Typically, this continuous current flow is controlled by at least two TFTs at each pixel (to trigger the luminescence), with one TFT to start and stop the charging of a storage capacitor and the second to provide a voltage source at the level needed to create a constant current to the pixel, thereby eliminating the need for the very high currents required for PMOLED.

TFT backplane technology is crucial in the fabrication of AMOLED displays. In AMOLEDs, the two primary TFT backplane technologies, polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and amorphous silicon (a-Si), are currently used offering the potential for directly fabricating the active-matrix backplanes at low temperatures (below 150 °C) onto flexible plastic substrates for producing flexible AMOLED displays. Brightness of AMOLED is determined by the strength of the electron current. The colors are controlled by the red, green and blue light emitting diodes.  It is easier to understand by thinking of each pixel is independently colored, mini-LED.

IPS technology is like an improvement on the traditional TFT LCD display module in the sense that it has the same basic structure, but with more enhanced features and more widespread usability compared with the older generation of TN type TFT screen (normally used for low-cost computer monitors). Actually, it is called super TFT.  IPS LCD display consists of the following high-end features. It has much wider viewing angles, more consistent, better color in all viewing directions, it has higher contrast, faster response time. But IPS screens are not perfect as their higher manufacturing cost compared with TN TFT LCD.

Utilizing an electrical charge that causes the liquid crystal material to change their molecular structure allowing various wavelengths of backlight to “pass-through”. The active matrix of the TFT display is in constant flux and changes or refreshes rapidly depending upon the incoming signal from the control device.

IPS (In-Plane Switching) lcd is still a type of TFT LCD, IPS TFT is also called SFT LCD (supper fine tft ),different to regular tft in TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, theIPS LCD liquid crystal elements inside the tft lcd cell, they are arrayed in plane inside the lcd cell when power off, so the light can not transmit it via theIPS lcdwhen power off, When power on, the liquid crystal elements inside the IPS tft would switch in a small angle, then the light would go through the IPS lcd display, then the display on since light go through the IPS display, the switching angle is related to the input power, the switch angle is related to the input power value of IPS LCD, the more switch angle, the more light would transmit the IPS LCD, we call it negative display mode.

The regular tft lcd, it is a-si TN (Twisted Nematic) tft lcd, its liquid crystal elements are arrayed in vertical type, the light could transmit the regularTFT LCDwhen power off. When power on, the liquid crystal twist in some angle, then it block the light transmit the tft lcd, then make the display elements display on by this way, the liquid crystal twist angle is also related to the input power, the more twist angle, the more light would be blocked by the tft lcd, it is tft lcd working mode.

A TFT lcd display is vivid and colorful than a common monochrome lcd display. TFT refreshes more quickly response than a monochrome LCD display and shows motion more smoothly. TFT displays use more electricity in driving than monochrome LCD screens, so they not only cost more in the first place, but they are also more expensive to drive tft lcd screen.The two most common types of TFT LCDs are IPS and TN displays.

AMOLED and TFT are two types of display technology used in smartphones. AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) displays are made up of tiny organic light-emitting diodes, while TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) displays use inorganic thin-film transistors.

AMOLEDs are made from organic materials that emit light when an electric current is passed through them, while TFTs use a matrix of tiny transistors to control the flow of electricity to the display.

What Are the Main Differences between AMOLED and TFT Displays?Backlight: One of the main differences between AMOLED and TFT displays is how they are lit up. A backlight is used to light up TFT screens, while AMOLED screens are self-illuminating. This means that TFT displays require more power to operate than AMOLED displays.

Refresh Rate: Another key difference between AMOLED and TFT displays is the refresh rate. The refresh rate is how often the image on the screen is updated. AMOLED screens have a higher refresh rate than TFT screens, which means that they can display images more quickly and smoothly.

Response Time: The response time is how long it takes for the pixels to change from one colour to another. AMOLED screens have a shorter response time than TFT screens..

Colour Accuracy/Display Quality: AMOLED screens are more accurate when it comes to displaying colours. This is because each pixel on an AMOLED screen emits its own light, which means that the colours are more pure and true to life. TFT screens, on the other hand, use a backlight to illuminate the pixels, which can cause the colours to appear washed out or less vibrant.

Viewing Angle: The viewing angle is the angle at which you can see the screen. AMOLED screens have a wider viewing angle than TFT screens, which means that you can see the screen from more angles without the colours looking distorted.

Power Consumption: One of the main advantages of AMOLED displays is that they consume less power than TFT displays. This is because the pixels on an AMOLED screen only light up when they need to, while the pixels on a TFT screen are always illuminated by the backlight.

Production Cost: AMOLED screens are more expensive to produce than TFT screens. This is because the manufacturing process for AMOLED screens is more complex, and the materials used are more expensive.

Availability: TFT screens are more widely available than AMOLED screens and have been around for longer. They are typically used in a variety of devices, ranging from phones to TVs.

Usage: AMOLED screens are typically used in devices where power consumption is a concern, such as phones and wearable devices. TFT screens are more commonly used in devices where image quality is a higher priority, such as TVs and monitors.

AMOLED and TFT are two different types of display technology. AMOLED displays are typically brighter and more vibrant, but they are more expensive to produce. TFT displays are cheaper to produce, but they are not as bright or power efficient as AMOLED displays.

The display technology that is best for you will depend on your needs and preferences. If you need a screen that is bright and vibrant, then an AMOLED display is a good choice. If you need a screen that is cheaper to produce, then a TFT display is a good choice. However, if you’re worried about image retention, then TFT may be a better option.

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While buying a mobile phone we might have heard these words – IPS LCD display, TFT LCD display, OLED display, Super AMOLED display, etc. We often get confused as to which is the best. So, let us explain each of the displays.

LCD means Liquid crystal display. In the LCD display, there is a light in the background of pixels which is called a backlight that provides light to the pixels for projecting the content. If there is no light in the background we could not able to see the content which is displaying on the screen. There are a few types of LCD panels. In the LCD panel, we have CCFL backlighting which means Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp. These are explained as following below.Twisted Nematic (TN) –

Twisted Nematic displays are widely used in computer monitors in some industries. These displays are commonly used by gamers for a better experience. Because they are inexpensive and faster response.

The vertical alignment panel falls under the middle of the TN panel and IPS panel. This display has better viewing angles and better color reproduction as compared to the TN display.

This type of display used for commercial purposes in cockpits. AFFS display is extremely quality of LCD display as of now because they have good color reproduction, best viewing angles than the IPS panel and TN panel. It also minimizes color distortion.

Thin Film Transistor display is the cheapest display in LCD. In this display, every pixel is attached to a capacitor and transistor. The main advantage of this display is the high contrast ratio and very cheap to build by the way we see this type of displays in budget mobiles below 10K price.

In-Plane Switching is the most popular display between the 10k to 20k price range in mobiles. By the way, this is the best display on LCD. They are very much the best than the TFT display. This display can produce better viewing angles, best color reproduction, and direct sunlight visibility.

Super LCD is the marketing term of HTC. Generally, it is also a type of IPS LCD but there is a slight change. In the IPS LCD display, there is some gap between the outer glass and the touch sensor. In the SLCD display, there is no gap between the outer glass and touch sensor.

There are so many types of LED displays. Generally, we may see these two displays in the flagship category mobiles. they are, OLED and AMOLED displays. Technology is almost the same, but OLED is developed by a company named LG, and AMOLED is developed by a company called Samsung.AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) –

This technology completely belongs to Samsung. They took patients also. The main function of the AMOLED display is the individual pixel act as an LED bulb. Which means they do not require backlighting. This technology helps in power saving and projecting true black colors. The pixels stop projecting light when the video has black color.

The black portion in the video is projected like a true black color. So, it saves power when the content has black color. And we could enjoy true black colors. The main difference between AMOLED and Super AMOLED is like IPS LCD and SLCD. AMOLED has a gap between the glass and touch sensor. Super AMOLED has no gap between the glass and touch sensor (negligible gap).

This technology belongs to LG. LG took patents on the OLED panel. It is like the LGs trademark. This display is also like an AMOLED display. OLED has a series of organic thin-film between two conductors. When the current is applied, light is emitted. These are more efficient than LCD displays.

Retina display is the trademark of the company named APPLE. Actually, the retina display is an IPS LCD display only. APPLE modified the IPS LCD display and renamed it. In retina display, we can more PPI (Pixel per inch) than IPS LCD displays. It is not a separate technology. It is a modification of the IPS LCD display. We can see retina displays in apple mobiles.

In recent years, smartphone displays have developed far more acronyms than ever before with each different one featuring a different kind of technology. AMOLED, LCD, LED, IPS, TFT, PLS, LTPS, LTPO...the list continues to grow.

As if the different available technologies weren"t enough, component and smartphone manufacturers adopt more and more glorified names like "Super Retina XDR" and "Dynamic AMOLED", which end up increasing the potential for confusion among consumers. So let"s take a look at some of these terms used in smartphone specification sheets and decipher them.

There are many display types used in smartphones: LCD, OLED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED, TFT, IPS and a few others that are less frequently found on smartphones nowadays, like TFT-LCD. One of the most frequently found on mid-to-high range phones now is IPS-LCD. But what do these all mean?

LCD means Liquid Crystal Display, and its name refers to the array of liquid crystals illuminated by a backlight, and their ubiquity and relatively low cost make them a popular choice for smartphones and many other devices.

LCDs also tend to perform quite well in direct sunlight, as the entire display is illuminated from behind, but does suffer from potentially less accurate colour representation than displays that don"t require a backlight.

Within smartphones, you have both TFT and IPS displays. TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, an advanced version of LCD that uses an active matrix (like the AM in AMOLED). Active matrix means that each pixel is attached to a transistor and capacitor individually.

The main advantage of TFT is its relatively low production cost and increased contrast when compared to traditional LCDs. The disadvantage of TFT LCDs is higher energy demands than some other LCDs, less impressive viewing angles and colour reproduction. It"s for these reasons, and falling costs of alternative options, that TFTs are not commonly used in smartphones anymore.Affiliate offer

IPS technology (In-Plane Switching) solves the problem that the first generation of LCD displays experience, which adopts the TN (Twisted Nematic) technique: where colour distortion occurs when you view the display from the side - an effect that continues to crop up on cheaper smartphones and tablets.

The PLS (Plane to Line Switching) standard uses an acronym that is very similar to that of IPS, and is it any wonder that its basic operation is also similar in nature? The technology, developed by Samsung Display, has the same characteristics as IPS displays - good colour reproduction and viewing angles, but a lower contrast level compared to OLED and LCD/VA displays.

According to Samsung Display, PLS panels have a lower production cost, higher brightness rates, and even superior viewing angles when compared to their rival, LG Display"s IPS panels. Ultimately, whether a PLS or IPS panel is used, it boils down to the choice of the component supplier.

This is a very common question after "LED" TVs were launched, with the short answer simply being LCD. The technology used in a LED display is liquid crystal, the difference being LEDs generating the backlight.

One of the highlights from TV makers at the CES 2021 tradeshow, mini-LED technology seemed far removed from mobile devices until Apple announced the 2021 iPad Pro. As the name implies, the technique is based on the miniaturization of the LEDs that form the backlight of the screen — which still uses an LCD panel.

Despite the improvement in terms of contrast (and potentially brightness) over traditional LCD/LED displays, LCD/mini-LEDs still divide the screen into brightness zones — over 2,500 in the case of the iPad and 2021 "QNED" TVs from LG — compared to dozens or hundreds of zones in previous-generation FALD (full-array local dimming) displays, on which the LEDs are behind the LCD panel instead of the edges.

However, for even greater contrast control, done individually at each point on the screen, it is necessary to go to panels equipped with microLED technologies – still cost-prohibitive in 2021 – or OLED, which until recently were manufactured on a large scale only in sizes for smartphones or televisions.Affiliate offer

AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. While this may sound complicated it actually isn"t. We already encountered the active matrix in TFT LCD technology, and OLED is simply a term for another thin-film display technology.

OLED is an organic material that, as the name implies, emits light when a current is passed through it. As opposed to LCD panels, which are back-lit, OLED displays are "always off" unless the individual pixels are electrified.

This means that OLED displays have much purer blacks and consume less energy when black or darker colours are displayed on-screen. However, lighter-coloured themes on AMOLED screens use considerably more power than an LCD using the same theme. OLED screens are also more expensive to produce than LCDs.

Because the black pixels are "off" in an OLED display, the contrast ratios are also higher compared to LCD screens. AMOLED displays have a very fast refresh rate too, but on the downside are not quite as visible in direct sunlight as backlit LCDs. Screen burn-in and diode degradation (because they are organic) are other factors to consider.Affiliate offer

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. An OLED display is comprised of thin sheets of electroluminescent material, the main benefit of which is they produce their own light, and so don"t require a backlight, cutting down on energy requirements. OLED displays are more commonly referred to as AMOLED displays when used on smartphones or TVs.

As we"ve already covered, the AM part of AMOLED stands for Active Matrix, which is different from a Passive Matrix OLED (P-OLED), though these are less common in smartphones.

Super AMOLED is the name given by Samsung to its displays that used to only be found in high-end models but have now trickled down to more modestly specced devices. Like IPS LCDs, Super AMOLED improves upon the basic AMOLED premise by integrating the touch response layer into the display itself, rather than as an extra layer on top.

As a result, Super AMOLED displays handle sunlight better than AMOLED displays and also require less power. As the name implies, Super AMOLED is simply a better version of AMOLED. It"s not all just marketing bluster either: Samsung"s displays are regularly reviewed as some of the best around.

The latest evolution of the technology has been christened "Dynamic AMOLED". Samsung didn"t go into detail about what the term means, but highlighted that panels with such identification include HDR10+ certification that supports a wider range of contrast and colours, as well as blue light reduction for improved visual comfort.

In the same vein, the term "Fluid AMOLED" used by OnePlus on its most advanced devices basically highlights the high refresh rates employed, which results in more fluid animations on the screen.Affiliate offer

The technology debuted with the obscure Royole FlexPai, equipped with an OLED panel supplied by China"s BOE, and was then used in the Huawei Mate X (pictured above) and the Motorola Razr (2019), where both also sport BOE"s panel - and the Galaxy Flip and Fold lines, using the component supplied by Samsung Display.Affiliate offer

Resolution describes the number of individual pixels (or points) displayed on the screen and is usually presented for phones by the number of horizontal pixels — vertical when referring to TVs and monitors. More pixels on the same display allow for more detailed images and clearer text.

To make it easier to compare different models, brands usually adopt the same naming scheme made popular by the TV market with terms like HD, FullHD and UltraHD. But with phones adopting a wide range of different screen proportions, just knowing that is not enough to know the total pixels displayed on the screen.Common phone resolutions

But resolution in itself is not a good measure for image clarity, for that we need to consider the display size, resulting in the pixel density by area measured by DPI/PPI (dots/points per inch).Affiliate offer

Speaking of pixel density, this was one of Apple"s highlights back in 2010 during the launch of the iPhone 4. The company christened the LCD screen (LED, TFT, and IPS) used in the smartphone as "Retina Display", thanks to the high resolution of the panel used (960 by 640 pixels back then) in its 3.5-inch display.

The name coined by Apple"s marketing department is applied to screens which, according to the company, the human eye is unable to discern the individual pixels from a normal viewing distance. In the case of iPhones, the term was applied to displays with a pixel density that is greater than 300 ppi (dots per inch).

Since then, other manufacturers have followed suit, adopting panels with increasingly higher resolutions. While the iPhone 12 mini offers 476 dpi, models like Sony Xperia 1 boast a whopping 643 dpi.

With the iPhone 11 Pro, another term was introduced to the equation: "Super Retina XDR". Still using an OLED panel (that is supplied by Samsung Display or LG Display), the smartphone brings even higher specs in terms of contrast - with a 2,000,000:1 ratio and brightness level of 1,200 nits, which have been specially optimized for displaying content in HDR format.

As a kind of consolation prize for iPhone XR and iPhone 11 buyers, who continued relying on LCD panels, Apple classified the display used in the smartphones with a new term, "Liquid Retina". This was later applied also to the iPad Pro and iPad Air models, with the name defining screens that boast a high range and colour accuracy, at least based on the company"s standards.

Nit, or candela per square meter in the international system (cd/m²), is a unit of measurement of luminance, i.e. the intensity of light emitted. In the case of smartphone screens and monitors in general, such a value defines just how bright the display is - the higher the value, the more intense the light emitted by the screen.

The result is smoother animations on the phone, both during regular use and in games, compared to screens that have a 60 Hz refresh rate which remains the standard rate in the market when it comes to displays.

Originally touted to be a "gimmick" in 2017, with the launch of the Razer Phone, the feature gained more and more momentum in due time, even with a corresponding decrease in battery life. In order to make the most of this feature, manufacturers began to adopt screens with variable refresh rates, which can be adjusted according to the content displayed - which is 24 fps in most movies, 30 or 60 fps in home video recordings, and so forth.

The same unit of measurement is used for the sampling rate. Although similar, the value here represents the number of times per second the screen is able to register touches. The higher the sample rate, the faster the smartphone registers such touches, which results in a faster response time.

To further muddy the alphabet soup that we"ve come across, you will also run into other less common terms that are often highlighted in promotional materials for smartphones.

TFT(Thin Film Transistor) - a type of LCD display that adopts a thin semiconductor layer deposited on the panel, which allows for active control of the colour intensity in each pixel, featuring a similar concept as that of active-matrix (AM) used in AMOLED displays. It is used in TN, IPS/PLS, VA/PVA/MVA panels, etc.

LTPS(Low Temperature PolySilicon) - a variation of the TFT that offers higher resolutions and lower power consumption compared to traditional TFT screens, based on a-Si (amorphous silicon) technology.

IGZO(Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) - a semiconductor material used in TFT films, which also allows higher resolutions and lower power consumption, and sees action in different types of LCD screens (TN, IPS, VA) and OLED displays

LTPO(Low Temperature Polycrystaline Oxide) - a technology developed by Apple that can be used in both OLED and LCD displays, as it combines LTPS and IGZO techniques. The result? Lower power consumption. It has been used in the Apple Watch 4 and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

LTPO allows the display to adjust its refresh rate, adapting dynamically to the content shown. Scrolling pages can trigger the fastest mode for a fluid viewing, while displaying a static image allows the phone to use a lower refresh rate, saving the battery.

In 2022, flagship phones started using the so-called LTPO 2.0 tech, whose main advantage is being able to go down to a 1 Hz refresh rate, instead of the 10 Hz available in first-generation LTPO panels. Found in phones like the OnePlus 10 Pro and the Galaxy S22 Ultra, LTPO 2.0 promises even further energy savings.

Among televisions, the long-standing featured technology has always been miniLED - which consists of increasing the number of lighting zones in the backlight while still using an LCD panel. There are whispers going around that smartphones and smartwatches will be looking at incorporating microLED technology in their devices soon, with it being radically different from LCD/LED displays as it sports similar image characteristics to that of OLEDs.

A microLED display has one light-emitting diode for each subpixel of the screen - usually a set of red, green, and blue diodes for each dot. Chances are it will use a kind of inorganic material such as gallium nitride (GaN).

By adopting a self-emitting light technology, microLED displays do not require the use of a backlight, with each pixel being "turned off" individually. The result is impressive: your eyes see the same level of contrast as OLED displays, without suffering from the risk of image retention or burn-in of organic diodes.

On the other hand, the use of multiple diodes for each pixel poses a challenge in terms of component miniaturization. For example, a Full HD resolution has just over two million pixels (1,920 x 1,080 dots), which requires 6 million microscopic LEDs using a traditional RGB (red, green, and blue) structure.

This is one of the reasons that explain the adoption of such technology to date remains rather limited in scope. You will see them mainly in large screens of 75 to 150 inches only, which enable 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 resolution, which is close to 8.3 million pixels or 24.8 million RGB subpixels). This is a huge number of pixels to look at!

Another thing to be wary of is the price - at 170 million Korean won (about US$150,330 after conversion), that is certainly a lot of money to cough up for a 110-inch display.

Each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages but in recent years, OLED screens have gained prominence, especially with the adoption of the component in high-end flagship smartphones. It gained an even greater degree of popularity after the launch of the iPhone X, which cemented the position of OLED panels in the premium segment.

As previously stated, OLED/AMOLED screens have the advantage of a varied contrast level, resulting from individual brightness control for the pixels. Another result of this is the more realistic reproduction of black, as well as low power consumption when the screen shows off dark images - which has also helped to popularize dark modes on smartphones.

In addition, the organic diodes that give OLED screens their name can lose their ability to change their properties over time, and this happens when the same image is displayed for a long period of time. This problem is known as "burn-in", tends to manifest itself when higher brightness settings are applied for long periods of time.

While that is a very real possibility, it is not something that affects most users, who often confuse burn-in with a similar problem - image retention, which is temporary and usually resolves itself after a few minutes.

In the case of LCD displays, the main advantage lies in the low manufacturing cost, with dozens of players in the market offering competitive pricing and a high production volume. Some brands have taken advantage of this feature to prioritize certain features - such as a higher refresh rate - instead of adopting an OLED panel, such as the Xiaomi Mi 10T.

Today"s screen terminology can confuse even people who work with the phones on the daily basis, not to mention the confusion when it comes to understand the technology itself.

How do you understand for example Sony"s “Triluminous Display with X-Reality”, “OptiContrast Panel” and “Mobile Bravia Engine 2” to describe the Sony Z Ultra’s display?

The smartphone industry tosses around a whole bucket of names and numbers to describe the viewing experience on your smartphone screen: ClearBlack, 1080p, Retina, AMOLED, super-sensitive..... the list goes on and on.

Some designations like flashy Apple"s Retina Display are marketing monikers cooked up to give one company an edge. Sometimes however like in case of Nokia"s Clear Black Display technology the trademarked name masks a unique process too technical to quickly explain.

Before we dive in, it"s helpful to understand the layout of a smartphone screen. The oversimplified version is that displays are composed of several layers of material, starting backing material and including a lighting element (like the backlight for LCD screens), which is then topped with a TFT (thin-film transistor) layer, which uses voltage-sipping transistors to keep the display"s pixels shining until you refresh or change the image.

There"s also the touch-sensitive panel; various films and filters that might reduce glare, for instance; and the cover glass, which is often bonded to the touch layer like Gorilla Glass. And there are also sensitive digitizer screens found on Samsung Note family..... ..... enough

I still remember the days when my phone had a narrow monochromatic screen to display a phone number. Then we started to use texts and emails, therefore we needed a bit more space to see what we"d written. Next we added the colour to give the screen a bit more interest. When we started adding cameras to the phones, we wanted the screens to be sharper, so we could see the terrible, pixelated VGA photos we"d taken.

Now we expect from the mobile screens to be better than our computer screens. They need to offer super crisp text, super vibrant images, blur-free video and enough brightness to see outdoors, all under a super responsive touch layer.

Predictably, several different options have arisen, especially when it comes to high-end smartphones. As a result, it can be hard to know exactly what manufacturers are talking about when they boast about their screens.

In practice, cheap phone screens will often display dull colours, and have narrow viewing angles, which means that if you look at them from off-centre, it becomes hard to see what"s on-screen.

The LCD screens are the most common technology used on mobile phones and they range from the budget smartphones like the HTC desire C to high-end tablets, like the Google Nexus 7. Two types of LCDs are primarily found in mobile phones: TFT and IPS technology.

TFT-LCD stands for thin-film transistor - liquid crystal display and use the thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality. They are often just referred to as LCD, since TFT-based LCD screens are the only type used in practice. Each pixel on a TFT-LCD has its own transistor on the glass itself, which offers more control over the images and colors that it renders.

While TFT-LCDs can deliver sharp images, they also tend to offer relatively poor viewing angles. TFT are found on more low-end smartphones or feature phones, and on basic cell phones.

IPS stands for in-plane switching. It involves arranging and switching the molecules of the liquid crystal (LC) layer between the glass substrates. This is done in a plane parallel to these glass plates. It features two transistors for each pixel, where TFT use just one. Requires a more powerful back-light (up to 15% comparing to TFT screens) but resolves the TFT"s weaknesses related to relatively high response time (lower is better), strong viewing angle dependence and low-quality color reproduction.

IPS are more expensive in production and typically are found on high-end mobile phones and portable devices. Apple"s iPhone, iPad, HTC One X and Nokia 920 are a good example of high quality IPS-LCDs screens.

The liquid crystals do no emit light themselves, so LCDs require a backlight. That means that LCD requires more power, and could potentially be more taxing on your phone’s battery.

The LCDs however produce some of the most realistic colors you can find on a screen, but might not offer as wide of a contrast ratio (darker darks and brighter brights) as AMOLED or OLED.

The most popular type of OLED panels on mobile devices is AMOLED technology. AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode and is even more power efficient than standard OLED displays.

Due to this simple construction, AMOLED offers many advantages over LCD displays as it is thinner, brighter, more power efficient and provides wider viewing angles. They also provide much better contrast and response times.

Mostly those advantages are down to the fact that AMOLED technology doesn"t require a back-light. The black colour stays truly black without producing an energy (unlike on many LCDs where the black is rather grey and its being artificially made), which also leads to expanding battery life as long as the background of your phone is close to black.

However AMOLED screens have proved costly and difficult to produce in the same numbers as LCD, a fact that forced HTC company to replace AMOLED screen in their HTC Desire for Super-LCD halfway through its manufacturing life. A decision that led HTC to stick with LCD screens onward. Often those screens were also criticized to have lower visibility in the direct light than their LCDs counterparts and having over-saturated colours, until Samsung introduced the next generation of Super AMOLED technology, which solved the above issues.

Super AMOLED display technology is an advanced version of AMOLED display. Developed by Samsung, it is said to be the thinnest display technology in the market. Super AMOLED display is also much more responsive than an AMOLED display.

LCD screens start with an always-on backlight; this technology requires light to create black, white, and colors. High-end LCDs produce the most accurate colors, though their manufacturers sometimes intentionally calibrate LCDs to produce weaker red, blue, and purple shades in order to reduce the device"s power consumption.

AMOLED, on the other hand, doesn"t require any light to produce black, only white and colors. Therefore, it"s considered battery-saving and can produce inky blacks. AMOLEDs are often considered brighter as well, creating punchy hues. As a side effect, these screens tend to oversaturate the color green.

AMOLEDs also age more rapidly than LCD"s. Using an organic polymers, means that the red and blue colors deteriorate faster than green. Samsung used Super AMOLED plus screens in their Galaxy S II phones, but reverted back to Super AMOLED screens for the Galaxy S III citing screen life as the reason for the switch.

Both display technologies offer advantages and disadvantages. AMOLED screens have higher contrasts and deeper, true blacks, but LCD’s tend to offer more accurate colors. While AMOLED displays are brighter when viewed off-center, LCD panels can be viewed more easily under direct sunlight.

AMOLED displays tend to be more power efficient overall however, LCD panels are more power efficient when it comes to displaying web pages. AMOLED screens have better viewing angles, but LCD panels tend to be sharper on lower resolution panels thanks to the use of the RGB structure instead of PenTile/RGBG.

The next thing you have to take under consideration is pixel density. Generally speaking, the more pixels you have per inch (ppi), the better your picture. That said, Apple claims that the human eye can"t really distinguish more than 326 pixels per inch, which is really true. While pixel density is an important factor in the smoothness of the overall picture, there is no point to drill down in this subject having screens 1080p HD resolutions delivering pixel densities over 300 ppi. There are absolutely crisp and smooth without visible distinction. When you listen to people bragging about density of their mobile screens, I can assure you, they don"t really know what they talking about, being purely sold by marketing jargon.

Despite of their differences in the screen sizes and pixel density, is virtually impossible to notice any flaws in crispness and smoothness of any of those screens .

One of the problems with existing LCD displays used on smartphones is that they can’t keep up. While the internal hardware and operating system are fast enough to deliver a full 60 frames-per-second (FPS), the screens themselves lag behind, leading to pixelated video and ghost images appearing as your screen moves.

PureMotion HD+ uses an IPS type LCD display that is also given a higher voltage difference when changing states to produce a clean transition from frame to frame, even when operating at top speeds. This allows the display to deliver a steady 60FPS without any blurring. Nokia claims it lights up twice as fast on 920 than on any competing LCDs smartphones.

PureMotion HD+ also adds a high-luminescence mode that works automatically from the phone’s ambient light sensor, improving contrast and brightness outdoors considerably.

Ever take your phone outside and squint to read the screen? Phones with high reflectance can be a real setback, but some manufacturers are good at getting on top of it. ClearBlack is Nokia"s name for an anti-glare filters applied to the screen above the touch layer (but below the glass) on its high-end phones. It works on both AMOLED and LCD screens.

The technology involves a pair of filters which help to reduce the amount of ambient light that the screen reflects. The filters polarize the light, changing its direction before it reflects off the screen behind. When the light travels back it is unable to pass through the filter and is blocked. The end result is reduced reflectance overall, and improved legibility both indoors and outdoors. If you interested in deep explanation of how the Clear Blacktechnology works click on this link.

Super AMOLED screen on Samsung Galaxy S4 is a dream come through for many users, myself included. Samsung bumped the screen resolution to a full High definition with a pixel density of 441 ppi which is more than enough for everyone"s needs (if you have read this blog so far). I don"t wanna talk about the weaknesses of PenTile matrix and its "cross-hath pattern" visible under microscope in the previous Galaxy S3, as it doesn"t exists anymore on this screen.

The color saturation is beyond the reach of any LCD out there, which make even the dullest image appear remarkably vibrant. Still, if you are not a fan of the oversaturated look of AMOLEDs, Samsung gives you the option to tune down the saturation to more natural levels and enjoy the best of both worlds. There"s a dedicated Adobe RGB setting that gets this done.

But the Xperia Z1 is making full use of Sony"s so-called Triluminos screen technology, which means adopting display technologies originally created for TV displays, such as the Bravia engine, and now Triluminos and X-Reality. Now that we have a little background, let’s see what Triluminos and X-Reality actually are and how they work. It is pretty fascinating, at least for me.

Triluminos is a technology that enables LCD TFT displays to show a wider range of colors, therefore the images are richer and more vivid. It’s all down to intelligent backlight technology, a Triluminos display reproduces more tones and textures than standard LED backlighting. Sony says that it boasts a color gamut that is 50 percent larger than that of a conventional LCD panel.

Quantum dots are best described as light-emitting nano-particles. Basically, they are very small (2-10 nano-meters) particles of a material that emits light. Depending on the size of the particle, which can be precisely controlled, quantum dots emit light in a specific wavelength, which the human eye perceives as a specific color.

Conventional LCD displays use a white backlight that passes through red, blue, and green filters to form the color that the user perceives. The problem with this approach is that filters are not very selective – in other words, it’s hard to form very specific colors, and the end result might be a washed out colors (LCD needs very careful calibration to work perfectly). With Triluminos, the white backlight is replaced by a blue LED, which emits a blue light that causes a film of quantum dots to produce pure green and pure red. The different wavelength light is combined to form the color on the screen. This way the display can show more pure, unadulterated colors.

X-Reality EngineX-Reality is an image processing technology that enhances the images and videos displayed on the screen. It makes pictures look sharper, reduces noise, improves contrast, and fine tunes saturation.

Sony has been using the X-Reality and X-Reality Pro image processors on its high-end TVs for a while now, though it’s not clear if X-Reality for mobile is the same thing.

So, how does it work? According to Sony, the software breaks down the signal sent to the display into several components – texture, outline, contrast, and color. Each one is separately analyzed and processed, to ensure the clearest, sharpest, most attractive final image.

According to Sony,Triluminos and X-Realityshould allow the Sony screens to compete with the Super AMOLED displays on Samsung flagships, which are recognized for their rich colors. But that’s the theory. In practice Xperia"s Z1 screen is a huge improvement in image quality since the Xperia Z and the images are truly coming to live (also the viewing angles has been greatly improved) but still cannot compete fully not only with super AMOLED screens, but also with the top IPS LCD panels.

Saying that this technology is superior to conventional LCD"s, and most likely will become dominant in the next couple of years. The very first example of implementing it into LCD IPS screen is a new Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, that surpasses every panel on the market related to intensity and accuracy of the colours produced. Here are some of the key findings from DisplayMate"s regarding Nexus 7 vs Fire HDX vs new iPad Mini display shootout

The technology on offer from Apple with regards to the new 4-inch display is impressive – but only on a scale that matches that seen with the launch of the Retina Display in 2010.

There"s such a temptation with new technology to bash it for not always innovating and pushing things further, especially when Apple"s announcements are so full of hyperbole that it"s often hard to tell what"s actually exciting.

However when Steve Jobs took to the stage to announce the Retina Display, he said it was sharper than the human eye could discern – and he was right, and despite other far-reaching efforts to up the sharpness nothing has really made me squint at a display in awe than that first shown on the iPhone 4.

When Apple rolled out the iPhone 5, they announced that it had a full sRGB gamut, and would be a substantial improvement over the 4 and 4S displays. They also had done away with layers of technology below the screen to bring the display as close to the glass as possible, something they said would bring increased brightness and sharpness to the user"s eye. In practice however, compering the quality and brightness, Iphone 4S has still upper hand.

HD Super AMOLED - Samsung"s name for its high-definition smartphone displays, which use the OLED screen technology and goes up to 1,920 x 1,080 pixels in phones

Retina Display - Apple"s proprietary name for its LCD screen, which serves up a 1,136x640 pixel resolution in mobile phones.1080p - The highest common high-definition screen resolution, measuring 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels. Also called "full HD."

720p -The lower high-definition designation, 1,280 by 720 pixels.Super LCD - Manufactured by Samsung, but used mostly by HTC, Super LCD is a display technology which removes the air gap between the outer glass and the display elements. This reduces the glare, and also consumes less power and has better outdoor visibility than regular LCD screens.

IPS - A type of LCD screen technology known for producing clearer image quality and wider viewing angles, among other traits. It"s used in many smartphones.

Like glass, when it comes to smartphone displays there are a couple different categories: LCD and OLED. Within these two categories are different sub-types, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and cost profile. The list of display types below is by no means an exhaustive one, but should serve to clarify the differences between the main types.

LCD, or Liquid Crystal Display, is perhaps the most common type of display on the market. While OLEDs screens dominate the flagship market (Apple even put one on the iPhone X), LCDs can be found on pretty much any mid-tier phone. There are two primary types of LCDs: TFT and IPS.

Thin Film Transistor, or TFT, are the cheapest LCDs on the market. This type of LCD is constructed so that each pixel on the display is attached to both a capacitor and a transistor. The strengths of TFT displays include a high contrast ratio and a low cost of production, resulting in a lower cost phone. However, TFT displays also suffer from a narrow viewing angle, poor visibility in direct light, and high power consumption. You’ll most typically see these displays in lower-end, entry-level phones due to their low cost.

In-Place Switching, or IPS, displays are currently the best LCDs on the market. They feature consistent color and wide viewing angle, even in direct light, when compared to TFT displays. However, they are more expensive to produce, and as such, you’ll typically see them on Mid-level phones and above. Apple uses a high-resolution version of IPS LCDs it dubbed Retina, which means the human eye cannot discern the individual pixels on the screen. Whatever Apple calls it, though, it’s still an IPS LCD.

Super LCD is a proprietary LCD technology pioneered by the S-LCD Corporation. Generally speaking, SLCD is used in HTC phones, though some other OEMs have included it on their phones as well. SLCD differs from IPS LCD in that there is no gap between the outer glass and the touch sensor. This results in a “closer” feel and less lens glare when compared to IPS technology.

In the early days of touch displays, there were two kinds of LCDs – Resistive and Capacitive. Resistive was the first kind of touch-screen LCD, relying on pressing two layers of glass together to detect touch points. Capacitive LCDs, however, rely on the interruption of a screen’s electrostatic field by the human finger to detect touch. Resistive LCDs have largely fallen out of favor with OEMs, who now use thinner, more responsive Capacitive LCDs.

Light-Emitting Diodes have been around for quite some time. We’ve been making displays out of them for about a decade, and in that time the technology spawned a number of advancements and subtypes, which are now being used to create smartphone displays. Organic Light-Emitting Diodes use a layer of carbon-based organic material set between an anode and a cathode (these are conducting sheets) set again between two layers of glass. Electricity runs into the two conducting sheets, lighting the carbon sheet and illuminating the display.

Also called MLED or µLED, MicroLED is a new technology that we may see in the future for smartphones. Called such because each pixel is attached to its own LED – and as such is self-illuminating, with no need for a backlight, MicroLEDs are potentially the next evolution in LED display technology. Ars Technica recently reported that Apple may be considering MicroLEDs for future iPhone iterations, which speaks to its potential as a display. While this technology is a few years away from maturation at the earliest, it’s a potentially exciting evolution indeed.

Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode (Yeah, the acronym is getting pretty ridiculous) is the current iteration of OLED technology most used in phones. The signature characteristic, perhaps, of this display is its ability to “turn off” pixels to display true Black. This means display modes like Moto’s Active Display and LG’s Always-On Display – in which most of the screen is off but notifications are displayed in white – literally turn off the display, and only turn on the pixels needed to display those notifications. This allows us to save power while also allowing information at-a-glance.

These screens have excellent color vibrancy, lighter weight, strong battery life, and higher brightness when compared to LCD screens. While AMOLED screens are often receive criticism for having oversaturated colors, that is, perhaps the only true weakness of the technology.

Super AMOLED displays are proprietary Samsung technology. The Korean company licenses it to other OEMs for use on their smartphones in addition to its own phones (like the Galaxy S9). This AMOLED display improves on the capacitive touchscreen technology mentioned above. Super AMOLED screens build the touch-sensitive sensors onto the display itself rather than a separate layer, as in Capacitive screens. As such, it’s the thinnest display on the market – and coveted in a market where thinness is a commodity.

New Delhi: The technology used in mobile displays in the modern day smartphones has progressed significantly. In the era of touchscreen  smartphones, the display technology has become one of its primary selling points, and certainly its most unique feature. Not only we want the touch screens to offer crisp text, vibrant images, blur-free video and enough brightness, we want them at low cost too.

For instance, HTC One uses Super LCD3 tech, in its 4.7in screen which gives a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, with pixel density of 469 pixels per inch (ppi). This results in super display in terms of crispness and colour reproduction. HTC says the SLCD technology gives the phone better power management, improved viewing angles and is easier to produce.

Here we"ve rounded up all the important information about different mobile screen types below, so you"ll know what to look out for on your next phone.

The Thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) technology is the most common display technology used in mobile phones. A variant of liquid crystal display (LCD), the technology uses TFT technology to enhance image quality. It offers better image quality and higher resolutions as compared to earlier generation LCD displays.

IPS LCD Stands for In Plane Switching liquid Crystal Display. This technology offers better display quality as compared to the TFT-LCD display. The good part about IPS LCD is that it offers better viewing angles and consumes less power. Due to higher costs, it is found only on high-end smartphones. Apple uses a high resolution (640x960 pixels) version of IPS LCD in its iPhone 4, which is also called Retina Display.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display technology is much better as compared to the LCD display technology because of its excellent colour reproduction, faster response times, wider viewing angles, higher brightness and extremely light weight designs.

OLEDs are brighter than LEDs and do not require backlighting like LCDs. Since OLEDs do not require backlighting, they consume much less power than LCDs.

Since these display forms are easier to produce, they can be made to larger sizes. Because OLEDs are essentially plastics, they can be made into large, thin sheets.

AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode. A step ahead of OLED screens, the AMOLED screens can control each pixel individuality while maintaining the properties of an OLED panel. AMOLED screens use a different subpixel arrangement which can reduce the image quality a bit.

AMOLED screens have all the attributes of an OLED display like excellent colour reproduction, faster response times, wider viewing angles, higher brightness and extremely light weight designs.

Super AMOLED display technology is an advanced version of AMOLED display. Samsung uses this term for the AMOLED panels that they develop. Super AMOLED  screens are built with capacitive touch sensors on the display itself. Super AMOLED display is much more responsive than an AMOLED display. Samsung top-of-the-line Galaxy SII comes engineered with Super AMOLED display technology. Samsung has already took it"s SMOLED screen to next levels by developing Super AMOLED+, HD Super AMOLED+ and FHD Super AMOLED+ screens.

It is a name given by Apple to the high-resolution screen technology introduced on the iPhone 4 in June 2010. Something is a Retina Display when it offers a density of pixels above 163 pixels per inch. The company calls it the Retina display because its pixels cannot be individually identified by a human eye, thus rendering a super sharp display, more crisp text and more clear pictures.

Retina Display is designed to smooth the jagged edges of pixels are provide a higher-quality image than previously available on mobile devices. Apple claims that its resolution is so good that it makes it impossible for the human eye to distinguish individual pixels. Its effects shows up in text, images and videos.

Color boost is simply Moto"s marketing term for their new display. Although it now uses LCD displays, the company fine-tuned its panels to match the saturation of OLED displays while maintaining the higher performance of LCD. It"s somewhere in the middle ground.

In the era of touchscreen smartphones, TFT LCD display technology has become one of the unique features and primary selling points. Consumers’ device needs and requirements have evolved along with the continuous innovations in technology. Aside from unique features (i.e., touchscreens, crisp text, blur-free video, vibrant images), more and more people now demand mobile devices at low cost. Now, how is this possible?

There are several options available in the market. Here, we’ve rounded up all the things you need to know about TFT LCD module so you’ll know what to look out for on your mobile hunt.

TFT module is suitable for a variety of applications, such as smartphones, game consoles, and navigation systems, among others. It has a low power draw when showing colors, making it easier to see displayed images outdoors.

TFT Display is the most common display technology for mobile phones. TFT LCD enhances image quality, offering better image quality and higher image resolutions compared to earlier LCD display generation.

TFT module is offered in a standard display, resistive touch, and capacitive touch versions. It also comes in a variety of sizes. Mobile devices with TFT LCD display have a full-color RGB mode that showcases rich colors, detailed images, and bright graphics.

This type of touchscreen LCD display module contains two layers of conductive material with a small gap that acts as resistance. Here’s what happens when an object touches the resistive touch screen:

This type relies on sense conductivity to register a touch. This is generally more responsive than resistive touch screen since it doesn’t rely on pressure. However, this fact also limits the number of touch objects. Only an object with conductive properties, such as your fingertip or a stylus, can be sensed by the touchscreen.

It is undeniable that LCD display technology has significantly made its way in our daily lives. Aside from mobile devices, TFT LCD screens are now also being used with computer monitors, television screens, game devices, and more.

Have you ever wonder where TFT derive from?  Why is TFT referred to as LCD?  The phenomenon started in early days, when bulky CRT displays were thing of the past and LCD was its replacement, but as time progresses, there were still room for improvement, which leads to the birth of TFT’s.

TFT is a variant of an LCD which uses thin film transistor technology to improve an image quality, while an LCD is class of displays that uses modulating properties of liquid crystals to form what we call an LCD (liquid crystals display) which in fact does not emits light directly.

Even though LCDs were very energy efficient, light weight and thin in nature, LCD were falling behind to the CRT display, which  then leads to a change in LCD manufacturing, where performance became a big problem.

For example, having a 2001 Mustang vs a 2014 Mustang, the dimensions and engine of the 2014 has been redesign for performance reasons, not mentioning user friendly, so does the LCD to TFT.

Back in the day, wafers were cut to accommodate transistors similar to the way chip makers fabricate silicon wafers with the layout transistors which is known as the masking technique, to produce microprocessor.

As the birth of TFT, the elements are deposited directly on the glass substrate which in fact the main reason for the switch was because TFTs are easier to produce, better performance in terms of adjusting the pixels within the display to get better quality.

LCDs became ineffective over a period of time, almost all aspect of watching a TV, playing video games or using a handheld device to surf the net became daunting, this phenomenon is known as high response time with low motion rate.

Another problem with LCD was crosstalking, in terms of pixelating, this happens when signals of adjacent pixels affects operations or gives an undesired effect to the other pixel.

As TFT’s become very popular throughout the century due to its elaborate low charge associate and outstanding response time, LCDs became a thing of the past, and TFT became the predominant technology with their wider viewing angles and better quality this technology will be around for a long time.

Typically, when scrolling through web pages and specs sheets of many smartphones, users are often faced with a number of confusing terminologies, particularly in the display department. While many smartphone enthusiasts and experts are familiar with these smartphone display technologies, many newbies aren’t.

There are more than four display types used on smartphones, and these displays are relative to the quality of images, colour quality, battery life, and even the price of the device. We explain the tech behind each known display types on smartphones.

LCD is an acronym that stands for Liquid Crystal Display and it is one of the most commonly used display by OEMs on their devices. LCD displays are further categorised into two types on the basis of the technology used to make them. The two types are IPS LCD a