use smartphone lcd as tft display brands

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.

Smartphones are getting wider screens and richer colors, thanks to improvements in LCD and related screen technologies. Subsequently, smartphone makers are competing to provide the best screens with realistic images and videos and the latest high-tech functions. While newer screen displays such as AMOLED and OLED offer higher contrast ratio which results in darker blacks, LCD module displays provide distinct advantages too. Here are the reasons why smartphone makers continue to prefer LCD modules over other alternatives.

LCD module display due to its flexibility. They are used for HD resolution as well as lower resolution properties, thereby, diversifying the products that can be offered to various market segments. Furthermore, an LCD screen or display panel can be curved or flat. And they can include or support different phone features such as ambient light and sensors. LCD can also come in different sizes and provide screens for smaller phones to tablets and wider-screened mobile communication devices. Its durability, despite differences in sizes and numerous functions, is also well-tested which is why it has been the module of choice for both large and small smartphone manufacturers for the past ten years.

Besides flexibility in function and sizes, LCD displays are cheaper compared to OLED and AMOLED modules. LCDs are produced in a cost-efficient manner which enables smartphone makers to offer competitive prices. Price is an important factor especially when a survey noted that majority of its respondents consider the price when making purchasing decisions, apart from screen size and battery life. Most consumers would choose an affordable smartphone over expensive ones regardless of brand. Presently, AMOLED and OLED screens have increased phone prices as can be seen from this article on the iPhone 8 where its price is 50 to 60 percent higher than past LCD models due to the shift from LCD to OLED screens. Choosing LCD over other modules can maintain an attractive price range for price-conscious buyers.

The quest for wide-screened smartphones with rich colors is a continuing process although the boundaries of price-sensitivity for buyers have remained tight. Smartphone makers will continue using LCD modules that offer sufficient flexibility for technological innovations without creating a large dent on final prices. Until alternatives offer the same competitive pricing, large and small smartphone companies will continue choosing LCD modules over expensive counterparts.

Thanks to the worldwide proliferation of smartphones, tiny high-resolution displays are common and cheap. Interfacing these displays with anything besides a phone has been a problem. [twl] has a board that does just that, converting HDMI to something these displays can understand, and providing a framebuffer so these displays can be written to through small microcontrollers.

[twl] is using a rather large FPGA to handle all the conversion from HDMI to the DSI the display understands. He’s using an Xilinx Spartan-6-SLX9, one of the most hobbyist friendly devices that is able to be hand soldered. Also on the board is a little bit of SDRAM for a framebuffer, HDMI input, and a power supply for the LCD and its backlight.

On the things [twl] has in his ‘to-do’ list, porting Doom to run on a cellphone display is obviously right at the top. He also wants to test the drawing commands for the Arduino side of his board, allowing any board with the suffix ~’ino to paint graphics and text on small, cheap, high-resolution displays. That’s a capability that just doesn’t exist with products twice [twl]’s projected BOM, and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

You can check out the demo video of [twl]’s board displaying the output of a Raspberry Pi below. If you look very closely, you’ll notice the boot/default screen for the display adapter is the Hackaday Jolly Wrencher.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the display technology development, we have a lot of display choices for our smartphones, media players, TVs, laptops, tablets, digital cameras, and other such gadgets. The most display technologies we hear are LCD, TFT, OLED, LED, QLED, QNED, MicroLED, Mini LED etc. The following, we will focus on two of the most popular display technologies in the market: TFT Displays and Super AMOLED Displays.

TFT means Thin-Film Transistor. TFT is the variant of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs). There are several types of TFT displays: TN (Twisted Nematic) based TFT display, IPS (In-Plane Switching) displays. As the former can’t compete with Super AMOLED in display quality, we will mainly focus on using IPS TFT displays.

OLED means Organic Light-Emitting Diode. There are also several types of OLED, PMOLED (Passive Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) and AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode). It is the same reason that PMOLED can’t compete with IPS TFT displays. We pick the best in OLED displays: Super AMOLED to compete with the LCD best: IPS TFT Display.

If you have any questions about Orient Display displays and touch panels. Please feel free to contact: Sales Inquiries, Customer Service or Technical Support.

TFT stands for thin-film transistor, which means that each pixel in the device has a thin-film transistor attached to it. Transistors are activated by electrical currents that make contact with the pixels to produce impeccable image quality on the screen. Here are some important features of TFT displays.Excellent Colour Display.Top notch colour contrast, clarity, and brightness settings that can be adjusted to accommodate specific application requirements.Extended Half-Life.TFT displays boast a much higher half-life than their LED counterparts and they also come in a variety of size configurations that can impact the device’s half-life depending on usage and other factors.TFT displays can have either resistive or capacitive touch panels.Resistive is usually the standard because it comes at a lower price point, but you can also opt for capacitive which is compatible with most modern smartphones and other devices.TFT displays offer exceptional aspect ratio control.Aspect ratio control contributes to better image clarity and quality by mapping out the number of pixels that are in the source image compared to the resolution pixels on the screen.Monitor ghosting doesn’t occur on TFT displays.This is when a moving image or object has blurry pixels following it across the screen, resembling a ghost.

TFT displays are incredibly versatile.The offer a number of different interface options that are compatible with various devices and accommodate the technical capabilities of all users.

There are two main types of TFT LCD displays:· Twisted nematic TFT LCDs are an older model. They have limited colour options and use 6 bits per each blue, red, and green channel.

In-plane switching TFT LCDs are a newer model. Originally introduced in the 1990s by Hitachi, in-plane switching TFT LCDs consist of moving liquid pixels that move in contrast or opposite the plane of the display, rather than alongside it.

The type of TFT LCD monitor or industrial display you choose to purchase will depend on the specifications of your application or project. Here are a few important factors to consider when selecting an appropriate TFT LCD display technology:Life expectancy/battery life.Depending on the length of ongoing use and the duration of your project, you’re going to want to choose a device that can last a long time while maintaining quality usage.

Touch type and accuracy.What type of activities are you planning on using your device for? If it’s for extended outdoor use, then you should go with projected capacitive touch as this is more precise and accurate. Touch accuracy is important for industrial and commercial applications.

Image clarity.Some TFT displays feature infrared touchscreens, while others are layered. The former is preferable, especially in poor lighting conditions or for outdoor and industrial applications, because there’s no overlay and therefore no obstructions to light emittance.

The environmental conditions make a difference in operation and image clarity. When choosing a TFT for outdoor or industrial applications, be sure to choose one that can withstand various environmental elements like dust, wind, moisture, dirt, and even sunlight.

As a leading manufacturer and distributor of high-quality digital displays in North America, Nauticomp Inc. can provide custom TFT LCD monitor solutions that are suitable for a multitude of industrial and commercial indoor and outdoor applications. Contact us today to learn more.

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.

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.

Nauticomp Inc.provides world-class fully customizable touchscreen displays for commercial and industrial settings. With features like sunlight readability, brightness adjustability, infrared lighting, full backlighting, all-weather capabilities, etc., our displays are second to none. Contact us today to learn more.

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.

The adoption of LCD technology in vehicular displays has happened quite quickly and smart displays have by now pretty much replaced the mechanical dashboards of yesteryears in cars. In an interview with our team, Rei Tjoeng from Sharp Devices revealed some interesting information regarding automotive-grade LCDs, the recent trends, and specific characteristics that make some LCD displays different from the others available in the market.

A. Adoption of TFT in 2-wheeler cluster applications has increased in a big way. The global automotive industry is widely believed to be on the cusp of tremendous change in terms of manufacturing, sales, and the overall business model, owing to the rapid advances in new-age technologies such as autonomous driving, augmented reality, and big data.

Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)—such as parking assistance, forward collision, lane-departure warnings, and blind-spot monitoring—are frequently hailed as the technologies that will usher us into an age of autonomous transportation, but drivers are still either untrusting or too trusting of these features. This has led to an evolution of sorts in the in-car user experience interfaces, and more so with the way automotive display makers are developing new products.

The future for ergonomic conformal displays, display-based dash, central console, in-door wing mirrors, and transparent displays that offer unobtrusive visual information during journeys is bright. Head-up displays are fast gaining popularity as an ideal interface for disseminating crucial information such as navigation messages, vehicle speed, and warnings.

A. Yes, reflective LCDs, which use ambient light to reflect in order to read. In 2W cluster applications, where TFT is exposed to direct sunlight, readability is a major issue. Sharp Reflective LCD is a solution as visibility is crystal clear without any glare and is available in colour too. Equipped with a backlight, it can be used at night also.

Normal TFT has to pump more power through the backlight, which results in more power consumption and backlight life also gets affected to a large extent. This reflective LCD consumes very little power and could be the best fit-in product for the EV segment.

Q. One of the first fears that come to one’s mind when we see a large tablet-like display in cars is of its breaking. But what is the actual risk of these screens breaking?

A. The market is now shifting to large-size TFT displays in the automotive segment. These displays are automotive-grade LCDs and are tested for shock, vibration, high and low temperature, etc. For more protection and safety, glass bonding is done over TFT. Glass bonding with a cover glass on the LCD protects it from shock, as the hardened adhesive behind the glass acts as a shock absorber. Shakes and shocks are less likely to damage the display and glass, making this an important benefit for transportation applications. In the unlikely event that the glass is damaged, shards of broken glass will remain stuck to the optical adhesive.

Q. Reflection or glaring sunlight sometimes makes it difficult to read the displays. Any innovation introduced recently, or underway, that may solve this issue?

A. Reflective LCD and Progressive Super View are the two technologies which are effective under high ambient light. In progressive super view technology, internal and external reflection is cut down, which results in a clear view without glare. And the beauty of this technology is that it happens without pumping more power from the backlight. This helps in more lifetime of the backlight and less power consumption.

Reflective LCD is another technology that uses ambient light to reflect in order to read, hence there is more clarity under sunlight and very less power is needed. It is more beneficial for EV applications.

A. Automotive-grade LCDs have strict requirements. The LCD must remain working during the extreme environment, for example, Indian summertime. For example, our LCDs are tested for storage temperature of -40 to 95°C and operating temperature of -30 to 85°C.

From a design engineer’s perspective, what are the top factors—besides the obvious ones like price, size, brand, after-support, etc—that should be borne in mind while selecting the right LCD panel?

There are a few LCD specs the design engineers need to consider at high priority when they select the LCD. The first specification will be the screen size and aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is the ratio between the length and width of the LCD. Some common ratios are 4:3, 5:4, 16:9, and so on. Of course, sometimes marketing people will also consider these specs as they will affect the whole outlook and design of the product.

Then the engineer may need to consider the LCD’s resolution and interface, whether they are matching with the motherboard. If the product is a semi-outdoor or outdoor application, then the engineer needs to also check the LCD’s brightness and operating temperature range, because these are very important specs if the product is located in the sunshine.

A. The smartphone has become very popular in recent years and it is influencing the engineers’ design. We saw some EV companies use the smartphone LCD as the cluster or GPS display for their first-generation products. The smartphone LCD is nice but, unfortunately, it is not designed for automotive applications, especially not for 2-wheeler outdoor usage. When the 2-wheeler is under the sunshine, the driver can barely see anything from the smartphone LCD. And, also, the smartphone LCD’s lifetime becomes much shorter under the automotive application scenario.

A. Sharp Singapore has been in this region for many years. We understand our customers. First, our team will get the customer’s requirements from both the marketing and engineering sides. We will check the customer’s motherboard’s graphics capability, display interface, and other necessary technical details. We will propose the best suitable LCDs to the customer and explain the reason. We will explain what we observe from the market trend and help the customer to know the best options.

LCD samples and demo kits are available for the engineers to see the actual performance. There is also technical support available to help the design engineers to evaluate the LCD and design-in the LCD.

Q. Do you have some form of sampling programme for them to receive samples during their prototyping stages? Do you have development or evaluation kits for your LCD displays?

A. Sharp Singapore understands that samples and evaluation kits are important in the project’s early stage. Evaluation kits are available for the engineer to evaluate the LCD performance during the proof of concept stage. Then we will provide sample LCDs for the customer’s prototype builds.

A. We have salespersons stationed in India at New Delhi and Bangalore. They are working closely with the customers’ design engineers. There are technical support persons in Singapore and Japan. Our Indian team can support the customer onsite and bridge as technical person effectively between India and Singapore.

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There are many different kinds of displays used on mobile phones these days with different manufacturers offering alternative display technologies on their handsets.

Manufacturers often claim that their technology is ‘the best’ and that it is ‘revolutionary’ but as you’ll see in this blog many of the displays have their own pros and cons.

It’s very important as you’ll spend pretty much all of your time looking at the screen when interacting with your handset of choice. It’s down to this fact that the display aspect of the handset market is particularly diverse.

TFT LCD is a variant of the standard LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), TFT LCD uses thin film transistors and runs as an active matrix LCD. This means that every pixel is connected to a capacitor or transistor which can control the state of the pixel.

Pixels are the smallest controllable element of a picture and they are arranged in a two dimensional grid on a flat plane. In today’s market most LCD displays are TFT LCD – they are the most common mobile phone displays used and are often referred to as ‘LCD displays’ rather than TFT LCD, so when you see a mobile handset, TV or PC monitor that states it has an LCD display you’ll know that it is really a TFT LCD.

The science behind the displays is pretty neat, even though they are (technologically) one of the simplest forms of display they are still surprisingly complex as shown in the following video.

As the video explains, light is filtered through a polarising filter and is then ‘twisted’ to fit through another filter – this happens once the pixels are twisted at 90 degrees (or to match the second polarising plane). The twist can be switched on and off depending on whether or not a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal display.

This activation and twisting of liquid crystals is known as the Twisted Nematic (TN) effect. It is this effect that forms the difference between Conventional Twisted Nematic and IPS-LCD as outlined with our next display type.

The TN display will have very fast refresh rates and a good response time which will result in less ‘ghosting’ of images, however TN displays suffer from extremely limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction. When viewed from the side colours will shift when viewed off-perpendicular and in the vertical direction, colours will shift so much that they will invert past a certain angle.

IPS stands for ‘In-plane switching and is considered to be the offspring of the TFT LCD. An IPS-LCD display will have a higher quality resolution and wider viewing angles when compared with a TFT display.

Due to the increased load based on the larger number of capacitors, a stronger backlight is then needed – this will increase power draw but results in increased viewing angles and more accurate colour representation.

The technical difference between an IPS-LCD and a TFT LCD is as follows, a TFT LCD relies on an effect called Twisted Nematics, each ‘Liquid Crystal’ will be rotated so that it lies perpendicular to a polarising filter. This happens when a voltage is passed through the length of the area between polarising filters as shown in the image below.

In-phase switching differs in that, instead of passing the voltage or ‘electrical field along all liquid crystals, an electrical field is passed through each end of the liquid crystals individually – this is called a ‘lateral electric field’.

The pros of using an IPS-LCD display are that the colour representation will be a lot better and the viewing angles are increased substantially over a TFT LCD, however there will be a larger power draw so battery life and power consumption can be issues if IPS screens are employed on devices like notebook computers plus IPS displays have a longer response time than TN panels.

Super LCD is a further enhancement of LCD technology. Super LCD displays (unlike LCD) have no air gap between the outer glass and inner display - this helps to reduce the amount of reflected light, perfect for increasing visibility when used outdoors due to less glare coming off the screen.

As there is no air gap between the outer glass and inner display the images on screen can appear to be closer to the user with images appearing to be on the glass screen rather than sunken into the handset. This helps to give SLCD displays excellent viewing angles with no loss of colour representation of brightness.

Another bonus is that these displays use less power than a ‘traditional’ LCD screen, plus SLCD displays can give you great screen brightness as you can always install a more powerful backlight.

There is one disadvantage behind this however as the backlight in an LCD display is always turned on - this can lead to improper ‘Blacks’ on screen. The contrast ratios (when compared to AMOLED) can also be effected as the screen brightness suffers when you increase colour saturation, these issues have been eliminated though with improved IPS display advancements.

Over the last few years handset manufacturers have started returning to the use of SLCD screen over AMOLED mainly due to the expense and lack of production capacity of AMOLED displays.

Handset manufacturers like HTC mostly use SLCD displays on their handsets and have chosen to use Super LCD3 with one of their latest handsets the HTC One (M8).

AMOLED display technology has been used in mobile phones, digital cameras and media players since 2010 but really only became mainstream around 2012. There are also certain manufacturers who have started using OLED technology in TVs.

Many smartphone manufacturers have decided to use AMOLED at some point but Samsung have used this display type almost exclusively for the last few years, so much so that ‘SAMOLED or Super AMOLED’ has been a term used for any AMOLED display used on a Samsung handset (more on Super AMOLED later).

An ‘Active-Matrix’ is a type of ‘addressing scheme’ that is used in flat panel displays. With this style of addressing scheme each pixel is actively maintained by an attached capacitor or transistor that govern the pixel state while other pixels are being addressed.

The OLED part describes the use of a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which an emissive electroluminescent film made of organic compounds is activated in response to an electric current.

AMOLED displays operate without a backlight so can give you deeper, richer Blacks than other display models. The Blacks that you see when looking at an AMOLED screen are really just the scree when it is turned off. An AMOLED display doesn’t need to ‘light up’ the pixels to display Blacks, they can just choose to not switch on the pixels where Blacks are required.

Due to the fact that AMOLED displays do not use backlights and when displaying Blacks the pixels receive no power these types of screen have fantastic power consumption which helps with battery life.

So despite the fact that some manufacturers are returning to SLCD displays due to lack of production capacity and expenses of AMOLED displays have better power consumption and viewing angles when compared with TFT LCD.

This brings us up to the latest iteration of OLED displays; the Full HD Super AMOLED display which is the latest iteration of the OLED display series.

This type of screen uses a new pixel arrangement called the “Diamond Pixel” arrangement – it has a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 180 with 441ppi, it also delivers the best colour gamut with 97 per cent of the Adobe RGB colour space, which is impressive!

Anyone who has used or seen an Apple product manufactured after June 24th 2010 will be familiar with the Retina display. Originally released on the iPhone 4 the Retina Display has been used on nearly every Apple device since.

Retina displays are so called as there is a bit of science wizardry taking place with the screens that relates to the way an eye perceived pixels at differing distances.

These displays have so high a pixel density that within a certain distance the human eye cannot resolve the individual pixels. In layman’s terms, the correct ppi (pixels per inch) for a particular screen size will result in displays that appear to be pixilation free when viewed at the correct distance.

Apple have placed a lot of faith in user interaction with this technology, for instance a mobile phone when held in the hand is probably held closer to the face than an iPad - which would probably be held away at a further distance.

It really is rather clever of Apple to think this way, a lot of thought has been put into how users interact with their devices and only Apple would really have created that link between screen size and user distance from said screen. While it seems obvious to us when spelt out Apple got there on their own and this goes to show why the company is still innovating and creating great hardware.

Over the course of the next 100 years, Nokia continued to revolutionise various industries around the world ranging from electricity generation, rubber products, footwear, cable works and then in 1960 the electronics section of the cable division was founded and the production of its first electronic devices began in 1962

That’s enough of the history lesson about Nokia (who knew about all of that?), needless to say that Nokia started dealing with mobile handsets and have invented quite a few iconic handsets since they started (Nokia 3310 anyone?) and then a few ‘alternative’ handsets like the Nokia N-Gage and Nokia 7280 alternatively known as the ‘lipstick phone’.

Continuing on with the theme of Nokia’s innovations we’re finally onto their prized screen tech the ‘Nokia Clear Black Display’. This display type minimises the amount of reflected light coming from your handsets screen by utilising polarising filters.

Polarising is the action of restricting light waves in a particular plane of space, it can also be seen as allowing certain light waves entrance through a slit with only the waves that are properly aligned with the opening being able to pass through.

br /> If you angle two polarising filters at 90 degrees to each other no light will be able to pass through the second filter (sounds vaguely similar to the Twisted Nematic (TN) effect mentioned above right?).

This method of ‘filtering’ is what forms the basis of Nokia’s Clear Black display, by eliminating the amount of light that bounces back off the screen you improve the quality of visibility and also gain darker Blacks in the process.

Enhanced outdoor visibility is the major plus to using Clear Black displays, by using multiple polarisation layers to eliminate reflections you don’t need to pump up the screen brightness when outdoors to compensate for glare which will help to save on power consumption which in turn helps to save battery life.

Nokia have used the Clear Black displays on their popular Lumia range of handsets and it appears that they will continue to use this display type for a long time or until they can invent something better to use.

We’ve covered pretty much every screen type that is being used in the mainstream market today from AMOLED to TFT LCD and everything in-between. The mobile handset market moves along so rapidly with new technologies being found and released perhaps every 6 months or so, however screen technology has remained rather stable over the last few years with no real leaps forwards in terms of outstanding new ways to manufacture a display.

Who knows, perhaps in the next few years we’ll see another jump forward in the way in which we interact with our mobile and handheld devices but until then as far as current limitations go is one type of screen better than the other?

We’d be inclined to say no – it all comes down to the end users and their needs, after all they are the ones who are looking at the display and know their likes and dislikes. One user may require a super sharp screen with great viewing angles while another may need a display that looks great when viewed in direct sunlight.

One thing we do know for sure however is that there has never been a more diverse mobile market than there is right now with something out there to suit everyone, be it a slick intelligent smartphone or a rugged rough-and-ready tough phone.

The smartphone display is today one of the most important elements of any new mobile device. With nearly all new phones using touchscreen technologies, the display is more than just a window full of words and pictures, it"s the way we interact with the technology we keep closest to ourselves.

If you are shopping for a new smartphone this year, there"s a good chance the quality of your new phone"s screen will be one of the deciding factors between competing models. Below we take a closer look at the main elements of today"s best smartphone displays.

Smartphone displays, like notebooks and tablets, are all based on LCD technologies. LCD has a fast refresh rate, which makes it great for mobile technologies that require bright displays with low power consumption.

TFT LCD — thin film transistor displays are easily the most common in smartphones at this time, though manufacturers are paving the way for newer, better performing screen technologies. TFT LCDs are often used in notebook displays as well.

AMOLED — active matrix organic light emitting diode is one of the prominent up and coming display technologies looking to take over from TFT displays.

AMOLED screens are visibly more colourful than TFT displays and have a lower power consumption with thanks to the intriguing fact that the colour black is produced by the OLED being switched off. AMOLED screens have been used by Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Dell to name a few, and continue to be in high demand.

Super AMOLED — Samsung has positioned itself at the forefront of mobile display technologies producing its "Super" variant on the AMOLED display. By combining the touch panel and the top layer of glass, Samsung has created a screen that is visibly more vibrant than previous AMOLED screens.

Super LCD — another contender for screen dominance is Super LCD. A variant of traditional LCD technologies, SLCD offers better contrast and warmer colours than older LCD displays, but is said to drain more power than AMOLED displays.

IPS — in-plane switching smartphone screens are characterised by vibrant colours and excellent off-axis viewing angles. IPS screens are typically more expensive, but the result is a screen you can see clearly from any angle. Apple recently employed IPS technology in the LCD display of the iPad and iPhone 4. This year, look out for LG to join Apple in producing smartphones with IPS screens.

Capacitive — the preferred technology, capacitive touchscreens, are almost always more responsive to user input and allow for the use of multi-touch technologies. Simply put, capacitive touchscreens transfer a small charge of energy from the display to the user"s finger when contact is made and the software calculates which specific area of the screen has changed its charge. For this reason only, parts of the human body (or similar materials) can be used on touchscreens, a restriction that can make character-based text input, like Asian languages, more difficult.

Resistive — this technology is comprised of two very thin layers of metal under the glass of a phone"s display which collect location data when they are pressed together. This requires the user to apply pressure and often results in a less responsive user experience.

Aside from the appearance of a screen, the two most important measurements to consider are the size (typically measured diagonally in inches) and the resolution, or how many pixels the screen displays. The resolution of a screen is often referred to as a variant of the classic VGA resolution (640x480 pixels), but we"re also seeing companies starting refer to resolution in terms of it as a fraction of full high definition, or 1920x1080 pixels.

These figures only start to mean something when you compare them next to screens of the same size. For instance, a 4-inch QVGA screen will look considerably less appealing than a 4-inch WVGA screen because it has far fewer pixels to cover the same area. These pixels will be visible to the naked eye, while the pixels on the screen with the higher resolution will appear to seamlessly blend together. Though there are many areas in technology where bigger is not necessarily better, screen resolution is not one of them; the more pixels, the better the picture.

The new line of 3.5” TFT displays with IPS technology is now available! Three touchscreen options are available: capacitive, resistive, or without a touchscreen.