tft display vs lcd display which is better manufacturer
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.
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.
TFT: stands for “thin-film transistor.” They are actually a kind of LCD panel that uses thin film transistor technology to deliver sharper and brighter images. TFT panels also tend to be plastic, meaning they are less susceptible to break or crack on impact with the floor or other hard object. Plastic displays are used on entry-level phones. As you go higher, plastic gets replaced with glass, meaning LCD, IPS, AMOLED, etc.
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.
If you want to buy a new monitor, you might wonder what kind of display technologies I should choose. In today’s market, there are two main types of computer monitors: TFT LCD monitors & IPS monitors.
The word TFT means Thin Film Transistor. It is the technology that is used in LCD displays. We have additional resources if you would like to learn more about what is a TFT Display. This type of LCDs is also categorically referred to as an active-matrix LCD.
These LCDs can hold back some pixels while using other pixels so the LCD screen will be using a very minimum amount of energy to function (to modify the liquid crystal molecules between two electrodes). TFT LCDs have capacitors and transistors. These two elements play a key part in ensuring that the TFT display monitor functions by using a very small amount of energy while still generating vibrant, consistent images.
Industry nomenclature: TFT LCD panels or TFT screens can also be referred to as TN (Twisted Nematic) Type TFT displays or TN panels, or TN screen technology.
IPS (in-plane-switching) technology is like an improvement on the traditional TFT LCD display module in the sense that it has the same basic structure, but has more enhanced features and more widespread usability.
These LCD screens offer vibrant color, high contrast, and clear images at wide viewing angles. At a premium price. This technology is often used in high definition screens such as in gaming or entertainment.
Both TFT display and IPS display are active-matrix displays, neither can’t emit light on their own like OLED displays and have to be used with a back-light of white bright light to generate the picture. Newer panels utilize LED backlight (light-emitting diodes) to generate their light hence utilizing less power and requiring less depth by design. Neither TFT display nor IPS display can produce color, there is a layer of RGB (red, green, blue) color filter in each LCD pixels to produce the color consumers see. If you use a magnifier to inspect your monitor, you will see RGB color in each pixel. With an on/off switch and different level of brightness RGB, we can get many colors.
Winner. IPS TFT screens have around 0.3 milliseconds response time while TN TFT screens responds around 10 milliseconds which makes the latter unsuitable for gaming
Winner. the images that IPS displays create are much more pristine and original than that of the TFT screen. IPS displays do this by making the pixels function in a parallel way. Because of such placing, the pixels can reflect light in a better way, and because of that, you get a better image within the display.
As the display screen made with IPS technology is mostly wide-set, it ensures that the aspect ratio of the screen would be wider. This ensures better visibility and a more realistic viewing experience with a stable effect.
Winner. While the TFT LCD has around 15% more power consumption vs IPS LCD, IPS has a lower transmittance which forces IPS displays to consume more power via backlights. TFT LCD helps battery life.
Normally, high-end products, such as Apple Mac computer monitors and Samsung mobile phones, generally use IPS panels. Some high-end TV and mobile phones even use AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes) displays. This cutting edge technology provides even better color reproduction, clear image quality, better color gamut, less power consumption when compared to LCD technology.
What you need to choose is AMOLED for your TV and mobile phones instead of PMOLED. If you have budget leftover, you can also add touch screen functionality as most of the touch nowadays uses PCAP (Projective Capacitive) touch panel.
This kind of touch technology was first introduced by Steve Jobs in the first-generation iPhone. Of course, a TFT LCD display can always meet the basic needs at the most efficient price. An IPS display can make your monitor standing out.
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.
The short name of TFT:Thin Film Transistor in Chinese. What is the difference between TFT and LCD? Our laptops and desktops now use relatively advanced TFT displays, which consist of LCD pixels and are powered by thin-film transistors integrated behind the pixels. Therefore, the TFT type display screen also belongs to a class of display devices with a source matrix.
TFT type display screen is currently a better LCD color display, TFT type display has many advantages: high responsiveness, high brightness, high contrast, and so on.TFT displays are closest to CRT displays. The TFT screen also often appears on the screen of each big mobile phone, there are 65536 colors, 160,000 colors, 16 million colors three, its display effect is also very good.
TFT means that every LCD pixel on an LCD is driven by a thin-film transistor integrated behind it. Thus can achieve high speed, high brightness, high contrast display screen information, TFT-LCD(thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) is one of the majority of LIQUID crystal displays.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The structure of the LCD is placed in the middle of the two pieces of parallel glass liquid crystal box, the substrate glass set on TFT (thin-film transistor), set the color filter substrate glass on, on the TFT signal, and the voltage change to control the rotation direction of the liquid crystal molecules, so as to achieve control of each pixel display emergent polarized light or not and to achieve. Now THAT LCD has replaced CRT as the mainstream, the price has dropped a lot and become widely available.
The TFT(Thin Film Field-effect Transistor) is a video in which every single pixel in the liquid crystal display is actuated by a Thin Film Transistor embedded in the rear. Thus can achieve high speed, high brightness, high contrast display screen information.
Now we see the TN panel is improved more TN + film, film or compensation film, used to make up for the inadequacy of TN panel viewing angles, the improvement of TN, the visual Angle of the panel up to 160 °, of course, this is the manufacturer in contrast to 10:1 case of limit, actually fall in contrast to 100-1 when the image has been distorted or even partial color.
Color screens of mobile phones vary depending on LCD quality and research and development technology. The types of color screens include STN (CSTN), TFT(LTPS), TFD, UFB, and OLED.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). Generally divided into monochrome and color LCD two kinds, the current monochrome LCD has almost out of the notebook computer market, and color LCD still continues to develop. The color LCD can be divided into two types: STN and TFT. The TFT(Thin Film Transistorized)LCD, also known as the active transistorized Transistor LIQUID crystal display (LCD), is the true-color LIQUID crystal display that many people describe as the Thin Film Transistor.DSTN (Dual Scan Twisted Nematic)LCD, namely double scan LIQUID crystal display. It is a display mode of STN LCD, which is no longer on the market.
What is the difference between TFT and LCD? Read here I believe you have a general understanding and cognition of TFT and LCD, LCD refers to liquid crystal display, TFT is a kind of LCD. The former is for laptops and the latter is for desktop computers. There are several different technologies for LCD, FED, PDP, OLED, TFT-LCD, they are all LCD. Only the desktop with several fronts more, lower cost, TFT technology cost is higher, generally used for notebook, or MOTO, etc., now most of the display is TFT type display, I believe we will pay more attention to the choice and purchase of digital goods.
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.
For years, TFT displays have been the dominating technology in visualization. TFT LCD displays are everywhere in our daily lives; in consumer electronics, health care, communication devices and industry applications. While there are many LCD products in the market, they are not always suitable for every application. This is especially true for industrial TFT LCD. Understanding different requirements between industrial display and consumer TFT LCD, will help determine the best TFT LCD for your application.
Consumer grade TFT LCD like cell phone screen and computer monitor occupy big chunk of LCD market. Due to the nature of consumer market, competitive pricing and quick production cycles, these TFT LCDs are lack of the durability that industrial LCD has. Not like our cell phone screen and computer monitor, industrial LCD displays are used in much challenging environments. For example, an TFT LCD display on production line will face constant vibration, high working temperature. Its endurance to outside condition is a must.
Industrial TFT LCD has very good visibility. Which includes wide viewing angle, so that staff on production line can easily read information from different angles.
Sunlight readable is another important aspect that industrial TFT LCD persists. Many industrial applications are used outdoor, under direct sunlight. And user needs to be able to read what is on LCD screen easily. Topway has years experience on producing sunlight readable TFT LCD by using high brightness LED backlight and low reflectance technologies.
Industrial TFT LCD is made with high quality industrial grade components and material. Only then we could produce high quality TFT display that survives rigid tests like ESD, EMI and aging test, etc. All LCD product from Topway went through strict testings before reaching customers" warehouses.
Industrial TFT LCD has way longer supply commitment than consumer LCD. Ever try to fix a 2~3 years old cell phone"s crack screen? It is very difficult and expensive. Because replacement LCD screen is no longer being made. On the other hand, industrial LCD screen usually is in production for 10 plus years. And most of the time, for Topway anyway, there will be an upgrade model to replace end-of-life product. Thus, our customers won"t need to do much change on their product.
Industrial TFT LCD is a lot better in many areas than consumer one, even they look similar in normal situation. Topway as an industrial TFT LCD manufacturer, has been designing and producing industry grade LCD for more than twenty years. Our commitment on quality and customer service wins Topway friendship and orders. Please feel free to leave us message on your next industry project.
Confused about LED vs. LCD vs. TFT? Here"s everything you need to know. Creating or upgrading a device display or screen can involve a lot of different things, but it often comes down to one major question - what kind of display should you get?
So, there are 3 common displays LED, LCD and TFT available in the market. All terms refer to the flat-panel display, or screen, of a computer monitor or television set. In this article, we are going to differentiate between them. It will help you to choose a better one.
LCD stands for liquid crystal display. Works by adjusting the amount of light blocked. Usually has a backlight but might not (clocks, calculators, Nintendo Gameboy). The green-black ones can be very cheap and are a mature technology. Response time can be slow. An LCD display uses the light balancing qualities of crystals. Today LCDs are used in a great number of products and applications. Your TV, computer screen, calculator, cell phone and the dreaded alarm clock are all made of an LCD flat panel. Color LCDs produce the color based on two techniques: Passive matrix and active matrix. Passive matrix is the cheapest technology of the two. The other technology is called an active matrix or TFT. Active matrix displays produce really sharp and clear images.
This is a type of LCD with a thin film transistor attached to each pixel. All computer LCD screens are TFT since the early 2000s; older ones had slower response times and poorer color. Cost is now very good; power consumption is fairly good but dominated by the backlight. Has to be manufactured out of glass. The TFT layer is embedded in the screen itself, it reduces crosstalk between pixels. Crosstalk happens when a signal sends to a pixel also affects the pixel next to it. This makes the TFT technology the technology offering the best resolution and image quality. It also makes it a bit more expensive. Today TFTs have become the standard when producing LCD screens.
LED stands for a light emitting diode. As the name suggests, emits light rather than blocking it like LCD. Used for red/green/blue/white indicator lights everywhere. Some manufacturers advertise "LED" displays that are TFT screens with a white LED backlight, which is just confusing. Ones that are real LED screens are usually OLED.
Some devices actually have backlights made from Red, Green and Blue LEDs, normally referred to as RGB LED, which tend to have better color reproduction than any other display.
LED screen is just like saying that it is a plastic screen. You still have the WHOLE screen illuminated all the time and LED is "good" only for being more eco-friendly and probably more bright at max setting if you ever need this.
An LCD panel is, in fact, 2 layers of glass with some volume of Liquid Crystal in between. These two form the panel itself. The 2 layers are usually called Color Filter Glass (above) and TFT glass (below).
LCDs can’t completely prevent light from passing through, though, even during dark scenes, so dimming the light source itself aids in creating deeper blacks and more impressive contrast in the picture.
A standard TFT has a whole "lamp" behind it, illuminating the whole screen all the time. This way, you cannot have a true black, as it is still illuminated and stay grayish.
TFTs are a type of active matrix display that controls individual pixel updates several times per second on the screen to update the image relative to the content source.
TFT displays use more electricity than regular LCD screens, so they not only cost more in the first place, but they are also more expensive to operate.
LCDs use fluorescent lights while LEDs use those light emitting diodes. The fluorescent lights in an LCD are always behind the screen. On an LED, the light emitting diodes can be placed either behind the screen or around its edges.
TFT is an abbreviation for Thin Film Transistor, a flat panel display used to improve the operation and utility of LCD screens. In order to portray an appearance to the audience, a liquid crystal display (LCD) utilizes a crystalline-filled fluid to modify rear lighting polarized origin through the use of an electromagnetic force among two relatively thin metal wires such as indium oxide (ITO). However, color TFT displays are associated with this method, which can be employed in both divided and pixelated display systems.
With motion pictures displayed on an LCD, the intrinsic sluggish rate of increase between liquid phases over a significant number of pixel components can be an issue due to capacitance impacts, which can create a blurring of the visuals. Placing a high-velocity LCD control device inside the formation of a thin-film transistor immediately next to the cell component just on a glass screen, the issue of LCD picture speed may be substantially improved, and image blur can be eliminated for all useful purposes entirely.
Organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) are a type of flat light-emitting advanced technologies that are created by interspersing a succession of organic thin sheets over two conducting conductors. An electrical charge causes a brilliant light to be produced when the current flows. AMOLED displays are light-emitting screens that do not require a backlight, making them thinner and more energy-efficient than liquid crystal displays (LCDs) (which will need a white backlight).
AMOLED displays are not only thin and fuel-intensive, but they also deliver the highest image quality available, so they can be made translucent, elastic, bendable, or even rollable and stretchy in the future, allowing for a variety of applications. AMOLEDs are a revolutionary technology in terms of display devices! It is possible to create an AMOLED by sandwiching a sequence of thin films across phase conductors. Electric charge causes a brilliant light to be emitted when the current flows through the coil.
The color display is fantastic. Color intensity, sharpness, and luminance settings that are second to none and can be customized to meet the needs of any application.
Half-Life has been expanded. TFT displays have a far longer half-life than its LED equivalents, and they are available in a number of sizes, which might have an effect on the device"s half-life based on the phone"s usage as well as other variables. Touch panels for TFT screens can be either resistant or capacitance in nature.
As it is more affordable than capacitive, resistive is typically the preferred option. However, capacitive technology is compatible with a wide range of contemporary smartphones and digital gadgets.
Due to the apparent glass panels, there is limited functionality. For instance, there are ineffective for outdoor use because the glass can display glares from its natural lighting)
They rely on backlight to give illumination rather than generating their own light. Hence they require constructed light-creating diodes (LEDs) in their backlit display framework to ensure enough brightness.
Backlighting is unnecessary for AMOLEDs. LCDs produce images by selectively blocking parts of the illumination, whereas AMOLEDs produce light. AMOLEDs utilize less energy than LCDs since they don"t need backlighting. This is critical for battery-powered devices such as phones.
While AMOLED light-emitting sheets are lightweight, the substrate can also be elastic rather than stiff. AMOLED films are not limited to glass-like LEDs and LCDs.
AMOLEDs offer 170-degree ranges of vision. LCDs operate by obscuring the light. Hence they have intrinsic viewing obstacles. In addition, AMOLEDs have a substantially wider viewing spectrum.
AMOLEDs outperform LEDs. Since AMOLED organic coatings are less than LED inorganic crystal levels, AMOLED conducting and particle emitters layers can just be multi-layered. Also, LEDs and LCDs need glass backing, which absorbs light. AMOLEDs don"t need it.
Due to the fact that AMOLED displays inherently emit illumination, they do not need a backlight when used on a monitor screen. Conversely, LCDs require backlights since the liquid crystals themselves are incapable of producing light under their own. Direct light emission from AMOLED displays also allows for the developing of lightweight display devices than others using TFT LCDs.
LCD displays have a higher brightness than AMOLED panels. This is owing to the LCD"s usage of led backlight, which may provide a brilliant illumination of the entire display. Despite the fact that AMOLEDs produce high levels of brilliance from their illumination, they will never be able to match the intensity of LCD lighting.
LCD screens use less power than AMOLED displays, which provides a slight advantage. The amount of energy consumed by AMOLED displays is dependent on the intensity of the screen. Lowered luminance results in lower energy usage, however, it might not be the best solution because the contrast would suffer as a result of the decreased brightness. In some situations, such as when to use an AMOLED device in direct sunlight, it is not an optimal situation.
However, the backlit keys of TFT displays account for the majority of their power usage. TFT screens" efficiency is considerably improved when the backlight is set to a lesser brightness level than the default setting. For example, replacing the light of an LCD TV with just an Led flash will have no effect on the image quality, but will result in lower power usage than replacing the light of an AMOLED TV.
With the exception of phones, numerous other technologies make use of displays to allow customers to engage in direct communication with them. To determine whether or not TFT LCD will be able to withstand the development of AMOLED innovation, we should first review the benefits of LCD technology. The backlighting quality ensures that whites are strong and brightness is superb but will deplete a battery much more quickly than just an AMOLED display. Furthermore, the cost of LCD screens is a considerable consideration. In addition to being less expensive and more easily accessible, they are produced in standard industry sizes, allowing them to be purchased for innovative products with relative ease.
Our new line of 10.1” TFT displays with IPS technology are now available! These 10.1” IPS displays offer three interface options to choose from including RGB, LVDS, and HDMI interface, each with two touchscreen options as capacitive or without a touchscreen.
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.
Let us start with the basics first; refresh the knowledge about TN and LCD displays in general, later we will talk about TFTs (Thin Film Transistors), how they differ from regular monochrome LCD displays. Then we will go on to the ghosting effect, so we will not only discuss the technology behind the construction of the TFT, but also some phenomena, like the ghosting effect, or grayscale inversion, that are important to understand when using an LCD TFT display.
Next, we will look at different technologies of the TFT LCD displays like TN, IPS, VA, and of course about transmissive and transflective LCD displays, because TFT displays also can be transmissive and transflective. In the last part we will talk about backlight.
Let us start with a short review of the most basic liquid crystal cell, which is the TN (twisted nematic) display. On the picture above, we can see that the light can be transmit through the cell or blocked by the liquid crystal cell using voltage. If you want to learn more about monochrome LCD displays and the basics of LCD displays, follow this link.
What is a TFT LCD display and how it is different from a monochrome LCD display? TFT is called an active display. Active, means we have one or more transistors in every cell, in every pixel and in every subpixel. TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, transistors that are very small and very thin and are built into the pixel, so they are not somewhere outside in a controller, but they are in the pixel itself. For example, in a 55-inch TV set, the TFT display contains millions of transistors in the pixels. We do not see them, because they are very small and hidden, if we zoom in, however, we can see them in every corner of each pixel, like on the picture below.
On the picture above we can see subpixels, that are basic RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colors and a black part, with the transistors and electronic circuits. We just need to know that we have pixels, and subpixels, and each subpixel has transistors. This makes the display active, and thus is called the TFT display. TFT displays are usually color displays, but there are also monochrome TFT displays, that are active, and have transistors, but have no colors. The colors in the TFT LCD display are typically added by color filters on each subpixel. Usually the filters are RGB, but we also have RGBW (Red, Green, Blue, White) LCD displays with added subpixels without the filter (White) to make the display brighter.
What is interesting, the white part of the RGB and RGBW screen will look exactly the same from a distance, because the lights are mixed and generate white light, but when we come closer to the screen, we will not see white light at all.
Going a little bit deeper, into the TFT cell, there is a part inside well known to us from the monochrome LCD display Riverdi University lecture. We have a cell, liquid crystal, polarizers, an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) layer for the electrodes, and additionally an electronic circuit. Usually, the electronic circuit consists of one transistor and some capacitors to sustain the pixel state when we switch the pixel OFF and ON. In a TFT LCD display the pixels are much more complicated because apart from building the liquid crystal part, we also need to build an electronic part.
That is why TFT LCD display technologies are very expensive to manufacture. If you are familiar with electronics, you know that the transistor is a kind of switch, and it allows us to switch the pixel ON and OFF. Because it is built into the pixel itself, it can be done very quickly and be very well controlled. We can control the exact state of every pixel not only the ON and OFF states, but also all the states in between. We can switch the light of the cells ON and OFF in several steps. Usually for TFT LCD displays it will be 8-bit steps per color, so we have 256 steps of brightness for every color, and every subpixel. Because we have three subpixels, we have a 24-bit color range, that means over 16 million combinations, we can, at least theoretically, show on our TFT LCD display over 16 million distinct colors using RGB pixels.
Now that we know how the TFT LCD display works, we can now learn some practical things one of which is LCD TFT ghosting. We know how the image is created, but what happens when we have the image on the screen for a prolonged time, and how to prevent it. In LCD displays we have something called LCD ghosting. We do not see it very often, but in some displays this phenomenon still exists.
If some elements of the picture i.e., your company logo is in the same place of the screen for a long period of time, for couple of weeks, months or a year, the crystals will memorize the state and later, when we change the image, we may see some ghosting of those elements. It really depends on many conditions like temperature and even the screen image that we display on the screen for longer periods of time. When you build your application, you can use some techniques to avoid it, like very rapid contrast change and of course to avoid the positioning the same image in the same position for a longer time.
You may have seen this phenomenon already as it is common in every display technology, and even companies like Apple put information on their websites, that users may encounter this phenomenon and how to fix it. It is called image ghosting or image persistence, and even Retina displays are not free of it.
Another issue present in TFT displays, especially TN LCD displays, is grayscale inversion. This is a phenomenon that changes the colors of the screen according to the viewing angle, and it is only one-sided. When buying a TFT LCD display, first we need to check what kind of technology it is. If it is an IPS display, like the Riverdi IPS display line, then we do not need to worry about the grayscale inversion because all the viewing angles will be the same and all of them will be very high, like 80, 85, or 89 degrees. But if you buy a more common or older display technology type, like the TN (twisted nematic) display, you need to think where it will be used, because one viewing angle will be out. It may be sometimes confusing, and you need to be careful as most factories define viewing direction of the screen and mistake this with the greyscale inversion side.
On the picture above, you can see further explanation of the grayscale inversion from Wikipedia. It says that some early panels and also nowadays TN displays, have grayscale inversion not necessary up-down, but it can be any angle, you need to check in the datasheet. The reason technologies like IPS (In-Plane Switching), used in the latest Riverdi displays, or VA, were developed, was to avoid this phenomenon. Also, we do not want to brag, but the Wikipedia definition references our website.
We know already that TN (twisted nematic) displays, suffer from grayscale inversion, which means the display has one viewing side, where the image color suddenly changes. It is tricky, and you need to be careful. On the picture above there is a part of the LCD TFT specification of a TN (twisted nematic) display, that has grayscale inversion, and if we go to this table, we can see the viewing angles. They are defined at 70, 70, 60 and 70 degrees, that is the maximum viewing angle, at which the user can see the image. Normally we may think that 70 degrees is better, so we will choose left and right side to be 70 degrees, and then up and down, and if we do not know the grayscale inversion phenomena, we may put our user on the bottom side which is also 70 degrees. The viewing direction will be then like a 6 o’clock direction, so we call it a 6 o’clock display. But you need to be careful! Looking at the specification, we can see that this display was defined as a 12 o’clock display, so it is best for it to be seen from a 12 o’clock direction. But we can find that the 12 o’clock has a lower viewing angle – 60 degrees. What does it mean? It means that on this side there will be no grayscale inversion. If we go to 40, 50, 60 degrees and even a little bit more, probably we will still see the image properly. Maybe with lower contrast, but the colors will not change. If we go from the bottom, from a 6 o’clock direction where we have the grayscale inversion, after 70 degrees or lower we will see a sudden color change, and of course this is something we want to avoid.
To summarize, when you buy older technology like TN and displays, which are still very popular, and Riverdi is selling them as well, you need to be careful where you put your display. If it is a handheld device, you will see the display from the bottom, but if you put it on a wall, you will see the display from the top, so you need to define it during the design phase, because later it is usually impossible or expensive to change the direction.
We will talk now about the other TFT technologies, that allow us to have wider viewing angles and more vivid colors. The most basic technology for monochrome and TFT LCD displays is twisted nematic (TN). As we already know, this kind of displays have a problem with grayscale inversion. On one side we have a higher retardation and will not get a clear image. That is why we have other technologies like VA (Vertical Alignment), where the liquid crystal is differently organized, and another variation of the TFT technology – IPS which is In-Plane Switching. The VA and IPS LCD displays do not have a problem with the viewing angles, you can see a clear image from all sides.
Nowadays all TV sets, tablets and of course mobile phones are IPS or VA. You can turn them around and see the image clear from all sides. But, for monitor applications the TN technology is still widely used, because the monitor usually is in front of you and most of the time you look directly at it, from top, left or right side, but very rarely from the bottom, so the grayscale inversion viewing angle can be placed there. This technology still is very practical because it is affordable and has some advantages for gamers because it is very fast.
Apart from the different organization of the liquid crystals, we also organize subpixels a little bit differently in a VA and IPS LCD displays. When we look closer at the TN display, we will just see the subpixels with color filters. If we look at the VA or IPS display they will have subpixels of subpixels. The subpixels are divided into smaller parts. In this way we can achieve even wider viewing angles and better colors for the user, but of course, it is more complicated and more expensive to do.
The picture above presents the TN display and grayscale inversion. For IPS or VA technology there is no such effect. The picture will be the same from all the sides we look so these technologies are popular where we need wide viewing angles, and TN is popular where we don’t need that, like in monitors. Other advantages of IPS LCD displays are they give accurate colors, and wide viewing angles. What is also important in practice, in our projects, is that the IPS LCD displays are less susceptible to mechanical force. When we apply mechanical force to the screen, and have an optically bonded touch screen, we push the display as well as squeeze the cells. When we have a TN display, every push on the cell changes the image suddenly, with the IPS LCD displays with in-plane switching, different liquid crystals organization, this effect is lesser. It is not completely removed but it is much less distinct. That is another reason IPS displays are very popular for smartphones, tablets, when we have the touchscreens usually optically bonded.
If we wanted to talk about disadvantages, there is a question mark over it, as some of them may be true, some of them do not rely on real cases, what kind of display, what kind of technology is it. Sometimes the IPS displays can have higher power consumption than others, in many cases however, not. They can be more expensive, but not necessarily. The new IPS panels can cost like TN panels, but IPS panels definitely have a longer response time. Again, it is not a rule, you can make IPS panels that are very fast, faster than TN panels, but if you want the fastest possible display, probably the TN panel will be the fastest. That is why the TN technology is still popular on the gaming market. Of course, you can find a lot of discussions on the internet, which technology is better, but it really depends on what you want to achieve.
Now, let us look at the backlight types. As we see here, on the picture above, we have four distinct types of backlight possible. The most common, 95 or 99 per cent of the TFT LCD displays on the market are the transmissive LCD display type, where we need the backlight from the back. If you remember from our Monochrome LCD Displays lecture, for transmissive LCD displays you need the backlight to be always on. If you switch the backlight off, you will not see anything. The same as for monochrome LCD displays, but less popular for TFT displays, we have the transflective LCD display type. They are not popular because usually for transflective TFT displays, the colors lack in brightness, and the displays are not very practical to use. You can see the screen, but the application is limited. Some transflective LCD displays are used by military, in applications where power consumption is paramount; where you can switch the backlight off and you agree to have lower image quality but still see the image. Power consumption and saving energy is most important in some kind of applications and you can use transflective LCD displays there. The reflective type of LCD displays are almost never used in TFT. There is one technology called Low Power Reflective Displays (LPRD) that is used in TFT but it is not popular. Lastly, we have a variation of reflective displays with frontlight, where we add frontlight to the reflective display and have the image even without external light.
Just a few words about Low Power Reflective Displays (LPRD). This kind of display uses environmental light, ambient light to reflect, and produce some colors. The colors are not perfect, not perfectly clear, but this technology is becoming increasingly popular because it allows to have color displays in battery powered applications. For example, a smartwatch would be a case for that technology, or an electrical bike or scooter, where we can not only have a standard monochrome LCD display but also a TFT LCD color display without the backlight; we can see the image even in
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strong sunlight and not need backlight at all. So, this kind of TFL LCD display technology is getting more and more popular when we have outdoor LCD displays and need a low power consumption.
On the picture above, we have some examples of how transmissive and reflective LCD displays work in the sunlight. If we have a simple image, like a black and white pattern, then on a transmissive LCD display, even with 1000 candela brightness, the image probably will be lower quality than for a reflective LCD display; if we have sunlight, we have very strong light reflections on the surface of the screen. We have talked about contrast in more detail in the lecture Sunlight Readable Displays. So, reflective LCD displays are a better solution for outdoor applications than transmissive LCD displays, where you need a really strong backlight, 1000 candela or more, to be really seen outdoors.
To show you how the backlight of LCD displays is built, we took the picture above. You can see the edge backlight there, where we have LEDs here on the small PCB on the edge, and we have a diffuser that distributes the light to the whole surface of LCD screen.
In addition to the backlight, we have something that is called a frontlight. It is similar to backlight, it also uses the LEDs to put the light into it, but the frontlight needs to be transparent as we have the display behind. On the example on the picture above we can see an e-paper display. The e-paper display is also a TFT display variation, but it is not LCD (liquid crystal), it is a different technology, but the back of the display is the same and it is reflective. The example you see is the Kindle 4 eBook reader. It uses an e-paper display and a frontlight as well, so you can read eBooks even during the night.
Julia Nielsen is a jack-of-all-trades writer, having written for newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs for the last 15 years. When she"s not dabbling in the written world, she"s spending time with her beautiful granddaughter. She loves to hear from readers, especially when they offer chocolate.
The two buzzwords the tech world has been chatting about for a number of years now is IPS, (In-Plane Switching) screen technology used for liquid crystal displays or LCD’s for short, and TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor) an active matrix screen technology, which is more expensive, but a sharper image.
Designed in the 1980’s, but not introduced until nearly a decade later, in 1996, by Hitachi, IPS technology is nothing new, and a type of LCD design that affords greater viewing angles and higher-quality color reproduction than the traditional TN or Twisted Nematic LCDs.
When Apple brought it to the public’s attention, it took off, and as they say, the rest is history; but, it really didn’t become widespread or worldwide until just the late 1990’s. Since then, IPS screens have been implemented in homes all over the world, with variations to suit one’s electronic needs.
TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor) Liquid Crystal Display is a thin display type, where a transistor embedded into each crystal gate; these transistors are then printed on thin-transparent film. The technology was designed to improve image qualities, such as contrast and addressability.
Also designed in the late 1980’s, TFT display technologies is just another variation of LCD displays that offer greater color, contrast, and response times as opposed to available passive matrix LCD’s. One of the primary differences between IPS and TFT display technologies is the cost. IPS is more expensive than TN technology. However, there are some key differences between the two that should be noted.
Before we go into the differences, let’s talk about features of each technology. Note that we’re not talking TVs, computer, or tablets, but screens on a much smaller scale, (think 7” or smaller) which uses different rules to fit that scale. First, it’s interesting to discover that the TFT display technologies is the most common type of color display technology; more monochrome displays still out-sell color, due to lower cost and lower power consumption, however, the narrow poor visibility of TFTs in direct sunlight is their downside; but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
IPS technology has come a long way in regards to cell phones and other LCD screens that are even much smaller. (Picture digital clocks on a radio, microwave, and hand-held games) Some of the features of an IPS screen include:Wider viewing angles – crystals are aligned horizontally rather than vertically, so it allows for better angled viewing, perfect for smaller screens, where you need to rotate the screen for better viewing
Lower power consumption, resulting in longer battery life – again for smaller screens, this works great, because even though this technology requires more power, a smaller screen has less power drain.
Brilliant color image – this is a huge advance in technology, from a Twisted Nematic (TN) display that only produced 6-bit color, to an 8-bit color display with the IPS technology
Variations to help with user’s viewing requirements or desires – there are several different forms of IPS technology: Super-IPS, (S-IPS) Advanced Super IPS, Advanced S-IPS, where the liquid crystal molecules stay parallel to the front and back panels, instead of perpendicular when a voltage is applied
TFT display technologies have developed over the years and have become quite popular in tech circles. The features offered with this advancing technology are:Superior color display – for technology that requires it or for consumers that desire color screens
Features a longer half-life, (half-life is the amount of time in hours before the display is 50% as bright as when it was first turned on), than OLEDs and comes in varying sizes, from under an inch up to over 15 inches
Capacitive Touchscreen or touch panel, which is in the majority of Smartphones and allows for additional functionality, specifically for zooming and scrolling
Aspect ratio control, which refers to a screen’s ability to maintain an aspect ratio of a source image at the hardware level, and 1:1 pixel mapping, used to literally “map” the exact number of pixels specifically in the source resolution to pixels on the screen
Variety of displays, which can be interfaced through a variety of bus types, including 18 and 24 bit for red/green/blue, LVDS, and 8 bit and 16 bit for a CPU – many controllers allow for two or more different types of interfaces on the same TFT screen
Okay, now that we’ve covered the features of both technologies, let’s look at the differences between the two. Before we get into the spec differences, let’s first address the main difference: the arrangement of transistors and liquid crystal. Seems vague, doesn’t it?
Let me explain. As you can see, both have excellent color display and clarity; however, IPS screens offer greater color reproduction and viewing angles because of the way crystal orientation and polarizers are arranged. In a TFT screen, the structure of the crystals results in angular retardation in the light. The IPS screens thus offer less distortion properties. Other differences include power consumption and cost. With IPS screens, it takes more power (up to 15% more) than with a TFT screen. If you’re on a monitor, such as a computer screen that’s bigger than 7 inches, it will drain your battery faster than if you’re on a 3.5” screen. Regarding cost, IPS panels are more expensive to produce than TFT panels.
Here’s why:IPS screens are popular and in high demand with professionals including surgeons and photographers or pretty much any profession that requires color reproduction, therefore, because the demand is high, the price goes up. (way to love economics) Also, less manufactures are building IPS at this time.
The color channels increase from 6 bits (TN displays) to 8 bits (IPS displays) to ensure the precision of shades per color channel, thus increasing manufacturing costs
If you want the benefits of having a Smartphone without a huge price tag, then TFT devices are your best bet. Another difference is that IPS screens have longer response times than TFT screens, so the lag output is greater. A few other key differences to be aware of are that with IPS panels, you get a bigger variety of panels, as was discussed above, with their super, advanced, and so forth developments, giving the consumer options, and IPS screens that can display 24-bit TrueColor; they also stay color-accurate and remain stable.
So, are you ready to delve into the pros and cons of these two technologies? Granted, we’ve touched on their features and differences, but now it’s time to ask yourself, which one is better for me or my business?
Because of their superior color and clarity of images, devices using an IPS screens are easy to install on walls, due to their compact form and low-depth. The Super IPS screens offer a higher angle of 170˚ for better clarity and wider viewing, particularly at night. Images remain stable and clear and not sparkly, shiny, like other screens; they also have a longer battery life and screen life, (on smaller screens of course) because of the lower electrical output. The release of heat is lower, again because of the reduced electrical consumption. The colors are also more vibrant and clear, not pixelated like other lower quality-type devices. As mentioned earlier, there are also many variations of IPS technology to suit your needs and desires.
Now we will go over the downside of IPS screens, which we briefly touched on above, which includes a major disadvantage: cost. If you’re just looking for an average Smartphone or don’t need all the fancy coloring and clarity for LCD displays, then cost may not be a big factor; however, this is the main reason why IPS technology is beginning to come down. As with every new invention, discovery or technology, demand is everything. Another disadvantage is that colors may not always transcribe correctly or accurately, which may or may not be a deterrent. Also, high resolutions are not always readily available for personal applications. In certain circumstances, the brightness may not be enough, especially in darkness.
Steve Jobs said it best: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” I tend to agree with him. With TFT display technologies, less energy consumption is a big deal, especially when dealing with bigger screens, and of course less electricity means lower cost, overall. The visibility is sharper, meaning no geometric distortion, which is great for these tired, old eyes. The response time and physical design of the screens are also appealing. TFT displays can also save space and be placed virtually anywhere in an office or home, because of the brightly lit feature and crisp clear images.
Some cons of TFT screens deal with the viewing angle, which create distortion, resulting in a less-than-perfect image. Static resolution, meaning the resolution can’t be changed, may also cause a problem, but newer models seem to have tackled that issue. The accuracy of the display of colors is not perfect, specifically strong blacks and bright whites, so when printing an image, it may not display the spectrum of colors.
And there you have it. In the future, even this superb technology will change and new, more exciting technology will take its place. But until then, IPS & TFT screens are forging ahead with their own advances and improvements, so stayed tune. You don’t want to miss it.
Focus Display Solutions (www.FocusLCDs.com) offers off-the-shelf Color TFT display technologies in both TN and IPS. Many of the color modules contain built in touch panels.
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Glass substrate with ITO electrodes. The shapes of these electrodes will determine the shapes that will appear when the LCD is switched ON. Vertical ridges etched on the surface are smooth.
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directlybacklight or reflector to produce images in color or monochrome.seven-segment displays, as in a digital clock, are all good examples of devices with these displays. They use the same basic technology, except that arbitrary images are made from a matrix of small pixels, while other displays have larger elements. LCDs can either be normally on (positive) or off (negative), depending on the polarizer arrangement. For example, a character positive LCD with a backlight will have black lettering on a background that is the color of the backlight, and a character negative LCD will have a black background with the letters being of the same color as the backlight. Optical filters are added to white on blue LCDs to give them their characteristic appearance.
LCDs are used in a wide range of applications, including LCD televisions, computer monitors, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, and indoor and outdoor signage. Small LCD screens are common in LCD projectors and portable consumer devices such as digital cameras, watches, digital clocks, calculators, and mobile telephones, including smartphones. LCD screens are also used on consumer electronics products such as DVD players, video game devices and clocks. LCD screens have replaced heavy, bulky cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays in nearly all applications. LCD screens are available in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT and plasma displays, with LCD screens available in sizes ranging from tiny digital watches to very large television receivers. LCDs are slowly being replaced by OLEDs, which can be easily made into different shapes, and have a lower response time, wider color gamut, virtually infinite color contrast and viewing angles, lower weight for a given display size and a slimmer profile (because OLEDs use a single glass or plastic panel whereas LCDs use two glass panels; the thickness of the panels increases with size but the increase is more noticeable on LCDs) and potentially lower power consumption (as the display is only "on" where needed and there is no backlight). OLEDs, however, are more expensive for a given display size due to the very expensive electroluminescent materials or phosphors that they use. Also due to the use of phosphors, OLEDs suffer from screen burn-in and there is currently no way to recycle OLED displays, whereas LCD panels can be recycled, although the technology required to recycle LCDs is not yet widespread. Attempts to maintain the competitiveness of LCDs are quantum dot displays, marketed as SUHD, QLED or Triluminos, which are displays with blue LED backlighting and a Quantum-dot enhancement film (QDEF) that converts part of the blue light into red and green, offering similar performance to an OLED display at a lower price, but the quantum dot layer that gives these displays their characteristics can not yet be recycled.
Since LCD screens do not use phosphors, they rarely suffer image burn-in when a static image is displayed on a screen for a long time, e.g., the table frame for an airline flight schedule on an indoor sign. LCDs are, however, susceptible to image persistence.battery-powered electronic equipment more efficiently than a CRT can be. By 2008, annual sales of televisions with LCD screens exceeded