retina display vs tft lcd pricelist

Several display types are currently used in smartphones, and the most popular touchscreen displays are LCD, TFT, IPS, OLED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED and Retina.

Touchscreen LCDs fall into two categories: resistive or capacitive. Resistive touchscreens react to pressure from a finger, fingernail, stylus or other hard objects. The lack of multi-touch functionality, however, has limited resistive displays mostly to lower-end devices. Capacitive touchscreens, meanwhile, support multi-touch and are designed to react to the touch of a bare finger. This technology can be found in most mid-range to high-end smartphone and tablet displays, and users generally appreciate the smooth swiping motions and intuitive interface.

Thin Film Transistor, aka TFT LCD displays are superior to previous LCDs, delivering higher resolution and better image quality. On the other hand, TFT displays deliver poor visibility in bright light and have narrow viewing angles. This technology is typically found in budget phones or low-end smartphones.

In Plane Switching, aka IPS LCD technology delivers better viewing angles compared with TFT, while also drawing less power to allow for more battery efficiency. IPS displays typically cost more to make, however, and that"s why they"re typically used in higher-quality smartphones that come with a price to match. On the plus side, IPS is the most advanced type of LCD display tech and delivers notably wider viewing angles, extremely accurate color reproduction.

Organic Light-Emitting Diode, aka OLED displays involve a carbon-based material placed in between two conductive sheets, with class plates encasings at the top and bottom. OLED display technology delivers accurate colors, good viewing angles and a rapid response, while also allowing for lightweight and compact designs.

AMOLED, meanwhile, stands for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. AMOLED and Super AMOLED technology is more expensive and is used only in high-end flagships, offering a number of benefits. This display technology delivers bright and vivid colors, great battery efficiency and wide viewing angles, while also allowing for lighter displays.

LCD and AMOLED are the most commonly used display types in current smartphones and tablets. LCDs are backlit, battery efficient, very bright, and extremely precise in displaying the entire color spectrum, which contributed to its wide popularity. AMOLED, however, eliminates the need for backlighting because each sub-pixel creates its own light. Compared to LCD, AMOLED may at times deliver less accurate colors and less visibility in direct sunlight.

Retina displays are also well-known on the market, partly because Apple is behind this technology. Apple developed and deployed Retina displays in a number of its devices, using this technology in conjunction with capacitive touchscreens. Retina displays have stirred lots of waves over the past few years due to their sharp resolution, clear and bright colors, and great accuracy.

Lastly, haptic touchscreens have their place as well on the display market. Nokia and BlackBerry have used haptic technology for some of their enterprise-oriented touchscreen smartphones and generally received positive reviews. Haptic technology basically provides tactile feedback on touch, thus confirming that it registered the touch input. Based on reviews, haptic technology can notably improve user performance and accuracy when typing on a touchscreen.

In addition to the various types of display technology, many smartphones also use Gorilla Glass protection to increase their durability. Gorilla Glass is a tough, protective glass sheet that"s highly resistant to damage. Used on many smartphones from Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and others, Gorilla Glass can provide good protection against scratches, bumps and drops, thus increasing the device"s durability.

Knowing the different types of display technology available can help users make an informed decision when purchasing a smartphone, choosing the one that best suits their needs, budgets and preferences.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The quality of a mobile phone"s display is arguably the most important factor to consider when you establish a relationship with a handset. It"s inescapable, really. Whether you"re playing a rousing game of Robot Unicorn Attack or (regrettably) drunk-dialing an ex, it"s the one interface element that you"re consistently interacting with. It"s your window to the world and your canvas for creation, and if it"s lousy, it"s going to negatively influence everything you see and do. Today, we"re delving into the world of mobile displays, where we"re aiming to entertain and edify, and hopefully save you from making regrettable decisions -- when it comes to purchasing new phones, anyway.

In this edition of Primed, we"ll be examining the different qualities and underlying technologies of several displays, starting with the ubiquitous TFT-LCD and moving through the nascent realm of glasses-free 3D and beyond. We"ll also be addressing the importance of resolution and pixel density. Finally, we"ll be scoping out a handful of upcoming technologies -- while some are thoroughly intriguing, others are just plain wacky. Go ahead... buy the ticket, take the ride, and join us after the break. It"s Primed time.

Generally speaking, two display types rule today"s mobile phones: the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED). While each technology carries a set of strengths and weaknesses, a very important distinction can be drawn between the two. The LCD uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals (LCs), but LCs don"t emit light directly. As such, a light source is necessary for proper viewing. Conversely, the OLED uses organic compounds that illuminate when exposed to electric currents. As backlights aren"t necessary for OLEDs, they"re significantly thinner than traditional LCDs. All things equal, OLED phones should be slimmer than their LCD counterparts, but this isn"t always the case. Take for example the MEDIAS N-04C, which uses a TFT-LCD and measures 7.7mm thin, versus the Galaxy S II, which uses the latest Super AMOLED Plus display and is 8.5mm thick.

The most desirable phone displays today are variants of these two technologies. In the LCD camp, there"s the Super LCD (S-LCD) and the IPS display -- with the latter as the basis for the Retina Display and the NOVA display. Likewise, the OLED territory is filled with options such as Super AMOLED, Super AMOLED Plus and ClearBlack. We"ll discuss the important distinctions between these competing display types shortly, but first let"s develop a fundamental understanding of how these brilliant creations work and how they came to be.

The story of the LCD began in 1888 when cholesterol was extracted from carrots. Think we reached too far back? Not if you"ve ever wondered what liquid crystals are. You see, a botanist named Friedrich Reinitzer discovered this extract had two distinct boiling points and observed the molecule"s ability to transmute from liquid to a crystalline structure in the interim. Even more shocking, the cloudy substance was able to reflect circularly polarized light and rotate the light"s polarization. (This little tidbit will become important when we discuss how LCDs operate.) While liquid crystals appear throughout nature, it wasn"t until 1972 -- when 5CB (4-Cyano-4"-pentylbiphenyl) was synthesized -- that they became commercially viable. A first of its kind, 5CB was chemically stable and entered its nematic phase at room temperature. While there"s actually three phases of liquid crystals, we"re most interested in the nematic one. This describes a state where molecules flow like liquid and self-align in a thread-like helix -- and coincidentally, are easily manipulated with electricity.

Now that you"ve got a little background about liquid crystals, let"s examine how they"re used in LCDs. Let"s start by making a sandwich. As our bread, we"ll take two polarizing filters, one which polarizes light on the horizontal axis and the other on the vertical axis. If we take the slices of bread and hold them up to a light source, nothing is going to pass through. Remember when we said liquid crystals have the ability to rotate light"s polarization? Yeah, they"re a critical ingredient in our sandwich because they determine light"s passage. When nematic crystals are in their natural (or relaxed) state, they form a twisted helix. As light travels through the molecule structure, its polarization is rotated by 90 degrees and light is allowed to pass through the top filter. Conversely, when voltage is applied to the LCs, the helix is broken and light can"t escape the polarizing filters. If you"re keeping score, this is known as the twisted nematic field effect. Going back to the sandwich analogy, the nematic crystals are placed between two layers of transparent electrodes which apply voltage to the liquid crystals. It"s a rather simplistic sandwich, but it describes the fundamentals of how LCDs work. For you visual learners, Bill Hammack does an excellent job of explaining these concepts in the following video.

Now let"s apply this knowledge to the modern TFT-LCD that you"re familiar with. It"s the basis for twisted nematic (TN) and in-plane switching (IPS) displays, and both technologies rely upon the thin film transistor (TFT) for the quick response time and image clarity that we take for granted. Fundamentally, the TFT is a matrix of capacitors and transistors that address the display pixel by pixel -- although at a blistering speed. Every pixel consists of three sub-pixels -- red, green and blue -- each with its own transistor, and a layer of insulated liquid crystals are sandwiched between conductive indium tin oxide layers. Shades are made possible by delivering a partial charge to the underlying LCs, which controls the amount of light that passes through the polarizing filter, thus regulating the intensity of each sub-pixel.

The most common LCD display is based on TN technology, which has been successful due to its relatively inexpensive production costs and fast refresh rates. Many of you will remember the shadow-trail that plagued early LCDs, and faster refresh rates reduce this effect and make the displays better suited for movies and games. Unfortunately, TN displays are famous for exhibiting poor viewing angles and most aren"t capable of showing the entire 24-bit sRGB color gamut. In attempt to mimic the full range of 16.7 million colors, many screens implement a form of dithering to simulate the proper shade. Basic TN screens are hardly fantastic, but they"re also good enough to survive the day without eliciting too many complaints.

IPS displays were created to resolve the long-standing problems of poor viewing angles and color reproduction of their TN counterparts. The fundamental difference between the two technologies is that liquid crystals run parallel to the panel rather than perpendicular. This alignment allows for wider viewing angles and more uniform colors, but at a loss of brightness and contrast. Traditionally, IPS panels were significantly more expensive than TN alternatives, but recent advances have lowered the production cost and improved the brightness and contrast issues. This technology is the basis for Apple"s Retina Display and the NOVA display -- both of which are manufactured by LG.

Another technology that"s gotten plenty of airtime is the Super LCD (S-LCD), which is a display that"s manufactured by a joint-venture between Sony and Samsung. It employs an alternate method to IPS and TN that"s known as super patterned vertical alignment (S-PVA). Here, the liquid crystals have varying orientations, which help colors remain uniform when viewed from greater angles. S-LCDs also feature improved contrast ratios over traditional TN displays, which exposes a greater amount of details in dark images. Further, these displays feature dual sub-pixels that selectively illuminate based on the brightness of the screen. As you can imagine, this provides power-saving benefits, along with refined control of colors on the screen.

Now, let"s take a look at OLEDs, which are a staple of many high-end phones today. As we"ve mentioned, these displays operate without a backlight. Instead, they use electroluminescent organic compounds that emit light when they"re exposed to an electric current. The main advantages of OLEDs include deeper black levels (because there"s no backlight), enhanced contrast ratios, and excellent viewing angles, while drawbacks include reduced brightness and colors that are often over-saturated. OLED screens also suffer an awkward aging effect, where the red, green and blue sub-pixels will deteriorate and lose efficiency at different rates, which causes brightness and color consistency to worsen over time. While improvements are being made, it"s important to understand that this display technology is still relatively immature.

You"re most likely familiar with the active-matrix OLED (AMOLED), which relies on a TFT backplane to switch individual pixels on and off. Coincidentally, active-matrix displays consume significantly less power than their passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) counterparts, which makes them particularly well-suited for mobile devices. These displays are typically manufactured by printing electroluminescent materials onto a substrate, and that relatively simplistic process suggests that OLEDs will ultimately become cheaper and easier to manufacture than LCDs. Shockingly, the most challenging step is the creation of the substrate itself, which remains a difficult and expensive endeavor. Currently, the limited supply and high demand of AMOLED screens has restricted their availability, and you"re most likely to find them in high-end smartphones.

While all screens suffer from reduced visibility in direct sunlight, the original AMOLED screens were particularly vulnerable to this drawback. To resolve this, Samsung introduced the Super AMOLED display. With this new technology, the touch sensors were integrated into the screen itself. Naturally, this allowed for a thinner display, but this also improved brightness by eliminating the extra layer. Additionally, the screen"s reflection of ambient light and power consumption were significantly reduced. While colors were now bright and vibrant -- and acceptable in direct sunlight -- the displays still couldn"t match the crispness and clarity of LCD screens, particularly with respect to text. Samsung"s PenTile matrix is to blame, which is a hallmark of its AMOLED and Super AMOLED displays. Here, a single pixel is composed of two sub-pixels, either red and green, or blue and green, and the green sub-pixel is significantly more narrow than the other two. While the scheme works fine for images because the human eye is more sensitive to green, it makes the anti-aliasing of text rather imprecise, and the end result is a bit blurry. Like Super AMOLED, Nokia"s ClearBlack display was created to make the AMOLED screen more visible in direct sunlight. This was accomplished by adding a polarized filter to the display, which allows the viewer to see through the screen"s reflection and view the images as they would appear under more ideal conditions.

In its most recent incarnation, the Super AMOLED Plus features a traditional three sub-pixels of equal proportion within one pixel, along with an increased sub-pixel count and density. Both of these measures create a display that"s much more crisp, especially when it comes to text. Further, the tighter spacing between pixels results in better visibility under direct sunlight. The new Super AMOLED Plus screens are also thinner and brighter to boot.

By now, you"ve probably had the chance of viewing a glasses-free 3D screen for yourself. Whether you think the feature is cool, gimmicky or annoying -- or, all of the above -- it"s clear that autostereoscopic displays are moving into the mainstream. If you"ve ever wondered what makes this marvel possible, today is your lucky day. First, let"s start with stereoscopic imaging itself. This merely refers to a technique that creates an illusion of depth by presenting two offset images separately to the right and left eye of the viewer. Traditionally, glasses were required to complete the effect, but a creation known as the parallax barrier has done away with that. Essentially, it"s a layer of material placed atop the screen with precision slits that allows each eye to view a different set of pixels. As you"ve likely observed (or at least read about), you"re required to position the display at a very specific angle to properly view the 3D effect. Also, because the parallax barrier effectively blocks half the light emanating from the screen, the backlight is forced to shine twice as bright -- which really kills the battery. Granted, it"s an infant as technology goes, but researchers are already making refinements. For example, MIT"s HR3D is a promising project that touts better viewing angles, brightness and battery life -- largely by increasing the number and varying the orientation of the slits.

So far, we"ve discussed the underlying technologies of mobile displays, but these options are merely one factor for consideration as you select your next phone. Screen resolution is another very important topic, as it determines the amount of content that can be displayed at any given time. Many of you are likely aware of this, but the physical size of a screen conveys nothing about the content that it can display. For example, a 4.5-inch screen with an 800 x 480 resolution actually displays less information than a 3.5-inch screen with a 960 x 640 resolution. These numbers are simply measures of the physical number of pixels positioned vertically and horizontally across the screen. Taking it a step further, the 800 x 480 screen is capable of displaying 384,000 pixels worth of information, while the 960 x 640 screen is capable of displaying 614,400 pixels worth of information. Put simply, a low-res screen simply can"t convey the same amount of content as a high-res alternative.

The most common displays today are generally based around the Wide VGA (WVGA, 800 x 480) standard, and lower-res options include Half VGA (HVGA, 480 x 320) and Quarter VGA (QVGA, 320 x 240). Another variation of this is Full Wide VGA (FWVGA, 854 x 480), which is common to Motorola"s Droid family. Quarter HD (qHD) is an up-and-comer in the mobile industry, with a 960 x 540 resolution, which is one quarter the pixel count of full 1080 HD (1920 x 1080). Lest we not forget Apple"s Retina Display, which measures 960 x 640. As you"ve seen in our reviews, we"re particularly fond of high-res screens, and HVGA really is the minimum that you should accept when purchasing a new phone.

Another component of screen resolution is pixel density, which is the total number of pixels within a physical constraint. It"s calculated in pixels per inch (ppi), which is fundamentally a measure of how tightly pixels are squeezed together. This element was somewhat of an afterthought until Apple introduced the Retina Display, but it has important ramifications for the overall crispness of text and images. While the iPhone 3GS came with a 3.5-inch screen with an HVGA resolution, the iPhone 4 kept this same screen size yet boosted its resolution to 960 x 640. The result was a massive increase in pixel density, which grew from 163ppi in the iPhone 3GS to a staggering 326ppi with the iPhone 4. Of course, these numbers are merely academic until you examine the impact that a high pixel density has upon the overall legibility of small text and clarity of images. As you"d expect, other manufacturers aren"t letting Apple have all the fun in the pixel density war, and we"re seeing particularly exciting developments from Toshiba and Samsung (more on that a bit later).

If you"re interested in calculating pixel density for yourself, you"ll need to start by knowing the display size and screen resolution. From there, you"ll need to determine the diagonal resolution of the screen with a little help from our friend Pythagoras (famous for the Pythagorean theorem). For our purposes, his equation is best expressed as follows:

Now, take the diagonal resolution (in our case, 933 pixels), and divide that by the display size (4-inches). If you"ve done the math properly, you"ll see this particular display has a pixel density of 233ppi. While most smartphones on the market today feature perfectly acceptable pixel densities, this little tidbit could come in handy if you"re looking for the clearest possible display.

Now that we"ve examined display technologies and screen resolution, let"s take a brief moment to discuss touch screens, which are crucial elements for modern smartphones. The dominant touchscreen technology is known as capacitive touch, which receives feedback from your body"s ability to conduct electricity. When you place a finger on the display, the screen"s electrostatic field becomes distorted, and the change in capacitance is registered by the underlying sensor. From there, software is used to react to your input. The beautiful part about a capacitive touchscreen is its ability to register multiple points of contact at the same time, which enables multi-touch functionality such as pinch-to-zoom.

Another type of touchscreen on the market today is known as the resistive touchscreen. It"s generally less expensive to produce and responds to physical force. While there are multiple elements to a resistive screen, the most important are two electrically conductive layers that are separated by a narrow space. When you press on the display, the two layers come into contact with one another, which registers as a change in current. Unfortunately, these added layers reduce the overall brightness of the display and increase the amount of glare reflected from the screen. You"ll generally find resistive touch screens in lower-end smartphones because they don"t support multi-touch, although a few individuals appreciate its ability to receive input from a stylus, gloved fingers or fingernails.

Hopefully we"ve given you a solid overview of the current state of mobile displays, but as you"d expect in an industry that"s rapidly evolving, there"s plenty of exciting possibilities on the horizon. Here"s a few gems that are sure to whet your palate for the future.

Ortustech (a joint-venture between Casio Computer and Toppan Printing) has developed a 4.8-inch screen with full 1080p resolution and a stunning pixel density of 458ppi. While a touchscreen isn"t in the mix, manufacturers understand the appeal of full HD, and we"re seeing the industry continually advancing upon this holy grail. Likewise, Hitachi has announced a 4.5-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 720 resolution that supports glasses-free 3D to boot. Toshiba has introduced a 4-inch contender, also at 720p, with a stunning 367ppi resolution. Samsung isn"t resting on its laurels, either, and is working on mobile displays that will push between 300 and 400ppi -- by 2015, anyway. While this announcement was specifically for tablets, we know Sammy"s smartphones are bound to benefit.

Manufacturers are finding a new take on our mobile phones being a window to the world, as transparent displays are now coming into the fray. TDK began production of a see-through OLED earlier this year, and while we"d be shocked to see this novelty crop up in smartphones, it"s sure to give some added intrigue to the feature phone segment. Whether it can actually save SMS fiends from walking into oncoming traffic is still debatable.

If you find your current smartphone far too rigid, 2012 could be quite a milestone, as Samsung is readying flexible AMOLED displays for production next year. While we plan to see smartphones with large screens that can be folded into a smaller form -- a definite improvement over current hinge-based designs -- we"d love to see an outlandish solution that fully incorporates the flexible spirit.

Take one quick look at your smartphone"s power consumption and it"s painfully obvious that the display is the primary culprit. With projects such as Mirasol and E Ink Triton leading the way, we"re hoping to see a day when color "electronic ink" becomes useful for smartphones. In addition to requiring only a fraction of the power of its illuminated brethren, these displays offer full visibility in direct sunlight. Of course, the need for a light source is a given, and current refresh rates would make for lousy gaming and video playback, but these alternatives are getting better with each new announcement. For those needing maximum battery life at all costs, these displays can"t come soon enough.

Reports suggest that Apple is getting closer to implementing MicroLED in its future product releases, including the Apple Watch, with the display technology potentially offering a number of benefits compared to other methods. AppleInsider explains how the current TFT and OLED display technologies work, and how MicroLED differs.

MicroLED shows promise as a display technology, potentially offering power savings and a reduced screen thickness when put beside current-generation display panels. Apple has recognized the potential, and has invested heavily into developing the technology over the last few years, with a view to using it in the company"s future products.

To understand fully how MicroLED can benefit Apple, it is worth understanding how the commonly-used display technologies work in the first place, before examining how different MicroLED really is in a comparison.

The most common display technology used by consumer products today, and the oldest of the technologies examined in this article, TFT"s full name of TFT LCD stands for Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display. This technology is extensively used by Apple in its products, found in iPads, iPhones, MacBooks, and iMac lines.

The LCD part relates to the concept of defining small translucent or transparent areas in a thin and flexible liquid crystal-filled panel, like the displays used in calculators. Passing current through the segment changes the molecular properties of the defined segment area, allowing it to switch between being see-through or opaque.

TFT takes this a stage further, by effectively covering an entire panel with a grid of isolated liquid crystal segments, which again can vary between opaque and transparent based on the level of electrical current. In this case, there are far more segments needed to make up the display than with a normal calculator.

Polarizing filters on either side of the TFT display sandwich are used to prevent light from passing through directly, with the liquid crystal reaction of each segment affecting polarized light passing through the first filter to go through the second.

Sometimes these types of display are known as "LED," but this somewhat of a misnomer, as this actually refers to the use of Light Emitting Diodes as a light source. The LED backlight shines light through the various layers making up the TFT LCD.

Displays that use collections of LEDs as individual pixels do exist, but it isn"t usually found in consumer products. LED screens are commonly used for billboards, in attractions, and as a large-scale display for events.

TFT LCD screens continue to be widely used in production for a number of reasons. Manufacturers have spent a long time perfecting the production of the display panels to make it as cheap as possible, while its high usage allows it to benefit from economies of scale.

Used in consumer devices in a similar way to TFT LCD, OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) is a display technology that is similar in the basic concept, but differs considerably in its execution. Again, the idea is for a thin panel to be divided up into segments, with charge applied to each section to alter its molecular properties, but that"s where the techniques diverge.

These self-emitting pixels gives OLED a considerable advantage over LCD-based systems in a number of areas. Most obviously, by not needing a backlight, OLED panels can be made far thinner than an equivalent LCD-based display, allowing for the production of thinner devices or more internal area for other components, like a larger battery.

The power efficiency of OLED panels can be far greater, as while a TFT screen requires an always-on backlight, the brightness of OLED pixels themselves determine power usage, with a black pixel consuming no power at all. OLED screens are also faster to respond than LCD displays, making them more useful for VR displays, where response time needs to be as rapid as possible.

This also allows OLED to provide superior contrast ratios compared to TFT, as the lack of backlight bleed-through that occurs in TFT simply doesn"t happen in OLED.

OLED also can be produced on plastic substrates instead of glass, allowing it to be used to create flexible displays. While this is currently embodied in curved and other non-flat screens in some devices, it has the potential to be employed in foldable smartphones or rolled up for storage, an area Apple is also allegedly examining.

Despite the advantages, OLED is still lagging behind TFT in terms of adoption. The cost of production is far higher, in part due to the need for extremely clean environments, as a single speck of dust can potentially ruining a display during fabrication.

OLED panels are also affected by the presence of water, both in production and in use. Small amounts of water contacting the organic substrate can cause immediate damage to the display, rendering parts of the screen useless.

Thought to be the next big thing in display technology, MicroLED basically takes the idea of using LEDs for pixels in a large stadium-style screen and miniaturizes it all.

Using extremely small LEDs, three MicroLEDs are put together to create each pixel, with each subpixel emitting a different color from the usual red, blue, and green selection. As each LED emits light, there is no need for a backlight as used in TFT screens.

MicroLED doesn"t use an organic compound to produce light, making it less susceptible to failure compared to OLED. Just like OLED, it can be applied onto a flexible material, allowing it to be used for curved displays or non-stationary components, like a watch strap, and can result in an extremely thin display panel.

MicroLED offers the same lower power consumption and high contrast ratio benefits as OLED when compared to TFT. However, MicroLED is also capable of producing a far brighter image than OLED, up to 30 times brighter, and is in theory more efficient in converting electricity into light.

As a relatively new and in-development technology, the cost of MicroLED production is extremely high in comparison to the more established OLED and TFT mass production lines, in part due to lower than required yields. Manufacturing equipment vendors have produced hardware for MicroLED production that cuts defects in half and reduces deposition deviance from 3 nanometers down to 1 nanometer, but it is unclear if this is enough to help mass production move forward.

While MicroLED is an attractive proposition for Apple, it is not the only technology under development by the company"s engineers. Apple has previously filed patent applications for a technology described as "Quantum Dot LED and OLED Integration for High Efficiency Displays."

Quantum Dots are photoluminescent particles included in an LED-backed TFT display that can produce brighter and more vibrant colors, with the colors produced depending on their size. While available in current QLED televisions, the technology is only really being used to enhance the backlight, rather than being used to illuminate individual pixels.

The technology in theory can create an even thinner display than OLED, along with a more streamlined manufacturing process. True QD displays are also capable of high pixel densities of up to 1,000ppi, multiple times the density required to be called a Retina-quality display, and based on Apple"s hybrid invention, will also boast the response times of OLED technology.

The QD patent application certainly shows Apple is thinking about display technology in multiple ways, and how it can be applied to future devices, but short of getting firm supply chain information or an official announcement from Apple directly, it is difficult to confirm which direction it will be heading.

Apple has been interested in using the technology for some time now, with the first notable sign being its acquisition of LuxVue in May 2014, alongside assorted related patents. A MicroLED specialist, LuxVue was rumored to have been the display producer for the ill-fated Google Glass headset, but was also the holder of assorted patents in the LED display field, including MicroLED.

At the time, the acquisition was thought to be an attempt by Apple to bring part of its display technology development in-house, with suggestions the MicroLED technology would be used in another rumored-at-the-time device, the Apple Watch. A more recent report suggests Apple is working with TSMC to make small panels for a future premium Apple Watch, potentially starting mass production by the end of the year.

The facility is also claimed to be sufficient in size to perform small scale manufacturing of display panels, allowing the company to keep development and testing in-house without involving third-parties. Considering Apple"s previous history in developing technologies before issuing information to manufacturing partners, it is possible that Apple is trying to work out the kinks in production before suppliers even attempt to make MicroLED panels.

The rumored small screen production may be for the Apple Watch now, but it may also benefit another often-rumored device, namely the VR or AR headset. This type of hardware relies on light components to keep the weight off the user"s head and neck, as well as displays with a high refresh rate and as close to perfect color reproduction as possible.

Apple is also apparently planning to use the technology in larger displays, said to be bigger in size than those in the MacBook Pro lines. This could be an iMac or iMac Pro, or even an external display, but ultimately there"s no real indication of Apple"s plans at this point, regardless of the scale of the screen.

Reports from last year also suggest Apple"s investment in MicroLED was a cause for concern for Samsung, LG, and other South Korean suppliers who provide display panels for the company"s products. Owning the process for MicroLED manufacturing could allow Apple to migrate away from its existing display suppliers in the coming years, reducing revenues and profits.

Aside from Apple"s development, there has been little in the way of announcements from other firms for products using the technology that could be bought by consumers in the coming months. The exception is Samsung, Apple"s main rival in the mobile marketplace and a major supplier of display panels, but its usage of MicroLED is not aimed at producing smaller screens.

The impending use of the technology in a high-priced consumer product could be considered proof that MicroLED display technology is maturing enough for use in devices. If the reports claiming Apple is getting close to mass producing panels is true, the inclusion of MicroLED in the Apple Watch could end up being the first mainstream usage of the technology.

LCD, TFT, IPS, AMOLED, P-OLED, QLED are technologies used to manufacture smartphones’ matrixes, and their list is constantly expanding. Even geeks get confused in these abbreviations, to say nothing of ordinary users. Today we will explain the main points of dissention between some technologies and describe their strong sides and weak sides in everyday words.

There are only two main technologies which are now widely used to produce our smartphones’ displays: LCD and OLED. All other types and names of technologies are simply derived from them. First of all, we need to know about two basic technologies.

The LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) technology is applied everywhere: in TV-sets, monitors, smartphones, etc. Liquid crystals that underlie the technology have two important qualities: fluidity and anisotropy.

This feature is applied to take control of the light conductivity. With the help of transistors, current flows to the LCD-matrix and changes the cristal’s orientation. Then the light overcomes several filters. Finally, we see the pixel of the desired color. It is notable that all LCD-screens require a backlight source. Such sources are divided into external (for example, sunbeams) and built-in (for instance, LEDs) ones.

TN, IPS, PLS and their numerous variations concern to smartphones’ LCD-matrixes. It is necessary to explain the TFT abbreviation. It is used both in isolation and in various combinations like TFT LCD or TFT IPS.

TFT (thin-film transistor) is equipped with the matrix of an active type. The main purpose of it is to control liquid crystals. All modern gadgets with LCD and AMOLED-displays have an active matrix. The passive one is practically not used.

IPS (in-plane switching) is the screen in which crystals do not twist into a spiral when they receive an electric pulse. Instead of it, they rotate perpendicular to their initial positions towards each other. This feature increases the angle to the maximum possible indicator — 178 degrees. Thus, new IPS-displays have almost crowded out old TN. In spite of this, these displays also have some big disadvantages mentioned below.

The “unique” Retina and Super Retina displays in iPhones can not even compare with the technology of matrixes’ manufacturing. It is just a marketing step of the brand. In fact, only simple IPS and OLED-matrixes are used in iPhones and iPads.

Nowadays the difference (in color representation, contrast, angles of views, energy efficiency, speed of work, etc.) between LCD and OLED-screens is swiftly declining. There is only one new notable tendency: LCD-screens are becoming obsolete and inferior to OLED-displays. In turn, OLED-displays are evolving into compact Micro-LED and useful QLED-displays. These technologies are expensive in production. That is why they are still in their infancy. It is quite possible that in the nearest future all our electronic devices will be equipped with only these displays.

The world of smartphones has been busy for the past few months. There have been numerous revolutionary launches with groundbreaking innovations that have the capacity to change the course of the smartphone industry. But the most important attribute of a smartphone is the display, which has been the focus for all prominent players in the mobile phone industry this year.

Samsung came up with its unique 18:5:9 AMOLED display for the Galaxy S8. LG picked up its old trusted IPS LCD unit for the G6’s display. These display units have been familiar to the usual Indian smartphone buyer. Honor, on the other hand, has just unveiled the new Honor 8 Pro for the Indian market that ships with an LTPS LCD display. This has led to wonder how exactly is this technology different from the existing ones and what benefits does it give Honor to craft its flagship smartphone with. Well, let’s find out.

The LCD technology brought in the era of thin displays to screens, making the smartphone possible in the current world. LCD displays are power efficient and work on the principle of blocking light. The liquid crystal in the display unit uses some kind of a backlight, generally a LED backlight or a reflector, to make the picture visible to the viewer. There are two kinds of LCD units – passive matrix LCD that requires more power and the superior active matrix LCD unit, known to people as Thin Film Transistor (TFT) that draws less power.

The early LCD technology couldn’t maintain the colour for wide angle viewing, which led to the development of the In-Plane Switching (IPS) LCD panel. IPS panel arranges and switches the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules of standard LCD display between the glass substrates. This helps it to enhance viewing angles and improve colour reproduction as well. IPS LCD technology is responsible for accelerating the growth of the smartphone market and is the go-to display technology for prominent manufacturers.

The standard LCD display uses amorphous Silicon as the liquid for the display unit as it can be assembled into complex high-current driver circuits. This though restricts the display resolution and adds to overall device temperatures. Therefore, development of the technology led to replacing the amorphous Silicon with Polycrystalline Silicon, which boosted the screen resolution and maintains low temperatures. The larger and more uniform grains of polysilicon allow faster electron movement, resulting in higher resolution and higher refresh rates. It also was found to be cheaper to manufacture due to lower cost of certain key substrates. Therefore, the Low-Temperature PolySilicon (LTPS) LCD screen helps provide larger pixel densities, lower power consumption that standard LCD and controlled temperature ranges.

The AMOLED display technology is in a completely different league. It doesn’t bother with any liquid mechanism or complex grid structures. The panel uses an array of tiny LEDs placed on TFT modules. These LEDs have an organic construction that directly emits light and minimises its loss by eradicating certain filters. Since LEDs are physically different units, they can be asked to switch on and off as per the requirement of the display to form a picture. This is known as the Active Matrix system. Hence, an Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) display can produce deeper blacks by switching off individual LED pixels, resulting in high contrast pictures.

The honest answer is that it depends on the requirement of the user. If you want accurate colours from your display while wanting it to retain its vibrancy for a longer period of time, then any of the two LCD screens are the ideal choice. LTPS LCD display can provide higher picture resolution but deteriorates faster than standard IPS LCD display over time.

An AMOLED display will provide high contrast pictures any time but it too has the tendency to deteriorate faster than LCD panels. Therefore, if you are after greater picture quality, choose LTPS LCD or else settle for AMOLED for a vivid contrast picture experience.

Over the years, there has been a steady growth in the use of smartphones. This has led to the growth of mobile display technologies. The names such as OLED, LCD, touchscreen, retina display, have been making rounds years. AMOLED is a technology derived from OLED, and it has gained immense attention in recent years. Each of the aforementioned technologies have made a big impact owing to their distinct advantages. This post focuses on an ongoing debate on AMOLED vs LCD.

For many people, both these display technologies look the same. The following points will help you understand the basic differences between LCD and AMOLED.

Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) are thin-panel displays that are used in various computers, cell phones, and televisions. These displays use backlight for lighting, and they reproduce light differently than AMOLED. Thin-film transistor (TFT) and in-plane switching (IPS) are two important types of LCD displays used today.

Active-Matrix OLED (AMOLED) is a type of organic light emitting diode (OLED) display that does not require a backlight to assure power savings. These OLED display modules are commonly used for mobile phones and are emerging in the consumer tv market.

Brightness: The backlight on an LCD display helps light up pixels easily, thereby making it easier for users to read on their screens easily. Against this, AMOLED displays have low brightness levels.

Color Presentation: LCD screens are known to portray true to life colors on screen. This gives an actual idea of color to viewers who may not have seen certain things in real. However, AMOLED screens can produce vivid and bright colors with high contract ratios. AMOLED screens can produce true black colors. As no backlight is required, the display can easily power off pixels, which are required to highlight any black portions on the image. When compared, AMOLED display offers a large color gamut than other LCD displays. This is why they are available in warmer hues with a tint of red or yellow color, whereas LCD displays are blue. Yellow hues are soothing to eyes, however, blue lights will help see things in the dark. In short, AMOLED screens allow users to see vibrant colors than original, whereas LCD displays will provide real colors, thereby adding to their viewing experience.

Energy-efficient: LCD displays or screens utilize backlight for smooth operation, whereas AMOLED displays don’t require backlights. The backlight drains out battery life, and your phones may require regular recharging for proper functioning. However, AMOLED displays require no backlight, which makes them energy efficient. Also, you can use a black wallpaper to save energy on AMOLED displays.

Flexibility:AMOLED display modules are a lot more flexible among the two. Curved and circular AMOLED displays are used in many mobile phones and smart wearables. LCD displays cannot be molded or curved like AMOLED or OLED display modules, which limits their utilization in various applications.

Affordability: LCD display panels have been around for a long time, so its manufacturing has been perfected for the mobiles and other devices. Thus, mass volumes of modules can be produced at cheaper prices. However, AMOLED display module production is costlier because the technology is new, still in refinement phases. So, their manufacturing costs are higher than LCD counterparts.

As seen, each technology has its own benefits. After considering the majority of pros and cons it can be easily said that AMOLED displays are preferable than LCD panels if color presentation, battery life, and affordability are major concerns for your application. It is important that you partner with a reliable LCD or OLED display manufacturer like Microtips USA to source these modules. The company also provides custom OLED displays to meet various application

OLED technology has found its way into consumer tech products more and more in recent years. If you were to walk into Best Buy right now, there"s a good chance any given smartphone or TV you pick up would have an OLED display. But what is it, and is it better than LCD?

To keep it simple, if your display is OLED, each pixel in the screen emits its own light. That means black portions of the screen don"t need to be turned on at all, both saving power as well as achieving contrast other displays simply can"t.

These are the biggest differences between the two displays in general. But Apple has designed bigger differences specifically between the XR and the XS and XS Max.

Smartphone display is the main thing a user sees when buying a new mobile device. This is because the display screen happens to interact with the software and do various things. However, the display screen has evolved and today humans have reached the milestone of making flexible screens. There are quite a lot of display types used in mobile phones.

TFT LCDs are supposedly the most common type of display units found in mobile devices. TFT LCD gives you good image quality and higher resolutions compared to earlier generation LCD displays however, in narrow viewing angles and in direct light or sunlight there’s poor visibility.

IPS LCDs are the next level of TFT LCD displays providing wider viewing angles and lower power consumption which leads to much-improved battery life. IPS-LCDs obviously are costlier than normal TFT LCD and hence located only on higher-end smartphones. A higher resolution (640 x 960 pixels) of IPS LCD is found n Apple iPhone 4 which is called Retina Display because of its brilliant picture quality.

This happens to be the newest technology in for displays of mobiles and monitors. As far as the OLED tech is concerned you will find an organic material which is placed between two conducting sheets (an anode and a cathode), which are also put between a glass top plate (seal) and a glass-bottom plate (substrate). The time an n electric pulse passes or is applied between the two conducting sheets, electro-luminescent light is produced directly from the organic material sandwiched between.

AMOLED is a different type of OLED displays for mobiles and are fast gaining popularity in the top-end smartphone segment. AMOLED screens can show us many things that we are present on OLED display like brilliant color reproduction, lightweight, good battery life, proper brightness, etc.

Super AMOLED displays take upon the AMOLED displays and is primarily developed by Samsung. Super AMOLED is constructed with touch sensors placed on the display itself, as opposed to creating a separate touch-sensitive layer (as in capacitive touch screen). This makes it the thinnest display technology on the market. Super AMOLED displays are currently only present in Samsung devices but more phones could use the technology in the future.

When we purchase a new smartphone we go through a list of specifications that includes the processor, software, cameras, display type, battery, etc. The display of the smartphone is something which has always been a concern for people. And smartphone technology has advanced so much in the past decade that you get several display technology options to choose from.

Today, a smartphone is not just a means to send and receive calls and texts. It has become a general necessity, so choosing the right technology should be your main priority. Coming back to displays, as we said there are plenty of display types available right now.

Two of the main contenders for display technologies that are widely available are AMOLED and LCD. Here in this article, we will be comprising AMOLED vs LCD and find out which one is better for you.

Starting with the AMOLED first, it is a part of the OLED display technology but with some more advanced features. To completely know about it must understand its all three components. The first one is LED, “Light Emitting Diode”. Then we have “O” which stands for organic and makes the OLED.

The AMOLED display is similar to the OLED in various factors like high brightness and sharpness, better battery life, colour reproduction, etc. AMOLED display also has a thin film transistor, “TFT” that is attached to each LED with a capacitor.

TFT helps to operate all the pixels in an AMOLED display. This display might have a lot of positives but there are a few negatives too let’s point both of them out.

A major issue with these displays is of burning of pixels. After showing a specific image or colour for a longer period of time, the pixel can get burned. And if there is a problem with a single pixel it will affect the entire display.

Low outdoor visibility, usually the AMOLED Displays are quote not bright in direct sunlight and outdoor readability could be a problem for some devices but average screen brightness.

The LCD stands for “Liquid Crystal Display”, and this display produces colours a lot differently than AMOLED. LCD display uses a dedicated backlight for the light source rather than using individual LED components.

The LCD displays function pretty simply, a series of thin films, transparent mirrors, and some white LED lights that distributes lights across the back of the display.

As we have mentioned, an LCD display always requires a backlight and also a colour filter. The backlight must have to pass through a thin film transistor matrix and a polarizer. So, when you see it, the whole screen will be lit and only a fraction of light gets through. This is the key difference comparing AMOLED vs LCD and this is what differentiates these two display technologies.

The LCD displays are cheaper compared to the AMOLED as there is only one source of light which makes it easier to produce. Most budget smartphones also use LCD displays.

LCD displays have bright whites, the backlight emits lots of light through pixels which makes it easy to read in outdoors. It also shows the “Accurate True to Life” colours, which means it has the colours that reflect the objects of the real world more accurately than others.

LCDs also offer the best viewing angle. Although it may depend on the smartphone you have. But most high-quality LCD displays support great viewing angles without any colour distortion or colour shifting.

The LCD displays can never show the deep blacks like AMOLED. Due to the single backlight, it always has to illuminate the screen making it impossible to show the deep blacks.

The LCDs are also thicker than other displays because of the backlight as it needs more volume. So, LCD smartphones are mostly thicker than AMOLED ones.

Both of these display technologies have their own Pros and Cons. Taking them aside everything ends up with the user preferences as people might have different preferences among different colours and contrast profiles. However, a few factors might help you to decide which one fits perfectly for you.

Let’s start with the pricing. Most AMOLED display smartphones always cost more than an LCD smartphone. Although the trend is changing a bit. But still, if you want to get a good quality AMOLED display you have to go for the flagship devices.

The colors are also very sharp and vibrant with the AMOLED displays. And they look much better than any LCD display. The brightness is something where LCDs stood ahead of the AMOLED display. So using an LCD display outdoors gives much better results.

The last thing is battery consumption, and there is no one near the AMOLED displays in terms of battery. As of now, all smartphones feature a Dark Mode and most of the apps and UI are dark black with a black background. This dark UI on smartphones doesn’t require any other light, it gives the AMOLED displays a boost in battery performance.

Looking at all these factors and comparing AMOLED vs LCD displays, the AMOLED displays are certainly better than the LCDs. Also, the big display OEMs, like Samsung and LG are focusing more the OLED technologies for their future projects. So, it makes sense to look out for AMOLED displays. That being said, if we see further enhancements in the LCD technology in terms of battery efficiency and more, there is no point to cancel them at this moment.

If you are about to buy a new cell phone, you should carefully consider what you expect from the display. Depending on the technology used – LCD or OLED – you will have to deal with different display characteristics. This blog article offers you decision support and background information on both screen technologies.

Even though you will have come across some terms like TFT and AMOLED during your research, there are basically only two types of displays: LCDs and OLEDs. There are various subtypes and developments of both technologies, such as the Retina display or Super AMOLED.

Both technologies are based on thousands of pixels, which together form an image. The better the resolution of your display, the more pixels are in the same area and the less you can see the individual pixels with the naked eye.

The difference between LCD and OLED screens lies in how the individual pixels are made to light up. For an LCD, additional backlighting is needed fto generate an image. With an OLED panel, this is not necessary due to self-luminous diodes.

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. In this screen technology, the image is generated by liquid crystals. An LCD panel always consists of several “layers”, such as the display glass, the electrode layer for voltage generation and the backlight. The image-producing layer consists of liquid crystals.

Each liquid crystal forms a pixel. In turn, this consists of a total of three subpixels: red, green and blue. The liquid crystals and thus each subpixel are individually controlled and regulated by electrical voltage. As a result, a wide range of colors including black and white can be generated for each pixel. The liquid crystal layer must be backlit to produce the colors. This means that the display can never darken completely – which is why there is no real deep black in an LCD.

The abbreviation OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. The name already gives an idea of how this type of screen works: Unlike LCDs, a backlight is not necessary because the diodes can light up themselves. Each diode is therefore its own small light source consisting of red, green and blue subpixels. Depending on which image is to be shown on the display, the intensity of the illumination is changed by electrical voltage. This allows a wide variety of colors to be produced. White is created by the combination of red, green and blue pixels. As a result, it usually appears somewhat darker than on an LCD. On the other hand, black image elements are created by simply leaving the diodes completely off. Thus, the black value of OLED displays is especially good.

Like the LCD, an OLED display also consists of several layers. In addition to the light-emitting diodes, semiconductor layers are needed to control and regulate the diodes.

Based on an LC display with IPS technology (= In-Plane Switching), in which the liquid crystals are arranged next to each other, which improves viewing angle stability and color reproduction

If it is important to you that your smartphone is inexpensive – both in purchase and repair – you should rather go for an LCD. Replacement screens with this technology, such as the iPhone 11, iPhone Xr or Samsung Galaxy A21s, are available at a low price.

If you do not want to miss out on brilliant colors, you should rather opt for an OLED display. The iPhone X and the Galaxy S10, for example, are equipped with them. Be careful when buying replacement parts, though: Many retailers offer you particularly low prices by selling you an LCD instead of an OLED – without telling. Therefore, do not let yourself be lured by a low price, but carefully read the product description to find out more about the replacement screen.

In our store, you can choose between OLED and LCD technology for some Apple displays. This way, you can decide for yourself which variant fits your needs and budget.

Starting in the middle of 2012, Apple began selling most of the MacBook Pro lineups of units with the retina display. This retina display was a departure from the traditional TFT LCD displays that most laptops used at that time, and as a result these new high end displays drastically increased the repair price for the display. MacBook Pro Late 2012 and newer = Starting $400 and goes up.

For the MacBook Air models, screen prices are pretty consistent as Apple in the MacBook Air 13″ model utilized the same display from 2010 through 2017. As a result, you’ll find a little more reasonable repair options for your broken MacBook Air screen.

The new generation of MacBook Air released in 2018 introduced another new display resolution and format.. The pricing varies on these models, but since it has been a few years now, and the screen hasn’t change all that much in specs since 2018, pricing for displays is starting to normalize.

The MacBook 12 Retina was released in 2012 and was a refresh of the traditional MacBook model that was discontinued in 2010. As given by the name, this MacBook also has the high-end retina display, thus creating a higher repair cost average for a display on these MacBooks.

Apple has a very confusing pricing structure for MacBook repairs. They have six different classifications of pricing, and you can easily jump between any one of these tiers with just the smallest detail. The difference could be significant as well. Going from an Flat Rate 1 of $310 on your MacBook Pro 15-inch Retina Touch Bar, all the way up to $1,475 if they deem it a Tier 4.

When you buy a smartphone and while reading the specifications of the phone, you often do not pay attention to the type of phone screen. Screen types abbreviations can be a bit confusing and most people don’t usually take them into consideration due to their ignorance. Don’t worry now we will give you everything