lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

2023-01-03 12:32:11

So, why would anyone ever buy a TN panel? For starters, they’re cheap. They don’t cost a lot to produce, so they’re often used in the most budget-friendly options. If you don’t value color reproduction or need excellent viewing angles, a TN panel might be fine for your office or study.

TN panels also have the lowest input lag—typically around one millisecond. They can also handle high refresh rates of up to 240 Hz. This makes them an attractive option for competitive multiplayer games—especially eSports, where every split-second counts.

IPS technology was developed to improve upon the limitations of TN panels—most notably, the poor color reproduction and limited viewing angles. As a result, IPS panels are much better than TNs in both of these areas.

In particular, IPS panels have vastly superior viewing angles than TNs. This means you can view IPS panels from extreme angles and still get accurate color reproduction. Unlike TNs, you’ll notice very little shift in color when you view one from a less-than-ideal perspective.

IPS panels are also known for their relatively good black reproduction, which helps eliminate the “washed out” look you get with TN panels. However, IPS panels fall short of the excellent contrast ratios you’ll find on VAs.

While high refresh rates were typically reserved for TNs, more manufacturers are producing IPS panels with refresh rates of 240 Hz. For example, the 27-inch 1080p ASUS VG279QM uses an IPS panel and supports 280 Hz.

Previously, TNs exhibited less input lag than any other panel, but IPS technology has finally caught up. In June 2019, LG announced its new Nano IPS UltraGear monitors with a response time of one millisecond.

Despite the gap being closed, you’ll still pay more for an IPS panel with such a low response time than you would for a TN with similar specs. If you’re on a budget, expect a response time of around four milliseconds for a good IPS monitor.

One last thing to be aware of with IPS panels is a phenomenon called “IPS glow.” It’s when you see the display’s backlight shining through it at more extreme viewing angles. It’s not a huge problem unless you view the panel from the side, but it’s something to keep in mind.

VA panels are something of a compromise between TN and IPS. They offer the best contrast ratios, which is why TV manufacturers use them extensively. While an IPS monitor typically has a contrast ratio of 1000:1, it’s not unusual to see 3000:1 or 6000:1 in a comparable VA panel.

In terms of viewing angles, VAs can’t quite match the performance of IPS panels. Screen brightness, in particular, can vary based on the angle from which you’re viewing, but you won’t get the “IPS glow.”

VAs have slower response times than TNs and the newer Nano IPS panels with their one-millisecond response rates. You can find VA monitors with high refresh rates (240 Hz), but the latency can result in more ghosting and motion blur. For this reason, competitive gamers should avoid VA.

Compared to TNs, VA panels do offer much better color reproduction and typically hit the full sRGB spectrum, even on lower-end models. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, Samsung’s Quantum Dot SVA panels can hit 125 percent sRGB coverage.

For these reasons, VA panels are seen as the jack of all trades. They’re ideal for general use, but they either match or fall short in most other areas except contrast ratio. VAs are good for gamers who enjoy single-player or casual experiences.

When compared to CRT monitors, all LCD panels suffer from some form of latency issue. This was a real problem when TN panels first appeared, and it’s plagued IPS and VA monitors for years. But technology has moved on, and while many of these issues have been improved, they haven’t been eliminated entirely.

Uneven backlighting is another issue you’ll find on all panel types. Often this comes down to overall build quality—cheaper models slack on quality control to save on production costs. So, if you’re looking for a cheap monitor, be prepared for some uneven backlighting. However, you’ll mostly only notice it on solid or very dark backgrounds.

LCD panels are also susceptible to dead or stuck pixels. Different manufacturers and jurisdictions have different policies and consumer laws covering dead pixels. If you’re a perfectionist, check the manufacturer’s dead-pixel policy before you buy. Some will replace a monitor with a single dead pixel for free, while others require a minimum number.

Office or study use: Your budget should be your primary concern here. VA is the do-it-all panel, with superior viewing angles to TN, but either would do the trick. You can save some money because you don’t need high refresh rates or ultra-low latency. They’re still nice, though. You’ll see a noticeable difference in smoothness just when moving the Windows cursor on a monitor with a 144 versus 60 Hz refresh rate.

Photo and video editors/Digital artists: IPS panels are still generally favored for their ability to display a wide gamut of colors. It’s not unusual to find VA panels that also cover a wide gamut (125 percent sRGB, and over 90 percent DCI-P3), but they tend to exhibit more motion blur during fast-paced action than IPS panels. If you’re serious about color accuracy, you’ll need to properly calibrate your monitor.

Programmers who mount monitors vertically: You might think TN panels are great for programmers, but that’s not necessarily the case. TN panels have particularly bad viewing angles on the vertical axis. If you mount your monitor in portrait mode (as many programmers and mobile developers do), you’ll get the worst possible viewing angles from a TN panel. For the best possible viewing angles in this scenario, invest in an IPS display.

Competitive online gamers: There’s no question TN panels are still favored in the eSports world. Even the cheapest models have fast response times and support for high refresh rates. For 1080p gaming, a 24-inch will do just fine, or you could opt for a 1440p, 27-inch model without breaking the bank. You might want to go for an IPS panel as more low-latency models hit the market, but expect to pay more.

Non-competitive, high-end PC gamers: For a rich, immersive image that pops, a VA panel will provide a higher contrast ratio than IPS or TN. For deep blacks and a sharp, contrasting image, VA is the winner. If you’re okay with sacrificing some contrast, you can go the IPS route. However, we’d recommend avoiding TN altogether unless you play competitively.

Best all-rounder: VA is the winner here, but IPS is better in all areas except contrast ratio. If you can sacrifice contrast, an IPS panel will provide fairly low latency, decent blacks, and satisfactory color coverage.

lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

To understand IPS Black, a new type of IPS panel, it helps to have a basic understanding of IPS, or in-plane switching. IPS is one of the three types of LCD panels in PC monitors and TVs, alongside VA (vertical alignment) and TN (twisted nematic).

The three technologies work a bit differently, resulting in various pros and cons. IPS panels have better viewing angles, meaning it"s easier to see the on-screen image when looking at it from a side angle. They"re also known for their exceptional color reproduction, especially when compared to TN panels.

Simply put, IPS panels have liquid crystals aligned parallel to the glass surfaces sandwiching them. When an electric charge is applied, the crystals rotate; they maintain a parallel position but allow light to come through and create an image. The technology differs from the liquid crystals in a TN panel, which twist to 90 degrees to allow light through. TN panels have historically maintained faster refresh rates and response times, but we"re seeing IPS catch up in expensive gaming monitors.

IPS screens also differ from VA panels, which deliver better contrast ratios. VA panels have liquid crystals perpendicular to the glass substrates and tilt to let light pass through. As noted by monitor company ViewSonic, this makes them better at blocking unneeded backlight, resulting in deeper blacks and higher contrast ratios.

LG Display announced IPS Black in January but hasn"t shared much information about how the technology works. At the time, LG Display said the panels have a black level that is "35 percent deeper than existing IPS products," and it promised that the displays would deliver "extreme clarity and precise color accuracy."

The U3223QE and U2723QE UltraSharp monitors are the first IPS Black monitors available. Dell says the displays have a contrast ratio of 2,000:1—meaning that a black image looks 2,000 times darker than a white one. That"s two times greater than what most IPS monitors offer. For comparison, the UltraSharp 30 U3023E— also announced Thursday—uses a standard IPS panel and has a contrast ratio of 1,000:1. (All three monitors have been listed for a while, as reported by sites like Tom"s Hardware, but Dell is making its first formal announcement today.)

LG Display"s IPS Black announcement also said the tech "significantly lowers the level of blue light." Dell doesn"t say that its new UltraSharps have any low blue light-fighting advantage beyond its hardware-based ComfortView Plus, which the company introduced in 2020.

LG Display also claimed IPS Black panels would allow for "a nearly borderless design." Considering the IPS Black-based UltraSharps continue the series" use of teeny-tiny bezels, we"d say that checks out.

Dell won"t be the only company to use IPS Black technology. LG Display sells to various companies, and LG plans to release its own IPS Black monitors. There"s still no word on if there will be IPS Black TVs.

In terms of Dell"s newly announced UltraSharps, all three claim to hit 400 nits brightness and have a 60 Hz refresh rate. The 27-inch IPS Black monitor has an MSRP of $725, but Dell already has it on sale for $625. For comparison, Dell"s 27-inch U2720Q, with a standard IPS panel, is currently $590. The 32-inch IPS Black monitor has an MSRP of $1,150 but is currently discounted to $920. And the non-IPS Black U3023E costs $1,050 but is going for $785 as of writing.

Gaming monitors have started to hit their stride. Whether you"re looking for a 4K gaming monitor for the sharpest picture or a 240Hz gaming monitor for the smoothest experience, you"ll be able to find something to cater to your exact style of gaming and loaded with all the latest technology you could want. Aside from those extremes, you"ll also find tons of value in our picks. And, we"re not just talking about budget gaming monitors, we mean the majority of monitors now feature VA or IPS panels for great color depth, while offering up fast response times, and all of them are 60Hz or faster. These monitors can change the way you game.

The Dell 2721HGF has a 27-inch screen with a slight curve to wrap around your field of vision, immersing you further in a game’s action. This isn’t the brightest display out there for features like HDR, but the 350 nit VA panel is easy on the eyes and offers a decent contrast ratio. The color accuracy makes games vibrant, though there is a bit of ghosting behind dark objects. A height and tilt adjustable stand is also included to ensure you get the perfect viewing angle.

Unlike most gaming TVs, the Acer Nitro XV282K is built for speed. The panel delivers a 144Hz refresh rate, though, you can overclock up to 170Hz for silky-smooth gameplay on your PC. Even if you"re not able to hit 144fps at 4K in some games, the support for AMD FreeSync — G-Sync support is not official, though we tested the monitor and found it works without flaw — ensures you"ve got clean, full frames on display instead of a torn-up picture. The multiple HDMI 2.1 ports and DisplayPort make this monitor great for taking advantage of the latest gaming consoles and high-end PC builds.

The Asus TUF Gaming VG258QM stretches its 1080p picture across a 24.5-inch TN panel, and at 400 nits, it’s plenty bright for easy viewing. The contrast ratio isn’t the best, but a shadow boost feature while gaming helps to expose enemies lurking in the shadows. Some other quality-of-life boxes can get ticked off, too, with a height-adjustable, pivoting stand, two HDMI ports, and one DisplayPort for ample connectivity opportunities

4K doesn"t always mean you have to spend a fortune, and the Asus TUF Gaming is proof. By putting down a little over $300, you"ll be getting that impressive resolution and a whole lot more. First, we’re talking about HDR, as the Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q1A supports a 10-bit color depth to show substantially more shades of color than your typical monitor. The IPS panel on this monitor also gets brighter than the typical monitor to let highlights pop. It can boost shadows, too, so you won’t struggle to see what’s going on in darker scenes of your games.

Now, because this monitor only boasts a 60Hz refresh rate, it may not be ideal for competitive gaming where a higher refresh rate can offer a competitive edge. But, the high resolution on a 28-inch panel will offer exceptionally crisp visuals for you to enjoy the detail in story modes. And, thanks to FreeSync support, you won’t have that perfect 4K picture marred by screen tearing.

It"s not just the resolution, refresh rate, and slight curve that help you keep track of your enemies, but also the 400-nit brightness and high contrast on the VA panel. That type of performance means the monitor has DisplayHDR 400 certification. You also get support for FreeSync Premium to ensure the picture remains tear-free whether you"re hitting high or low frame rates. However, the best part of Asus TUF Gaming VG32VQR might be the low cost, especially when considering all its features.

With the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, you get a super ultrawide display, and it’s not just “super” because of how wide it is, but also because of how powerful it is. Samsung delivers an insanely stretched-out 48.8-inch display panel that’s effectively two 1440p monitors side by side without a gap in between. The display has an incredibly tight 1000R curvature that keeps it nice and close to your eyes from one side to the other.

Samsung has stuffed this thing to the gills, too. The display is lit with intense Mini LED backlights that deliver a 2,000-nit peak brightness — something you’ll be hard-pressed to find on just about any other screen. That brightness pairs with the strong contrast and broad color of the QLED panel in front of those Mini LEDs. You can take all the gorgeous gaming visuals this monitor can display for a high-speed cruise thanks to the monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate. And, since 5,120 x 1,440 won’t be the easiest resolution for any computer to drive, FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatibility will help keep the visuals neat and tidy.

The LG UltraGear 48GQ900 offers a massive 47.5-inch OLED panel, so you’ll enjoy all the benefits of true blacks, infinite contrast, and eye-popping color for deep immersion in all of the action. The only area where this display struggles is brightness in certain scenes, but it’s still a brilliant display to enjoy 4K gaming on your next-gen console.

Using an IPS panel with mini LED technology, the Cooler Master Tempest GP27Q delivers a wild contrast ratio and impressive HDR performance thanks to its 576 local dimming zones. You’ll be immersed in deep blacks and vibrant color with its wide color gamut and 10-bit color support. This 27-inch monitor even pumps out brightness hitting 1200 nits in HDR mode.

The Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor keeps things fairly simple by using a 1080p display panel that will make it easier for your system to push the full 240fps you need to take advantage of the display. And, when you can"t keep a constant frame rate, FreeSync and G-Sync support ensure you won"t run into tearing. A nice extra perk of this monitor is its use of a fast IPS panel, which can help ensure your viewing angle won"t impact your ability to see enemies in games.

Below we go over the three essential things you should consider including screen size, resolution, and aspect ratio. We’ve also briefly explained a few of the more technical aspects of computer display such as panel types, refresh rate, and the variable refresh rate technologies available today.

Panel type: Although most monitors might look the same on the surface, there are a few different panel types that offer specific benefits and shortcomings. Twisted Nematic (TN) panels are the most basic and common panel you’ll come across as they deliver the fastest response times of 1ms often at the cost of duller colors, grayer black levels, and poor viewing angles.

In-Plane Switching (IPS) is the next most prevalent type of display and it’s basically the opposite of a TN panel. Rather than focusing on speed, IPS panels are known for rendering excellent colors and contrast while offering wider viewing angles in exchange for slightly slower response time, usually hovering around 3-5ms.

Response time: Competitive shooters and MoBAs demand the quickest response times, so it’s best to play these types of games on monitors that offer a 1ms response time. Playing Indie games and most single-player experiences shouldn’t be a problem on a display with a response time between 3-5ms – and it"s pretty much impossible to find a monitor that is slower than this.

G-Sync vs FreeSync: Variable refresh rate (VRR) technology is a fairly recent invention and it ensures you have a consistently smooth and responsive gaming experience. Currently, there are two flavors of VRR, Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, and they’ll require a prerequisite that you own a compatible graphics card from the corresponding brand. Nvidia GeForce cards do allow you to enable VRR on any FreeSync monitor, but your results will vary.

lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

Again, IPS is the clear winner here. The vertical viewing angles are very similar to the horizontal ones on both IPS and VA panels. Unfortunately, this is one area where TN panels are usually much, much worse. TN monitors degrade rapidly from below, and colors actually inverse - resulting in a negative image that can be distracting. For this reason, if you decide to buy a TN monitor, look for one with an excellent height adjustment, or consider buying a VESA mounting arm, as you should mount TN monitors at eye level. Even when mounted properly, larger TN displays can appear non-uniform at the edges.

There"s usually not much difference between VA and IPS panels in terms of gray uniformity. It"s rare for monitors to have uniformity issues, and even on monitors that perform worse than average, it"s usually not noticeable with regular content. TN monitors tend to perform a bit worse than usual, though, and the top half of the screen is almost always darker than the rest, but that"s an artifact of the bad vertical viewing angles.

Black uniformity tends to vary significantly, even between individual units of the same model, and there"s no single panel type that performs the best. It"s rare for monitors to have good black uniformity, and almost every monitor we"ve tested has some noticeable cloudiness or backlight bleed. IPS and TN panels can look slightly worse due to their low contrast ratios, as the screen can take on more of a bluish tint when displaying dark scenes. Like with contrast, black uniformity issues usually aren"t very noticeable unless you"re looking at dark content and you"re in a dark room. If you only use your monitor in a bright environment, generally speaking, you don"t need to worry about black uniformity.

Historically, TN panels used to have the worst colors, as many of them were cheaper models that only supported 6-bit colors or used techniques like dithering (FRC) to approximate 8-bit colors. Most displays today, including TN models, are at least 8 bit, and many of them are even able to approximate 10-bit colors through dithering. New technologies, like LG"s Nano IPS and Samsung"s Quantum Dot, add an extra layer to the LCD stack and have significantly improved the color gamut of modern IPS and VA displays, leaving TN a bit behind. Between them, NANO IPS is slightly better, as it tends to offer better coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. Although the difference is minor, IPS panels still have a slight edge over VA and TN displays.

Although TN panels have caught up a bit in the SDR color space, they"re far behind when it comes to HDR, so if you"re looking for a good HDR color gamut, avoid TN panels. Between VA and IPS panels, the difference isn"t as significant; however, IPS panels still have a slight edge. The best VA panels top out at around 90% coverage of the DCI P3 color space used by most current HDR content. IPS panels go as high as 98% coverage of DCI P3, rivaling even some of the best TVs on the market. Due to the very high coverage of DCI P3 on both VA and IPS, the difference isn"t that noticeable, though, as most content won"t use the entire color space anyway.

Although not necessarily as noticeable to everyone as the differences in picture quality, there can also be a difference in motion handling between IPS, VA, and TN displays. TN panels historically offered the best gaming performance, as they had the highest refresh rates and extremely fast response times. Manufacturers have found ways to drastically improve the motion handling of VA and IPS panels, though, and the difference isn"t as pronounced.

LCD panel technology has changed drastically over the last few years, and the historical expectations for response time performance don"t necessarily hold anymore. For years, TN monitors had the fastest response times by far, but that"s started to change. New high refresh-rate IPS monitors can be just as fast.

VA panels are a bit of a strange situation. They typically have slightly slower response times overall compared to similar TN or IPS models. It"s especially noticeable in near-black scenes, where they tend to be significantly slower, resulting in dark trails behind fast-moving objects in dark scenes, commonly known as black smear. Some recent VA panels, such as the Samsung Odyssey G7 LC32G75T, get around it by overdriving the pixels. It results in much better dark scene performance but a more noticeable overshoot in brighter areas.

Within each of the three types of LCD we mentioned, other related panel types use the same basic idea but with slight differences. For example, two popular variants of IPS panels include ADS (technically known as ADSDS, or Advanced Super Dimension Switch) and PLS (Plane to Line Switching). It can be hard to tell these panels apart simply based on the subpixel structure, so we"ll usually group them all as IPS, and in the text, we"ll usually refer to them as IPS-like or IPS family. There are slight differences in colors, viewing angles, and contrast, but generally speaking, they"re all very similar.

There"s another display technology that"s growing in popularity: OLED. OLED, or organic light-emitting diode, is very different from the conventional LCD technology we"ve explored above. OLED panels are electro-emissive, which means each pixel emits its own light when it receives an electric signal, eliminating the need for a backlight. Since OLED panels can turn off individual pixels, they have deep, inky blacks with no blooming around bright objects. They also have excellent wide viewing angles, a near-instantaneous response time, and excellent gray uniformity.

OLED panels aren"t perfect, though. There"s a risk of permanent burn-in, especially when there are lots of static elements on screen, like the UI elements of a PC. There aren"t many OLED monitors available, either, but they"ve started to gain popularity as laptop screens and for high-end monitors, but they"re very expensive and hard to find. They"re also not very bright in some cases, especially when large bright areas are visible on screen. The technology is still maturing, and advances in OLED technology, like Samsung"s highly-anticipated QD-OLED technology, are promising.

As you can probably tell by now, no one panel type works best for everyone; it all depends on your exact usage. Although there used to be some significant differences between panel types, as technology has improved, these differences aren"t as noticeable. The two exceptions to this are viewing angles and contrast. If you"re in a dark room, a VA panel that can display deep blacks is probably the best choice. If you"re not in a dark room, you should focus on the other features of the monitor and choose based on the features that appeal to your exact usage. IPS panels are generally preferred for office use, and TN typically offers the best gaming experience, but recent advancements in VA and IPS technology are starting to change those generalizations. For the most part, the differences between each panel type are so minor now that it doesn"t need to be directly factored into your buying decision.

lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

Desktop monitors are popular among PC enthusiasts but, compared to other markets for displays, they’re a small market with small margins. As a result, companies that produce OLED panels place a focus on panels for markets with more volume. Production that targets other devices, like televisions, can be used to produce a monitor – but the results might not be what you expect.

“OLEDs can be produced cost effectively in smartphones and have come a long way in TVs and notebooks,” says Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants. “But the technology for monitors is not there yet. There will be some monitors promoted in 2022 that use TV fabs. However, those monitors will not be as high in resolution as LCD monitors.”

It is possible to produce 27-inch or 32-inch 4K OLED panel, says Young, but the production is low volume and “not cost optimized.” That’s why the few desktop-sized OLED monitors to hit the market in the past five years were extraordinarily expensive.

The high price can be difficult to justify, especially to mainstream shoppers unaware of OLED’s benefits. “Consumers are generally very approving of OLED displays,” says Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, “but it’s one of those technologies that you have to ‘see’ to believe, and that’s why you don’t quite get enough people switching over to it.”

There is light at the end of the tunnel – but the tunnel may be long. Young thinks PC enthusiasts will need to wait until 2024 and beyond, when the “next generation” of OLED fabs come online, before OLED is cost-effective for monitors. That doesn’t mean monitors won’t advance, however. High-end monitors will move to embrace Mini-LED technology, which should prove more affordable in the short term.

Thank Samsung. Young says the company’s display division, Samsung Display, made a commitment to rapidly grow the market from 1.1 million panels in 2020 to 5.4 million through 2021. I saw this commitment first-hand. I’ve handled a half-dozen new laptops with a Samsung OLED display this year, some of which were, in an unusual move, sent to me directly from Samsung Display. The company wants the world to know its serious about OLED in laptops.

OLED’s popularity should only increase as improvements reduce power consumption. “There are a number of near-term advances expected in reducing power […]” says Young. “These developments combined could reduce OLEDs power by more than 50%.” Future OLED manufacturing will also reduce costs to make OLED more competitive with LCDs in mid-range laptops.

Linus Tech Tips published a video in October of 2020 headlined “Every other monitor is dead to me.” It was Linus Sebastian’s love letter to the 48-inch LG CX OLED television. Nine months later, Linus was back with a sorta-kinda retraction. He was still in love with the LG CX OLED, but the burn-in was real.

It doesn’t help that desktop monitors are a worst-case stress test for OLED burn-in. Windows 11 and MacOS are designed with large static elements, like the Windows taskbar and MacOS dock, that rarely move or disappear even as applications are opened and closed. Modern habits contribute, too. Two decades of LCD monitor dominance have taught owners it’s ok to leave a monitor on, and without a screen saver, when it’s not in use.

The situation will improve as new OLED production becomes available through 2024, increasing capacity and lowering prices to a point that’s more appealing for desktop monitors. Laptops will move ahead of desktop monitors, though it’ll likely be years before they have a shot at matching the volume of LCDs.

lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

I prefer the Roku interface and pedestal mount of the TCL above, but all people are not me! Many folks (myself included) are in love with the latest mid-tier option from Hisense (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It"s super bright, has similar Mini-LED tech, and features an awesome Google TV interface that makes it perfect for Chrome users and Android owners.

lcd panel types linus tech manufacturer

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