OLEDvsIPScolor accuracy

A big concern among gamers when buying OLED is the possibility of burn-in, where some parts of an image can become permanently seared into the pixels. Many manufacturers try to solve this by keeping certain elements on the screen moving or by putting the display to sleep during inactivity. Many also offer a burn-in warranty of two to three years after purchase, so you can rest assured. Mini-LED panels can suffer from the halo effect, where some parts of an image can bleed into the surrounding zones.

Thin is in. Despite the rise of childhood obesity and the fact that the average American is wider than ever, thin is in. At least with our TVs and desktop monitors. Today everyone wants a nice thin PC monitor, and for small and home offices these make sense.LCD monitors typically take up less desk space, are easier on the eyes during extended use of the computer and generally provide a better picture. Of course there is nothing wrong with those old CRTs. If you are still using one, don’t feel the need to run out and buy an LCD monitor…especially because the hype is that OLED is on the way.Or is it? At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled the much-publicized XEL-1, which is the world’s first commercially marketed OLED TV. This display is a mere 3mm thick, making today’s LCD monitors look downright fat in comparison. The picture quality is – in a word – outstanding. This reporter certainly liked what he saw at Sony’s press conference at CES. So is OLED the hot new thing?I was asked this very question by a friend who happens to be in the market for a larger LCD. The question he asked was whether he should wait for OLED. Well, here's the deal. The XEL-1 looks great, but it is a mere 11-inch wide! That’s not exactly what I’d call ready for prime time just yet, not when the price of $2,500 could easily get you into a nice 50-inch plasma or LCD set. I warned my friend that it will be years, maybe as much as a decade before we see OLED technology in sizes that rival plasma or LCD HDTVs.None of this matters for small business because while LCD TVs have only become affordable in the last couple of years, we’ve have reasonable size monitors for a decade now. So could OLED make its way to the desktop instead? At this point I’m thinking the chances are thin… at least for now.Last week TWICE, the consumer electronics trade magazine, reported that the Sony XEL-1 TV didn’t fare as well in the lifespan ratings. While Sony believes such technology should be good for 10 years or 30,000 hours, independent testing by DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, suggested the set could fade to black in about 17,000 hours. That’s still a lot of episodes of LOST or Desperate Housewives, but far fewer hours than what LCD monitors are providing to users today. More importantly, the DisplaySearch test revealed that the set might only provide 5,000 hours for white and 17,000 hours for video. Considering that many spreadsheets, word processing applications and even Web sites are made up of a lot of white…and well you get the picture! Eventually, we might get super thin monitors—not that the inch-thick monitors of today are presenting much of a problem—however, this is yet another example of “don’t believe the hype.” The notion of super thin OLED displays for work and play is great, but does it really improve on what we have today? LCD monitors were a good step forward from CRTs, but it took time. CRT had advantages over LCD for a long time; the bulky monitors of days gone by were affordable, provided good contrast ratio and accurate colors (one reason why not every graphic designer was eager to jump to the thinner displays). CRT also provided a better refresh rate—called response time with LCD—which made the bulky monitor good for gaming, and video.So for the time being I’ll live with my LCD display. But when holographic displays make a debut, I’ll be the first home office user on the block to get one. I just hope I don’t have to wait too long!

Some of the biggest contributors to an excellent visual experience are the brightness and contrast ratio of a monitor, which also determine whether you can expect a decent HDR experience from your display. While brightness in TN, VA, and IPS monitors is not dependent on the panel itself, but rather the backlight used, you'll not find many super-bright monitors using TN panels. This is due to the TN technology falling out of favor in recent years, now limited to super-high-refresh-rate displays alone, where brightness isn't a big factor.

However, for the average gamer, all the other disadvantages of TN panels take center stage. As a result, the slightly higher response times of VA and IPS panels are perfectly acceptable for the majority of gamers.

A high-end gaming monitor comes with a premium price tag, so make sure you're making the right choice after assessing your individual needs. Most gamers don't need cutting-edge monitors to enjoy their favorite games, so don't get affected by FOMO. Today's market offers plenty of affordable options for every use case, and quality assurance has certainly improved as well. You don't need to spend big bucks to get a great gaming display anymore.

Another important factor usually ignored is input lag or the delay between the user making an input and the monitor registering the same. This is different from the response time, as it doesn't relate to the pixels but rather the monitor itself. Input lag for mainstream gaming monitors is usually seen to be less than 10ms at different refresh rates.

Between IPS and VA, the two most popular options, choose IPS if you prefer great image quality, responsiveness, and viewing angles.

As long as it is not VA, you are good to go. I tried it before and always have been disappointed because of the terrible black smearing on cheaper models. In comparison IPS panels even on a budget offer a fantastic image. Stable viewing angles, good blacks and color reproduction and while usually offering lower refresh rates, they are still totally fine and worth the bit of extra money to catch up to VA.

Mainstream IPS and VA panels usually have peak brightness levels anywhere between 250 and 400 nits. This is more than enough for playing games or watching movies in a scenario where you're sitting quite close to the screen. OLED panels feature significantly higher peak brightness at around 1000 nits, but they also cost a lot more than other models. Mini-LED monitors have emerged as a decent alternative to OLEDs, thanks to the lower prices and a great experience nonetheless.

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You can measure color reproduction for a particular model by referring to its sRGB or DCI-P3 coverage. These are professional standards for measuring how much of a particular color space a monitor panel can cover. Anything between 90-100% coverage indicates a great display for delivering accurate and lifelike colors. Essentially, IPS and OLED monitors are the best when it comes to color reproduction.

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OLED panels feature significantly higher peak brightness at around 1000 nits, but they also cost a lot more than other models.

IPS panels have improved drastically over the years, with response times of around 1ms finally possible on some high-end models. OLED panels, however, are in the lead again here, featuring response times of less than 0.1ms, much faster than even the fastest TN panels. This is again due to the fact that OLEDs use self-lit pixels and can be switched on or off instantly.

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Contrast ratio and black levels play a huge part in how good the image looks on screen, especially in dark scenes and dim room lighting. This is where the best OLED monitors shine, as the self-lit pixels can shut completely off during dark scenes to deliver an infinite contrast ratio and inky blacks, essentially creating millions of local dimming zones. These days, QD-OLED monitors offer the excellent contrast of OLED monitors with a Quantum Dot layer to provide even higher brightness and richer colors.

IPSLCD vsOLEDwhich is better for eyes

Being one of the oldest and traditionally cheapest panels to manufacture, TN panels have the worst color reproduction of all, followed by VA showing slight improvements, and then IPS and OLED panels easily leading the pack. IPS panels were initially targeted toward professionals who required incredibly accurate displays for color grading, but with advancements in other areas, they quickly became ideal for gamers as well.

NanoIPSvsOLED

Response time or pixel response time is the time it takes the monitor's pixels to change colors, usually measured from gray to gray (G2G). TN panels have a big advantage here, as they can easily reach response times of as low as 1ms or lower. This is the reason TN is the tech of choice for affordable ultra-fast gaming monitors even today, such as the 500Hz Alienware AW3524HF monitor.

As for the best panel type, it's fairly easy to pick once you're aware of the pros and cons of the various technologies. Outside of professional competitive players, no one should really consider TN models today. Between IPS and VA, the two most popular options, choose IPS if you prefer great image quality, responsiveness, and viewing angles. That is, unless you frequently play in dark or dim lighting — in that case, choose one of the better VA models for their superior contrast ratio and image quality.

The refresh rate is perhaps one of the most recognizable factors among gamers when choosing a monitor. Moving from a 60Hz to a 144Hz or higher refresh rate is a big jump that makes a night-and-day difference in your gaming experience. The buttery-smooth motion and the added latency improvements contribute to a superior experience, and it's impossible to go back to a 60Hz monitor.

Response time across different panel types has generally been reduced to the point where you won't get a bad experience even with a budget gaming monitor though, provided it's a relatively modern model.

OLED panels, thanks to the absence of any backlight (unlike the other three technologies), feature superb color reproduction, but generally, the high-end IPS panels actually fare better.

OLEDvsIPSlaptop

Color reproduction refers to the accuracy and diversity of colors a panel can reproduce. It's actually determined by the color gamut (the range of colors a display can show) and color accuracy (how well those colors are distinguished from each other). The better and more calibrated these parameters are, the better the image quality will be on the monitor.

Peter Suciu is a New York based freelance writer and has covered consumer electronics, technology, electronic entertainment and the toy industry for more than a decade. He writes the Tech-Enabled Entrepreneur blog for AllBusiness.

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Today, before choosing the right monitor, you need to carefully understand your use case. And to do that, you need to know the ins and outs of the different panel types among gaming monitors: IPS vs. VA vs. TN vs. OLED.

IPS monitors aren't able to block the backlight enough to produce decent blacks, and suffer from mediocre contrast ratios of around 1000:1. Quality VA panels perform much better in this department, becoming an ideal option for gaming as well as media consumption. Lastly, TN panels generally perform the worst here. In summary, it's hard to beat OLED options when it comes to the best HDR monitors.

As a gamer, you're probably targeting a decently high refresh rate, 1440p or 4K resolution, 27-inch or higher screen size, and a panel with great image quality. Thankfully, all of these things are easily available at affordable prices in today's market. Whether you want the greatest 4K monitors or the best curved monitors, you often don't need to spend more than $350-$400 for a well-rounded model.

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Do note that VA panels are known to exhibit ghosting, causing a blurred image in some fast-paced scenarios. But, at least you won't be riddled with the horrible backlight bleeding seen on many IPS monitors. Consider OLED, QD-OLED, and Mini-LED models only if you have around $700-$1000 to spend on a monitor and want the absolute best picture quality and fastest response time on the market.

I'll separate the various terms and technologies surrounding gaming monitors into two categories — image quality and gaming performance. Starting with image quality, this is what you'll experience every time you look at your display, gaming or not. Five major parameters together decide how good your display will look: color reproduction, brightness, contrast ratio, HDR experience, and viewing angles.

Choosing the best gaming monitor for your needs is not always easy, considering the vast number of options of varying quality and prices. From the days of sturdy CRT monitors to the explosion of TN, VA, and IPS models to the advent of OLED monitors, gaming monitors have changed a lot.

Coming to OLEDs, this isn't an issue for them at all, as you mostly get anywhere from 165° to 180° viewing angles, which is similar or sometimes even better than IPS models. Despite the excellent viewing angles of IPS, backlight bleeding is a very real problem. It is the dirty gray screen effect called IPS glow that you see on IPS panels in dark scenes, more pronounced in dim lighting conditions. VA and TN panels don't suffer from this to a great extent, and OLED panels don't exhibit this phenomenon at all.

Now that we've covered the more fundamental aspects of monitor panel types, it's time to delve into the features that differentiate them in terms of good or bad gaming monitors. A decent gaming experience requires superior motion handling and fluid image reproduction in addition to excellent image quality. The gaming performance is determined mostly by three factors: response time, input lag, and refresh rate.

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Most gamers should be fine with 144Hz or 165Hz and don't really need a 240Hz monitor, or anything higher than that. While TN panels are highly suitable for ultra-high refresh rates, IPS and VA panels are still the most popular for most gamers. You can find great models featuring both technologies from reputed manufacturers, ranging from 144Hz to 240Hz. Even relatively affordable 1440p OLED monitors are available with refresh rates up to 240Hz.

Some OLED monitors have higher than 10ms input lag at certain refresh rates, which makes them unsuitable for competitive gaming. But, outside such situations, it's rare that you'll get a panel with a bad input lag in today's market. The overall input lag of your system is dependent on other hardware as well, such as your mouse and keyboard.

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As long as your graphics card is powerful enough to deliver the desired FPS at a resolution you like, you can choose anything from VA to IPS to OLED monitors, keeping other considerations in mind.

The viewing angle refers to the horizontal and vertical angles within which you can view the image on screen without any degradation or color shifting. IPS monitors are known for their excellent viewing angles of around 178°, which means you can view the image perfectly well even from the sides. Compared to TN and VA panels, where you need to sit directly in front of the screen to get the best experience, IPS panels are far better.