best lcd panel type for gaming manufacturer

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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.

As you probably know, you can usually get a monitor cheaper online than at a brick-and-mortar store. Unfortunately, buying online also usually means buying blind. And with a TV or monitor, that can lead to disappointment.

If you can, check out the monitor you’re interested in in-person before you buy it. You can perform some simple ghosting and motion blur tests by grabbing a window with the mouse and moving it rapidly around the screen. You can also test the brightness, watch some videos, and play with the onscreen display to get a feel for it.

PerformanceHighest response times and refresh ratesTypically longer response times than TN or equivalentSlowest response types and refresh rates of all gaming monitor types

While TN display panels are the oldest type of monitor technology used in LCD monitors between the three major types, TN displays are also the best objectively for most gaming applications because of their high refresh rate even though they have weaker color contrast and more narrow viewing angles than VA and IPS monitors.

Vertical Alignment (VA) Display PanelsIn a VA display panel, the LCD crystals in the monitor fall into a vertical alignment and render the screen black/opaque unless an electric current is applied. Once electricity is applied to the LCD crystals, they re-align into a horizontal alignment that allows light to pass through. This in turn results in a rendered picture. (Source: EIZO)

The major advantage of VA display panels is that they provide high levels of contrast. These gaming display panels are also capable of strong color reproduction and wider viewing angles than a TN display. Some VA displays have a slower refresh rate than TN displays, but there are now models on the market with responsiveness equal to a TN model. VA displays are more expensive than TN displays, however.

In-Plane Switching (IPS) Display PanelsIn an IPS display panel, the crystals in the display panel can shift horizontally during use, which in turn allows users to use the display with a much wider viewing angle without the loss of picture fidelity. This also means that the color doesn’t shift when the display is viewed from different angles. (Source: View Sonic).

In comparison to both TN and VA display panels, IPS displays don’t have the refresh rates that make them effective gaming displays—these displays are more commonly used in displays for professional computer monitors or high-end televisions. They are also significantly more expensive than either VA or TN displays.

IPS displays can be a good choice for those who play slower-paced games and just want a higher visual fidelity, but for those who play twitchy shooters, the IPS display doesn’t offer the response time necessary to be competitive against other display types. But for those who play slower-paced games such as real-time strategy or other genres, an IPS display offers the best quality picture on the market.

Just like LCD panels aren’t all alike, no two gamers are alike either. One gamer who needs top of the line responsiveness from their display to keep up with competitive multiplayer shootouts is not going to have the same requirements as a gamer who prefers role-playing games or building simulators.

For most gamers, TN displays offer the highest refresh rate without too much loss of graphical quality, while more expensive VA and IPS displays offer better color quality with less responsiveness. The best panel type for your games depends on the type of games you play most often. It also depends on how important color quality and contrast are to you versus reaction time.

If you"re in the market for a new gaming monitor, you"re going to brush up against three distinct types of displays that all come with their own pros and cons. We"re here to break down exactly what you need to know about TN, IPS, and VA panels and help you make the right choice for your exact gaming needs.

There are three display panel types that cover most gaming monitors (cutting-edge technology like mini-LED and OLED are coming, but we won"t cover that here). TN (twisted nematic), IPS (in-plane switching), and VA (vertical alignment) all use the same technology at their core--molecules that react according to different voltages to move and produce an image--but their differences and evolutions have made each one good for specific use cases.

TN panels have the worst viewing angles of the three, with colors able to drastically shift from even slight angles off the center of the display. TN also has the worst color coverage, with the inability to show a high color depth and producing noticeable banding due to interpolation. Contrast ratios are also poor, with the overall image looking washed out compared to IPS and VA.

So, if TN is this poor, why is it still on the market? For one, TN panels are incredibly cheap, which is why you"ll often find them in budget gaming monitors that can still deliver a good, if not great, image. TN is also still the fastest panel type on the market, with pixel response times (the time it takes for a pixel to change color) as fast as 1ms. While IPS and VA panels have managed to get there, they often make use of methods that lead to other issues (such as smearing or inverted ghosting), which keeps TN panels relevant for speed.

For that reason, TN panels are ideal for competitive gaming, especially in the realm of esports where response time is much more important than image quality. If you"re primarily playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, or Call of Duty: Warzone, you"ll probably benefit the most from a TN monitor if all you care about is securing those wins. Plus, you"ll save a bunch of money in the process.

In the past, one of the biggest compromises you had to make with IPS displays was pixel response time and refresh rate, but as the technology has evolved it has managed to shake these off. You can now find IPS displays with refresh rates well into the 240Hz range, with response times matching that of the 1ms on TN. You"ll pay a premium for that, with most high-end displays on the market featuring these specs, but it"s also possible to enjoy some of the benefits with cheaper IPS products. You might get a response time closer to 4ms and maybe a limited refresh rate ranging from 60-144Hz, but if you care about what your games look like then it"s a massive step up from TN.

One big disadvantage across the board with IPS panels are their poor contrast ratios, making them worse options for dark rooms than VA. It can make dark areas in games look more milky grey than black, made worse by the uneven backlighting that can be viewed at different angles (also known as IPS glow). The color reproduction is still the best it can be on an IPS display, but if you mostly play games at night or in a dim room, you might want to consider a VA panel.

Speaking of VA (vertical alignment) panels, there"s a reason the majority of LCD TVs use this panel type. It"s the jack-of-all-trades panel, with better color reproduction than TN panels as well as a much better contrast ratio compared to IPS. VA panels, depending on the overall display specs, can also be cheaper than IPS panels in most cases, occupying a good middle ground between performance and price that is difficult to argue against.

One area where VA truly excels is contrast. It"s a night-and-day difference compared to IPS, with VA panels able to produce far inkier blacks and really accentuate dark areas in games, especially when you"re playing in a dim environment. This is one of the strongest reasons for owning a VA panel, especially if the "IPS glow" really bothers you. You do, however, lose out on the wider viewing angles that IPS offers.

One issue with VA is its response times, like IPS. It can reach 1ms in very specific cases, but this often leads to a lot of smearing or inverse ghosting (where ghost trails behind shifting pixels have colors inverted), which make the gains moot. On average, a VA panel will have worse smearing at the same pixel response times when compared to an IPS panel, primarily down to how the vertical alignment of the molecules in the display function. It"s something you might notice when playing at very high refresh rates and in fast-paced games, but it"s also something that a lot of people don"t have an issue with at all.

If getting the fastest response times and highest frame rates possible is crucial to your gaming, there"s no question that a TN panel is still your best option. Competitive gamers who benefit from the fractions of a second that a pixel can take to update will find no corners cut on any TN panel out there, and they"ll benefit from the high refresh rates most offer.

Similarly, if you"re on a very tight budget and you"re looking for the right monitor to accompany a machine built for games like League of Legends, Dota 2, or Fortnite, then choosing a TN panel could help you put more money toward the hardware that powers your games instead. You"ll be missing out on the better color reproduction that TN lacks, but if you"re just planning to play games casually and not take in their sights, then you can save yourself a lot of money.

If single-player games are mostly what you use your PC for and you"re strictly keeping it for recreational use, then it"s difficult to argue against a VA panel. It"s a considerable step up from TN and will let you enjoy your games with visuals as their designers intended. The deep blacks will let you immerse yourself in moody atmospheres, while the cheaper prices could afford you the ability to get a bigger monitor with a decently high refresh rate.

VA panels also give you a lot of range to stretch your budget, whether you"re just looking for a slightly-above-average display or one to really bring out the best in your hardware. From 1080p to 4K, it"s easy to find a great VA-equipped display that won"t break the bank or go ultra-premium with one of Samsung"s top-of-the-line products. The company"s latest G7 (or Odyssey G9, if you have the space and the money for it) feature outstanding HDR support, incredible contrast, and great color, if you"re willing to invest in their high price points.

If you"re looking for a monitor that can do it all, there"s nothing beating out an IPS panel. Many new monitors feature the more advanced fast IPS panels, which remove many of the compromises you used to have to make with regards to pixel response times and high refresh rates.

The viewing angles, the color reproduction, and the overall experience of an IPS panel just can"t be beat right now, making it the perfect accompaniment to a high-powered gaming PC, console, or workstation. They"re accurate enough for some professional work, whether you"re color-correcting photos or videos, and fast enough to keep up with your favorite competitive games or engrossing single-player adventures.

IPS panels are also ideal for local multiplayer gaming with their wide viewing angles, but these come at the cost of good contrast ratios and potential backlight bleeding. If you"re only planning to play games in a dark environment, a VA might be better suited to your needs. But if you"re looking for a panel with the fewest compromises, it"s hard to argue against IPS.

We"ve highlighted some of our favorite monitors with each display panel type above, but if you"re looking for more options for well-priced displays, check out our guide to the best cheap gaming monitors on the market right now as well as the best monitors for PS5 and Xbox Series X. If monitors are just too small, we also have recommendations for the best 4K TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X, some of which can also work well for PC gaming. If you’re looking for some more information on the types of monitors out there, we’ve got a list of the differences between LCD and LED Monitors. Let us know what your favorite displays are in the comments below.

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.

Your gaming monitor is one of the most important parts of your PC, and a big part of that is down to the type of panel it uses to display all those lovely polygons. You"ve probably seen lots of different monitor panel types crop up in a gaming screen"s specs sheet, too: words like TN, IPS and VA. But what do they actually mean, and how do they affect the quality of your gaming monitor? Well, as you"ve probably guessed from the title up top there, I"m going to tell you everything you need to know about all the different gaming monitor panel types, including their strengths, weaknesses and which one you should look to buy if you want the best possible image quality.

Now, I"m going to warn you - most of what you"ll read below is all going to be pretty general. Not all panel types behave the same way, for example, and there will always be some that outperform the rest. That"s why it"s still important to read proper reviews of gaming monitors so you can get an accurate picture of how a monitor"s panel type stacks up against the rest.

I"m also not going to spend ages talking about the exact chemical structure of every single type of sub-pixel, because, well, there are plenty of other people who have done that already. If you"re after that kind of detail, I"d suggest heading over to the folks at TFT Central. Instead, I"m going to be concentrating on what you actually need to know about gaming monitor panel types, such as how their various characteristics affect their performance, and how you can avoid falling into monitor misery by making sure you know exactly what specs sheets are talking about when they start throwing a million acronyms at you. So let"s get to it.

Let"s start with one of the most common monitor panel types available today: TN, or Twisted Nematic. TN panels are what you"ll find in most gaming monitors these days, especially ones with high refresh rates and those geared toward competitive esports and the like.

The good: That"s because they"re a) generally quite cheap to make and b) have the fastest response times out of all the different panel types. This means there"s less lag between you clicking your mouse or tapping your keyboard and that action being translated onscreen, making them ideal for twitchy shooters and games that need fast reaction times.

There are other benefits to having a fast response time as well. These include less blurring and ghosting when fast moving objects appear onscreen, which in turn leads to a clearer, crisper image. Indeed, some gaming monitors boast their response times are as low as just 1ms sometimes, but the key thing to watch out for are the words that come after it, such as "black-to-black" or "grey-to-grey" (which is often abbreviated to GTG).

Black-to-black is the standard response time measurement and refers to the amount of time it takes for a pixel to change from black to white to black again. It"s the fastest change possible in a monitor, and is generally regarded as the monitor"s best and more accurate response time.

The problem is that this kind of transition doesn"t often happen in everyday practice - especially not when playing games. Instead, most pixels are showing colour, which is why some manufacturers quote a grey-to-grey response time instead. However, this can mean different things depending on different manufacturers, as it all depends on what shade of grey they take as their starting point. Lighter greys will transition to white faster than darker greys, for example, and so a GTG figure won"t necessarily be the same for every pixel. As a result, GTG times are more of a rough guide to a monitor"s response time rather than a definite fact.

Over the years, other technologies have come along to try and improve a monitor"s GTG response time, or help correct the effects of having slightly slower response times. Some monitors, for instance, have an Overdrive feature, which is designed to make pixels change states much faster by applying a higher voltage to them. This can often dramatically improve a monitor"s GTG response times in particular, and if you see a very fast one quoted on the box, it"s almost certainly been achieved using some sort of Overdrive feature.

The bad: Alas, the disadvantage of picking a TN panel is that they generally don"t have the best colour accuracy and they also have quite narrow viewing angles. The former isn"t the case for every TN screen - those certified by Nvidia for use in their G-Sync gaming monitors, for instance, have to meet rigorous colour accuracy standards - but I"ve seen plenty of non-G-Sync screens that barely cover 85% of the standard sRGB colour gamut, which means washed out colours and generally not very rich and vibrant images.

IPS monitors, on the other hand, are all about colour accuracy. Largely made by LG, there have actually been lots of different types of IPS panel that have emerged over the years as varying manufacturers tried their hand at matching the quality of LG"s panels, leading to dozens of different variations and combinations of acronyms. These days, though, most manufacturers (especially gaming ones) just tend to say they"re IPS as opposed a specific variant.

Unless, that is, it"s an AHVA, or Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle, panel. Despite sounding like a VA panel (our third main panel type, which you"ll find more on below), AHVA is actually another type of IPS panel produced by AU Optronics and offers pretty much identical performance to a classic LG IPS panel.

The good: As I just mentioned, IPS panels generally have pretty great colour accuracy (I normally expect an sRGB coverage score of around 96% here) and wide viewing angles, making them better suited to colour intensive work and tasks like photo and video editing. This is true across all types of IPS panel, and their superior viewing angles (often quoted as 178 / 178 degrees) means you don"t get that nasty colour or contrast shift when you"re looking at the screen from a funny angle.

The bad: Unfortunately, their response times are often slower than TN panels, although these have become a lot better in recent years. Personally, I"ve never had any problems with latency when playing games on this type of screen, and for me, image quality is a lot more important than a couple of millisecond"s difference in overall response time.

They can also be more expensive to produce than TN panels, which, combined with their slower response times, is another reason why you don"t tend to see them a lot in displays designed primarily for gaming.

Finally, there"s the VA, or Vertical Alignment panel. Much like IPS, there are dozens of different types of VA panel, but the main ones we need to concern ourselves with are MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment) and AMVA (advanced MVA).

MVA panels were first designed to sit in the middle of TN and IPS displays, offering better viewing angles than TN screens and higher contrast ratios and deeper blacks than IPS. However, their colour accuracy isn"t quite as good as IPS, and they don"t have very fast response times, either.

AMVA, on the other hand (not to be confused with the IPS-like AHVA panel tech described above) builds on that even further, improving the panel"s colour accuracy while still maintaining those ultra high contrast ratios and deep blacks. Its viewing angles still aren"t quite as wide as IPS displays, though, and its response times are still a bit slower as well. However, through the use of features like a monitor"s Overdrive function, VA response times are now much faster than they used to be, making them a much more common occurrence in gaming screens, especially when it comes to curved or ultrawide displays.

The good: As a result, VA monitors can sort of be viewed as the ultimate compromise screen. The key advantages are their best in class black levels and their superior contrast ratios, and compared to TN panels, they also have better viewing angles and higher colour accuracy.

The bad: However, while VA might rectify some of the weaknesses you"ll find in TN screens, they"re still not as colour accurate as IPS panels, and their narrower viewing angles also can"t compete with their IPS rivals, either. Their main weakness, however, is their slow response time, which is generally said to be the slowest of the three main panel types. As I said, steps have been taken to try and mitigate this when it comes to putting a VA panel inside a gaming monitor, but if your gaming library consists solely of competitive shooters and the like, then you"re probably better off looking elsewhere.

When most people go shopping for a gaming monitor, their primary concerns are resolution and refresh rate. Those are certainly important considerations, but if you’ve ever had to put up with dull colors, murky blacks or terrible viewing angles, you’ll understand that panel types are important too.

TN, or Twisted Nematic panels, are the oldest variety of LCD panels, but they’re still quite common even today. They’re cheap to produce, and they have very low input lag, which makes them appealing for gamers. They also support refresh rates of up to 240Hz, another plus for fast-paced environments.

The problem with TN panels is that they have very poor color reproduction. While modern TN panels are far better than earlier models, it’s still relatively rare to find a TN panel with close to full sRGB reproduction. Even if they do have good color reproduction when you’re looking at them straight on, their viewing angles are limited, and they look washed out when viewed from the sides.

If you’re on a budget, enjoy playing competitive shooters or strategy games where reaction times matter, a TN panel could be fine for you. But if you want something that doubles as a media player, the average TN monitor might disappoint.

Fortunately, our GFT27CXB monitor is far from “average.” We engineered our TN panel to do what most TN panels simply cannot: deliver stunningly accurate colors. And with its 99% sRGB gamut, colors are rich and vibrant. And it’s fully customizable, with space to store up to 3 unique user profiles. So you get amazing color. But you also get full HD resolution with lightning-fast speeds up to 240hz refresh rate and 1ms response times.

IPS, or In-Plane Switching, monitors are almost the exact opposite of TN panels. They offer much wider viewing angles than TN panels as well as better black reproduction. The trade-off is that they’re more expensive. They have a history of slower refresh rates, too, although that has been changing lately. Today’s IPS panels can reach max. refresh rates as high as 200-240Hz.

There are some IPS monitors with very good refresh rates and response times, but they’re on the pricier side. You can expect to pay more than $500 for an IPS monitor with a 1ms response time. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly IPS monitor, then you’ll have to settle for response times of 4ms or slower. IPS panels are also prone to backlight issues. Color reproduction is better than on TN panels, even at extreme angles, but the backlight can sometimes be seen.

Our REAPER series monitor—starting with the RFI25CBA—has been designed to overcome this particular issue. It’s been engineered to reduce the amount of backlight bleed-through on its IPS panel. The monitor also features an MRPT Mode to produce extremely clear moving pictures with excellent color while significantly reducing backlight issues.

VA, or Vertical Alignment, panels are somewhere in between TN and IPS, offering the best of both worlds. This type of panel is common in TVs but is relatively uncommon for gaming monitors. TN panels offer very good contrast ratios, so you can expect vibrant colors and good color reproduction. They also offer good viewing angles, and while brightness may vary depending on the angle you’re looking at the screen from, they’re not susceptible to the backlight issues of IPS panels.

The downside of VA panels is that they have slower response times. As with IPS panels, newer models do have high refresh rates, but the slow response time means you may see ghosting or motion blur in fast-paced, competitive games. Fortunately, all VIOTEK monitors come with AdaptiveSync, which works with AMD® FreeSync® and NVIDIA® G-Sync™ technologies. AdaptiveSync eliminates image distortion (e.g., tearing, stuttering, ghosting and judder) and other glitches that can happen if the monitor’s refresh rate doesn’t match the frame rate of the computer’s GPU. The result is smoother action with clearer images.

There are benefits and downsides to each panel type, and there’s no one correct answer to the question of “which is best.” It depends on your budget, the type of games you enjoy playing, whether you prize response times over other features, and what else you do with the monitor.

If you’re a competitive gamer who wants the absolute best response time on a budget, TN panels will get the job done, but they may disappoint when you’re playing a heavily modded game of Skyrim and want to stop and enjoy the scenery. IPS panels can deliver a similar experience if you’re willing to spend a lot of money. But if you’re like most of us, you’d rather put that extra cash towards a slightly better GPU.

VA monitors are a great “Jack of all trades.” The NBV24CB2, for example, is a highly affordable 1080P monitor that offers a 75Hz refresh rate and AdaptiveSync technology—along with some other nice extras. Those extras include GAMEPLUS targeting crosshairs and FPS/RTS display modes to help give you the advantage while playing first-person shooter games. This monitor is ideal for gamers with mid-range systems. If you’re playing marathon sessions, the NBV24CB2 has a blue-light filter to help reduce eye strain. And there’s great color reproduction for watching videos.

Looking for something with a little more power? The GNV32CBO or GFV24CB are two 1080p monitors. These offer super-fast 165Hz refresh rates for pro-motion with reduced input lag. They’re also VA panels, delivering great color reproduction, AMD FreeSync to reduce image ghosting, and other game-friendly features.

With the right monitor, you can play for longer and enjoy a smoother and more responsive experience, whether that’s in an FPS, driving game, or RTS. These monitors are designed with gamers in mind and put you in control of every move. Check out Viotek’s selection of monitors today and find the best fit for your needs!

The BenQ XL series is a great choice for a decently priced competitive monitor. Most of our CS:GO pros use them.Whether you love playing CS:GO, Overwatch, League of Legends, Dota or other games – you are are staring at a screen for hours everyday. So it’s reasonable that you want to pick the best monitor for your gaming needs. Now, most monitors differ by resolution, refresh rate, response time, color reproduction, contrast ratio etc. But which of these aspects are really important for competitive performance? For most of these aspects the monitor panel is the deciding factor. So what is the best monitor panel for gaming?

Let’s start explaining some of the technical stuff first. Flat panel displays are viewing technologies that are used to display videos or images on a screen. These are usually multi-layered glass panels that are placed in front of a back light to illuminate what you see.

Most of you might have heard of LCDs (or Liquid-crystal displays) before. We don’t want to bore you with the complicated details but in summary the pixels are turned on or off by sending tiny amounts of power through electrodes to turn liquid crystals just the right direction to produce the color you want. LCD is the most common use of flat panel displays on the market right now and most LCD panels fall into three categories. Most of these differ on how the liquid crystals are aligned or rearranged to produce each individual pixel and each of these have their general pros and cons.

So let’s have a look which panel type might be the best for PC and competitive gaming. There are two things we need for the best monitor panel for gaming: It needs to provide us with a 144HZ refresh rate, and needs the lowest response time possible. While color, contrast ratios and viewing angles are important, we think that most gamers won’t notice the slight imperfections in color on a regulars basis. We also sit right on front of the screen, so viewing angles are less important too. Contrast ratio can be significant because we need to spot enemies in different terrain but are less important than the refresh rate and response time. In summary: The refresh rate and response time have a higher impact on your competitive performance – so that is what we focus on.

For starters, these explanations are generalizations. Panel technologies have evolved leaps and bounds over the last couple of years so please have a look at each individual monitor before you make your choice. Let’s have a look at the three most commons types:

TN – or Twisted nematic panels – are probably the most common monitor panels on the market. They are produced cheaply and provide response times or response time in the single digit range – great for gaming. The contrast, colors and viewing angles however, can range from mediocre to bad. As a personal opinion: These monitors are a decent choice for anyone that doesn’t want to compromise on response time and needs a competitive monitor with a high refresh rate. Just don’t do graphic design work on these.

VA – or Vertical Alignment panels – in general provide better colors and viewing angles than their TN counterparts. VA panel monitors are a decent in-between if you want your color to be mostly on point. On average these monitors are slightly more expensive than TN panel monitors.

IPS – or In-plane switching – are sort of the opposite of the aforementioned TN panels. They are built to provide the best viewing angles, contrast and color. These are often used for their viewing angles in expensive tablets or phones. You can also find these panels in monitors for professionals in graphics design. They can also be quite expensive and don’t support the highest refresh rates. So we don’t consider these to be monitor panels for gaming.

In summary, you need a 144HZ monitor with the lowest response time possible. Currently, this combination is present in TN and some VA and IPS panels. At the end of the day you have to decide on a particular monitor that fits your needs.

We have prepared a short list of the monitors in use by CS:GO professional gamers. Feel free to have a look at each specific option and decide for yourself – the best monitor panel for gaming is a very personal choice. The panel types might have limitations in principle but the technology has evolved so much that most of these options are a great choice for competitive gaming.

In order to choose the best monitor for your needs, it is very important to distinguish what kind of LCD panel interface type is in the monitor you’re looking at. The most common panels used nowadays are;

One of the types of panels that you will find in a computer monitor is a TN Panel. This stands for Twisted Nematic, and this particular type of LCD panel is generally the cheapest. They are the cheapest to manufacture among all LCD technologies, so they are the most commonly used in budget monitors.

If you are looking to game online, you will need a monitor with a higher refresh rate like that offered by a TN panel. Refresh rates are measured in Hertz (Hz), which defines how many times per second your screen can display new images.

The typical response time for a TN panel is less than 5 ms which is much faster than the 6 or 8 ms response time that other LCD displays have, such as vertical alignment or VA.

The biggest downside with these panels is often their viewing angles. On a TN panel, the viewing angles aren"t very good, and depending on how far off-center you are, the picture can begin to lose color and contrast.

TN panels also don"t support as wide a range of resolutions as IPS. This LCD monitor panel type has a poor contrast ratio when compared with other technologies such as IPS and VA. This results in an inability to display deep blacks and bright whites at the same time.

TN panels are manufactured by Samsung, LG, AUO, Chi-Mei, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Hannstar Display Corporation, Sharp Corporation, CMI, Innolux, J-Tech Digital Imaging Co. Ltd, AU Optronics Corporation, etc.

A TN panel is a type of liquid crystal display (LCD) used in most LCD monitors and laptops. TN panels were the workhorse of the 1990s and early 2000s, but they were eventually replaced by their more-expensive cousins, the in-plane switching (IPS) and vertical alignment (VA) panels.

TN computer panels work by using two polarized filters, vertical and horizontal, to control the light that passes through them. The filters are arranged so that when the electrical current is off, light cannot pass through. When it"s on, it hits the twisted crystals to produce colors. The active layer is twisted to allow the light to pass through it, and this twist is controlled by electrical fields applied to the liquid crystal material.

It is worth noting that A TN panel is made up of millions of pixels, each pixel being red, green, or blue in color. The light from each pixel can be either on or off, so black is created when all the pixels are off and white when all are on. When all three colors are combined, any color can be produced. This arrangement is called RGB (red-green-blue).

A TN panel uses twisted nematic liquid crystals to form images. While not as desirable as other technologies, it does have several benefits worth considering when making a purchasing decision.They are mostly found in budget LCDs, as they are cheaper to manufacture and therefore sell for less.

TN panels have excellent response rates and refresh rates, typically 1 - 2 milliseconds and 50 – 75 Hz, respectively. This makes them ideal for high-end gaming

TN is the oldest and most common type of LCD panel, and it"s also the cheapest to produce. TN panels were the first panels to be introduced to the market, but they"re no longer as popular as they used to be. This is because TN panels have several downsides:The main disadvantage of TN panels is limited viewing angles, which can be extremely limiting in some cases. If you"re sitting straight in front of the monitor, everything is fine, but if you move to the side, then all colors shift and get distorted. That can be extremely annoying for graphic designers or architectswho work with color palettes, photographers who need exact color matching, etc. (see also

TN panels typically have lower contrast ratios than IPS displays do, so they don"t look as rich in color or dark black. So TN panels are usually not suitable for professional applications such as color-critical photo editingand graphic design.

Many gamers prefer TN panels because they provide a very fast response time and higher refresh rates. You can also find some with a refresh rate of 240Hz, which is even better.The Asus VG248QE is a 24-inch LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a 1ms response time. It uses a TN panel, so don"t expect much in terms of viewing angle or color reproduction accuracy compared to an IPS display. But if you"re looking for a good 144Hz monitor, choose this one.

The Samsung S27B970D is also known as the professional gaming monitor because it has features that gamers love: it"s got a fast 1ms response time and 144Hz refresh rate. In addition, as far as features go, take a look at gaming monitors with speakers.

ViewSonic VX2458-MHD. It has a TN panel. The refresh rate of this monitor is 72Hz, which is standard. The response time of this monitor is 1ms. It also comes with 4 USB 3.0 ports, which is great if you plan on hooking up multiple devices, which is frequently used when trading. If you have a setup like that, you will also want to look at bezel less monitors, or frameless monitors, for your needs.

Another common type of panel is a VA panel. This stands for Vertical Alignment and is a step above a TN panel in terms of quality. Its name comes from the fact that light emitted from the screen"s backlight (see also LED monitors) is aligned vertically rather than being scattered horizontally and vertically as it is with a TN display.

VA panels provide high-quality images, wide viewing angles along with excellent contrast ratio and high refresh rates. These factors make VA panel monitors preferred for graphic design, photographers, video editors, and others who often work on their PCs.

VA panels are also better when displaying fast-moving images because they offer high refresh rates hence have less motion blur. Additionally, some panels have support for even 120 Hz refresh rates for ultra-smooth movement in games and movies.

Unlike a TN display, a VA display has excellent viewing angles. You can view them from any direction, and you won"t see any distortion in the display. They make them a good choice for home theater systems as it allows users to be seated off-center without affecting the image quality or contrast ratio.

Traditional LCD displays use two polarizing filters and liquid crystals (LCs) to create all the colors and patterns that we see on computer monitors and flat-panel televisions.

What are the Benefits of VA Panels?Image quality of VA technology is considered better than TN technology; text appears crisper, and images appear sharper and richer in contrast and color.

The big downside of TN panels is their response time. Most TN panels have a response time of 5-8 MS, which is fine for most people. However, if you"re mostly into competitive gaming or fast-paced action games like me that require quick reflexes, then this could be a problem.

We did some research and came up with a list of the best monitors with VA panels, and they are;ViewSonic VX2457-MHD. It is a24-inch monitor with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and covers 100% of the sRGB spectrum. It also has plenty of picture-enhancing features, including adjustable color settings and support for AMD"s FreeSync technology (see also affordable G Sync monitors).

This is the best LCD panel type. IPS stands for In-Plane Switching, and the biggest advantage over the other panels listed above is its wide viewing angles.

These screens are more expensive than TN panels but offer a greater contrast ratio, higher resolutions than their TN counterparts. They also support higher refresh rates, lower response time which makes them ideal for monitors larger than 24 inches.

These panels offer much more consistent colors, which makes them ideal for graphic designers or anyone who does any kind of color-critical work on their monitor.

IPS panels offer wider viewing angles than VA panels do, making them better suited for use in public spaces such as retail stores or airports where you can expect people will be walking by your TV from both sides.

They also have a high refresh rate. Newer models are now available with 120Hz or even 240Hz refresh rates. These are found chiefly on gaming monitors but will likely become more common in other types of monitors in the future.

The contrast ratio of an IPS panel is higher than that of TN panels. The contrast ratio of a display refers to the difference between the darkest black and the brightest white that the display is capable of producing. This can be an important factor in overall display quality, depending on how you use your laptop or desktop monitor.

A high contrast ratio is important for good reasons. A good contrast ratio makes details easier to see, so you can enjoy your movies more and your games more challenging. It can also make it easier to work outside in bright sunlight.

Some manufacturers that specialize in IPS panel interphases include Samsung, LG, and even Mac Apple. Also, almost all Dell monitors use IPS panels. However, there are plenty of other high-quality manufacturers that also offer IPS panels for you to choose from.

In a liquid crystal display (LCD), light passes through a pair of polarizers. Each polarizer is made of a long chain of molecules, each oriented in a different direction; one vertical, the other horizontal.

In an IPS LCD panel, liquid crystals are aligned so that both polarizers face the same way—horizontal. Light from behind the panel passes through one polarizer and then bounces off onto a second polarizer before reaching your eyes. This design makes IPS LCDs nearly as bright as VA panels and much brighter than TN panels without sacrificing contrast ratio or color accuracy.

If you"re looking for a new monitor, IPS panels may be the right ones for you. Here are some of their most important benefits:It allows for wider viewing angles. This is very useful for monitors used at work that involve customer service, where the monitor may be viewed from many different angles.

The IPS LCD displays are also characterized by their high degree of brightness and contrast, which makes them ideal for outdoor use, among many other features.

The typical lifespan of an IPS panel is around 100,000 hours, which is more than enough for even heavy users to get their money"s worth from their monitor.

They have great color reproduction. Many people who are serious about a photo or video editing are drawn to IPS panels because they offer superior color reproduction possibilities when compared with TN panels.

The main disadvantage of IPS panels is that they are more expensive than TN panels. The cost of an IPS panel will typically be $10-$20 higher than a comparable TN panel.

Today, the majority of flat-panel monitors use in-plane switching (IPS) technology. Best monitors that have IPS panels include;Samsung U28E590D 28-Inch 4K UHD Monitor. If you love gaming, then this is the product for you; it comes with AMD FreeSync, which proved successful in eliminating screen tearing since being introduced as VSync, as this post explained.

The LG IPS236V-P has excellent color reproduction (99% sRGB) and wide viewing angles (178°/178°) that provide great images even when viewed from an angle. It"s also an affordable monitor priced under 200 dollars.

The Acer H236HL bmijpphzx is one the best IPS monitors on the market today. This monitor has an extremely high 2560×1440 resolution along with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and a 160-degree viewing angle.

Also, bear in mind that if it is a flat panel display with a 1080p resolution or higher, you can refurbish it and resell it after using it. Older monitors with lower resolutions may not be worth much.

It offers a much higher resolution than conventional LCD and can be used to manufacture large panels. It"s an innovative display technology that has the potential to change the face of consumer electronics.

There are 3 main types of LCDs; VA (Vertical Alignment), TN (Twisted Nematic), and IPS (In-Plane Switching). All these technologies have been used for over 10 years and have their own pros and cons. However, they have reached their upper limits in terms of resolution and other features, and it"s nearly impossible to increase them any further. That"s where Super PLS-Plane to Line Switching comes in.

Super PLS-Plane to Line Switching offers resolutions as high as 8K, has wider viewing angles, and is brighter. The image quality presented by this technology is said to be much better than traditional LCDs, and it could potentially disrupt the current.

The Nano IPS panel technology adds a layer of nano-particles to the backlight in order to transmit the screen"s picture more efficiently and reduce the chances of image retention.

Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle (AHVA) computer display was developed by AU Optronics Corp. It is a type of LCD that can be seen clearly even from the most acute angles. Through the process of strengthening the polarizing plate, it can help minimize the reflection ratio to less than 1%. The viewing angle is about 178 degrees.

AHVA also provides a greater range of colors which makes images appear to pop off the screen. And it gives better performance outdoors, so you get a great view no matter whether it"s sunny or cloudy.

Computer monitors produce a lot of blue light, which isvery bad for your eyes. Why? Because blue light has the highest energy and the shortest wavelength in the visible light spectrum. If you stare at a computer screen for hours each day, you"re exposed to a lot of blue light, and that can be very harmful to your eyes. For programmers, for example, who spend a lot of time under artificial light, to have the best eye care technology is crucial to keep focus on the job.

Most LCDs (liquid crystal display) monitors are now manufactured with an anti-glare coating to reduce the effect of ambient light reflecting off the screen. Anti-glare coatings can reduce reflections by 25 to 70%.

VA panel is better thank IPS. Although IPS panels have a contrast ratio of 700:1 to 1500:1, they are still inferior to VA panels. The majority of VA monitor panels have contrast ratios above 2500:1, and some even reach 5000:1 or 6000:1. Even local dimming is used by more recent monitors to obtain even greater contrast ratios.

Yes, IPS is better than OLED. The main benefit of IPS panels is their increased brightness, particularly when combined with a tiny LED backlight. OLED displays are often limited to brightness levels of roughly 1,000 nits, while mini LED displays can reach peak brightness levels of around 2,000 nits.

First, to be clear, there is no “best” panel type out of these, as all have their respective advantages and disadvantages over the others. The information here pertains to general characteristics, as even panels of the same panel type will have some variance in characteristics (power consumption, backlight bleed, etc.) depending on the luck of the draw. Manufacturer tuning can also impact display output, affording some differentiating leverage to manufacturers sourcing from panel suppliers (which is effectively all of them).

The earliest widely available and used consumer PCs employed CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors. For this reason, CRT monitors are oftentimes remembered in fondness (or contempt) by those who grew up using them.

Nostalgia or riddance aside, there are still some valid reasons to use a CRT monitor. When compared to LCD panels, CRT monitors can have higher contrast ratio, very low response time (which leads to non-blurred pictures even with fast movement on screen), and very little input lag, although LCD input lag can be largely negated. The downsides of CRTs are apparent, though: they’re large, heavy, consume more power, produce flicker, can produce audible, high frequency noise (although age plays into whether one can hear them or not), produce slightly distorted images, and produce harmful electromagnetic waves (in the form of x-rays), which requires that toxic materials such as lead and barium must be used as shielding to prevent detrimental health effects. CRT monitors are also notoriously hazardous to repair, given their large, active electrical coils that can measure upwards of 50,000 volts of electricity.

CRT displays are sometimes still used in medical, simu