display out lcd panel vs v out panel quotation

There’s a variety of display panel out there and even more on the way. But looking at all the different types of panels can be baffling. They come in various acronyms, and many of those acronyms are confusingly similar. How do LCD, LED and OLED compare? What about the different types of LCD panels? And how do these different technologies impact your viewing experience for things like gaming? To help, we’ve created this guide so you can gain a firm understanding of today’s display panel technology and which features really matter.

The first type of panels we’ll cover are LCD (liquid crystal display) panels. The main thing to understand about LCD panels is that they all use a white backlight (or sidelight, etc.). They work by shining a bright white light into your eyes, while the rest of the panel is for changing this backlight into individual pixels.

LED stands for light-emitting diode. You’ll often see LCD panels that are LED, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much when choosing an LCD. LED is just a different type of backlight compared to the old cold cathode backlights. While you could congratulate yourself on not using mercury, which is found in cathodes, at this point all LCDs use LED backlights anyway.

The second thing to understand is that LCDs take advantage of a phenomena known as polarization. Polarization is the direction in which the light wave is oscillating, or swinging back and forth at the same speed. Light comes out of the backlight unpolarized. It then passes through one polarizer, which makes all the light oscillate the same way.

Then there’s the “liquid crystal” part. A liquid crystal in this case is a crystal structure that can change the polarization of light passing through it. A liquid crystal in the rest, or off, state is arranged to not change the polarization of the light. This means that when the light reaches a second polarizer, oriented oppositely from the first polarizer, all the light is blocked. But when you apply a voltage, you turn the liquid crystal into some percentage of an “on” state. This then changes a percentage of the polarization of the light passing through to meet the orientation of the second polarizer, allowing it to pass through and become visible to your eye.

Now you have an on and off (and between) switch for light. To produce color all that’s needed is three color filters, red, green and blue, that block all light other than that color from coming through. The difference between different types of LCD panels is mostly in how this in-between liquid crystal part works.

This design allows for fast response times (the time between the panel getting the frame it’s supposed to display and actually displaying it). It also allows for fast refresh rates. Consequently, TN panels are the only 240 hertz (Hz) gaming monitors available right now.

TN panels are cheap but suffer from poor viewing angles due to the “twist” only being aligned in one direction for viewing the panel straight on. They can also have poor color and contrast due to this twist mechanism not being the most precise or accurate.

VA stands for vertical alignment, again referring to the crystal alignment. These came about in the 1990s. Instead of using liquid crystals to twist a light’s polarization, a VA panel’s liquid crystals are aligned either perpendicular (vertical to) or parallel (horizontal to) the two polarizers. In the off state, the crystals are perpendicular to the two opposing polarizers. In the on state, the crystals begin to align horizontally, changing the polarization to match the second polarizer and allowing the light to go through the crystals.

This structure produces deeper blacks and better colors than TN panels. And multiple crystal alignments (shifted a bit off axis from each other) can allow for better viewing angles compared to TN panels.

However, VA panels come with a tradeoff, as they are often more expensive than TN panels and tend to have lower refresh rates and slower response times than TN panels. Consequently, you won’t see quite as many VA panel gaming monitors.

IPS stands for in-plane switching. These panels debuted after TN panels in the mid-1990s. The crystals are always horizontal to the two polarizers and twist 90° horizontally to go from off to on. Part of this design requires the two electrodes (which apply current to the liquid crystal to change its state) to be on the same glass substrate, instead of aligned with each other on the sandwiching glass substrates above and below the crystal (as in other types of LCDs). This, in turn, blocks a bit more light than both TN and VA panels.

IPS panels have the best viewing angles and colors of any LCD monitor type, thanks to its crystal alignment always lining up with the viewer. And while they don’t offer as fast a response time or refresh rate as TN panels, clever engineering has still gotten them to 144hz, and with nice viewing angles you’re not necessarily going wrong with an IPS gaming panel.

How do LCD panels go about reaching HDR brightness when incorrect polarization and color filters block so much light?The answer is quantum dots. These clever little things are molecules that absorb light and then re-emit that light in the color you engineered them to.

Today’s quantum dot layers usually go between a blue backlight and the polarization step, and are often used to produce red and green that more closely matches the color filters, so more light passes through them. This allows more of the backlight to come through instead of being blocked by the color filters, it can also reduce crosstalk, or colors slipping through the wrong subpixel, ensuring better colors of LCDs.

Other uses of quantum dots are being tried, however. One promising one is using QD molecules to replace the color filters entirely, allowing even more light through. Because LCD backlights produce more light than OLED panels (more on those below), this would allow LCDs to become the brightest displays around.

What quantum dot displays don’t do, however, is affect refresh rates, switching times et cetera. Being passive, they sit there and affect color and brightness only. But really, how fast do you need your refresh rate to go anyway?

Motion blur/ghosting can be a result of how long an image takes to switch from one to another and how long an image is displayed on screen (persistence). But both of these phenomena differ greatly between individual LCD panels regardless of underlying LCD tech. And both are often better controlled by higher refresh rates, rather than clever panel engineering, at least for LCD displays.

Choosing an LCD panel based on underlying LCD tech should be more about cost vs desired contrast, viewing angles and color reproduction than expected blur, or other gaming attributes. Maximum refresh rate and response time should be listed in any respectable panel’s specs. Other gaming tech, such as strobe, which flashes the backlight on and off quickly to reduce persistence, may not be listed at all and is not part of the underlying type of LCD used. For that kind of info you’ll have to check the detailed reviews here on our site.

OLED, or organic light emitting diode, panels, are different from LCDs. There are no polarization tricks here. Instead, each pixel (or subpixel of red, green, or blue) lights itself up as a voltage is applied to a giant complex molecule called, yep, an organic light emitting diode. The color emitted is dependent on the molecule in question, and brightness is dependent on the voltage applied. OLEDs can reach HDR brightness because their molecules put out the right colors to begin with without being blocked.

Due to its approach to color and brightness, OLEDs have great contrast ratios. There’s no need to block a backlight, so there’s no worries about light bleeding through. Blacks are very black, and colors look great. OLEDs can also strobe, or flash off and on quickly to lower persistence. They can also use a trick called rolling scan.This turns blocks of the screen on and off one at a time, from top to bottom in a roll. This is all done as the image is sent to the screen, which cuts down on persistence blur a lot. This is why every major VR headset that can afford it uses OLED panels today.

Unfortunately, that’s where the advantages of OLED end. Refresh rates of OLED panels have never surpassed about 90Hz. And they’re quite expensive. A large part of that $1,000 iPhone X price is due to its OLED display. The current molecules used in OLEDs also degrade relatively quickly over time, especially those used for the color blue(opens in new tab), making the screen less and less bright.

OLEDs were also supposed to use less power than LCDs, but newer, giant OLED molecules that take less voltage to turn on have yet to appear. And while molecules covering the colors of the P3 HDR gamut are out today, those covering the larger BT.2020 gamut have yet to be found commercially. So OLEDs, while once promising and seemingly the future, have yet to live up to that promise.

A relevant question: If our fastest gaming displays are 240Hz TN panels now, just how fast do we need to go anyway? Well, a 2015 study places maximum human perception at 500Hz. So from that perspective, we’re halfway there. But that’s halfway there with today’s HDR, and not in lightfield 3D, or other possible advancements. And mobile devices could always use displays that take up less power.

In other words, in order to get fancy 3D effects, or much higher brightness, or any other desirable features, a different, new type of panel may be required. MicroLED tech is one such technology; think of it as OLED without the organic part and with the potential to improve contrast, response times and energy usage over standard LED panels. If you want to know more you can go here, but the real takeaway is that MicroLEDs work almost exactly like OLEDs.

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Because OLED TVs are newer and generally more expensive, the average buyer is looking at LED/LCD TVs right now. And although there are several features and specifications to consider while shopping—the brand name, HDR compatibility, and refresh rate, just to name a few—there’s one important hardware spec that isn’t widely advertised: LCD panel type.

LED/LCD TVs are so called because of the two things that make up their displays: an LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlight and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel for that backlight to shine through. LED backlights vary between a variety of implementations, but modern LCDs generally come in one of two panel technologies: IPS (In-Plane Switching) and VA (Vertical Alignment).

Unlike other hardware specifications (which are usually listed on the side of a TV box or on the manufacturer’s website), information about a TV’s LCD panel type is a bit more inside baseball. But panel type has a far greater impact on a TV’s performance than you might expect—it affects contrast, color, and viewing angle as well.

Individual pixels in an LCD display are made up of liquid crystals activated by voltage. How the display arranges its crystals is part of what sets IPS panels apart from VA panels.

IPS (In-Plane Switching) panels are a common display type for both the best computer monitors and TVs. Without getting too far down the rabbit hole, let’s talk a little about how IPS panels distinguish themselves from other types.

Every non-OLED TV on the market today is an LCD TV powered by LED lighting. Individual pixels in an LCD display are made up of liquid crystals activated by voltage—this is what produces color. An IPS panel aligns its crystals horizontally, parallel to the glass substrate.

IPS technology was developed in part to improve the color and wide viewing angle performance of a display. There"s also a range of variations under the IPS umbrella, including ADS, S-IPS, H-IPS, e-IPS, P-IPS, and PLS (Plane-to-Line Switching). But, while they all differ marginally from one another in operation, their core functionality (as compared to VA panels) is the same.

VA (Vertical Alignment) panels represent another common display type, used for both computer monitors and TVs, but especially for the latter where they greatly outnumber their IPS counterparts. Most LED/LCD TVs you"ll find on the market use a VA panel. While IPS panels align their liquid crystals horizontally, VA panels align them—you guessed it—vertically. They run perpendicular to the glass substrate rather than parallel to it. When met with voltage, the crystals tilt, letting light through and producing color.

This positioning changes how the liquid crystals behave. Without any voltage, the liquid crystals in a VA panel do not tilt, which is a better outcome if your goal is to block light and create image depth. Like with IPS, VA panels also come in a few varieties: PVA, S-PVA, and MVA, though again, their core functionality (as compared to IPS panels) is the same.

TN (Twisted Nematic) is an older LCD display type. They"re still relatively common display types for computer monitors—thanks to their lightning fast response times and excellent handling of motion blur. TN panels aren"t typically used in TV production anymore, though.

The cornerstone of picture quality, contrast ratio refers to the range between a display’s darkest black levels and brightest highlights. Because VA-style panels excel at producing deep, dark black levels, this is arguably their biggest strength. VA panels almost always feature deeper black levels than their IPS counterparts, and this goes a long way in creating a detail-rich picture. An IPS panel can mitigate this by serving up an exceptionally bright image to offset relatively shallow black levels.

A TV’s total viewing angle describes how much a viewer can move away from an ideal, head-on viewing position before the contrast and color of the picture begins to deteriorate. Due to the positioning of their liquid crystals, IPS panels excel in this department; they typically offer significantly more viewing flexibility than TVs with VA-style panels. In other words, IPS panels are more reliable for group viewings (or any situation where a viewer might need to sit at an off-angle).

While impressive color production is possible on both display types, IPS panels tend to offer wider colors, given the nature of their hardware. While a wider range of colors tends to spell better color accuracy, the advent of additional TV technologies like quantum-dot color have evened the playing field considerably. In other words, you’re far more likely to notice the benefits of an IPS TV’s wider viewing angle than you are to notice its tendency for wider color.

Here’s the final takeaway: IPS panels are significantly better than VA panels when it comes to viewing angle and somewhat better than VA panels when it comes to color. VA panels, however, almost always offer deeper black levels and better overall contrast. And because they block light better, TVs and monitors using VA panels tend to have better backlight uniformity regardless of LED backlight type.

Unfortunately, not only is it rare to find a TV’s panel type listed on a manufacturer’s website, but it’s increasingly rare for a brand to reveal a TV’s panel type at all—even when we contact brands directly for information. The reason for this caginess has everything to do with marketing; it’s better to keep shoppers focused on the bells, whistles, and impressive performance specs of a TV rather than its potential shortcomings.

To add to the confusion, it’s common for different sizes of the same TV series to mix and match display types; you might find that the 55-inch version of a TV features a VA-style display while the 75-inch model uses IPS.

Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to determine panel type if you have the proper equipment and you know what to look for. Certain test results and viewing characteristics act as tell-tale signs. This is why my colleagues and I make a point of discussing panel type in just about every TV review we publish, and why you should make a point of reading reviews before making a purchase.

Panel type is not the end-all-be-all for LED/LCD TVs. Many other factors, most of them related to the style and intensity of the LED backlight, can have a major impact on factors like contrast, viewing angle, and color intensity. Ultimately, you need to see a TV in person (and ideally in the space it’s going to live in) to get the best idea of how well it creates an image. But by knowing the core differences of IPS vs VA LCD panels, you can at least make some good guesses before you buy.

Unlike the best gaming monitors, IPS and VA TV panels are on an even playing field. TVs with both technologies are capable of high refresh rates of 120Hz, or occasionally 240Hz (although it usually comes at a premium).

If you focus on single-player gaming, or your multiplayer gaming happens online, the excellent contrast of VA is the way to go. The most gaming benefits you’ll see will come from extra features like Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), or cloud game capabilities.

If you’re buying a large screen and intend to host movie nights with friends and family, a TV with an IPS-style panel is far more accommodating thanks to its superior viewing angle. Just be aware that certain content—particularly dark content—won’t pop as much on account of the panel’s shallower black levels.

On the other hand, if you want the best possible picture overall, we recommend investing in a TV with a VA-style panel. They’re not always ideal candidates for group viewings, but the vast majority of the best non-OLED TVs you can buy feature this display type.

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Even after the introduction of newer display technologies, LCDs still remain relevant even today.LCD displays are used for multiple purposes (TV, Monitor, Mobile Phones, Laptops, Automobiles, etc.) and one single configuration cannot satisfy all the purposes. So, LCD displays come with two different panels – VA (Vertical Alignment) and IPS (In-Plane Switching) to satisfy the different viewing needs of consumers.

A VA panel offers a superior contrast ratio but a narrow viewing angle. Contrarily, an IPS panel offers a wide viewing angle but a low contrast ratio.

Now, when you apply an electric current, it causes the cells to align in a horizontal manner and allow the light to pass through. This causes to display the picture.

As mentioned earlier, displays with VA Panels provide a great contrast ratio. You can find VA panels that typically come with contrast ratios of 3000:1 or 6000:1. A comparable IPS panel will only have a contrast ratio of 1000:1.

But they fall behind when it comes to viewing angles. Viewing angle denotes the angle at which you can sit and watch the TV / monitor without a drop in the picture quality.

VA panels have narrow viewing angles. You will only be able to have an immersive experience when you sit straight opposite the display. The wider angles will not provide you the same experience.

In this, the liquid crystals are arranged parallel to the glass substrate instead of the perpendicular alignment. Furthermore, the structure of crystals and the placement of electrodes differ from the one used in VA panels. The electrodes occupy more space that results in lower contrast and brightness of the screen.

With the IPS panels, you can view the TV / monitor from a wide-angle and still get an impressive picture quality. Unlike VA panels, you will notice very little difference in color reproduction when you sit at a wide-angle from the display.

But when it comes to black uniformity, the IPS panels are sub-par. These panels do a poor job in displaying a bright image in the center of a completely black screen.

One more major drawback with the IPS panels is that they exhibit a distinct phenomenon called ‘IPS Glow’. You will notice some light patches on the corners of the screen. This happens when excessive light is passed through the screen.

Initially, IPS panels are mainly used in TVs due to their wide viewing angles, as we can watch TV in our living room from anywhere. But due to their better quality, color accuracy and response time, LCD panels gradually occupied the high-end computer monitor and laptop screens

IPS:These panels have the highest color range. You will be able to enjoy a realistic gaming experience. Besides, they have better viewing angles. So, you won’t notice any drop in picture quality even when you are not sitting in front of your TV / monitor.

VA:Even though the color range is not as great as the IPS panel, it does a pretty good job in showing the color variations. But the viewing angle is narrow. So, you have to sit straight opposite the TV / monitor.

VA panel compensates for its decent color range with an impressive contrast ratio. You will be able to see great detailing in the difference between light and dark colors.

IPS:IPS panels have one of the highest refresh rates. While you easily find an IPS panel with a refresh rate of 144Hz, some of the latest ones come with a refresh rate of 360Hz. If you are a serious online-gamer, digital artist, or video editor, then you have to go with the highest refresh rate within your budget.

VA:VA panels have lower refresh rates than IPS panels. Most VA panels come with a refresh rate of 120Hz. If you want to have a higher refresh rate, then you have to be willing to spend extra. VA panels have a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz.

IPS:IPS panels generally come with a response time of 4 milliseconds. This would suffice for watching TV or playing most games. But, if you are playing racing games or first-person shooting games, you need to have a response time of less than 2 milliseconds.

VA:VA panels generally have a slower response time than IPS panels with 5 milliseconds. So, there is a higher chance for you to experience motion blur. But, some of the VA panels that come with an expensive price tag have faster response times.

IPS:When it comes to the viewing angle, IPS panels far outweigh the VA panels. They have wider viewing angles. You will experience no drop in picture quality even if you sit and watch the TV from an extreme angle.

VA:The VA panels have a very narrow viewing angle. You have to sit as close to the straight axis of the TV to enjoy the picture quality. If you sit wider, there will be a significant loss in the picture quality.

The contrast ratio refers to the difference between the maximum and minimum brightness. It is the capacity of the display monitor to show dark colors darker and bright colors brighter.

IPS:IPS panels do a decent job in the contrast ratio segment but they are nowhere close to that of VA panels. An IPS panel offers a contrast ratio of 1000:1. When you watch a black color environment in an IPS panel, the black color will be slightly greyed out.

VA:VA panels offer a superior contrast ratio of 6000:1 that is very impressive. It has the capacity to show dark environments as darker. So, you will enjoy the picture detailing shown by the VA panels.

IPS:IPS panels are not really great at displaying the uniform black color throughout the screen. Due to the low contrast ratio, the black color will appear slightly greyed out.

VA:VA panels have a good black uniformity. But it also depends on the TV model you go with. Not all TV models with a VA panel have good black uniformity. But it is safe to say that in general, VA panels have better black uniformity than an IPS panel.

To put it short, the main difference between the panels lies in the alignment of the liquid crystals. The alignment results in the differences in the performance and picture quality of the panels.

The VA panels are ideal for office/study use, high-end PC games, and online games. If you are looking for a panel for mixed usage, the VA panel should still suffice your needs.

If you have any further doubts or queries, let us know using the comments section. Our team will help you out. You can also post your thoughts and views in the comments box.

When it comes todisplay technologies such asprojectorsand panels, factors such as resolution and refresh rate are often discussed. But the underlying technology is equally, if not more, important. There are tons of different types of screens, from OLED and LED to TN, VA, and IPS. Learn about the various monitor and television types, from operation to pros and cons!

1)Film layer that polarizes light entering2)glass substrate that dictates the dark shapes when the LCD screen is on3)Liquid crystal layer4)glass substrate that lines up with the horizontal filter5)Horizontal film filter letting light through or blocking it6)Reflective surface transmitting an image to the viewer

The most common form of monitor or TV on the market is LCD or Liquid Crystal Display. As the name suggests, LCDs use liquid crystals that alter the light to generate a specific colour. So some form of backlighting is necessary. Often, it’s LED lighting. But there are multiple forms of backlighting.

LCDs have utilized CCFLs or cold cathode fluorescent lamps. An LCD panel lit with CCFL backlighting benefits from extremely uniform illumination for a pretty even level of brightness across the entire screen. However, this comes at the expense of picture quality. Unlike an LED TV, cold cathode fluorescent lamp LCD monitors lack dimming capabilities. Since the brightness level is even throughout the entire array, a darker portion of scenes might look overly lit or washed out. While that might not be as obvious in a room filled with ambient light, under ideal movie-watching conditions, or in a dark room, it’s noticeable. LED TVs have mostly replaced CCFL.

An LCD panel is transmissive rather than emissive. Composition depends on the specific form of LCD being used, but generally, pixels are made up of subpixel layers that comprise the RGB (red-green-blue) colour spectrum and control the light that passes through. A backlight is needed, and it’s usually LED for modern monitors.

While many newer TVs and monitors are marketed as LED TVs, it’s sort of the same as an LCD TV. Whereas LCD refers to a display type, LED points to the backlighting in liquid crystal display instead. As such, LED TV is a subset of LCD. Rather than CCFLs, LEDs are light-emitting diodes or semiconductor light sources which generate light when a current passes through.

LED TVs boast several different benefits. Physically, LED television tends to be slimmer than CCFL-based LCD panels, and viewing angles are generally better than on non-LED LCD monitors. So if you’re at an angle, the picture remains relatively clear nonetheless. LEDs are also extremely long-lasting as well as more energy-efficient. As such, you can expect a lengthy lifespan and low power draw. Chances are you’ll upgrade to a new telly, or an internal part will go out far before any LEDs cease functioning.

Further segmenting LED TVs down, you’ll find TN panels. A TN display or Twisted Nematic display offers a low-cost solution with low response time and low input lag. TN monitors sport high refresh rates, so 100Hz, 144Hz, or higher. Thus, many monitors marketed toward gamers feature TN technology. Unfortunately, while an affordable, fast panel may sound ideal, TN panels suffer from inferior colour reproduction and horrible viewing angles. A TN panel works so that liquid crystal molecules point at the viewer, and light polarizers are oriented at 90-degree angles.

Like TN, IPS or In-plane Switching displays are a subset of LED panels. IPS monitors tend to boast accurate colour reproduction and great viewing angles. Price is higher than on TN monitors, but in-plane switching TVs generally feature a better picture when compared with twisted nematic sets. Latency and response time can be higher on IPS monitors meaning not all are ideal for gaming.

An IPS display aligns liquid crystals in parallel for lush colours. Polarizing filters have transmission axes aligned in the same direction. Because the electrode alignment differs from TN panels, black levels, viewing angles, and colour accuracy is much better. TN liquid crystals are perpendicular.

A VA or vertical alignment monitor features excellent contrast ratios, colour reproduction, and viewing angles. It’s a type of LED monitor with crystals perpendicular to the polarizers at right angles like TN monitors. Pricing varies, but response time isn’t as high as a TN monitor.

A quantum dot LED TV or QLED is yet another form of LED television. But it’s drastically different from other LED variants. Whereas most LED panels use a white backlight, quantum dot televisions opt for blue lights. In front of these blue LEDs sits a thin layer of quantum dots. These quantum dots in a screen glow at specific wavelengths of colour, either red, green, or blue, therefore comprising the entire RGB (red-green-blue) colour spectrum required to create a colour TV image.

QLED TV sets are thus able to achieve many more local dimming zones than other LED TVs. As opposed to uniform backlighting, local dimming zones can vary backlighting into zones for adjustable lighting to show accurate light and dark scenes. Quantum Dot displays maintain an excellent, bright image with precise colour reproduction.

An OLED or organic light-emitting diode display isn’t another variation of LED. OLEDs use negatively and positively charged ions for illuminating individual pixels. By contrast, LCD/LED TVs use a backlight that can make an unwanted glow. In OLED display, there are several layers, including a substrate, anode, hole injection layer, hole transport layer, an emissive layer, blocking layer, electron transport layer, and cathode. The emissive layer comprised of an electroluminescent layer of film is nestled between an electron-injecting cathode and an electron removal layer, the anode. OLEDs benefit from darker blacks and eschew any unwanted screen glow. Because OLED panels are made up of millions of individual subpixels, the pixels themselves emit light, and it’s, therefore, an emissive display as opposed to a transmissive technology like LCD/LED panels where a backlight is required behind the pixels themselves.

Image quality is top-notch. OLED TVs feature superb local dimming capabilities. The contrast ratio is unrivalled, even by the best of QLEDs, since pixels not used may be turned off. There’s no light bleed, black levels are incredible, excellent screen uniformity, and viewing angles don’t degrade the picture. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost. OLEDs are pricey, and the image isn’t as bright overall when compared to LED panels. For viewing in a darkened room, that’s fine, but ambient lighting isn’t ideal for OLED use.

What is an OLED:Organic light-emitting diode display, non-LED. Emissive technology is where negatively and positively charged ions illuminate individual pixels in a display.

As you can see, there are tons of different types of displays, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Although many monitors and TVs are referred to by different names like LED, IPS, VA, TN, or QLED, many are variations of LCD panels. However, specific technology such as the colour of backlighting and alignment of pixels dictates the picture quality. OLED is an entirely different form of display that’s not LED. Now that you understand the various types of monitors and televisions on the market, you can select the best TV to fit your needs!

Many TVs use LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panels that are lit by LED backlights. There are two popular types of LCD panels: In-Plane Switching (IPS) and Vertical Alignment (VA), and there are two main differences between each type. A VA panel usually has a high contrast ratio and narrow viewing angles. However, an IPS panel has low contrast and wide viewing angles. These are the main differences between each, and for the most part, panel type doesn"t affect other aspects of picture quality, like peak brightness, color gamut, or color accuracy.

For the purposes of this article, we"re going to compare two LED-backlit LCD TVs: the Sony X800H, which has an IPS panel, and the Hisense H9G, which has a VA panel. Due to their different panel types, there are three noticeable differences in picture quality: viewing angles, contrast, and black uniformity, so we"re going to look at each one.

Viewing angle refers to the angle at which you can watch the TV without seeing a noticeable drop in picture quality. IPS TVs are the clear winner here, as the image remains accurate when viewing from the side - you can see the differences in the videos above. This is their main advantage over VA panels. Most VA panel TVs have a noticeable loss in image accuracy when viewing from the side. The narrow viewing angle of VA-type TVs is also problematic when the TV is used as a PC monitor from up close since the edges of the display look washed out.

Contrast ratio is one of the most important factors when it comes to picture quality. It determines how well a TV displays blacks, so one with a good contrast displays deep blacks when viewed in the dark. However, if your TV has a low contrast ratio, you"ll notice that blacks look gray when viewed in the dark.

VA panels are far superior to IPS panels when it comes to this, so if you tend to watch movies in the dark, you likely want to get a TV with a VA panel. Most TVs use VA panels due to this main advantage, and high-end models may have a local dimming feature that further enhances black levels. On the other hand, IPS panels normally have low contrast, so blacks look closer to gray, but you may not notice the difference in contrast in bright environments.

In the photo above, the Hisense has a much better contrast ratio; both photos are set at the same brightness, but the Hisense appears brighter because there"s a bigger contrast between its deepest black and brightest white.

Our black uniformity tests determine how well a TV displays a dark scene with a bright image in the center. Ideally, you want to see a completely black screen with the center cross being the only part that"s lit up, and this is important for people watching movies. No LED TV has perfect uniformity, and unlike viewing angles and contrast, the panel type doesn"t completely determine its black uniformity. However, most VA panels that we"ve tested have good black uniformity, while most IPS panels have sub-par black uniformity. This doesn"t mean that every VA panel TV has good uniformity, as this can change between units, and you can also improve uniformity using the local dimming feature.

As you can see in the pictures above, the Sony has uniformity issues with backlight bleed and clouding throughout. The entire screen also looks blue due to the low contrast ratio. The Hisense"s screen is much more uniform, and although you can see some backlight bleed along the edges, it disappears if you enable local dimming, as seen in this photo.

LCDs function by having liquid crystals in little groups to form the pixels. These crystals react and change position when charged with electricity and, depending on their position, they allow a certain color of light to pass through.

IPS displays have their crystals aligned horizontally at all times. When charged, they turn to allow light through. VA displays have their crystals aligned vertically. When charged, they move to a horizontal position, allowing light through. When current isn"t sent through them, however, their vertical alignment blocks light far more efficiently, creating better blacks and giving better contrast.

There"s also another type of IPS panel, called Plane-to-Line Switching (PLS), which can be seen with the Sony X800H. This panel type was designed by Samsung and technically performs the same as an IPS panel. When you compare the pixels visually, IPS panels look like chevrons, VA looks like very straight rectangles, and PLS looks like round-edged capsules. You can learn more about pixels here.

The way the pixels are laid out can also affect text clarity. Many IPS panels, like the ones on the Sony X800H or the LG SK9000, use RGB sub-pixel layouts, while many VA panels have a BGR layout, like on the Hisense H9G. The sub-pixel layout doesn"t directly affect picture quality unless you"re using it as a PC monitor. Some applications may expect an RGB layout, so if you have a BGR sub-pixel layout, text may not look clear. You may need to increase the text scaling to read it properly, but this issue isn"t common with an RGB layout. You can learn more about it here.

TV manufacturers have come up with ways to improve LED TVs to increase picture quality. There are competing technologies, like OLED, which also present their own unique characteristics.

Unlike LED TVs, OLEDs don"t use a backlight and instead have self-emitting pixels. This allows the pixels to individually turn on and off, resulting in perfect blacks. This means that they also have perfect black uniformity as there"s no blooming around bright objects like on some LED TVs. They also have wide viewing angles, sometimes even wider than some IPS panels, so OLEDs are a good choice for wide seating arrangements.

However, the one major downside to OLEDs compared to LEDs is their risk of permanent burn-in. This could be problematic if you constantly watch content with static elements, like the news, or if you use it as a PC monitor. We don"t expect it to be an issue for people who watch varied content, but if you"re truly worried about it, LED TVs appear to be immune to burn-in.

Samsung released quantum dot TVs in 2015, which they later labeled as QLED in 2017. These TVs include a quantum dot layer between the LED backlights and the LCD panel to achieve a wider color gamut. Other companies like Vizio and TCL also use this quantum dot technology on their TVs. Adding this extra quantum dot layer doesn"t change the characteristics of the panel type; the VA panel on the TCL 6 Series/S635 2020 QLED still has a high contrast ratio and narrow viewing angles. Although most QLED TVs use VA panels, you can easily use an IPS panel as well.

Manufacturers have tried different techniques to improve the viewing angles on VA panels over the years, aiming to produce a perfect LCD panel with both wide viewing angles and high contrast. While they have yet to achieve that goal, a few TVs have hit the market that try to combine the best of both panel types. The first TVs with this viewing angle technology came out in 2018, and only a few high-end models like the Samsung Q90/Q90T QLED and the Sony X950H had this technology in 2020. These TVs are a bit unique, delivering noticeably better viewing angles than their pure VA counterparts, but still worse than true IPS panels. This comes at the expense of a lower contrast ratio, as these TVs have worse native contrast than most VA panels, but they"re still better than IPS panels. Combined with their local dimming features, they still produce deep blacks.

Below you can see the viewing angle videos for the Samsung Q90T and the Sony X950H. The image remains accurate at fairly wide angles on each TV, but the Samsung does a better job overall at making sure the image is still fairly accurate when viewing from the side.

Between IPS and VA panels, neither technology is inherently superior to the other as they both serve different purposes. In general, IPS TVs have wide viewing angles suitable for when you want to watch the big game or your favorite show in a large seating arrangement. They"re also beneficial for use as a PC monitor since the edges remain accurate if you sit up close. However, VA panels are a better choice for watching content in dark rooms, as their improved contrast allows them to display deep blacks. Choosing between the two is a series of trade-offs and qualities, so choosing the best TV for your needs depends on your usage.

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.

The examples listed above aren"t perfect. The average response time metrics shown don"t necessarily show the whole picture. Monitors also usually offer a certain level of control over the pixel overdrive, so it"s possible to adjust the response time to match your usage and personal preference. Some overdrive settings deliver a sharper image but introduce overshoot and reverse ghosting artifacts, while other modes might not be as sharp but have no distracting artifacts. You can learn more about our response time testing here.

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.

We now have a new Test UFO test, called TestUFO Scan-Out which automatically rotates between 4 different brightly colored images every refresh cycles. This test pattern is intentionally extremely flickery, for the purpose of maximizing contrast between refresh cycles during super-slow-motion video analysis.

The screen refreshes top-to-bottom, with a fuzzy zone wiping down the screen.  The fuzzy zone is the LCD pixel response lagging behind (GtG fade zone). The fuzzy zone appears to about one-quarter the height of the screen, which is what is expected for GtG pixel response (5ms) approximately 1/4th of a refresh cycle (16.7ms for 60Hz).

Here’s where this diverges interestingly; this iPad scans from top-to-bottom in portrait mode. When filmed in landscape mode, this becomes a sideways scan effect:

Much faster and cleaner pixel transitions than IPS, is the TN LCD. Observe that the pixel response fade is much thinner on a 1ms TN LCD than on a 5ms IPS LCD — the fade zone is roughly one-fifth the height.

And for a really clean refresh cycle, here’s a high speed video of an OLED, provided by Edward on Twitter. The incredibly fast pixel response of an OLED means the fade zone is extremely tight in comparison to any LCD:

There can be a latency differential for top edge and bottom edge, which can get rather significant in some sync modes (VSYNC ON) at lower refresh rates. The refreshing sequence is illustrated temporally in this scan graph:

Pixels are transmitted one pixel row at a time over a cable. This is because GPUs have to serialize two-dimensional refresh cycles over a one-dimensional cable. Pixels are output one pixel at a time, left-to-right, top-to-bottom.

Panel refreshing may be a different pattern, different direction, or different velocity, and may be totally different (e.g. DLP) from the cable sequence. However, most high end eSports gaming monitors are now able to real-time synchronize panel refresh to cable delivery sequence with only line buffer processing rather than full frame buffer processing. This is much much like an old CRT tube, except done flickerfree in a sample-and-hold fashion, and this reduces input lag to the absolute minimum possible.

This is classic raster-based scanning on the cable, the refresh cycle direction of top-to-bottom has remained identical for nearly 100 years all the way from 1930s television broadcasts through 2020s DisplayPort and HDMI 2.1 cables, even with variable refresh rates!

At frame rates exceeding refresh rate using VSYNC OFF, latencies of less than a refresh cycle are possible even for screen bottom edge. Here is a scan graph at 180 frames per second at 60 Hz, generating 3 tear lines per refresh cycle:

In this example, each frame slice is 1/3rd refresh cycle latency, and the updated frame (slice) is metaphorically spliced in realtime at the display output’s current scan-out position.

There are advantages of framerates above refresh rates including lower input lag — which can end up being less than a refresh cycle even for the screen bottom edge. This is why paid professional eSports players often prefer VSYNC OFF.

Variable refresh rate (VRR) actually varies the size of the vertical blanking interval (the pause between refresh cycles) in order to temporally space-apart refresh cycles.

The top-to-bottom raster scan stays at a fixed velocity because the horizontal scan rate is unchanged for VRR (number of pixel rows per second). However the intervals between refreshes can vary instead of being a fixed interval. Here is the scan diagram of 100fps at 144Hz:

When a video game is finished rendering a new frame and presents it to the GPU video output, the GPU output essentially immediately begins transmitting instead of waiting for the next fixed refresh interval. The monitor immediately begins the new refresh cycle right on the spot.

Another huge benefit of variable refresh rate is very low scan-out lag. A 240Hz G-SYNC monitor can display a 30Hz refresh cycle in 1/240sec, refreshed near real-time off the video cable. This is a “Quick Frame Transport” (QFT) behavior of VRR.

Display scan-out research has become much easier with the advent of inexpensive high speed cameras.  Reviewers and manufacturers are now strongly encouraged to purchase high speed cameras to analyze scan-out latency of their displays, and troubleshoot problems caused by:

There are now inexpensive high definition Super Slow Motion Cameras capable of 1000fps HD that works excellently for display scan behavior research with the new TestUFO Scanout Test.

Some of these only records 1000fps for only a fraction of a second, however this is plenty for refresh behavior analysis and debugging latency engineering problems in gaming monitors.

Blur Busters and TestUFO is now mentioned by more than 20 peer reveiwed scientific research papers, many by major display manufacturers. Blur Busters inexpensive testing technique inventions continue to trailblaze the display industry.

Lately, choosing a TV has become like walking into a candy store. There are so many TV technology options to choose from, and each of them seems just as good.

Then there are the technical terms to deal with, such as LED TV, LCD TV, QLED TV, UHD TV, OLED TV, and more. You might feel like you need to be a tech pro just to watch your favourite TV show in the evening or enjoy a game with your friend.

First, an important thing to understand is that the LED (Light Emitting Diode) monitor is an improvised version of the LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). This is why all LED monitor is LCD in nature, but not all LCDs are LED monitors.

LCD technology revolutionized monitors by using cold cathode fluorescent lamps for backlighting to create the picture displayed on the screen. A cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) is a tiny fluorescent bulb. In the context of this article, LCDs refer to this traditional type of CCFL LCD TVs.

LED monitors took the old technology a step further by replacing the fluorescent bulbs with LED backlight technology. And OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology improves it even further by eliminating the need for backlighting.

This turns a single monitor into a modular assortment of countless light-emitting diodes. Additionally, this expands how big the monitor can be without blowing up the cost exponentially.

The quality of direct-view LED screens is measured by pixel pitch. The pixel pitch is the distance between two adjacent LEDs on the display. The smaller the pixel pitch, the better the quality of the image.

Since LEDs replace fluorescent bulbs with light-emitting diodes, LED TVs are more energy-efficient than LCDs. A 32-inch LED TV screen consumes 10 watts less power than the same size LCD screen. The difference in power consumption increases as the size of the display increases.

Light-emitting diodes are considerably smaller than fluorescent lamps used in LCD monitors. Fluorescent lamps have a considerable thickness, but the thickness of diodes is next to none. Moreover, countless diodes are assembled in the same plane, so the thickness of the array isn’t increased no matter how many diodes are present.

Edge-lit LEDs have a slight drawback in viewing angle compared to LCDs, because of the position of the light source. However, direct-view LEDs offer a better angle for viewing than LCDs as the light source is evenly spread on the screen.

Since LED displays use full-array LED backlighting rather than one big backlight, LED TVs offer significantly better contrast than LCDs. LCD backlighting technology only shows white and black, but LED backlighting can emit the entire RGB spectrum, thereby providing a deeper RGB contrast.

If you wonder which display will last longer, this debate is also won by LED displays. LED televisions have a longer lifespan of 100,000 hours on average, compared to 50,000 hours provided by LCD televisions.

An LED display provides the option to dim the backlight, along with other eye comfort features. Not only that, it provides a wider viewing angle without harming image quality. Therefore, an LED display is far better for your eyes than an LCD.

In an LED display, a lot of smaller diodes are used and if a diode is damaged, it can be replaced. In an LCD, you will need to replace the entire bulb in case of damage. Therefore, an LED display is easier and cheaper to maintain than an LCD.

Since LEDs are a better and newer technology, the price of an LED display is higher than an LCD. However, this is only when we are considering the purchase cost.

The picture quality of an LED display is far better than an LCD. Due to modular light-emitting diodes, an LED screen produces better control over the contrast, rendering a clear picture. Also, LED provides RGB contrast, which can show truer blacks and truer whites.

Not to forget, they provide a shorter response time as well. Both of these factors result inLED displays having a better picture quality compared to LCD displays.

Since LED displays are considerably thinner than LCDs, they weigh considerably less. On average, an LED screen weighs about half of an LCD screen of the same size.

As you might have noticed by now, LED wins the battle with LCD without any doubt. This is because LED displays have an advantage in all the factors that matter when considering a purchase, except price.

Even when you consider the price, you will find that while LED technology is costlier, it provides better value for money in the long run. This is because of the longer lifespan and easier maintenance of LED screens.

They are more attractive too. With the increasing shortage of space in new residential complexes, what better solution than an ultra-thin LED display giving a cinematic experience in the comfort of your home.

LED screens are the first choice among the public today, across generations. All are opting to switch to LED from LCD to make their lives more enjoyable and better.

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Chances are, the screen that you"re reading this article on is either an LED, OLED, or an LCD display. These are just three of the many display types out there in the wild. On the surface, they all seem the same. But deep down, they couldn"t be more different.

So, when it comes to OLED vs. LCD—or OLED vs. LED—what are the differences? Here"s a look at these three display technologies, what makes them different, and which one is the best.

LCD stands for "liquid crystal display". The early roots of LCD displays stretch back to 1888 when German scientist, Friedrich Reinitzer, discovered an odd substance. It was a liquid that had the molecular structure of a solid. It was later named "liquid crystal."  After decades of study, someone eventually saw the potential for this strange substance to be used for displays.

The first LCD displays to be used on consumer devices were on digital clocks back in 1968. The technology developed over the following years, being put into numerous other devices.

LCD display panels are divided into layers. The backmost layer is a light source. This is a translucent sheet that disperses light from bulbs at the bottom of the display.

The light travels through a vertical polarization filter. Only light vibrating on the vertical plane can pass through the filter. The polarized light then passes through a transistor. The transistor is responsible for applying current to the liquid crystal layer.

The liquid crystal layer is next. The current that"s generated by the transistor causes the molecules in the liquid crystal to twist 90 degrees. When the molecules are twisted, the polarized light that passes through gets rotated 90 degrees, now vibrating on the horizontal plain.

Next, the light passes through a transparent electrode. The electrode is necessary for the current to pass through the liquid crystal. After the electrode, there"s a horizontal polarization filter. Since the light is vibrating on the horizontal plain, it can pass through unphased.

After the filter, the light gets its color by passing through the red, blue, and green filters of the sub-pixels. From there, the light exits the display and creates the image that the viewer sees.

OLED stands for "organic light emitting diode." During the 1970s, scientists were experimented with organic materials that can emit light. In 1987, scientists at Eastman Kodak developed an OLED display that consumed a low amount of energy. And in 2007, Sony unveiled the world"s first OLED television: the Sony XEL-1.

The light from an LED is emitted from an electrical current going through an organic compound. That organic compound is sandwiched between a positively charged anode and a negatively charged cathode. The cathode is rich in electrons, and the anode is rich in electron "holes". Electron holes are areas in an atom where there is no electron.

When a voltage is sent through the layers, the electrons and holes migrate toward one another. The holes travel from the anode and they cross the conductive layer, a layer of organic plastic compound that"s good at transporting holes.

On the other side of the OLED, the electrons flow from the cathode. The electrons then flow to the emissive layer, where they meet the holes. Since the electrons are sent through a voltage, they are "excited", meaning that they have an excess of energy.

When they meet the electron holes, they have to lose that excess energy in order to relax to the ground state for that atom. They release that energy in the