TN or IPS

[Psycrow]

Hi

Im looking on some G sync screens, an di had a ips screen from Asus that had terrible backlight bleeding aka blb
and then i was wondering about the TN panels...do they also come with BLB and all that poisen we hear about these ips screens..I was lucky to hav emy money back from the terrible asus creen...its not i dislike asus but they let me down with this screen. SO i dont dare buy another from asus..they do make exelent motherboards tho..hands up


I have been looking on:


AOC
"asus" TN panels
Acer - Btw has horrible dead pixel policy on 16 + defects

Samsung hardly makes any G sync monitors,.they only focus on curved screens and the galaxy phones now.

I dont like Dell for some reason...

Then i heard about benQ Not sure they make G synch tho
But i dont know...

I also heard there is class 0 or 1 monitors sold that has 0 defects but i coul dnot find any..they are typic sold to hospitals and so..i think its class 1 and then all the other monitors we can buy has class 2 dead pixel policy

Help me out here before i ramble

 

[Krispy Kritter]

Both TN and IPS panels can suffer from blb. I currently have two 27" 2k IPS monitors (one GSync and one not), and while they do have some blb, they are no worse than the 24" TN panels that they replaced. And honestly, unless I'm looking for it, or say during boot, I never notice it.

Brand wise, Dell would be one of the tier one brands.

GSync models in particular are rather limited, and more so depending on the size (which you didn't list).

 

[silent-circuit]

TN panels are all shit by their very nature. Massive gamma shift from top to bottom even when viewed head-on, terrible color reproduction, poor contrast and black levels.

Do not buy them, as this encourages their production.

 

[nvgrim]

TN panels are all shit by their very nature. Massive gamma shift from top to bottom even when viewed head-on, terrible color reproduction, poor contrast and black levels.

Do not buy them, as this encourages their production.

Agreed, TN panels are so shit, idk why people even buy them when IPS is an option. Sure they are cheaper but what are you really gaining? IPS all the way.

 

[chenw]

EDIT: Amended my post completely.

Given the same quality, IPS is better than TN. But, just like there are crappy TN panels, crappy IPS panels also exist, and they can turn out worse than TN panels in the most extreme cases.

If I were to get TN panel, I would only look into getting 27" or less (too big and the Gamma shift becomes completely unavoidable), ideally 24" or less, and true 8-bit panels (which limits it to 1440p only, and I THINK 4k panels are 8 bit also, 1080p are all 6bit+FRC), and that limits your options dramatically.

Otherwise, you'd be less likely to be disappointed with IPS than TN, unless you know exactly what you are getting with the said TN, or know what you are doing/going to do.

Personally, I bought PG278Q mainly because XB270HU wasn't on sale here (back when the only G-Sync choices were these two), and the fact that if both came out, I would still have gave PG278Q a serious thought because I hated the IPS glow on my previous monitor (VX2770SMH), and ironically, because IPS is so often regarded as universally the better panel, I scrutinise IPS a lot more than TN because my experiences with IPS differs dramatically.

If I were to get a gaming monitor, right here, right now, and must have Sync of some sort, XB271HU would be my primary candidate for G-Sync. FreeSync I have not looked deeply into so I have no idea which would be my ideal one from that, but most likely would be IPS of some sort. I chose XB271HU because out of the 144hz monitors I have seen in person, XB271HU is the only one that gave satisfactory IPS glow performance, PG279Q fell far short, but I could have looked at a shitty panel though.

 

[MistaSparkul]

Why is it ALWAYS IPS vs TN. Does nobody know of the existence of a third option called VA panels? Sure it definitely has it's downsides too but at this point I've come to hate IPS just as much as I hate TN and would much rather live with a VA panel over the other two.

 

[SvenBent]

Why is it ALWAYS IPS vs TN. Does nobody know of the existence of a third option called VA panels? Sure it definitely has it's downsides too but at this point I've come to hate IPS just as much as I hate TN and would much rather live with a VA panel over the other two.

I've only tried one VA pannels its as a PVA from LG 20 inche 4:3 i got is as a replacement for a same size screen with IPS.
It had absolut horrible side view it was impossible for me to use it for my to screen setup due to this.
not saying that it coudtl be because this screen was just crap. but i haven't touched VA monitors since

 

[chenw]

I haven't had a VA panel in the past 10 years (discounting the laptops I was using that I had no idea what panel type they were using), because they are all elusively on monitors I wasn't considering at the time. EG BL3200PT (32" 1440p) was VA, but BL3201PT (32" 4k) was IPS.

I wasn't terribly keen on VA either though, FG2421 horror stories and various videos put me off it somewhat, but primarily, none of the monitors I was looking at were VA.

I will be extremely hardpressed to choose between LG OLED c7 and PG27UQ as my next potential monitor upgrade, but both have very inconvenient draw back (one is too big, the other is too small).

 

[NamelessPFG]

Why is it ALWAYS IPS vs TN. Does nobody know of the existence of a third option called VA panels? Sure it definitely has it's downsides too but at this point I've come to hate IPS just as much as I hate TN and would much rather live with a VA panel over the other two.

Exploring this third option is why I picked an Eizo FG2421, actually.

This may well be one of the few LCDs that doesn't make black look like dark grey after being used to CRT and OLED deep blacks, albeit this particular one having some severe edge-lit bleeding on both sides and only attaining just under 3340:1 contrast ratio on the last i1Profiler calibration I made. Fine for $242 second-hand, would've went right back if I paid the full $600 brand new back in the day.

Sharp quit making the panel the FG2421's based on, though, so now your only VA options at PC monitor sizes are all Samsung quantum dot VA panels with lower contrast ratios and irksome mandatory curves. I can kinda understand curving a 21:9 panel, but curving a 24" 1080p panel? Come on!

Perhaps that won't be so bad if more OLED monitors hit the market soon, as the sooner LCD as a whole dies off, the better. It's just an inherently flawed technology compared to anything where the individual pixels are the light source.

 

[daglesj]

I have to say I've used many many TN panel monitors over the years and I could count maybe two or three that were at worst 'not great'. Other than that they were all usable with perfectly adequate colour range and picture quality. The only time I really see bad TN is the washed out 1366x768 panels in HP/Toshiba etc. laptops. Where they get those from I have no idea because I've seen some pretty good TNs on laptops in the past.

Now I'm a big IPS and PVA user but TN for general uses is fine. I think some folks get a little carried away.

 

[KazeoHin]

VA is amazing from an IQ standpoint, but the sluggush pixel response is a killer for games unless you pay top-dollar for some crazy super-freak trans-dimensional mega VA.

In general, put VA next to IPS, you'll notice the lack of contrast in IPS, but the blurry motion on VA.

 

[MistaSparkul]

VA is amazing from an IQ standpoint, but the sluggush pixel response is a killer for games unless you pay top-dollar for some crazy super-freak trans-dimensional mega VA.

In general, put VA next to IPS, you'll notice the lack of contrast in IPS, but the blurry motion on VA.

True but I feel like most people wouldn't even notice. Just look at the Samsung TV thread where everyone claims the motion clarity of those TVs are excellent when they are not lol.

 

[Psycrow]

Great answers.

So Dell makes the highest class monitors ?

 

[Dan_D]

True but I feel like most people wouldn't even notice. Just look at the Samsung TV thread where everyone claims the motion clarity of those TVs are excellent when they are not lol.

The problem is that there is no perfect display technology. The Samsung TV's give you great image quality and responsiveness for the large size. There are trade offs such as being limited to 60Hz but that's just how things are right now. Not to mention, everyone's idea of the perfect display is all over the map. I came from IPS and higher end TN displays and I've found the Samsung TV's to be a good option. I could always go for an IPS display that does 100Hz with G-Sync, but I'm not willing to deal with IPS glow, the black levels, or the small size to get it. The size being the main problem for me.

 

[MistaSparkul]

The problem is that there is no perfect display technology. The Samsung TV's give you great image quality and responsiveness for the large size. There are trade offs such as being limited to 60Hz but that's just how things are right now. Not to mention, everyone's idea of the perfect display is all over the map. I came from IPS and higher end TN displays and I've found the Samsung TV's to be a good option. I could always go for an IPS display that does 100Hz with G-Sync, but I'm not willing to deal with IPS glow, the black levels, or the small size to get it. The size being the main problem for me.

Hell yeah screw IPS glow. I don't care how vibrant looking the colors are, it means nothing to me if I get piss colored glow in my corners in dark scenes. Have you looked into the new C7 OLEDs? The input lag now rivals the Samsungs and you'll get true OLED blacks and response times.

 

[Armenius]

TN panels are all shit by their very nature. Massive gamma shift from top to bottom even when viewed head-on, terrible color reproduction, poor contrast and black levels.

Do not buy them, as this encourages their production.

Your statement about gamma shift is overstated. I find IPS glow more distracting than the unnoticeable gamma shift on a TN. Aside from that IPS panels suffer from the same issues, including color reproduction if it's dithered 6-bit+FRC like most TN panels. Put an 8-bit TN next to an 8-bit IPS and the only difference will be the IPS pixel matrix letting more backlight through so that it appears more vibrant.

Why is it ALWAYS IPS vs TN. Does nobody know of the existence of a third option called VA panels? Sure it definitely has it's downsides too but at this point I've come to hate IPS just as much as I hate TN and would much rather live with a VA panel over the other two.

For gaming VA is too slow, unfortunately. I prefer a non-blurry image over deep contrast for playing games.

 

[NemesisX]

My TN panel looks great ... even better after some calibration. It's bright and vivid and the colors pop. Not really seeing what the hate is for. Yes IPS is better, but I've had far more issues with BLB with IPS than TN (and when the glow is bad ... it's BAD). The only thing I utterly hate is the viewing angles of TN, but I'm usually the only one using my computer, so it's irrelevant.

 

[Psycrow]

What about this screen
AOC 27" AG271QG G-Sync

 

[silent-circuit]

From what I've heard AOC's quality control is lacking. I wouldn't recommend their stuff unless you have the option to return locally at no cost.

 

[Odellus]

TN panels are all shit by their very nature. Massive gamma shift from top to bottom even when viewed head-on, terrible color reproduction, poor contrast and black levels.

Do not buy them, as this encourages their production.

lol, the only real issue with TN are the viewing angles, but even then it's only noticeable in very dark scenes and ones with large patches of the same or similar colors. in complex, light-colored scenes it's unnoticeable.

they can be just as accurate as IPS and IPS's imperceptibly slight potential increase in contrast ratio (and often-times worse) is completely undone by the fact that EVERY modern IPS has disgusting glow.

wow, look at how bad that color accuracy is!

 

[NemesisX]

From what I've heard AOC's quality control is lacking. I wouldn't recommend their stuff unless you have the option to return locally at no cost.

I'm currently on a 24" AOC TN G-Sync panel and it's working great. Quality control is an issue with pretty much every monitor manufacturer right now, so it's best to buy it from a company with a good reputation in regards to return policy/warranty. I usually buy through Amazon because their customer service is awesome.

 

[NamelessPFG]

VA is amazing from an IQ standpoint, but the sluggush pixel response is a killer for games unless you pay top-dollar for some crazy super-freak trans-dimensional mega VA.

In general, put VA next to IPS, you'll notice the lack of contrast in IPS, but the blurry motion on VA.

I initially wrote off VA before for similar reasons, but after having seen the FG2421 in action, the days of slow VAs are past. The only thing that looks noticeably slow are black-to-dark-grey transitions, which results in smear from things like scrolling on these very forums. Funny thing is, my Galaxy Note 4 also suffers from this black smear, and so does my Oculus Rift - both being OLED-based displays.

If that's a problem, there's always Turbo 240/strobed blur reduction, at the cost of a bit of extra input lag. That's what it takes to get CRT motion clarity out of an LCD, and possibly OLED too since the Gear VR, Rift and Vive all strobe.

Your statement about gamma shift is overstated. I find IPS glow more distracting than the unnoticeable gamma shift on a TN. Aside from that IPS panels suffer from the same issues, including color reproduction if it's dithered 6-bit+FRC like most TN panels. Put an 8-bit TN next to an 8-bit IPS and the only difference will be the IPS pixel matrix letting more backlight through so that it appears more vibrant.

For gaming VA is too slow, unfortunately. I prefer a non-blurry image over deep contrast for playing games.

They're both distracting to me, but IPS glow only distracts during dark scenes. TN gamma shift distracts EVERYWHERE, especially on black screens where you get a narrow band of black in the middle and washed-out whites on the top and bottom. (Whoever at HP thought those would make good laptop panels for their recent consumer models needs to be slapped, as I can't stand looking at them.)

As for VA speeds, see above. I dunno how Sharp pulled it off with their VA panels years back, but they and Eizo pulled it off (dark transitions aside).

 

[MistaSparkul]

Your statement about gamma shift is overstated. I find IPS glow more distracting than the unnoticeable gamma shift on a TN. Aside from that IPS panels suffer from the same issues, including color reproduction if it's dithered 6-bit+FRC like most TN panels. Put an 8-bit TN next to an 8-bit IPS and the only difference will be the IPS pixel matrix letting more backlight through so that it appears more vibrant.

For gaming VA is too slow, unfortunately. I prefer a non-blurry image over deep contrast for playing games.

Not really. Sure they do suffer from some rather problematic transitions but overall the new VA panels are either on par or even beat the IPS panels. But don't just take my word for it, here's a detailed response time measurement of the Asus PG238Q :
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/asus_rog_swift_pg348q/response_5.png

and heres the AOC AG352UCG: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/aoc_agon_ag352ucg/response_6.png

As you can see, the AOC beats out the Asus in the majority of response times. Of course some may find the certain high response times on the AOC to be too distracting, but if you can live with it then motion clarity will not be any worst than the IPS panels overall.

 

[kasakka]

They're both distracting to me, but IPS glow only distracts during dark scenes. TN gamma shift distracts EVERYWHERE, especially on black screens where you get a narrow band of black in the middle and washed-out whites on the top and bottom. (Whoever at HP thought those would make good laptop panels for their recent consumer models needs to be slapped, as I can't stand looking at them.)

Seems like you need to stop comparing a good IPS display to cheap laptop TN. The 8-bit TN panels found in the fairly expensive 1440p G-sync displays have almost none of the issues you would typically associate with TN. Viewing angles are fine, gamma shift only becomes noticeable when you look at the monitor from a position you normally would not use it in, for example by sitting on the floor. Color accuracy of my PG278Q was really good right out of the box and the main difference is that the color space supported is only sRGB which covers all games and most video and web content. Some might cry that their colors no longer "pop" when they are in fact accurate for the color space and they are just used to the oversaturated colors of high gamut displays.

I fully understand your woes with TN, I can't stand the cheap monitors and laptop displays with the panel type. You feel like an owl moving your head trying to figure out a position where you don't have severe color shifting. The new 8-bit panels are nothing like that.

To me all panel techs in high end current monitors are fine. I have sent back VA panel displays with severe black crush and IPS glow has been an issue on some but with right now have a TN panel desktop monitor and a VA panel TV. Happily using both and each tech has its pros and cons.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I bought a 24.5" BenQ XL2540 240Hz TN panel due to some good sales price and been happy with it, sure I personally wouldn't recommend using larger than 24" or so size with a TN panel due gammashift becoming an increasing issue the larger display you go but at 24" it's not really that much a problem, not much more than IPS glow with many IPS alternatives. There are good and bad panels for every type, these 240Hz TN panels have great color quality for TN especially at 144Hz (240Hz it will be slightly worse) with slight bit of adjustment (BenQ displays it's always mandatory). We have IPS monitors at work (HP Elitedisplays) and I don't think I'm missing out in terms of color accuracy/fidelity when sitting straight at least.

All panel types have some goods and bads, there's no such as a perfect panel type for LCD. I personally felt I didn't want to play that panel lottery game to get a good decent IPS 27"/1440p/165Hz monitor. I certainly don't need 240Hz but it was the sales price which made me get it even if I use it at 144Hz + BenQ Blur Reduction enabled which already gives really superb motion smoothness.

 

[Armenius]

Not really. Sure they do suffer from some rather problematic transitions but overall the new VA panels are either on par or even beat the IPS panels. But don't just take my word for it, here's a detailed response time measurement of the Asus PG238Q :
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/asus_rog_swift_pg348q/response_5.png

and heres the AOC AG352UCG: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/aoc_agon_ag352ucg/response_6.png

As you can see, the AOC beats out the Asus in the majority of response times. Of course some may find the certain high response times on the AOC to be too distracting, but if you can live with it then motion clarity will not be any worst than the IPS panels overall.

Look at the static contrast ratio on those fast VA panels, though. If the contrast ratio on a VA is less than 2000:1 then it isn't worth your time, especially if panel uniformity is an issue. The AG352UC has one of the worst contrast ratios I've ever seen from a VA panel.

 

[MistaSparkul]

Look at the static contrast ratio on those fast VA panels, though. If the contrast ratio on a VA is less than 2000:1 then it isn't worth your time, especially if panel uniformity is an issue. The AG352UC has one of the worst contrast ratios I've ever seen from a VA panel.

The extra contrast isnt why I chose the Omen. Its the fact that I won't have any IPS glow that makes it worth my time. And I have an OLED so really no VA contrast is going to look impressive to me anymore. I just dislike ips glow more than I dislike the Omens worst than average viewing angle and colors.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Seems like you need to stop comparing a good IPS display to cheap laptop TN. The 8-bit TN panels found in the fairly expensive 1440p G-sync displays have almost none of the issues you would typically associate with TN. Viewing angles are fine, gamma shift only becomes noticeable when you look at the monitor from a position you normally would not use it in, for example by sitting on the floor. Color accuracy of my PG278Q was really good right out of the box and the main difference is that the color space supported is only sRGB which covers all games and most video and web content. Some might cry that their colors no longer "pop" when they are in fact accurate for the color space and they are just used to the oversaturated colors of high gamut displays.

I fully understand your woes with TN, I can't stand the cheap monitors and laptop displays with the panel type. You feel like an owl moving your head trying to figure out a position where you don't have severe color shifting. The new 8-bit panels are nothing like that.

To me all panel techs in high end current monitors are fine. I have sent back VA panel displays with severe black crush and IPS glow has been an issue on some but with right now have a TN panel desktop monitor and a VA panel TV. Happily using both and each tech has its pros and cons.

Well, I'll be. Maybe I'll see if the local Micro Center still has a PG278Q on display to put your claims to the test. I do remember it looking surprisingly good for a TN panel, but didn't have the opportunity to run some real tests through it.

sRGB is fine; I calibrate all my monitors to that standard anyway, seeing as it's the Internet standard and also implicitly the standard for all PC games and software until HDR displays capable of hitting Rec. 2020 in full become commonplace. Even if I did have full AdobeRGB coverage before then, who else is gonna see that in a largely sRGB-dominated environment to this day?

This actually sorta leads to a rude surprise I had when I kicked i1Profiler to the curb and tried out DisplayCAL to calibrate my three monitors:

That's from a Cintiq Companion Hybrid (basically a 13HD touch with added Android tablet functionality). "75% AdobeRGB" on its IPS panel, they said, and I figured that hey, that's fine if it could still cover the majority of sRGB, but LOOK AT THAT! Why are the greens so short?

Even my Eizo FG2421 covers more of the sRGB space, only falling short in the deepest reds! IPS outdone by VA in colors!? This is supposed to be a four-figure MSRP professional drawing monitor here, and Wacom can't even have a proper color-accurate panel in their displays until the 27QHD? Nuts! Oh, and don't get me started on how the RGB gain adjustments have half the precision you'd find in other monitors, as anything above 50 just crushes the colors through oversaturation. So much for high-end IPS.

Ironically, the Dell P170S I picked up at a thrift store is capable of covering the whole gamut without complaint, but it's very much a cheap TN office monitor of decades past with very apparent gamma shifting, which destroys any potential color accuracy advantages. It's also noticeably very inaccurate (far too reddish) until the ICC profile gets applied.

 

[chenw]

This is My PG278Q's gamut, using DisplayCal and ColorMunki Display sensor

It's slightly undersaturated near the Cyan part of the spectrum, but otherwise completely covers the RGB corners.

For comparison, here is the gamut of my BL3201PT monitor, which is a AHVA 4k panel.

I will update this gamut graph later, the calibration procedure I did with the BL3201PT is not anywhere near as extensive as PG278Q, I will be doing that later on today when I go to bed (the entire full calibration takes 10h to complete)

 

[Psycrow]

WOW ! im lost allready

But i just want to state that me an dmy friend went to a store called Power and we bought 2 of asus pg279q on sale and returned homw to find out there was alot of back light bleeding in each corner..

My screen in outlast 2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fk4o7vkelxkpxj3/20170429_205055.jpg?dl=0

Friends screen in resident evil https://www.dropbox.com/s/adb86cgtdo79t1x/IMG_20170429_205206.jpg?dl=0

This was my second monitor from asus that had the same BLB...

Im sick and tired of hunting screns with IPS and TN panels..im gona keep my old samsung 60 hz 27" syncmaster..cuz this screen rules !
Its true what peoiple say..choose ur poison when you buy a screen..

 

[NemesisX]

WOW ! im lost allready

But i just want to state that me an dmy friend went to a store called Power and we bought 2 of asus pg279q on sale and returned homw to find out there was alot of back light bleeding in each corner..

My screen in outlast 2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/fk4o7vkelxkpxj3/20170429_205055.jpg?dl=0

Friends screen in resident evil https://www.dropbox.com/s/adb86cgtdo79t1x/IMG_20170429_205206.jpg?dl=0

This was my second monitor from asus that had the same BLB...

Im sick and tired of hunting screns with IPS and TN panels..im gona keep my old samsung 60 hz 27" syncmaster..cuz this screen rules !
Its true what peoiple say..choose ur poison when you buy a screen..

Unfortunately that seems to be the buying process for gaming monitors these days. It's a lottery. I've been very fortunate, but I've definitely had issues before. It's amazing how the quality control gets worse the more expensive the monitor gets ... like those humongous ultra-wide displays. It makes no sense. And customer service is pretty bad since 90% of the time the response is "oh that's normal." Is it? Really? Maybe that shouldn't be your normal then. This is why I get monitors through Amazon cuz they don't argue with me they just let me exchange it.

 

[Psycrow]

yeah..going to the store and tomorrow and use my 14 days return policy..i only used it for few hours, so should be no problem.
I dont blame the store for selling me crap, but why in the hell are asus releasing this crap ? They do a fine job on the motherboards..i guess we must stick to the main harware that a company is known for and avoid buying
ther secondary hardware production..Just like back in the days when Creative soundblaster made awsome sound card and started to make cd rom drives that dident work or failed somehow...its the same story about asus here

 

[Snowdog]

The problem is that there is no perfect display technology. The Samsung TV's give you great image quality and responsiveness for the large size. There are trade offs such as being limited to 60Hz but that's just how things are right now. Not to mention, everyone's idea of the perfect display is all over the map. I came from IPS and higher end TN displays and I've found the Samsung TV's to be a good option. I could always go for an IPS display that does 100Hz with G-Sync, but I'm not willing to deal with IPS glow, the black levels, or the small size to get it. The size being the main problem for me.

IPS with A-TW polarizer is the best option. Best viewing angles. No white glow.

It's what I have with my NEC, but for some reason no one makes screens like this anymore. I would pay more to get it on my next screen.

My Samsung VA TV has double the measured contrast of my NEC desktop LCD, but off angle the TV looks like it has 1/4 the contrast of the monitor.

I can tolerate it on a TV because I sit 10 feet away and that limits my view to a narrow angle, but I tried using a VA panel desktop monitor and it literally made me sick from the contrast shifting.

Bring back the A-TW polarizer !!!

 

[jbltecnicspro]

Why is it ALWAYS IPS vs TN. Does nobody know of the existence of a third option called VA panels? Sure it definitely has it's downsides too but at this point I've come to hate IPS just as much as I hate TN and would much rather live with a VA panel over the other two.

Brother in law has a Viewsonic VA monitor that cost about $110 I think. 3000:1 native contrast ratio looks great. The screen just "pops" more. The pixel response isn't too bad either. It's only 75 hz though, but man - for so little money, it's a great display. Looks even better after calibration.

 

[Meeho]

Current 27" 144 Hz panels are absolute shit quality wise and you have to win a lottery not to get a BLB ridden one. Besides that, I find any IPS over 24" unacceptable due to IPS glow. Everything in the corners looks like it has milk smeared over it. Especially annoying with darker content.

I still found 144 Hz blurry as hell without strobing. Being a bit better shit than 60 Hz shit still ends up as shit, so I went for a 60 Hz VA until something better comes along.

 

[XoR_]

The issue with contrast ratio measurements is that actual perceived contrast ratio heavily depends on characteristics of viewing angle artifacts which obviously differ between panel technologies but also inside one panel family, even from one manufacturer. There can be panels of seemingly the same type with very distinct differences, some even trade overall image quality for what basically is 'single point' contrast ratio measurement. Many if not most today's VA panels are like that. Most new (last few years) IPS panels are also like that as older panels maybe had lower CR ratings but also much more consistent performance.

Imho:

VA - actually gave me most issues with black. Not only contrast ratio of all displays was completely fake but there was constant issue with levels of details of black and near black, gamma and image washout due to gamma being too low. After perfect calibration most of screen would have completely different gamma and difference between colors like #000000 and #010101 would be overblown to proportions where it would be obvious that part of image is black blob without any information inside it. Hard to use imagination to 'see' details when you can see there is cut-off where there cannot be any actual details. This also made compression artifacts to be beyond visible and obvious. Calibrating VA screen to any standard is completely useless exercise, especially when compared to better panels. Obviously VA are worst of the bunch when it comes to motion with most irritating black streaks. It is completely overrated technology imho.

TN - laptop screens and some cheaper desktop one are completely not usable imho. But at least some desktop screens have strangely pretty decent performance and are more consistent than some VA panels I used with less off-angle image degradation. Obviously vertical viewing angles are on all TN atrocious but on better TN panels it is actually less of an issue than gamma shift on VA. Due to gamma shift calibration is not really translating to proper colors. Obviously TN panels are king when it comes to motion and especially in the past: price. There can be some darker streaks on movement as black->non-black transaction seems somewhat slower but nothing really long or strong, just maybe worse than on IPS. Especially compared to VA very underrated technology.

IPS - best of the bunch. I have not seen IPS panel that was anywhere near bad. There can be more uniformity related issues tan in other panel types but at least in all displays I had it was either ennough to touch monitor in the right way relieved them or like in laptop I use now to write this post on which also have IPS panel (worst IPS panel I ever saw - still pretty awesome XD) I had to loosen few screws to make screen uniform. There is no issues with changing colors, seeing compression artifacts or being able to see which part of screen are black or near black - make it easy to see any amount of imagined details inside dark areas. Calibration is directly translatable to having proper colors across all screen area. Some panels have sharp decline of contrast and introduce some detail loss at these sharp angles but never at sides when seeing monitor straight or when moving head, only when viewing it from like side. Motion is not as good as TN but actually more consistent without any sight of dark streaking. It rightly deserves title of best LCD technology and imho it wouldn't be much of a loss for the world if it was only existing LCD tech =)

A-TW IPS - deserving its own category. It have all pros of IPS and removes one of its main flaws: the so called "ips glow". On my desktop PC I only use this type of panels. Unlike any other type of panel they have the same contrast ratio across whole screen and like CRT and PDP can be viewed from any angle and still image looks pretty much the same as straight on. They also reveal how meaningless are contrast ratio figure is for other tech as eg. 1000:1 on my Dreamcolor translate to contrast ratio that can be barely beaten by CRT's and only with some type of images and very good lighting conditions. I watched many dark movies like eg. Blade Runner and not even for a single moment I noticed black was not perfect. It is because when black is consistent both spatially and temporarily it become for brain a reference and is not noticed anymore. Only other tech to have this uniformity is PDP and OLED as even CRT have variable black level which is noticed as it changes. Too bad they are not widely produced =(

 

[Psycrow]

Im leaning toward the acer predator ips 27" screen..is it true that acer gets the best displays from the manufacture AO in china ?
and then asus gets the second best quality..hence why we got this BLB and worse?!

 

[Meeho]

They also reveal how meaningless are contrast ratio figure is for other tech as eg. 1000:1 on my Dreamcolor translate to contrast ratio that can be barely beaten by CRT's and only with some type of images and very good lighting conditions.

Only time contrast is even remotely comparable is in bad lighting, e.g. sunlight. Otherwise the IPS is not even close and with darker content it is worlds apart.

 

[Snowdog]

Only time contrast is even remotely comparable is in bad lighting, e.g. sunlight. Otherwise the IPS is not even close and with darker content it is worlds apart.

No you have it backwards.

The only time it is really an issue is when you are sitting in a darker than normal room. Anytime in daytime, blacks on my screen look as dark as the plastic bezel as my A-TW screen, IOW there is no sign they are emitting light.

I had a CRT next to an LCD for a while and in daytime, the LCD looked more contrasty because it was brighter, and blacks looked about the same. In the Dark the situation reversed, because then the LCD blacks looked like it emitted light.

It all depends on room lighting.

But if you like sitting in the dark,then yeah, you have point, for your specific use case.

 

[Absalom]

A-TW IPS - deserving its own category. It have all pros of IPS and removes one of its main flaws: the so called "ips glow". On my desktop PC I only use this type of panels. Unlike any other type of panel they have the same contrast ratio across whole screen and like CRT and PDP can be viewed from any angle and still image looks pretty much the same as straight on. They also reveal how meaningless are contrast ratio figure is for other tech as eg. 1000:1 on my Dreamcolor translate to contrast ratio that can be barely beaten by CRT's and only with some type of images and very good lighting conditions. I watched many dark movies like eg. Blade Runner and not even for a single moment I noticed black was not perfect. It is because when black is consistent both spatially and temporarily it become for brain a reference and is not noticed anymore. Only other tech to have this uniformity is PDP and OLED as even CRT have variable black level which is noticed as it changes. Too bad they are not widely produced =(

I could state similar things regarding the S-IPS panel in my 2005 era NEC 20WMGX2. Side-by-side compared to my 2012 era Korean IPS (i.e. LG), there are certainly differences in quality especially when it comes to BLB. S-IPS is superior in every way, mainly because the bleed, even when viewed at off angles, is a dark purple and not the typical white or grey shift. Similar in family, but clearly a different strain of IPS technology. Then again, the 20WMGX2 is from the pre-LED backlit era, so there's not nearly as much effort involved in blocking light. As a side note, I'd kill for a 27" version of the 20WMGX2.

Point is, not all IPS are the same. It's become a diluted term today. Saying "IPS is superior to TN, VA, etc." actually had more weight back in 2005. Not so much today. If anything, I've noticed a downward trend in overall quality of IPS technology (seems like the introduction of e-IPS circa 2009 started this trend). It's probably not coincidence that pricing of IPS monitors has held a similar trend.