TN vs. IPS vs. VA: What’s the Best Display Panel Technology?

When it comes to buying a new screen, how do you decide which technology to use?

If you are in the market looking for a new monitor, you might have looked at its screen size and resolution, but did you know that the panel technology of your display plays an integral role in the experience it offers?

So, how do you decide which panel technology is right for you? Well, you read on and find out everything there is to know when it comes to display technologies and determine what technology is right for you.

Before comparing the different display technologies, it's essential to understand how monitors work and why different panel technologies offer a contrasting user experience.

An LCD is made of several different layers. These layers include a set of polarizers, liquid crystals, and backlights. All these layers work together to change the color and brightness of the pixels which make up your display.

Light is projected from the monitor's backlight, which hits the first polarizer. The main goal of this polarizer is to polarize the light coming from the backlight. This means the light will have a single plane of vibration after passing the polarizer. This singular light vibration enables the subsequent layers to change the direction in which the light vibrates. This directional change in vibrations helps create different colors on the screen.

Once the direction of the light vibration is changed, it passes through the second layer of polarizers, and the light reaches the color filters.

The color filters make up the millions of pixels on your monitor. It is by changing the amount of light entering each color filter that the color and brightness of each pixel can be changed.

But how do the layers given above change the amount of light entering each color filter?

Well, you see, the two layers of polarizers in the monitor are placed at 90 degrees to one another. Due to this, the light passing through the first polarizer will not be able to pass through the second polarizer. Therefore, if the light has to pass through the second polarizer, it has to be rotated.

If the light is rotated by 90 degrees, all the light will reach the color filters. On the contrary, if it is rotated by a different angle, a percentage of the light will reach the color filter—generating different colors in the pixels on the monitor.

Now that we know that the rotation of the light between the polarizers enables the monitor to create different colors on the screen, we can start understanding liquid crystals.

Liquid crystals are special compounds that change their orientation when a voltage is applied. This change in direction changes the plane of vibration of the light.

Monitors can use different types of liquid crystals, and it is this difference in liquid crystals and how they rotate that creates different display technologies.

Below is a list of the three main types of display technologies and a brief explanation of how they work.

Due to the differences in how the liquid crystals rotate the light, each panel technology offers a different viewing experience.

Due to this, it's essential to understand the features each panel technology offers, as every panel is better suited for different use cases.

The contrast ratio of a monitor defines the difference between the brightest and darkest shade the monitor can produce. If your monitor has a high contrast ratio, it will offer deeper blacks and a better viewing experience.

Not only this, another thing to understand is that the human eye is more sensitive to changes in brightness than color; hence, if your panel offers better contrast ratios, then you are bound to experience better picture quality.

So, which panel technology is the best for contrast ratios?

VA panels tilting liquid crystals offer the best contrast ratios. Coming to numbers, the contrast ratio of a VA panel is in the range of 2500:1 to 6000:1.

On the other hand, IPS offers lower contrast ratios compared to VA panels, and the contrast ratios for this technology are in the range of 700:1 to 1500:1. In addition to the lower contrast ratios, IPS panels are susceptible to IPS glow. Due to this defect, a glow is visible behind a bright object when viewed on a black background.

Therefore, if you plan to buy an IPS display, you should look for "IPS glow" (inconsistent lighting across the screen at different angles).

Coming to TN panels, the contrast ratios are at the lower end of the spectrum due to the twisting mechanism used by the liquid crystals. In numbers, TN panels offer a contrast ratio in the range of 1200:1 to 600:1.

To summarize, VA panels offer the best contrast ratios, while TN offers the worst.

Most panels come with an anti-reflective coating, and if you view content in bright environments, the difference in contrast ratios will not be prominent. That said, the difference in contrast ratios will be visible in darker environments.

A monitor's viewing angle defines the angles at which the monitor can accurately reproduce colors. A monitor with good viewing angles should offer similar colors even when viewed from different angles.

When it comes to viewing angles, IPS panels offer the best performance as the color and contrast do not change when viewed from different angles.

On the other hand, VA monitors offer a good range of viewing angles, but shifts in contrast ratios can be visible when looking at the display from different angles.

TN panels offer the least impressive viewing angles, and color shifts can easily be detected when looking at the display from anywhere but from the center. Not only this but changes, in contrast, are also evident in the case of TN panels.

You should consider the viewing angles the monitor offers if you plan to go for a multi-display setup.

The human eye can see a billion colors, and no monitor can display all the colors with 100 percent accuracy.

Due to this, each monitor supports a range of colors which are defined by its color gamut.

Most monitors today can display colors in the sRGB space without any issues. That said, it's hard for monitors to cover the color spaces defined by the wide color gamuts such as Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, and Rec-2020.

When comparing display technologies for color reproduction, IPS panels cover 95 percent of the wider color gamuts. VA panels are in the middle, covering anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of the wide color space.

On the contrary, TN panels only cover the sRGB space and do not cover the wider color gamuts.

The liquid crystals in your panel take some time to react to the applied voltage. Therefore, there is a delay between the image data reaching the monitor and being rendered on the screen.

This delay is known as the response time of a display. This delay in response time generates visual defects and monitor ghosting.

Coming to the different displays, TN panels are the fastest, offering the quickest response time. In most cases, the response time of a TN panel is below one millisecond. Next in line are IPS displays offering a response time of 1–2 milliseconds.

The slowest panels when it comes to response times are VA offering a response time of 2–3 milliseconds.

Every monitor in the market uses different display technologies to render images on the screen. While some offer lower response times, others offer better viewing angles and contrast ratios.

Therefore, if you look at it, the best panel for you can only be described by what you are looking for in a display.

The radar chart given above can help you make an informed decision on which display is right for you.

That said, here is what we recommend:

Although there are several variables to consider when it comes to buying a monitor looking at the display technology of a monitor should be considered before making a purchase.

The display technology not only defines how your display works but also affects the viewing experience it offers.

Nischay is an Electronics and Communication engineering graduate with a knack for simplifying everyday technology. He has been making tech easy to understand since 2020, working with publications like Candid.Technology, Technobyte, Digibaum, and Inkxpert.In addition, Nischay loves automotive technology and has been working as an Engineer with Stellantis for the last two years. He has adept knowledge about the features that makes today's cars safer and easier to drive.