Monitor Buying Guide Dec. 2010 - Monitor Technology

[Brink]

Monitor Buying Guide Dec. 2010 - Monitor Technology​

Panel technology
CRTs have effectively been replaced by their thinner and brighter sister, the LCD. Under the umbrella of LCD technology, there are a few choices to consider before buying a monitor. First, you'll have to decide which panel technology is right for you.

The three main panel technologies currently used in LCDs are: twisted nematic (TN), vertical alignment (VA), and in-plane switching (IPS). Manufacturers make the vast majority of consumer monitors using TN panels.

Not surprising, TN panels are the cheapest of the three technologies to make. With a few exceptions, monitors that cost $300 or less will likely have TN panels. The main advantages of TN panels are their fast--usually 2ms--response time and, of course, low price. Their major disadvantages are narrow viewing angles, relatively low brightness, and inaccurate color reproduction.

Next up are VA (mostly seen as S-PVA) panels. VAs have improved viewing angles compared with TNs, better color reproduction, and they typically have a much higher maximum brightness. Also, they tend to have the lowest black levels of all three panel technologies. Unfortunately, a VA panel's response time and input lag are not quite as fast as a TN panel, and they can cost anywhere from $400 to $800, and sometimes more depending on the panel's size. Also, you can expect a VA-based monitor's profile to be wider than a TN's.

Lastly, we have IPS. IPS-based monitors are usually the most expensive; however, the new e-IPS panels cost as little as $300 for a 22-inch model. They also have the best viewing angles of all three technologies and produce the most accurate colors; however, their blacks are not as deep as VA panels'. IPS monitors are the slowest of the bunch in both response time and input lag. ....

Read more at source (5 pages): Monitor buying guide - CNET Reviews

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Thanks for that, Brink. I was just pondering a monitor purchase and as usual was inundated with acronyms and obscure terminology.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. I was also looking up all of this for a new monitor as well, and found this great article that helped easily understand all of the different terms for the latest monitors.

 

[DocBrown]

How do you know what type of panel is in your current flat screen ?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Doc:

I don't know that you can from within Windows.

But you stand a fighting chance at the manufacturer's site if you drill into specs.

My NEC 19 inch is "Active Matrix, TFT (thin film transistor) LCD", but that may be a subset or superset of something else?

 

[DocBrown]

Here's the one I bought in July, but had to send in after Thanksgiving because the panel went bad. They sent it back in 3 days under warrenty.

I-Inc iH-282HPB 28 Class Widescreen LCD Monitor - 1920 x 1200, 15000:1 Dynamic, 16:10, 3ms, VGA, HDMI at TigerDirect.com

 

[ignatzatsonic]

There is more detail here:

TFT LCD - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It appears that TFT is the superset, with TN, IPS, etc as subcategories. The link also mentions some manufacturer names, but no model numbers.