IPS, TN, VA, or OLED? What are the differences between matrices in monitors?

You have just assembled your dream computer set, to your delight it booted up without a problem, installed drivers, necessary programs and games. You stare at the monitor screen for a while… well, the monitor, remembering the glory days of the Pentium e8400. You thought to yourself – it can’t be like this – you need to finally buy a decent hardware. You launch the browser, type the phrase “computer monitors” and to your eyes appears an almost endless list of available devices. You notice that, in addition to refresh rate, built-in ports, these equipment differ in the types of matrices used: IPS, TN, VA, OLED. So you begin to wonder how the matrices in monitors differ. Therefore, when choosing the equipment of your dreams for yourself, it is worth keeping in mind the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies used by the manufacturer in a particular monitor model.

IPS matrix

An IPS (In Plane Switching) matrix consists of liquid crystals that move parallel to the screen surface, scattering small amounts of light, thus guaranteeing wide viewing angles and excellent color reproduction. While this is one of the most common solutions available on the market, it is unfortunately characterized by poor blacks and sometimes uneven screen backlighting. Despite these few drawbacks, it can be noted that the IPS matrix has the greatest versatility.

Advantages:

– Excellent color reproduction

– Wide viewing angles

– High image quality

Disadvantages:

– Poor black reproduction

– Sometimes uneven backlighting of the matrix

TN matrix

The TN (Twisted Nematic) matrix is also based on liquid crystals with the difference that they are between glass plates and also move perpendicular to the screen surface, providing lightning-fast response times. All this, unfortunately, comes at the cost of tragic viewing angles, poor color and black reproduction. However, thanks to the aforementioned low response times and high refresh rates, TN matrices have stolen the hearts of many professional esports game players.

Advantages:

– Low matrix response time

– Very high refresh rates

– No ghosting effect

Disadvantages:

– Tragic viewing angles

– Poor color and black reproduction

VA matrix

The VA (Vertical Alignment) matrix uses similar technology to the above two matrices, but here the crystals are arranged not only vertically, but also at an oblique angle to the surface of the monitor. Guaranteeing us pleasant colors, wide viewing angles, as well as deep and clear blacks. Among the very serious drawbacks of VA monitors are rather poor response times, as well as the ubiquitous “ghosting”, especially visible during dynamic games.

Advantages:

– Wide viewing angles

– High contrast

– Deep blacks (of course, VA is far from the absolute black of OLED)

Disadvantages:

– Fairly long matrix response time

– Streaking effect

OLED matrix

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) matrix is made up of subpixels – diodes equipped with different color filters. An individual pixel of the display consists, depending on the technology, of 3 or 4 of the aforementioned subpixels, glowing under the influence of an electric current flow. Which means that, unlike its predecessors, an OLED monitor does not need additional backlighting to display the image. The most important advantage of OLED screens is their ability to produce perfect blacks and wide viewing angles. On the other hand, the biggest disadvantage is the risk of fixation of the displayed static image on the screen, commonly referred to as “burn-in.” Manufacturers, however, try to protect screens from this unfavorable process by, for example, moving objects by a few pixels after a certain amount of time has elapsed, or using automatic brightness correction of the display.

Advantages:

– Perfect black

– Excellent color reproduction

– High color contrast

– Wide viewing angles

Disadvantages:

– High price

– Risk of matrix “burnout”

So what type of matrix should I choose?

It all depends on the application and the budget you have. In a gamer it will work perfectly… any of the above mentioned matrices. The choice depends on the games we play and the capacity of our wallet. Professional esports gamers continue to be faithful to TN matrices, those who play AAA titles are willing to choose VA/IPS, and those more affluent – OLED monitors. Graphic designer, architect, photographer will choose IPS or AH-IPS matrix having great color reproduction and wide viewing angles. On the other hand, for everyday use or the office, TN/IPS/VA will be great, where the choice depends on price and use (although a TN monitor will do poorly for watching movies due to poor viewing angles).