VA vs. IPS or rather TN – what are the different technologies for LCD screens, what do the abbreviations stand for and which type is best for your needs?
The search for a new monitor for office, gaming or photo editing can be very tiring. Manufacturers advertise their screens with all sorts of marketing jargon that only very few interested parties understand. But before buyers even deal with the advertising promises, they should decide on a panel type of the monitor.
The panel is nothing more than the construction of the screen. The decision for a panel should be at the beginning of a purchase decision, because the design is accompanied by decisive features of an LCD display that even the best advertising gibberish cannot confuse.
VA vs. IPS: How LCD displays work
The three most common monitor panels are Twisted Nematic (TN), In Plane Switching (IPS) and Vertical Alignment (VA). All types have one thing in common: different layers are superimposed in them. These layers include, among other things, polarization filters, the liquid crystals and, of course, a backlight that makes the crystals shine.
The layer of liquid crystals decides how intensely the backlight shines through and in which colors – i.e. blue, green or red – the crystals shine so that they produce an image on the monitor. In order to control the luminous intensity of the crystals, they are mixed with different current intensities.
The current causes the liquid crystals to move physically. And this is exactly where the difference between the three designs lies: how the crystals are arranged and how they behave when exposed to an electrical charge determines whether the monitor is a VA, IPS or TN panel.
Each panel has different strengths and weaknesses, which is why the different designs are also differently suitable for office, gaming or image processing. So let’s look at how the crystals behave in TN, VA and IPS to see the pros and cons of the panels.
Translated into German, “twisted” means twisted and that’s exactly what happens with the TN panel with the light crystals. They rotate up to 90 degrees, allowing the background light to penetrate or blocking it when the pixels should remain black. Twisting is particularly quick, which is why TN monitors have the best response times.
Above all, gamers in e-sports titles benefit from this. Another plus point: Streaking and ghosting effects in fast game scenes are also rare in the construction. Unfortunately, the colors and contrasts fall by the wayside: Some background light always shines through, which is why TN panels can never display a rich, dark black. Another disadvantage of this design is the limited viewing angle of the screens. If you look at a TN panel from the side, you will see little or nothing.
Here, too, the translation into German helps. “Changing on the same level” roughly describes what happens with the IPS panel. Here the liquid crystals do not twist because they are parallel to the other layers. In order to still let light through or to block it, they rotate.
However, this usually happens much more slowly than twisting with TN, resulting in a higher response time with IPS. Because of this, the pixels in IPS panels often drag in fast situations, which can lead to streaking. E-sports players are therefore reluctant to play fast games on IPS monitors. High-quality IPS monitors, on the other hand, offer the best viewing angles and the best color space coverage, which is important for image and video editing.
Translated for “vertical alignment”. Here, the liquid crystals are arranged vertically and tilt to let light through or block it. The advantage of this lies in the particularly high contrasts, i.e. a whiter white and a deep black, which is why most LCD televisions are manufactured in this way. The viewing angle is similar to that of the IPS panel.
Unfortunately, the color fidelity is not as good as IPS, but VA panels react faster, but not as fast as the twisting crystals of the TN construction. Except for the high contrasts, VA panels are the compromise between a decent color space coverage, response time and viewing angle, without being completely at the top in one of the properties.
TN monitor for e-athletes
Now the question is which construction is the “right” or “best”. And of course that depends on how the monitor is used. For example, if you play competitive games such as “Counter Strike – Global Offensive” or “League of Legends” on the computer, you want to have a responsive screen at your side that offers the highest possible refresh rate. This is therefore important to ensure that the gameplay is as fluid and as possible as possible without perceiving distortion.
That’s why competitive players prefer to use the TN panel. You sit in front of the PC, so you don’t care about the viewing angle. In addition, gamers shouldn’t really care what contrast values the screen delivers, because ideally they set the “Black Boost” on the monitor to better recognize opponents hiding in shady corners. A rich black would perhaps make the sighting more difficult.
True evergreens of gaming monitors with TN panels are the models from BenQ’s Zowie series. The Zowie XL2546K impresses with a refresh rate of up to 240 Hertz. The monitor has a Full HD resolution and extends over a diagonal of 24 inches (61 centimeters). Its side privacy screens ensure that you always have a good view when gaming, even when the lighting conditions are not ideal.
IPS monitor for the office
If you are looking for a suitable PC monitor for the office, you should stay away from the TN panel. On the one hand, it is simply annoying when the colors on an office monitor are not true to the original, on the other hand, you benefit from a wide viewing angle when working in the office. Especially when it often happens that several people look at one screen.
It doesn’t matter how responsive and what refresh rate a monitor has in the office, as long as it offers at least a 60 Hertz refresh rate. Connection options for laptop, mouse and keyboard are more important. It doesn’t matter whether the screen has a VA or IPS panel for pure office work.
The Dell U2720Q is an excellent monitor for the office. The monitor has a 4K resolution, which is why you may have to upscale the image, otherwise the windows and icons will appear very small. Dell integrates an HDMI and a DisplayPort input into its monitor as connection options. It also has three USB-A sockets, a headphone connection and a USB-C slot.
IPS monitor for image processing
The situation is different if you depend on colors that are true to the original because you are editing photos or videos. What counts here is the highest possible coverage of as many color spaces as possible or at least of the color space with which you usually work. This is especially important when processing HDR video footage. As far as color space coverage is concerned, IPS panels on professional monitors are way ahead of VA and TN panels. However, these monitors not only impress with their brilliant colors, but also with their hefty prices.
The screens from the Japanese manufacturer Eizo are particularly popular with graphic artists and cutters. The ColorEdge CS2731 is no exception. It extends over a diagonal of 27 inches (68.4 centimeters) and has a resolution of 4K. Of course, the monitor is an IPS panel that, according to Eizo, covers all common color spaces. According to the manufacturer, the screen covers 99 percent of the AdobeRGB color space.
VA monitor for casual gamers
VA monitors are the most balanced mix of LCD screens. They offer by far the best contrasts, solid color values and viewing angles, as well as decent refresh rates and response times. Gamers who like role-playing or action games are well advised to use a VA panel. However, that doesn’t stop them from throwing in a competition shooter from time to time. However, if you are looking for the best of the best for the competition and want to play like a true pro-gramer, you should reach for the TN panel to put a stop to any excuse, no matter how small, for bad equipment.
The Samsung Odyssey G7 C32G74TQSR is an excellent gaming monitor with a VA panel. The monitor has a resolution of almost oversized 32 inches (80 centimeters) with QHD and offers a brisk refresh rate of 240 Hertz. A top value for a VA panel with the resolution that also makes competitive gamers happy. Thanks to two USB-A sockets and a jack socket for headphones, there is also no lack of connection options for the mouse and keyboard on the screen.
IPS, VA or TN? A question of time
Finally, it should be noted that IPS, VA and TN monitors have converged significantly in recent years. This mainly affects the response time and refresh rate of IPS and VA panels compared to TN panels. The reason for this is simple: there are simply fewer and fewer sales for TN panels, which is why manufacturers are mainly investing their research for improvements in VA and IPS monitors.
With premium monitors, it now doesn’t matter whether you use an IPS or VA panel, because the performance differences are so marginal that they are hardly noticeable. However, the differences in panel types still apply to entry-level and mid-range monitors. However, it is only a matter of time before this gap also closes.
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