How do you determine the best LCD monitor for your computer? Frankly, I was surprised at just how much research it took and how widely scattered the information was. Having just done the work and made the purchase I’m going to try to sum up the results of my findings here.
First of all, my intended use: I’m a photographer and my most critical use of a monitor is with Photoshop. Other users with varying needs may have requirements quite different from mine, but I’ll try to make clear the advantages and disadvantages of each type and how they might affect different users.
Viewing angle is the characteristic that really drove me into this research: With my old monitor, moving my head up or down a slight amount drastically affected the brightness of the on-screen image. Thus I could never be confident of what was going to come out of the printer. I got tired of having to hold my head “just so” in order to be (almost) certain of what was going to come out of the printer.
The Big Three
There are three general types of LCD technology used in monitors:
- TN (Twisted Nematic)
- IPS (In-Plane Switching)
- VA (Vertical Alignment)
If you’re thinking you’ve never heard of any of them, you’re not alone. Manufacturers and retailers don’t go out of their way to inform you of which technology they’re using. I found I had to do some digging to learn which technology any given monitor used.
You’ll also find that each type of technology, besides having its own acronym, has spawned a small tribe of offspring acronyms, each of which represents a variation that offers — or claims to offer — improvements over earlier versions: The words “Advanced”, “Improved”, “Premium” and “Super” figure prominently in these new acronyms. But is “advanced” better than “improved”, or “super” better than “premium”? Only the marketing people know for certain (actually, they don’t, but that’s another story….)
Look for the basic initials (TN, IPS or VA) within the extended acronym and you’ll usually know which technology you’re dealing with.
The Short Version
The really short version of this article is as follows:
TN monitors are the cheapest, most common and lowest quality, particularly for photographers: Fairly limited color gamut and limited viewing angles. (They do have faster response time than IPS or VA, so they’re good for playing computer games.)
IPS monitors offer the broadest color gamut and widest viewing angles, but also the slowest response times.
VA monitors fall in between TN and IPS in most, but not all, regards: Their color gamut, viewing angles and pixel response times are better than TN but not quite as good as IPS. Fortunately, they tend to be closer to IPS than TN and… they offer better contrast ratios than either TN or IPS.
The monitors that are included with general-use computers are all TN technology. If a manufacturer doesn’t tell you what kind of technology a monitor uses, it’s a safe bet it’s TN. And, yes, in general the rule of “the more you pay the better you get” applies. But a high quality 19-inch IPS monitor might cost as much as a mediocre 24-inch TN. I’d choose quality over size, but it’s your call in the end.
As I mentioned earlier, manufacturers and retailers don’t go out of their way to tell you what technology is inside their monitors, but fear not: The TFT Central “Panel Search Database” lets you look up most monitors on the market and find out what’s inside. To get a great monitor on a budget, click on the Geeks.com logo in the left hand panel of this page and look at their monitor specials, then plug each model number you like into the TFT Central database to find out what kind of LCD panel it’s built on. You’ll find there are some great bargains to be had (and some unpleasant surprises to be avoided).
The Photographer’s Choice: IPS or VA
As a photographer looking for a monitor for Photoshop use, I decided my choice came down to the slightly wider color gamut of IPS versus the slightly better contrast ratio of VA. (The pixel response rate is mainly of interest to gamers and my take on viewing angles is that the difference between VA and IPS isn’t big enough to worry about.) I went with a widescreen Samsung S-PVA monitor and I’m thrilled with it. Your mileage may vary.
There are three approaches you can use to narrow down your selection: Go out and look at monitors (if you can find a place that actually has multiple high-end monitors on display – good luck!); Seek out and read on-line reviews; Ask for recommendations from people you know and trust (and have a look at what they’re using if they’re local).
From a purely theoretical standpoint, I leaned toward contrast ratio rather than color because I shoot mostly nature photography, and there’s usually a significant margin of acceptable color in this genre: Who can say what exact color that fall foliage, for example, really was? The area in which color accuracy is most critical (except possibly for some scientific work) is skin tones. The human visual system very sensitive to variations in skin tone and people find inaccuracies in this area particularly annoying. If I were a portrait shooter I’d probably favor IPS.
And before you start agonizing too much over your decision, know that if you’re upgrading from a TN monitor virtually any IPS or VA monitor will knock your socks off!
A good source for information on LCD monitors is the previously-mentioned web site, TFT Central. Using their TFT Selector and entering your size, price and other requirements, you may find the IPS/VA decision is made for you ;-)
Details for Geeks
Most people don’t need to read below this point! But if you really want details on the variations of each technology and its advantages (or disadvantages), the next section will give you the low-down. If the monitor you’re considering uses an acronym you haven’t seen so far in this article, you may find it here…
TN – Twisted Nematic
Twisted Nematic uses a substance called a nematic liquid crystal confined between two plates of polarized glass. What makes a TN display work is the way these liquid crystals can be affected (actually twisted) by electrical current and the way this twist in the crystals affects polarized light.
ADVANTAGES:
Low manufacturing/retail costs
Fast pixel response times
DISADVANTAGES
Limited viewing angles (especially in the vertical direction)
Lower contrast levels means blacks are not as dark as VA based panels
Smaller color gamut
VARIATIONS (and I’m not going to detail each one!)
STN (Super Twist Nematic), CSTN (Color STN), DSTN (Double layer STN or Dual-scan STN), FRSTN (Fast Response STN), FSTN (Film-compensated STN, Formulated STN or Filtered STN), FFSTN (double Film STN), MSTN (Monochrome STN), CTN (Compensated Twisted Nematic)
IPS – In-Plane Switching
IPS was developed to improve on the narrow viewing angles and limited color reproduction of TN technology, with the trade-off of slower response time. Color reproduction is almost as good as CRTs (the old, bulky, picture-tube style monitors), but the dynamic range (contrast) is lower.
S-IPS (Super-IPS) — Improved pixel refresh speed.
H-IPS (High aperture ratio IPS) — A further development of IPS technology, with claimed reduction in backlight bleed (good) but slightly narrower viewing angle (bad).
AS-IPS (Advanced Super IPS) — Improved contrast ratio over S-IPS: second only to some S-PVA screens.
A-TW-IPS (Advanced True White IPS) — A custom S-IPS panel with a “True White” color filter intended to make white look more natural. Developed specifically for displays targeted toward photographers and graphic artists.
VA – Vertical Alignment
There are basically two flavors of Vertical Alignment displays, MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment), developed by Fujitsu, and PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment), developed by Samsung. Each one has a variety of sub-categories (that may well have grown by the time you read this!) and each subsequent variety claims to offer improvements over earlier versions. PVA is supposed to have the best contrast levels.
MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment)
P-MVA (Premium MVA) — Improved pixel response time, allegedly poorer color
A-MVA (Advanced MVA) — Unknown “improvement” over standard MVA
S-MVA (Super MVA) — Unknown “improvement” over standard MVA
PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment) Improved viewing angle and contrast over basic VA.
S-PVA (Super PVA) — Improved pixel response speed and viewing angle. Best contrast ratios currently available.