Explain me like I'm 5: distinction between IPS, TN panel, and *mostly* LED displays

[virtuality]

Basically I'm asking about laptop display technology, but all in all, I hope I'm posting to the right topic here.

I get the distinction between IPS and TN panel mostly; I'm sure you can give me more nuances, like is IPS always better than TN? What are good quality TN displays? Tech specs?

What I don't 100% grasp is when a manufacturer writes LED display in the description, and only LED. Not IPS, or Anti-Glare (TN). My understanding is, that LED means LED backlit TN panel. For example: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP714?locale=en_US
And IPS is always LED backlit. I might be wrong on both.

A good question is, why would have Apple chosen a TN panel (even though LED backlit) for the MacBook Air, why not IPS? In its heydays (maybe even today), all of the MacBook Air components were considered premium. Why would they save on the display?

Prices. Let's say a better non-LED backlit TN panel costs 1.0, or 100%. Then how much does it cost a LED-backlit TN, and an IPS display of same specs, all (or most) other things being equal?

Any distinctive explainer or article on this general subject?

 

[richaron]

LCD panels don't produce their own light, hence the "white" "backlight" which shines through and the (R, G, or B) subpixels in the panel change to allow different amounts of each color through. Originally these backlights were fluorescent, but basically every monitor uses "white" LEDs these days. Actual LED displays are those big screens you see at sporting events and stuff, which are literally an array of red, green, and blue LEDs.

Each panel tech has slightly different properties which relate to how they let the light through the panel. Like whether they can completely block off the light and create deeper blacks, whether the light which comes through can be seen from different angles, and how fast they can adjust to stimulus. These generalizations are easily found with any web search or just scouring the forums.

TFT central is a great website for monitor information, news, and reviews. I'd suggest you look through their specifications page and maybe the features page. I doubt they explain it like you are a 5 year old, but it's good information. Information which I'm sure has already been covered to death all over the net.

Edit: I don't know about the Apple question or costs. But I caution it would be a mistake to start with the assumption that an IPS panel necessarily produces a better picture than TN. A TN panel could well look superior (at least from straight ahead).

 

[nathanddrews]

^
TFT Central for sure.

I wanted to piggyback on the above to clarify that you can have several different transmissive (light shines through it) LCD configurations (TN, IPS, VA) with two primary light sources (CFL or LED). The way in which light passes through the LCD determines viewing angle among other things.

The reasons why Apple (insert any manufacturer here) would choose to do one versus the other is generally always going to come down to industry supply, demand, and costs. Sometimes a smaller screen works great as a TN, where as a larger screen would benefit from more consistent viewing angles of an IPS. Perhaps Samsung couldn't produce enough 13" LCDs, so they subcontracted to LG, there's tons of weird stuff like that all the time.

 

[Suijin]

http://www.rtings.com

That's another great site with tons of information, more TV based though.

 

[virtuality]

Thank you for your referencing of TFT Central! I almost forgot about it. But to be honest, the resources you provided with me (TFT Central and the other) are probably a little too deep for my simple learning purposes. I mean, I could possibly read them for hours on end, and still not sure I get the wisdom I want to attain here.

Let me get a little more into it, and give you an example!

Problem: wherever you live, unless you want to buy a specific, popular laptop model (such as Apple), it's highly likely you end up ordering based on the specs and possibly reviews. which is fine for almost every part of the machine, besides one of the most important part: the screen (most important part for this discussion).

My main idea was, given the market that when I see IPS in the specs it's good, when I don't see it, it's not so good. I'm sure there is more to it, that's what I want to find out here.

For example, let's see Samsung laptops, and their specs! Today I learned Samsung also makes IPS displays, though I've never seen them advertising it, probably because they mainly want to push OLED/AMOLED (which might be a little pricey yet for most laptops), while letting popularizing IPS to their main Korean competitor, LG.

Example cheap Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/chromebooks/under-12/chromebook-3-11-6-xe500c13-k01us/#specs
LED display, 220nits - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

Example mid-range Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/chromebooks/12-14/samsung-chromebook-pro-xe510c24-k01us/#specs
LED display, 400nits - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

Example high-end Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing...ebook-9-13-3---8gb-ram--np900x3n-k01us/#specs
LED display, 550nits (in outdoor mode) - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

I'm puzzled by the 1st, $199 Chromebook for example: some online reviews on YouTube say it has a best in class display (relatively), while others say its display is one of the worst. I have to judge it only by the information I have. How to become an educated customer of notebooks (speaking of notebook screens?), if all you have is some 3rd party information?

 

[bononos]

......
My main idea was, given the market that when I see IPS in the specs it's good, when I don't see it, it's not so good. I'm sure there is more to it, that's what I want to find out here.
.............
I'm puzzled by the 1st, $199 Chromebook for example: some online reviews on YouTube say it has a best in class display (relatively), while others say its display is one of the worst. I have to judge it only by the information I have. How to become an educated customer of notebooks (speaking of notebook screens?), if all you have is some 3rd party information?

If you're just getting a notebook/chromebook and don't have specific requirements eg gaming, an ips is usually better. Just google ips vs tn vs va or read some articles on this site if you want some information.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Thank you for your referencing of TFT Central! I almost forgot about it. But to be honest, the resources you provided with me (TFT Central and the other) are probably a little too deep for my simple learning purposes. I mean, I could possibly read them for hours on end, and still not sure I get the wisdom I want to attain here.

Let me get a little more into it, and give you an example!

Problem: wherever you live, unless you want to buy a specific, popular laptop model (such as Apple), it's highly likely you end up ordering based on the specs and possibly reviews. which is fine for almost every part of the machine, besides one of the most important part: the screen (most important part for this discussion).

My main idea was, given the market that when I see IPS in the specs it's good, when I don't see it, it's not so good. I'm sure there is more to it, that's what I want to find out here.

For example, let's see Samsung laptops, and their specs! Today I learned Samsung also makes IPS displays, though I've never seen them advertising it, probably because they mainly want to push OLED/AMOLED (which might be a little pricey yet for most laptops), while letting popularizing IPS to their main Korean competitor, LG.

Example cheap Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/chromebooks/under-12/chromebook-3-11-6-xe500c13-k01us/#specs
LED display, 220nits - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

Example mid-range Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing/chromebooks/12-14/samsung-chromebook-pro-xe510c24-k01us/#specs
LED display, 400nits - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

Example high-end Samsung laptop: http://www.samsung.com/us/computing...ebook-9-13-3---8gb-ram--np900x3n-k01us/#specs
LED display, 550nits (in outdoor mode) - no other information relevant to this discussion is given by Samsung

I'm puzzled by the 1st, $199 Chromebook for example: some online reviews on YouTube say it has a best in class display (relatively), while others say its display is one of the worst. I have to judge it only by the information I have. How to become an educated customer of notebooks (speaking of notebook screens?), if all you have is some 3rd party information?

The problem is that a lot of reviewers are unable to remember that budget matters. So they review a $199 laptop and say it has a terrible screen, even when it has the best screen available for $199. Yes, a $1999 laptop will have a better screen, but it also costs $1999.

This is the same for TVs too - a lot of reviewers are so spoiled by the high end TVs they routinely review, that they are unable to take budget into consideration for cheaper TVs.

Anyway, nits reviews to the brightness level. That 220 nits display will be all but useless outside or in bright light. It will be a TN display, so viewing angles will be poor and colour accuracy won't be great.

The third display will almost definitely be an IPS display, the second might well be an IPS display.

Manufacturers advertise LED displays because people have a rough idea of what that means. But few people know what IPS, PVA, MVA, TN and OLED mean. So they usually don't advertise those, with the exception being OLED in ultra high end TVs.

All modern displays will be LED backlit, so LED in this context is meaningless. Previous posters have already explained LED backlit - it just means LEDs are used to provide the light for the display. Without them, you would be unable to see anything.

 

[akmaggot666]

I am a noob but I do know that if u look for monitors being a GEIMUR, I said it sarcasticly, TN have 1ms response time, IPS 4ms, if that matters