Screen Types Explained: LCD, TN, IPS, OLED, Retina

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[The laptop screen is the most important part you must check when buying a computer, whether it’s new or used. With the rapid development of screen manufacturing technology (Monitor Display), more and more laptops today come with high-quality screens at more reasonable prices. However, with so many different types of screens out there, users can easily get confused when buying a screen, which leads to choosing a product they’re not happy with. You can read the article below to choose the best screen for your needs.
Telling Screens Apart by Technology:

Table of contents 6 items

1. LCD Screens
2. CCFL Screens
3. TN (Twisted Nematic) Screens
4. IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) Screens
5. OLED/AMOLED Screens:
6. Retina Screens

1. LCD Screens

LCD stands for Liquid crystal display. This type of display is made of pixels that contain liquid crystals, which can change the polarization of light, so when combined with polarizing filters, it can change the intensity of the light passing through. The advantages of this type of screen are vivid, true-to-life images and power savings. Also, thanks to the flat design, devices that use LCD screens are thinner and lighter.
Today, LCD screens are quite widely used on electronic devices. LCD technology is considered superior to the older CRT technology in image quality and convenience. Even so, LCD screens still have some drawbacks, such as outdoor visibility, narrow viewing angles, and screen quality that degrades after a period of use.

2. CCFL Screens

CCFL is another variant of the LCD screen; however, instead of LED bulbs, CCFL uses neon lamps as the screen’s backlight. The drawback of CCFL screens is that they give off quite a lot of heat during use; they also consume more power than LED screens and are less durable. Because of these many drawbacks, CCFL screens are now out of production and no longer widely used.

3. TN (Twisted Nematic) Screens

TN stands for Twisted Nematic. It’s a screen that uses a crystal structure, has been on the market for quite a long time and is usually found on low-end TVs and computers. Its advantage is the low price, but the drawback of TN screens is a very narrow viewing angle. So if you don’t sit directly in front of the screen, the image looks noticeably washed out. The only strength of TN screens is a fast response time, faster even than IPS screens. Thanks to this strength, TN screens are now used quite a lot on gaming laptops. In addition, this screen technology can also display images at 4K resolution with refresh rates up to 240 Hz.

How to Tell LCD, CCFL, TN, IPS, OLED/AMOLED and Retina Screens Apart - image 2

4. IPS (IN PLANE SWITCHING) Screens

This is a variant of the LCD screen: IPS screen technology. It is a type of screen usually found on high-end tech devices, with many standout advantages over other ordinary LCD screens. IPS screens have the main components of an LCD, but the structure has changed somewhat: the liquid crystal layers are now arranged horizontally, parallel to the 2 polarizing glass layers above and below, instead of perpendicular as before. This change significantly reduces scattered light, providing viewing angles of up to 178 degrees as well as more vivid and accurate image colors. Thanks to these superior advantages, IPS screens are usually found on high-end devices and suit people who use them for graphic design, which demands high display quality.

5. OLED/AMOLED Screens:

OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. This screen uses LED technology made for TVs, phones, cameras,… The advantages of OLED screens are high image quality, low power consumption and fast response time. This screen uses a carbon film placed inside the screen panel. OLED emits light on its own when current passes through it, whereas an LCD screen has to use a backlight to light up. Samsung was the first company to develop this technology and named it the AMOLED screen. Since most AMOLED screens use OLED technology, you can also call them AMOLED screens. Today, OLED technology is found on high-end laptops such as: HP Spectre X360 13 inch, Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga, Dell Alienware 13 inch…

6. Retina Screens

Retina is the screen technology used on Apple’s Macbook Pro line since 2012, supporting resolutions up to 2560×1600 pixels for a pixel density of 232.22 ppi on the 13-inch version and 2880×1800 pixels for a pixel density of 226.42 ppi on the 15.4-inch version.