Which is better: IPS or AMOLED? Comparison and popular opinion

Supporters of technologies used in the manufacture of displays of mobile devices, divided into AMOLED fans and adherents LCD. Both types of screens are based on different manufacturing techniques, and manufacturers emphasize the advantages of only their own manufacturing process.

So which screen is better - IPS or AMOLED? Is there a marked difference between these technologies, and if so, what is it?

LCD technology

LCD means LCD. The colors in it are reproduced in a completely different way than in AMOLED. In the liquid crystal display, the light source is the backlight. The backlight can be multiple, which saves energy, but it is used in large TVs.

White does not have its own wavelength. It is a mixture of all other visible colors of the spectrum. Thus, the LCD backlight should create an imaginary white light as efficiently as possible to get a different color from the LCD element from it. Most LCD displays have a blue LED backlight that hits the phosphor and generates a near-white light.

Real difficulties begin when light is polarized and passes through the crystal. The LCD element can rotate it to different angles by changing the voltage applied to it. Then the light passes through another polarizing filter, shifted by 90 ° relative to the first. This extinguishes it depending on the angle of rotation. Then the light passes through the RGB filter, creating sub-pixels, then grouped in pixels.

All this suggests that the LCD monitor controls the amount of light by blocking the backlight, and color light for each pixel does not generate. Like AMOLED, LCD displays can be active and passive matrix devices.

AMOLED technology

The key component of the screens of this type hidden in the name is the LED (LED). Fans of electronics knew about these bulbs before, but in the display panel they are radically reduced and placed in the form of red, green and blue clusters, which constitute a separate pixel capable of reproducing white and other colors. The arrangement of these subpixels can have a minor effect on the characteristics of the displays.

The letter O means organic. There are a number of thin organic films placed between the LED conductors that emit light when the current is applied.

And, finally, part of AM in AMOLED stands for "active matrix", in contrast to passive technology. This indicates how each OLED LED is controlled. To control a single pixel in a passive matrix, integrated circuits are used that control the supply of voltage to the required column or row. It is slow and not accurate enough. Active matrix systems in each LED use a TFT-transistor and a capacitor. When the row and column are activated to access the pixel, its capacitor retains the charge between the update cycles. This allows you to manage it quickly and accurately.

Another term that can be found is Super AMOLED, Samsung's marketing name for the display combined with a capacitive touchscreen. Typically, such a screen is executed as a separate layer on the outside of the display. This combination makes the display thinner.

Super AMOLED vs. LCD

Such a profound difference in the mode of operation of the displays has a great influence on the user's senses. The color scheme is most often mentioned when comparing these technologies. AMOLED provides a greater range of color options than LCD, which results in brighter images.

OLED-displays are characterized by additional saturation of green and blue, the most powerful colors in subpixels. Some believe that this extra saturation produces unnatural colors. LCD displays tend to overcompensate red tones with a more subdued green. Despite the fact that they do not have a wide gamut, the image they create is very close to the standard color gamut profile used in photos and videos.

A more careful study of smartphone displays shows that the color gamut can vary quite significantly even in displays of the same type. For example, despite the fact that BlackBerry Priv and Galaxy Note 5 use AMOLED-display of one manufacturer, they have completely different gamma profiles. This can be partially explained by the presence of several profiles and different calibration of the image by the manufacturer.

The accuracy of color rendering is another significant difference, especially when it comes to white color. Testing some of the best Android smartphones has shown that OLED displays give very accurate results, while LCD displays have a slight blue tint. This is not surprising, given that the LCD displays operate on a filtered blue backlight.

The lack of backlighting and filter layers also speaks in favor of OLED. LCD displays often skip extra light and have low contrast, since the backlight does not turn off, even if the pixels should be black, while the OLED can simply turn off its pixels. The filter layer of the LCD also blocks part of the light, and a larger thickness means that the viewing angles are smaller compared to the OLED.

The disadvantage of AMOLED is that different LEDs have different lifespan, which means that individual RBG components eventually degrade at different rates. The color balance of the OLED display may change slightly with time, and the LED backlight LCD means that the color balance is more stable.

Controllability

One of the main advantages of OLED-screens is their high manageability at the level of each pixel. This element can be turned off, which allows you to achieve a depth of black and high contrast ratio. The control of radiation at the level of an individual pixel results in energy savings, and the absence of additional layers above the LEDs means that the surface reaches a maximum of light. Images become brighter and the viewing angle improves.

Subtlety and Flexibility

Adherents AMOLED note the smaller screen thickness, on which the size of the device and its weight depend. This is due to the lack of illumination. Although for many this parameter may seem insignificant, it affects another important indicator - the viewing angle, which directly depends on the thickness of the display.

The use of LEDs means that LED-screens are extremely thin, which is ideal for portable devices. The lack of a rigid backlight and a breakthrough in the production of substrates have made it possible to create the first generation of flexible displays that are very promising for creating new form factors.

Contrast

One of the main parameters that will help to figure out which screen technology is better - IPS or AMOLED, - is the contrast. The advantage of LED technology is a huge contrast, for which users love this technology. When a person sees such a colorful display for the first time, he is very surprised. This is the "wow effect", so revered by marketers.

Depth of black

The next parameter, which will help determine which screen is better - IPS or Super AMOLED, is the ability to transmit black. Due to the fact that the LED screens are on their own, users give them an undoubted advantage. Only the pixels required in the image are involved, and not the entire screen, as in IPS. Contrast is the ratio of the brightness of the lightest and darkest sections of the screen, so the theoretical contrast of organic light-emitting diodes is infinite, since there is no glow. But in reality the situation is different, the reflected light passes through the black areas. The difference in contrast is 20-fold (30000: 1 vs. 1500: 1).

Energy consumption

Among the indicators that make it possible to determine what is better, IPS or AMOLED, users call the screen economy. In LED technology, it is achieved due to the glow of individual subpixels. On dark scenes, the screen spends little energy, but on light more. Therefore, the power consumption of the display depends on the mode of its use.

Speed

The response time also affects the opinion of consumers which display is better - IPS or AMOLED. The latter technology is smaller, which in theory should mean a slightly faster change of picture. In reality, the longer IPS response time is almost imperceptible. And the Samsung Galaxy S4 showed another problem - a quick change of image causes a noticeable visual effect.

Color rendition

Another question that allows you to choose AMOLED or IPS - which color is better? IPS displays provide an image without distorting the color gamut. The color will be bright when it should be. The natural gamma on LED displays is achieved by software configuration.

White quality

True white color on LED displays, as users say, is difficult to achieve. The LCD gives the imaginary white color emitted by the phosphor. The consequence is the shades of blue, yellow and pink instead of white. In this case, individual adjustment of the image can help.

Viewing angles

Another parameter that will help determine which matrix is better - IPS or AMOLED, - preserving the accuracy of color reproduction when viewing at an angle. If we talk about LCD screens, then their colors shift to the cold side, and the non-standard layout of subpixels of LED displays, which is different from the usual, leads the picture in different colors, for example, it can turn green or blush.

Brightness

High brightness means good image visibility in conditions of strong external illumination. This is the next parameter that will allow you to decide what is better - IPS or AMOLED. The contrast of the screen does not help here. In LCD-displays, white light is created by powerful illumination, and LED-panels emit each pixel. This explains the difference in the strength of light - AMOLED technology does not yet allow the brightness of subpixels to compete with the backlight in LCD displays.

Definition

Which is better - IPS or AMOLED, - will help to judge the detail and sharpness of the image. Some users easily distinguish subpixels of the LED screen, which is not very good. Short-sighted people clearly see them even with Full HD resolution. This is due to the use of PenTile technology, which provides the same glow subpixels of different colors. The image loses its clarity and has less distinct outlines. Traditional placement in the IPS layout means greater detail and straightness of the lines.

Burning out pixels

The next "plus" of IPS-technology is the "minus" LED. Organic light-emitting diodes eventually burn out. Although the service life is quite long, the differences in the brightness of different sites will become noticeable in a year. LCD screens from burn-out problems are spared.

Cost

The answer to the question, which is better, IPS or AMOLED, also depends on the price. The cost of the device is determined by the sum of the prices of all its components, of which the most expensive is the display. But the lower price of the gadget does not mean less cost of the screen. For example, HTC One with IPS and Samsung Galaxy S4 with Super AMOLED cost the same, although the price of the LED matrix is more.

AMOLED, TFT IPS: which is better?

Technologies have qualities that can be called advantages or disadvantages, depending on the user's color and contrast settings. Although many available display modes in modern smartphones allow you to achieve maximum quality. Reducing the cost of production and the additional benefits of OLED displays makes them probably more promising, and cheaper LCDs are destined to fill the gaps in the budget segments of the market.

Leading manufacturers of displays, such as LG Display, rely on OLED technology, investing in additional production capacity. The market for AMOLED panels is expected to reach $ 30 billion in 2022, more than double the current level. Not to mention the still unrealized potential of the flexible display market.

The development of LCD displays with a quantum dot can shorten the performance gap between LCD and OLED, so it's not worth dumping the LCD.

When deciding which type of display to choose - Super AMOLED or IPS, which is best for the user - it should be remembered: each technology has its pros and cons. Only weighed all the pros and cons, given the importance of each parameter, and it makes sense to make a choice. LCD screens have a few more advantages. Among them - a natural high-quality color and high brightness of the image. LED technology is characterized by excessive color saturation, low readability in bright ambient light and a shorter lifetime. Nevertheless AMOLED-displays have an excellent "wow-effect", again and again bringing the next victim to consumer ecstasy.