Types of Screens: AMOLED, IPS, TFT AND RETINA EXPLAINED

As you all are aware that the competition among smartphone makers are increasing, so the prices of smartphones are becoming aggressive, but along with the prices, smartphone makers also need to differentiate their products in order to make it standout in the market flooded with competitors. One such difference is in the type of screens used on the smartphones.
Nowadays, smartphones have various types of screens such as -  AMOLED, Super AMOLED, LCD (IPS AND TFT), Retina etc.
So you might have got confused so as to what are they and what is the difference between them. Read on to know more!  

1) AMOLED AND SUPER AMOLED - AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. AMOLED displays use organic materials that emit light when electricity is applied. AMOLEDs enable emissive, bright, thin, flexible and efficient displays. AMOLED displays are 'always off' unless the individual pixels are electrified. This means that AMOLED displays have much purer blacks and consume less energy when black or darker colors are displayed on-screen. Also, since they are very flexible, they can be bent.
Super AMOLED is the brand name given by Samsung to its range of superior smartphone displays,Samsung's Super-AMOLED displays are AMOLED displays with an integrated touch function. In a Super AMOLED display, a touch-sensor is placed over the display (on-cell). The thickness of the touch sensor is just 0.001 mm and this allows the screen to provide better images and to have great visibility even in direct sunlight.
AMOLED displays are relatively expensive to produce and are highly over-saturated. However, AMOLED displays are vibrant and are best for color reproduction.


Pixel Arrangement on AMOLED Panel


Oneplus X with AMOLED display


Pixel Arrangement on Super AMOLED Panel


Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with Super AMOLED Display


2) LCD (IPS AND TFT) - LCD means Liquid Crystal Display. LCD screens are made up of an array of liquid crystals which get illuminated by a back-light. They require less power and hence, they are very popular on portable devices such as mobile phones. LCDs also tend to perform quite well in direct sunlight, as the entire display is illuminated from behind, so they are ideal for smartphones.
There are two main types of LCD: TFT and IPS.
i) TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, an advanced version of LCD that uses an active matrix. Active matrix means that each pixel is attached to a transistor and capacitor individually. The advantage of having TFT displays is that they have a high contrast ratio and have low production cost, thus lowering the price of your device. However, they do not have good viewing angles and impressive color reproduction.
ii) IPS stands for In-Plane Switching and it is a further improvement on TFT LCDs. The way the crystals are electrically excited on them is different and the orientation of the crystal array is rotated. This orientation change improves viewing angles, contrast ratio and color reproduction. Energy consumption is also reduced compared to TFT LCDs. Because IPS LCDs tend to be better than TFT LCDs, they are also more expensive when put on a smartphone.


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Moto X Style with TFT LCD display

Pixel Arrangement on IPS LCD displays




Asus Zenfone 2 with IPS LCD Display

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3) Retina - Just like SUPER AMOLED, Retina is another marketing term used by Apple. It has no special characteristics and is only designed so that the human eyes cannot view the individual pixels present on the screen. Retina displays are basically IPS Screens having accurate color tones. These displays aren't as vibrant and saturated as other displays. However they have good viewing angles, contrast and much more pure whites and deeper blacks.




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Pixel Arrangement on Retina Display (Same as IPS display)



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IPhone 6s with Retina Display

Which display is the best?
At the end, it cannot be decided which display is the best as it depends upon personal preference. It depends whether you like natural tones or bright and vivid colors. It also depends whether you can compensate on your battery life for a better display or not?
According to you which is the best display?

Read my previous article on Smartphone Camera Flashes Here: http://www.asus.com/zentalk/in/f ... hread&tid=66431

AMOLED displays are better because
1)better colour reproduction
2)consumes less charge compared to IPS displays.
3)improve the SOT of device

Nithin Gopal posted on 2016/3/10 15:22
AMOLED displays are better they have better colour reproduction and also consumes less charge compar ...

Even I prefer AMOLED displays. I love the vibrancy of AMOLED displays. IPS are good too

zeeshankazi7 posted on 2016/3/10 15:24
Even I prefer AMOLED displays. I love the vibrancy of AMOLED displays. IPS are good too

Amoled is good , but has adverse effects like aging, and toning if it fell. Ive seen my friends Moto X go all yellow  with a 4 four foot drop.

Nice article. I love IPS Screens on Zenfone.

Guest##207849 posted on 2016/3/11 20:25
Nice article. I love IPS Screens on Zenfone.

Thanks a lot. I too like IPS Screens

i like Super AMOLED display on Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and with 2k or quad hd display and 567ppi it likes you are carrying a home theater on your palm of your hand