Screen Knowledge
Learn the basics of monitor technology
Monitor Types
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
LCD is currently the most common type of monitor, using liquid crystal molecules to control the passage of light to display images.
Main Features:
- Requires a backlight to provide light
- Relatively low price
- Moderate energy consumption
- Less prone to burn-in
- Higher brightness
Common Issues:
- Backlight bleeding
- Limited viewing angles (especially TN panels)
- Black levels are not deep enough
- Longer response times (especially VA panels)
OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode)
OLED monitors use organic materials that emit light when an electric current passes through, and each pixel can be lit and turned off independently.
Main Features:
- Perfect black levels (pixels can be completely turned off)
- Extremely high contrast ratio
- Extremely fast response time
- Wide viewing angles
- Can be made into flexible screens
Common Issues:
- Burn-in risk
- Brightness is usually lower than LCD
- Relatively shorter lifespan
- Higher price
Mini-LED
Mini-LED is an improved version of LCD, using a large number of tiny LEDs as the backlight to achieve finer local dimming.
Main Features:
- Better contrast than traditional LCD
- Deeper blacks
- Higher brightness
- Moderate energy consumption
- Less prone to burn-in
Common Issues:
- Blooming effect
- Higher price than traditional LCD
- Slightly thicker
LCD Panel Types
TN (Twisted Nematic)
TN panels are the earliest and most common type of LCD panels, mainly used for gaming monitors and entry-level monitors.
Main Features:
- Fastest response time
- Highest refresh rate
- Lowest price
- Lower energy consumption
Disadvantages:
- Extremely limited viewing angles
- Poorest color performance
- Lower contrast ratio
- Color depth is usually 6-bit+FRC
IPS (In-Plane Switching)
IPS panels are a common choice for professional and high-end consumer monitors, providing excellent color performance.
Main Features:
- Excellent viewing angles
- Excellent color accuracy
- Good color consistency
- Usually 8-bit or 10-bit color depth
Disadvantages:
- Average contrast ratio
- IPS glow phenomenon
- Moderate response time
- Higher price
VA (Vertical Alignment)
VA panels strike a good balance between contrast ratio and color performance, commonly used in home entertainment monitors.
Main Features:
- Highest static contrast ratio
- Deep black levels
- Good color performance
- Moderate price
Disadvantages:
- Slowest response time (especially dark transitions)
- Viewing angles not as good as IPS
- More noticeable color shift
- May experience loss of dark details (black crush)
Important Monitor Parameters
Resolution
Resolution refers to the number of pixels on a monitor, usually expressed as width × height.
Common Resolutions:
- HD (1280×720) - Basic high definition
- Full HD (1920×1080) - Full HD, the most common resolution
- 2K/QHD (2560×1440) - Quad HD, commonly used in gaming monitors
- 4K/UHD (3840×2160) - Ultra HD, professional and high-end monitors
- 5K (5120×2880) - Professional creative work
- 8K (7680×4320) - Ultra high-end monitors
Higher resolutions provide clearer images, but also require stronger graphics processing power and more bandwidth.
Refresh Rate
Refresh rate refers to the number of times a monitor updates the image per second, measured in Hertz (Hz).
Common Refresh Rates:
- 60Hz - Standard refresh rate, suitable for general use
- 75Hz - Entry-level choice for light gaming
- 120Hz - Provides a noticeably smoother experience
- 144Hz - Common choice for gaming monitors
- 240Hz - Competitive gaming monitors
- 360Hz及以上 - Professional e-sports monitors
A higher refresh rate provides smoother display of dynamic content and reduces motion blur, which is especially important for gaming and video.
Response Time
Response time refers to the time it takes for a pixel to change from one color to another, usually measured in milliseconds (ms).
Response Time Range:
- 1ms - Extremely fast, suitable for competitive gaming
- 4ms - Good, suitable for most games and videos
- 8ms - Average, suitable for everyday use
- 16ms及以上 - Slower, may show noticeable ghosting
A lower response time reduces motion blur and ghosting, which is especially important for fast-moving content. Response times vary greatly among different panel types, with TN being the fastest and VA the slowest.
Color Performance
Color Gamut
Color gamut refers to the range of colors a monitor can display.
Common Color Gamut Standards:
- sRGB - Standard color gamut for web and general content
- Adobe RGB - Commonly used in printing and professional photography
- DCI-P3 - Film and video production standard
- Rec.2020 - Ultra-wide color gamut, used for HDR content
A wider color gamut can display more colors, but requires proper color management for accurate display. General consumer monitors typically cover 100% sRGB and 70-95% DCI-P3 color gamuts.
Color Depth
Color depth refers to the number of colors a monitor can display, usually expressed in bits.
Common Color Depths:
- 6位 - About 260,000 colors, entry-level monitors
- 8位 - About 16.7 million colors, standard monitors
- 10位 - About 1.07 billion colors, professional monitors
- 12位 - About 68.7 billion colors, high-end professional monitors
Higher color depth provides smoother color transitions and finer color performance, reducing color banding. Many 6-bit panels use dithering technology (FRC) to simulate 8-bit color depth.
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
HDR technology expands the brightness and color range of a monitor, providing a visual experience closer to the real world.
Common HDR Standards:
- HDR10 - Basic HDR standard
- HDR10+ - Enhanced HDR10 supporting dynamic metadata
- Dolby Vision - High-end HDR standard, supports 12-bit color depth
- HLG - Hybrid Log-Gamma, mainly used for broadcasting
A true HDR experience requires a monitor with sufficient brightness (usually at least 400 nits, ideally 1000 nits or more), a wide color gamut, and good local dimming capabilities. Many monitors labeled "HDR compatible" can only receive HDR signals but cannot provide a true HDR experience.