[SOLVED] Panel Type TN vs VA

[nz_kiwis]

I'm replacing a desktop screen, the old panel type was TN whatever that is, the new one i'm looking at is VA.

What's the difference? is it better or worse?

 

[lekharaju234]

Hi, I think that VA panels are the best for desktop screens or gaming. VA panels that exist somewhere between IPS and TN panels regarding advantages and price. They feature faster response times on average than IPS panels but lower response times on average than TN panels. VA panels have superior color to TN panels but worse color reproduction than IPS panels.

A big advantage of VA panels is that they are capable of very high refresh rates of 144Hz, 240Hz, or even 360Hz. While it is true that some more expensive IPS options can also achieve these refresh rates, VA panels do so at a fraction of the price. If you are looking for an affordable, high refresh rate monitor, a VA monitor might be a good middle ground to consider.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm replacing a desktop screen, the old panel type was TN whatever that is, the new one i'm looking at is VA.

What's the difference? is it better or worse?

The specific make/model matters MUCH more than whatever letters are at the end of the name.
TN/VA/IPS.

 

[lekharaju234]

VA panels will be slightly worse at color reproduction than IPS monitors. The difference is not so great that you will notice it while gaming. However, the difference might be relevant for anyone looking to do design work on their monitor as well.

VA panels generally offer slower response times than TN panels. However, just like with the IPS panels, there are plenty of VA panels that can pull one-millisecond response times. So while TN reigns for budget options, IPS and VA panels are the superior options if you have the money for them.

Generally speaking, IPS and VA panels offer a very similar user experience, but VA monitors are often slightly cheaper than an equivalent IPS monitor. However, VA monitors do suffer from more motion blur and ghosting issues than IPS panels. So IPS remains the best option for anyone doing design or precision work.

 

[SkyNetRising]

What's the difference? is it better or worse?

VA panels tend to have ghosting - black trails after moving image. This completely negates any refresh rate advantage.
Choose IPS instead.
Or OLED, if you can afford it.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The difference between the panel types;

• TN
  • Pros: Cheap, fastest pixel response time
  • Cons: Poor color range (18-bits, can fake 24-bits), poor viewing angles, okay static contrast (1000:1)
• VA
  • Pros: Better color range (up to 30-bits), better static contrast (around 3000:1)
  • Cons: Mediocre viewing angles (not as bad as TN, but not as good as IPS)
• IPS
  • Pros: Better color range (up to 30-bits), best viewing angles
  • Cons: Okay static contrast (1000:1), IPS glow

Other things to not really worry about

• Color accuracy: Not really important unless you're doing media work (well, blue should look like blue and gray shouldn't have a color shift, but this isn't a problem on most monitors)
• Dynamic contrast: This is a marketing spec. It means nothing
• Response times: Honestly I haven't seen this be a problem on recent monitors, but the caveat is I don't buy cheap monitors.
  • A quick and dirty test I had was to find a Wikipedia page with a table that lists features of something and they highlight them with red and green backgrounds. Scrolling through it really fast on slow response time monitors tends to show a visible yellow section (the red and green combine). With the monitor's I've used in the past 8 or so years, this yellow blob tends to be miniscule to practically non-existent.

Of note, I switched from an 144Hz IPS monitor to a 240Hz VA monitor and unless I try really hard to actually scrutinize, I don't see a difference in image quality that would be bothersome.

 

[quyens22]

VA panels produce a much bigger color space than TNs and have the most contrast of any LCD variety. While not as fast as TNs, VAs have improved and now perform nearly as well, routinely reaching 2-3ms response times and 200Hz refresh rates.