If you’re reasonably familiar with smart TVs, you’re probably aware of the broader panel types out there, such as OLED, mini-LED, and QLED. You might also be aware of the impending wave of Micro-LED and RGB mini-LED TVs, bemoaning the fact that it’s going to be a while before the average person can afford one. Knowing what’s coming down the pipeline can help with decision-making, at least.
What you might not be aware of is that all the LCD-based technologies on the market — that includes QLED and mini-LED — can be further split into two categories, IPS and VA. Depending on your use case, there can be a significant difference, although TV makers are trying to minimize the gap whenever possible. Eventually, the point may become moot, and you’ll probably understand why pretty quickly.
What are IPS and VA TVs?
Subtle changes, major impacts
The first thing to know is that all LCDs employ a “sandwich” of layers to produce the final image you see. These include things like backlights, electrodes, polarizers, glass substrates, and the liquid crystals themselves. It’s possible to get even more granular, for instance differentiating filtered backlights versus ones that use quantum dots. There’s a lot more to say about backlights later on, incidentally.
IPS stands for in-plane shifting. When the crystals in an IPS panel aren’t receiving any voltage, they sit still in a horizontal alignment, blocking most (though not all) of the lighting from shining through. Once voltage does come across, the crystals rotate parallel to the substrate, allowing the light to penetrate. It’s this specific rotation that gives IPS its name.
VA is short for Vertical Alignment, and you can probably guess the implications based on what I just explained. Instead of being arranged horizontally by default, the crystals in VA panels are pointed upright, and spin perpendicular to the substrate when voltage is applied.
If these acronyms seem familiar, it’s probably from shopping for a computer monitor. Whereas TV makers usually gloss over the use of IPS or VA, it can be absolutely essential to know what you’re getting on a monitor if you’re a graphics or video professional. I used to be in pro photography, and at the time, IPS was considered a must-have for accurate photo editing. It’s still what I’d recommend for pros, since there’s a risk of burn-in with OLED if you spend eight to 12 hours a day in an editing suite.
Why should you pick one over the other?
Accuracy versus impact
One reason IPS might be a priority for image editing is simple: consistency. IPS panels are dramatically better at preserving accuracy not just at multiple viewing angles, but edge-to-edge. VA panels tend to get darker towards their corners, and can look washed-out when viewed outside a relatively narrow cone. Needless to say, you can’t afford to have colors look like one thing on your screen but totally different when they’re presented to a client.
When it comes to TVs, consistency can improve watching with friends and family. It might not matter much if it’s just you and your partner sitting in the center of your couch. If you’re having friends over to watch a movie or football game, though, people sitting off to the far left or right may have a distinctly terrible experience with a VA panel. Come to think of it, the darker scenes in a movie like The Witch or Hereditary might appear pitch-black to your friends stuck in the bad seats.
VA panels do have a few advantages, including contrast, uniform blacks, and a slight edge in motion.
VA panels do have a few advantages, however, beginning with contrast. The technology is superior at blocking light, resulting in deeper blacks, which also tend to be more uniform. These things make VA distinctly preferable for punchy images, including HDR (high dynamic range) content. Indeed, most LCD TVs are equipped with VA panels explicitly for this reason.
There’s more, though. VA is modestly better at handling motion, although it can run into problems that offset this, such as white trails or an absence of shadow detail. What matters more, generally, are things like refresh rates, VRR (variable refresh rate) support, and motion smoothing, noting of course that motion smoothing should be disabled unless you’re using Dolby Vision 2 or HDR10+ Advanced. That feature tends to ruin anything shot at 24 frames per second, meaning most movies and “prestige” TV shows.
You might be wondering about color accuracy at this point. In this area, IPS and VA are effectively neck-and-neck. In fact most TVs are unable to cover the entire BT.2020 color gamut, the only exceptions being MicroLED and RGB mini-LED sets. Don’t worry too much about missing out — you probably won’t notice the difference, given the limitations of the human eye. It’s just that with something like MicroLED, you don’t have to worry that you’re getting less than what a filmmaker intended.
Why don’t TV brands make a big deal out of IPS and VA?
The many factors at play
The truth is that while the split between IPS and VA is important, companies have evolved their implementations in order to compensate for deficiencies. IPS panels are often based around an upgrade called advanced super dimension switching (ADS), which improves brightness levels and response times, among other aspects. VA panels, meanwhile, may use technologies like TCL CSOT’s WHVA, directly addressing the viewing angle problem. There may still be a gap — if images wash out when you step to the side, you’re looking at a VA set — but you can’t go too far wrong when shopping.
Furthermore, other features tend to have a greater impact these days. When it comes to color, the most critical things are how a panel is lit, and how that light is filtered or converted. RGB mini-LED’s performance, for example, stems from incorporating separate red, green, and blue LEDs instead of filtering a single white or blue light. OLED and MicroLED offer self-illuminating pixels, enabling both improved colors and perfect contrast. Even mini-LED TVs are unable to achieve true blacks — it’s just that they have such control over local dimming that at first glance, it can be hard to tell the difference versus OLED. Some people may actually prefer mini-LED, considering how much brighter it gets.
When it comes to color and contrast, the most critical things are how a panel is lit, and how that light is filtered or converted.
In the long term, LCDs as a whole are likely to be phased out of the TV market. OLED is already the gold standard for most shoppers, relegating LCDs to budget or mid-tier status if they aren’t mini-LEDs. RGB mini-LED could be poised to replace OLED, but only until MicroLED becomes reasonably priced. Once that threshold is crossed, there’s a genuine possibility that OLED TVs could become the new budget pick, and the LCD era all but dead. Don’t fret too much about it — it’s not like the transition away from cathode ray tubes, which sabotaged older game consoles and playback devices. Anything you’re watching on an LCD now will simply look better.
