Types of TV matrices

If before, when choosing a TV, special attention was paid to the kinescope, but today the matrix type is the determining indicator of operational qualities. Consumer properties of modern TV equipment depend on it. Among the main parameters distinguish:

1. Life time.
2. Image quality.
3. Maintainability.

Therefore, when choosing a TV, you need to know the advantages and disadvantages of all existing matrix systems.

What types of matrices are used on modern TVs

Conventionally, all modern screens can be divided into two types:

1. Liquid crystal displays (LCD) or in the English version - liquid crystal display (LCD). LCD TVs got this name because of the principle of the matrix. It lies in the fact that liquid crystals enclosed between thin plates react to the supplied signals and form a picture.
2. LED, so called displays that work due to light emitting diodes. Under the English abbreviation, such screens are known as LED (Light Emitting.Diode). In this case, the matrix consists of luminous diodes depending on the incoming signal.

But, in fact, the variety of matrices does not end there, because almost every manufacturer of monitors, television equipment improves its products. And today, almost the only way to improve image quality is to make changes to the matrix. Therefore, every famous brand that produces displays, televisions has licensed matrices of its own design with the original name.

Features and Benefits

Depending on the type of matrix, the image displayed on the screen has its own characteristics. Sometimes they are visible even without an armed eye, and in some cases, to notice the differences, you need to pay attention to the display in different lighting conditions or at different viewing angles. Depending on the types of matrix, the screens may have an anti-reflective surface, and their working efficiency is determined by the location methods, combinations and principles of crystal movement. In the case of an LED matrix, the quality of the display determines the life of the diodes. The color and overall life of the screen depend on this.

The design of modern TVs is a casing with a metal frame, in which the connecting wires are connected, connected to the matrix. In addition, a light source is installed in the LCD TV as a backlight. Lighting used to come from mercury discharge lamps, but today most new displays use

LED backlight - LED. Therefore, many manufacturers claim that their TVs are made using LED technology. But this is far from the truth, because the matrix was, and remains, an LCD, that is, an LCD. To understand which TV design is better today, and to understand the disadvantages and advantages of displays, you need to find out the features of various matrices.

Twisted Nematic (TN)

The first plasma TVs in the mid-90s were brought to world markets by Fujitsu. The TN matrix, in which the crystals are twisted in a spiral shape, allowed her to do this. Depending on the voltage, they can curl more or straighten.

Thus, the angle of rotation of the crystals and, accordingly, the degree of transparency are changed. Due to this, the color of each pixel changes. At the moment, such matrices are not produced, because back in 1996, a more advanced design appeared.

TN + Film

The main disadvantage of TN-matrices was a small viewing angle. Using an additional layer of the diffuser, the so-called Film, the developers from Fujitsu were able to increase the viewing angle to 150 degrees. For the end of the last century, it was a real breakthrough in television technology. The main advantage of such matrices, in addition to low prices, is considered to be a high response rate to a signal change.

Think Film Transistor (TFT)

The first matrix on which an intelligent pixel control system is implemented is the familiar TN system. The difference between the TFT matrix and TN is the use of field-effect transistors, which, if necessary, increase or decrease the voltage transmitted to the crystals. Thus, they correct color, contrast, depending on the effects of external stimuli. This matrix construction principle gave impetus to the development of LCD TVs. But today you will not surprise anyone with these indicators. Although the TFT system is still in demand and is used in the manufacture of displays for budget technology. But the main problems with TN-made screens migrated to TFT. Most annoying TFT display owners are annoying:

1. The lack of black.
2. Poor contrast and color.
3. A clear image can be seen only when watching TV at a right angle.

In-Plane Switching (IPS) or Super Fine TFT (SFT)

After Fujitsu broke into the TV technology market with TFT technology, other Japanese from Hitachi set to work. They improved the development of competitors and, without further ado, called it SFT, which literally sounds in Russian as a very good TFT. But apparently, to prove to the rest of the competitors the originality of Hitachi technology, the matrix got a different name IPS (in Russian - switching in one plane). The principle of the new technology was that the crystal molecules were located in parallel in the absence of voltage, and as it increased, they began to rotate and at the peak the rotation angle reached 90 degrees. Thus, the design engineers from Hitachi got black color, high contrast, color and increased visibility to 180 degrees. IPS technology was so successful that it was adopted by Samsung, LG, Philips. The disadvantages of IPS matrix include its high cost, the response time to incoming signals is longer than that of TFT and unnaturally saturated black color.

Plane-to-Line Switching (PLS)

Developers from Samsung, taking the IPS matrix as a basis, decided to finalize it in order to fix the main disadvantages - cost and response time. To do this, it was decided to develop a mechanism for "switching from plane to one line" (PLS). Such technology allowed:

1. Increase viewing angles.
2. Improve image brightness.
3. Reduce response time.

And all this was achieved along with a reduction in the cost of display.

Vertical Aligment (VA)

The famous company Fujitsu is not going to lag behind competitors and seeks to regain its leading position in the global TV market. For this, a new matrix with "vertical alignment" (VA) was developed. Now there are no crystalline spirals in it, but there is a layer of molecules, which in the absence of voltage become perpendicular to the light filters, and when the signal appears, they begin to rotate 90 degrees.

But Fujitsu did not stop there and upgraded its matrix with an eye on the principles of IPS. The result is MVA - advanced vertical alignment. Samsung follows the same principle, buying a VA license from Fujitsu. The Koreans, just like the Japanese, modernized the matrix and called it PVA. Due to modernization and application of innovations, acceptable indicators were obtained:

1. Satisfactory black colors on the screens.
2. Good contrast.
3. The color rendering level has increased.

But Fujitsu's displays remained an old disease - low visibility in comparison with competitors.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED)

The principle of operation of displays with organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) is that the matrix in it is a substance based on carbon, which emits light of different intensities and colors. Typically, OLED monitors use 3 color pixels, but now models with 4 colors have appeared. They added white to the green, red and blue LEDs. As a result, such a TV, in addition to saturated black color, can display pure white pictures. Advantages of TVs made using OLED technology mass:

1. Light weight.
2. Low power consumption.
3. Good visibility (viewing angle up to 180 degrees).
4. High speed response.
5. Unrivaled contrast and color reproduction.

But all these advantages are crossed out by one significant drawback - too high a price.

How to find out the type of matrix in your TV

In order to understand what requirements you need to make to the quality of the image on the screen, you need to determine what type it belongs to. Moreover, in the age of computer technology, this is extremely simple - enter the TV model in the search engine, and the worldwide network will provide information on technical specifications in full.

If there is no Internet at hand, then carefully study the data on the model of the TV, the types of matrices are indicated there. Many manufacturers encrypt technical information in the serial numbers of their products. Therefore, if among the numbers you see a combination of letters - TN, TFT, IPS or other familiar abbreviations, then know that you have the name of the TV matrix.

You can also determine which playback technology is used by characteristic features:

1. To detect TN, check the contrast, contrast, color scheme on the screen. If the quality indicators have decreased, then you have a TV with TN technology.
2. The loss of color shades when looking at a right angle for a long time indicates MVA / PVA.
3. The violet hue when looking at the screen with a black image at an angle indicates IPS.

When buying a TV, check all the information that the seller provides you.

IMPORTANT. Remember that the seller’s goal is to sell any product, and the buyer needs to buy the right product at the lowest possible price.