Mobile Screen Types And Differences

Mobile phones are now called smartphones because of their ever-growing features, technologies, and sizes. Its display type is one of many factors to consider while purchasing a smartphone. Today, mobile screens have come a long way since the first smartphone came out to the public in 1994.

Over the years, the screen types of phones have changed to improve the graphics quality, primarily focusing on its resolution, pixel density, color gamut, and the technology behind how the graphics are displayed.

You may have heard of LTPO, IPS, LCD, AMOLED 2x, and many other fancy screen types across various mobile phone models. If you are confused by their names, then this is the right place for you.

This guide will help you differentiate between the many screen types and their technologies, so that you understand the differences between them, and determine the right screen type that you want for your next smart gadget.

Importance of mobile screen type

All phone screen types get the job done, which is displaying enough detail so that you can perform your tasks or play games. However, for some users, that is not enough.

A screen type determines how good the display will be. Each screen type has its pros and cons. While some provide better resolutions and details, others are capable of better viewing angles without distortion. Moreover, certain screen types surpass all other types in all aspects but are expensive to manufacture and own.

When deciding the right screen type for you, you must consider the resolution it provides, its maximum brightness, its contrast ratio, the viewing angles, and the pixel density.

Understanding the smartphone screen types

Mobile phone screens, when coupled with the touch element, create a smartphone that is capable of performing great functions. Not only are the screen types different across various models, but also the touch element on top of the screen has different technologies. However, today, we will only be focusing on the different screen types and their characteristics.

To avoid confusion, we must understand that there are only 2 main types of mobile screens, and the rest are just iterations and advancements of the same underlying technology. The two main types of phone displays are:

• LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
• LED (Light Emitting Diode)

Other display technologies and acronyms, such as OLED, AMOLED, and TFT LCD have been derived from one of these two main display types.

Let us dive into the different screen types of mobile phones that currently exist today.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Screens

LCD screens consist of a layer of liquid crystals that are not illuminated themselves, Instead, a backlight provides the illumination, and a bunch of other layers on top of each other help in displaying the graphic.

All the early smartphones, including the Nokia 1011, used LCDs. Of course, those weren’t colored screens, but over the years the manufacturers found a way to further advance the same technology, improve its quality, and show colored images, while using the same core display technology.

LCD screens are cheaper to manufacture, and therefore, are usually found on low-spec smartphones. Even with all the iterations over the years, LCD screens are still considered a low-end display type because of their low-resolution display, low contrast ratio, poor color range, and poor viewing angles. Of course, this is all in comparison to other, more advanced displaying technologies.

Here are the different types of LCD displays you will find across various smartphones today:

Thin Film Transistor (TFT) LCD

A TFT LCD is a type of LCD screen where each pixel is maintained by a matrix of transistors and capacitors. The pixels are actively maintained, this means that the current is constantly being provided to the pixel to maintain its state, unlike a passive matrix.

TFT LCDs are the cheapest to manufacture, which is why they also offer lower screen specifications. For one, they offer lower screen resolution than what most other screen technologies are capable of. Moreover, their viewing angle isn’t great, and you may observe color distortion and muting when not looking at the screen directly from the front.

Additionally, TFT screens also have poor sunlight visibility. Therefore, you may have trouble viewing the contents of the screen, even at peak brightness, when using the phone under direct sunlight.

Initially, mobile phone manufacturers adopted the TFT LCD screen displays as it was the most advanced technology at the time. However, as the technology advanced and better displays became available, the high-end phones upgraded. But even today, you will find entry-level smartphones still coming with TFT displays to keep them budget-friendly, like the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G.

Twisted Nematic (TN)

Twisted Nematic is another type of LCD. This type is normally used in computer screens, but can also be found across other portable devices, like mobile phones, because of its cheap manufacturing cost and better quality.

TN displays are equipped with an LED light source, two polarizers (horizontal and vertical), and several color filters. When in an “off” state, the horizontal polarizer prevents the vertical light and the vertical polarizer blocks the horizontal light from passing through. This way, the backlight doesn’t reach the color filter, and the screen is kept blank.

However, when the panel’s current is supplied and is in the “on” state, the liquid crystals gently twist to bridge the 90-degree gap between the vertical and horizontal polarizers. The image is then formed when light enters the vertical polarizer after leaving the horizontal polarizer and traveling through the twisted liquid crystal molecules.

This illustration can be better understood with the aid of the following image:

Advanced Fringe Field Switching (AFFS)

Fringe Field Switching (FFS) is a display technique that improves the performance of liquid crystal displays by using a special pixel layout and electrode design. FFS technology improves the alignment of liquid crystals, resulting in better light transmission and reduced color distortion.

In-plane switching (IPS) and fringe field switching techniques are combined in FFS technology. It makes use of a pixel arrangement with liquid crystals arranged vertically that are regulated by electrodes at the top and bottom of the display. By creating an electric field that aligns the liquid crystals, these electrodes improve the efficiency of light transmission. This creates a display with rich contrast, broader viewing angles, and less motion blur.

AFFS screens have been used in the past across various planes, including airplane cockpits, cars, high-res notebooks, and mobile phones. Such display types were widely popular because of their good quality and non-distortion of the colors when viewed from non-centric angles.

FFS screens first became popular when Apple used it for the first time on their iPhone 4 for the Retina displays. After that, other popular mobile phone brands, including Samsung and LG, started using it.

Vertical Alignment (VA)

VA panels use a liquid crystal display (LCD) technology with vertically aligned liquid crystals that allow for a wide range of colors and excellent contrast ratios. They offer a middle ground between Twisted Nematic (TN) and In-Plane Switching (IPS) panels, incorporating some of the best features of both.

Viewing angles on VA displays are similar to IPS displays, but are better than TB displays. it also boasts an exceptional contrast ratio, making it one of the best display types for smartphones in the LCD sector.

When it comes to brightness, it’s worth noting that their peak levels usually fall between 250 to 400 nits. This makes them good for indoor use, but they may not be the best choice for locations that receive a lot of natural light or have very bright artificial lighting in the surroundings.

In-Plane Switching (IPS)/ Plane to Line Switching (PLS)

In-Plane Switching, or IPS LCDs are considered the best kind of LCDs because of their great viewing angles (almost 178 degrees on TVs), and better color reproduction ability than the rest.

IPS display uses an alignment layer between the glass substrate and the liquid crystals, allowing for better color accuracy and wider viewing angles than the traditional TN (Twisted Nematic) displays. Additionally, IPS screens can offer a greater range of screen resolutions than the other LCD types.

Since it was a great innovation in the technology world, Samsung decided to rebrand this technology with slight modifications and call it their own. Therefore, the Plane to Line Switching (PLS) screens were born. PLS is Samsung’s proprietary screen type, which is why you can find it on Samsung’s low-end specced phones. Otherwise, the underlying technology for IPS and PLS screens is the same.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Screens

LED screens are considered superior to LCD screens. Unlike LCD screens, LEDs are self-emitting and do not require a backlight. Therefore, many elements that were affected by a backlight are now eliminated.

LED screens are more expensive to manufacture than LCDs, butt hey consume less power. Moreover, different variations of LED screen types offer much-improved screen resolutions, color gamut, brightness levels, contrast, and viewing angles. All-in-all, LED screens are superior to LCD screens in all manners.

First introduced in 2003, LED screens were introduced as a secondary screen on the outside of flip phones. At the time, they were only monochrome, but LED technology advanced rather quickly and started offering colored screens. Note that mobile phones use OLED technology, better known as Organic Light Emitting Diodes – a slightly different version than regular LED screens.

As mentioned earlier, like the LCDs, there are different types of LED screens available in smartphones. While some offer greater depth and resolutions, others are cheaper to manufacture, keeping the costs of the phones low for the consumers.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED)

An OLED display is made up of tiny sheets of electroluminescent material that emits light when current passes through it. OLED screens are ‘always off’ and are black until the individual pixels are energized, unlike the LCD screens. Therefore, OLED screens offer very good contrast ratios.

When black or dark colors are shown on the screen, OLED displays have considerably purer blacks and consume less energy. OLED panels with lighter color themes, however, consume a lot more energy than LCD screens with the same colors. In addition, manufacturing OLED displays costs more than LCDs.

Although LED displays can also have very quick refresh rates, they are not as visible in bright light as backlit LCDs. Other things to think about include screen burn-in and diode deterioration (because they are organic).

On the plus side, OLED panels can be made more flexible and thinner than LCDs since they don’t need a backlight layer, resulting in slimmer and more feature-packed smartphones.

Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED)

An AMOLED display is an improved version of OLED displays. It also uses diodes to emit light, however, the major difference is that it also uses a thin-film transistor (TFT) to control each pixel actively. Note that it is not the same as an LCD, since no liquid crystals are involved. Instead, each pixel acts as an individual light-emitting bulb.

The AMOLED technology expands upon OLED technology by introducing an active wiring matrix of transistors for individual pixel management. It allows for fast and precise control over the output of the display by allowing individual pixels to be turned on or off. Whereas, the OLED panel regulates some pixels simultaneously with a per-row control. Thus, in a colorful image, the darker content’s pixels are turned off to portray genuine blacks, while the brighter areas are well-lit and have a high degree of color contrast.

These are all the kinds of screen types currently available all over the globe. however, there may be some terms and names that you did not find in this post yet. Let us tell you why.

What are Retina, Super Retina, POLED, Dynamic AMOLED, Fluid AMOLED, ProMotion display types?

Marketing gimmicks are one of the top reasons for a phone’s sales. Display manufacturers often modify existing technology, very lightly, patent it, and call it their own. This is when they also decide to rename the technology, resulting in weird screen display names, like Retina, POLED, ProMotion, etc. Therefore, do not be confused by such screen types.

If you come across a mobile device with a different screen type than we have already discussed, then know that it is either a modified version of an LCD, or an OLED display.

The following is what each of the different screen types means:

Retina, Super Retina, Liquid Retina, Liquid Retina XDR

Any screen type with the word “Retina” in it belongs to Apple Inc. When Apple launched the iPhone 4, the Retina display was introduced that was, at the time, superior to LCD screens because of the resolutions it could provide. It was already impeccable for the human eye, but with more iPhone models coming each year, how would Apple explain that the screen is better than the previous models? (enter the marketing team).

Making slight modifications to the screen displays and improving its quality, Apple decided to include more marketing words in their screen types. This led to the creation of different types of Retina displays, which are known by the following terms:

• Super Retina – When Apple shifted from LCD technology to OLED screen types.
• Liquid Retina – Apple introduced the iPhone XR with Liquid Retina, which are lower-spec phone with LCD displays.
• Suffixed with XDR – Any display capable of displaying High Dynamic Range (HDR) content.

ProMotion

ProMotion is another display type that can cater to different screen refresh rates. this term has been used by Apple and applies to both LCD and LED display types.

Plastic Organic Light Emitting Diode (POLED)

A POLED display uses a plastic substrate instead of the traditional glass substrate. It is a variant introduced and owned by LG, where they used plastic as the base layer of the display, instead of a glass layer.

Super AMOLED, Dynamic AMOLED (2X), and Fluid AMOLED

As the names indicate, Super AMOLED, Dunamic AMOLED, and Fluid AMOLEDs are all names of variations of the AMOLED technology.

Super AMOLED is the name given by Samsung for its devices which started for their premium mobile phones, but has now made their way to the cheaper segment as well. In Super AMOLED, Samsung has integrated a touch response layer into the display itself, and not an additional layer on top of it.

Dynamic AMOLED is another name given by Samsung for the devices that can cater to higher refresh rates, and even switch between them dynamically. Dynamic AMOLED 2X builds on this technology by improving the color, brightness, and HDR performance, being more capable of showing true black levels and depth – another marketing trick by Samsung.

Similarly, Fluid AMOLED is a name given to varying refresh rate screens by OnePlus.

The different screen technologies do not end here.

LTPO, LTPS, and IGZO screen types

LTPO, LTPS, and IGZO are other terms that you may come across when exploring phones with different screen types. These terms also define certain properties of the different screen displays on top of the properties already associated with them, which we have discussed above.

Here is a brief description of these terminologies associated with phone display types:

Low-Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS)

LTPS is a quicker and more integrated active matrix LCD panel than ones constructed with amorphous silicon substrates. Amorphous silicon helped the active matrix industry by enabling the deposition of Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) on vast substrates, as opposed to the single-crystal silicon used in chips.

LTPS offers higher resolutions with lower power consumption compared to traditional TFT screens.

Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO)

IGZO is a semiconductor, or a transistor that also allows higher resolutions and lower power consumption. It is made from rare metals such as Indium and Gallium, and therefore it is costly.

Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LTPO)

LTPO combines both LTPS and IGZO technologies by offering even lower power consumption and even greater resolutions. This technology was created by Apple and applies to both LCD and LED screen types. It was a breakthrough in screen types, and can now be found in the latest smartphones as well as smartwatches.

LTPO enables the display to dynamically adapt to the information being presented by varying its refresh rate. The phone can utilize a reduced refresh rate when showing a static image, which saves battery life. However, scrolling sites can activate the quickest refresh rate for smooth viewing.

LTPO Version 2.0, whose primary benefit is being able to go down to a 1 Hz refresh rate instead of the 10 Hz offered in first-generation LTPO screens, was initially used in flagship phones in 2022.

Mobile screen types in 2024

If you look at the specifications of different mobile phones today, you will find that they have long and complex names. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has an “LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED.” Now, if you break down the name, you will all information on individual items in this post.

The “LTPO” signifies the use of Apple’s proprietary power-saving and high-res technology. “Super Retina” and “OLED” signify that the screen uses the OLED technology. The “XDR” signifies that it can display content with a High Dynamic Range.

Future of mobile screen technology

Smartphones, as a whole, are evolving at a great pace. We are still uncertain what 2024 and beyond holds for us, but we do know that further development in the display types is underway with the “microLEDs.”

As the name suggests, microLEDs will be even smaller than miniLEDs, allowing more LEDs to fill the screen, resulting in superior Pixel Per Inch (PPI) values, and hence, higher screen resolutions and quality.

MicroLED displays eliminate the need for a backlight by using a self-emitting light technology, in which every pixel is “turned off” separately, except that these will be very small (less than 100 micrometers in size). These will also eliminate the chances of burn-in and image retention.

Combining the advantages of both OLED and LCD screens, microLED technology also offers the possibility to show pictures with higher brightness levels and reduced power usage.