Low-priced wide-viewing angle products become the "TN terminator" and the panel industry may usher in a new round of reshuffle

According to relevant sources, the public display market will maintain a healthy growth pattern until 2021. In addition to the expected growth in shipments from 3.1 million units in 2016 to 5.1 million units in 2021, sales are also expected to increase significantly from US$6 billion to US$13.7 billion due to the continuous increase in mainstream sizes. In the display field, LCD technology is still the most mainstream technology. The LCD panel is the most important part of the LCD display, and the quality of the LCD panel will directly determine the quality of the display.

Current LCD monitor panels are mainly divided into two categories, wide-viewing angle panels (PVA/MVA/IPS/PLS panels) and non-wide-viewing angle panels (TN panels).

The classification of wide-viewing angle panels is obviously much more complicated, but they are mainly divided into VA and IPS panels. VA panels are all soft screens. MVA, as the earliest wide-viewing angle panel technology, mainly comes from Fujitsu, and later gathered AU Optronics and Chi Mei Electronics. PVA panel technology is an improvement of Samsung on the basis of MVA. It uses transparent ITO electrodes instead of the liquid crystal layer protrusions of MVA, mainly for the purpose of obtaining a better liquid crystal opening ratio. However, due to its high price, PVA panels are rarely seen in the market.

Compared with VA panels, the biggest feature of IPS panels is the "hard screen". The unique structure of IPS panels is that its two poles are on the same plane. Regardless of the state, the liquid crystal molecules always remain parallel to the screen. This design will reduce the liquid crystal aperture ratio and reduce the light transmittance. At the same time, the viewing angle has an epoch-making improvement compared to TN. But just as there is no perfect LCD screen, IPS panels have been criticized for serious light leakage.

TN panel is short for Twisted Nematic panel, which is a type of display screen. TN panels are mostly improved TN+film, where film is compensation film, which is mainly used to make up for the lack of viewing angle of TN panels. Currently, the viewing angle of improved TN panels has reached 160°. Due to the low production cost, TN panels have become the most widely used entry-level LCD panels and are widely used in mainstream mid- and low-end LCD monitors on the market.

TN panels have a smaller number of grayscale levels and a faster liquid crystal molecule deflection speed, so the response time is easy to improve. At the same time, compared with wide-viewing angle panels, TN panels are more advantageous in price. The popularity of e-sports has also brought vitality to the development of TN panels. For professional e-sports players, fast response time is very important. When LCD monitors first appeared, the response time was not fast enough, resulting in serious screen ghosting. Many players chose to use CRT monitors because there was no ghosting. Due to the load of liquid crystal molecule arrangement, it is difficult for wide-viewing angle panels to achieve a rapid response time of 1ms, but TN panels can easily achieve the ultimate response time of 1ms. Therefore, TN panels are used in many high-end e-sports monitors.

But it is worth mentioning that, except for some high-end gaming monitors, TN panels are mainly used in some low-end entry-level monitors. Industry insiders said that currently, curved surfaces and wide viewing angles have become the labels of mainstream monitors. With the popularity of wide viewing angle panels such as IPS, VA, and PLS, TN panels, as a panel technology in the early development of LCD, have disadvantages such as poor image quality and poor experience. TN panels with obvious color problems have become synonymous with low-end. At the same time, with people's emphasis on the performance and experience of LCD monitors, the improvement of economic levels, and the increasing popularity of wide viewing angle panels, wide viewing angle panel monitors have been able to achieve the same low price as TN panels, so relevant people believe that TN panels no longer have any advantages.

For TN panels, low-priced wide-viewing angle panels are an insurmountable gap. Such a trend has accelerated the speed of their extinction. At this time, TN panels are in a state of being helpless. Many panel manufacturers have decisively sought change in the face of the lifeless situation of TN panels, and launched many low-priced wide-viewing angle products that are sought after by consumers. Relevant people also believe that such products are the "TN terminator."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.