IPS, VA or OLED? A Guide to Monitor Panel Types and Which to Choose

The panel decides your experience

Two monitors with the same resolution and refresh rate can feel completely different, because the panel type changes colour, contrast, viewing angles and response speed. Here is how they compare.

1. IPS panels

Best for colour and viewing angles. Ideal for design, video editing and office work — and now excellent for gaming too, thanks to Fast IPS variants that reach 1ms response times and high refresh rates.

• Accurate colour and wide viewing angles.
• Lower contrast than VA — blacks are not as deep.

2. VA panels

Best for contrast and deep blacks. Common in curved monitors, and immersive for films and games.

• High contrast, deep blacks, and strong value.
• Slightly slower response than IPS — ghosting can appear in fast motion.

3. OLED / QD-OLED panels

The peak of image quality. Every pixel lights itself, so you get perfect blacks, effectively infinite contrast, and a 0.03ms response time.

• The best picture available, extraordinary response, vivid colour.
• Higher price, and you need sensible usage habits to avoid long-term burn-in.

4. TN panels

Historically the cheapest and fastest, but weaker on colour and viewing angles. Much less common now that Fast IPS has matured.

So which should you pick?

• Competitive gaming: Fast IPS or OLED at a high refresh rate.
• Films and immersion: curved VA or OLED.
• Design and editing: IPS with high colour accuracy (sRGB/DCI-P3).
• Office and everyday use: IPS at a sensible price.

We stock all of these as Open Box with a warranty — browse Open Box monitors and pick the panel that suits you.