What is the Difference Between IPS and AMOLED??

We have been getting many questions with
regards to mobile display technology the most
frequent one being what is the difference
between IPS and AMOLED, so we decided we
should write an article detailing the pros and
cons of both and try to make it as
understandable as possible.
comparison of amoled and ips screens shown
on different brand of smartphones.
First off IPS:

IPS (in-plane switching) the technology was
made primarily for LCD (liquid crystal display)
to overcome the limitations of the regular LCD
or TFT-LCD display, the problem with the
regular display TFT-LCD was a slow response
time, that means a degraded touch response
and bad news for gamers as games usually
require screens with good response times.
Another thing was a limited viewing angle, you
could make out the screen if you’re looking at
it straight ahead with a little variation, but
move to the side a bit and you wouldn’t be able
to see the screen…it was great for guys who’d
be texting one girl while sitting with another… J
But now is the age of sharing is caring where
you wanna show off what you’re watching…. so
something had to be done…
IPS was the answer allowing for better
response times meaning good touch response
and better gaming. Also it allowed for a better
viewing angle meaning you could watch the
screen while having others watch it too…
yippee!!
Here is a brief note down of the IPS
technology:
Pros:
1. Better response time as compared to
regular LCDs
2. Better Color reproduction
3. Better viewing angle
4. Sharper Images
Cons:
1. Requires a stronger backlight
2. More power hungry
3. Screens (cell phones) are usually much
more thicker (bulkier) due to backlight
source
Left: IPS LCD , Right: Regular LCD
Now AMOLED:
AMOLED or (Active Matrix Organic Light
Emitting Diode) is an upgrade to OLED, this
tech basically consists of organic compounds
which when are introduced to an electric
charge produce luminosity or light. AMOLED
was the tech that allowed for smart-phones to
become even sleeker, basically since it does not
require any backlight as compared to its IPS
counterpart it is less bulky. At the same time it
provided better viewing angles and better
contrast as compared to the simple LCD. The
main factor that really set apart the AMOLED
was its power consumption, it uses less battery
power as compared to the IPS tech or regular
LCDs.
Here is a Sum UP of AMOLED tech:
Pros:
1. No Backlight Required
2. Screen is slimmer, less bulky phone
3. No backlight, less battery usage, greater
battery life
4. Great Contrast
Cons:
1. Difficult to produce, more expensive tech
2. Images Not as sharp IPS
3. Less Bright as compared to IPS, so less
daylight visibility
4. Display Colors Degrade over time.
Remarks:
The funny thing about technology is that it’s
always advancing in one way or another and
sometimes its so fast that you’re always trying
to catch up, for example you probably just
bought the most advanced smartphone in the
world and a couple of months later some other
company or maybe even the same launches an
even more sophisticated device. The same way
display tech is also dependent on other tech,
and it has to continuously evolve to cope up
with the new processors and gpu which allow
for faster refresh rates and better color
processing. As we write this article there is
a Super IPS display tech already developed
to counter the cons of the IPS tech and a
Super AMOLED to counter the cons of the
AMOLED tech.
So when you reach that Super stage as in
most high end devices it gets really
difficult to point out visible differences as
both are trying to overcome their
drawbacks…..