This article is commissioned by GIGABYTE and executed by pan-scientific planning.
When I was young, staying up late and hiding in the quilt, holding a flashlight to play GAME BOY is a common memory of many people. Nintendo’s GAMEBOY COLOR launched in 1998, with a novel handheld color screen, has conquered the hearts of countless adults and children around the world. Compared with today’s mobile phones and tablets, color screens that can be carried around seem to be nothing, but at that time they were genuine and rare black technologies.
In the era when liquid crystal screens (LCD) were not popular, computer and TV monitors generally used cathode ray tube (CRT, or video tube) technology, which is the cube TV that used to appear in classrooms in elementary schools. This design is cumbersome and power-consuming, and is completely unsuitable for portable devices. Therefore, since the second half of the twentieth century, technology companies have invested in cutting-edge research on liquid crystal display technology, but have you noticed? What are the reasons for the increasing use of OLEDs in new mobile phones, tablets, and video game LCD screens? Let us talk about the origin of liquid crystal.
The LCD itself does not emit light!
Liquid crystals were first discovered by scientists in the middle of the 19th century. Because they have both “solid crystal structure” and “liquid fluidity”, they are called “liquid crystals”. These characteristics allow liquid crystals to change the crystal direction by a weak electric field to achieve The effect of specific light entering.
Therefore, the liquid crystal will not emit light! The LCD screen we are using now includes two parts: the “liquid crystal panel” and the “backlight module”. Only when the stable light source provided by the backlight module hits the liquid crystal panel that controls the entry of light, can it display gorgeous patterns.
Game boy LCD screen big decryption
The earliest commercial LCD screen, equipped with a twisted nematic liquid crystal (Twisted Nematic, TN), because the black and white contrast of the TN panel is not good enough, so later introduced the Super Twisted Nematic liquid crystal (Super Twisted Nematic, STN) to improve this problem.
STN panels were widely used in the 1980s and 1990s. They only needed monochrome display on portable electronic products, such as Game Boys, computers, electronic watches, electronic dictionaries, electronic chickens… etc., all used STN panels. Chicken is based on this principle. Think about it when you were a kid, you can’t miss this one in palm-sized games. Is there a Tamagotchi in school that is really on the cutting edge of the trend? ! Although the STN panel is only monochromatic, power saving is its big selling point, because each pixel of the monochromatic color only needs one liquid crystal cell, and each pixel of the color requires three different color liquid crystals: red, green and blue. Unit, control the power consumption of the LCD panel directly tripled.
In addition, none of the above-mentioned devices are equipped with a “backlight panel”. Instead, they use external light sources to reflect on the LCD panel. This not only reduces the weight, but also does not require power supply to the backlight panel, which improves the battery life and is more in line with portable electronics. Product demand.
However, because there is no backlit panel, when I was a child, I couldn’t hide in the dark blanket, beat Game Boy or raise Tamagotchi.
Before discussing Game Boy Color, we must first talk about the principle of color LCD screen.
The principle of the color LCD screen is to paste red, green, and blue cellophane on the front of the liquid crystal cell (of course not cellophane, just a metaphor), so that the liquid crystal screen can emit the three primary colors of light, and then use three liquid crystal cells of different colors. Combine them into one pixel.
The technology of the color LCD screen is not difficult, just sticking the color paper to the LCD panel, but the focus is on the power consumption problem mentioned earlier (one pixel changes from one LCD cell to three).
The LCD panel used with colored paper at that time happened to be an STN panel that can be displayed with an external light source. This means that the color screen based on the STN panel does not necessarily need to be equipped with a backlight panel to display!
In order to cope with the sharp increase in power consumption caused by color, Game Boy Color adopts external light source to reflect the display. Although the lack of a backlight panel sacrifices contrast and saturation, it gives the Game Boy Color the advantages of lightness and high endurance. It is better than the Sega Game Gear with a backlight panel and better picture quality, and it is favored by players at the time.
Panel development by leaps and bounds
With the advancement of battery technology, power consumption is no longer the focus of consideration. Whether it is the LCD screen of the mobile device or the ordinary LCD screen, all are equipped with a “backlit panel” (you can finally play with your phone in the bed). At this time, people began to pay attention to the contrast, viewing angle, color rendering and update rate (the number of images updated per second) of the LCD screen.
In order to make screens with more vivid colors and higher update rates, in addition to the aforementioned TN panels, VA panels and IPS panels have also been developed subsequently, and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
TN panel (twisted nematic liquid crystal)
In the earliest developed TN panel, when the liquid crystal molecules in the panel are not energized, they will show a spiral shape like DNA, and light can penetrate. When energized, the liquid crystal molecules will line up in the direction perpendicular to the screen, and light cannot penetrate.
The TN panel has a better refresh rate, and due to the mature technology, the price of the current TN panel screen on the market is relatively low, but the shortcomings of the TN panel are also very obvious. The viewing angle is narrow, and the screen will be seriously distorted when viewed from the side. The performance with contrast is also poor.
VA panel (vertically aligned liquid crystal)
The VA panel is a liquid crystal panel that came out after the TN panel. Its working mechanism is just the opposite of that of the TN panel. When it is not powered on, the liquid crystal molecules in the panel are arranged vertically and cannot let light pass; when power is on, the liquid crystal molecules in the middle part will turn. To be horizontal, let the light pass through.
The VA panel improves the lack of color and contrast of the previous TN panel. The clear contrast makes the picture sharper and the viewing angle becomes wider. However, the refresh rate is lower. The general VA panel can handle the daily Internet or watching movies. , But for first-person shooters or e-sports with high update rate requirements, the VA panel seems not so suitable.
IPS panel (lateral electric field effect display technology)
The IPS panel is a relatively late-developed liquid crystal panel. When the power is not applied, all the liquid crystal molecules will be arranged horizontally like a ladder. At this time, light cannot penetrate, and the liquid crystal molecules will become a DNA spiral like a VA panel when the light is applied. through.
The biggest feature of the IPS panel is the rotation direction of the liquid crystal molecules, which are always on the same plane. This design greatly improves the viewing angle, and the color is fuller. Although the response speed is better than the VA panel, it is still not as good as the TN panel. .
The new generation of OLED screens
LCD screens with different panels have their own advantages and disadvantages. You can choose a suitable screen according to your needs. Is there any kind of screen that can capture all the advantages?
The answer is yes. This is the new generation of screens that only started to develop at the latest-OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens!
OLED screens use organic molecules sandwiched between glass substrates to emit light on their own, so there is no need for a light-emitting panel behind them. Compared with the previous liquid crystal screens, it saves electricity and can be made lighter and thinner. In addition, self-illumination also means that there will be no problem with the viewing angle of the LCD screen, and it has a black and white contrast approaching infinity, and the color saturation is also remarkable.
In terms of update rate, OLED screens can update the screen by controlling the input voltage, which can be done in one step, while LCD screens can only update the screen after controlling the direction of the liquid crystal molecules through the electric field. Therefore, the theoretical update rate of OLED screens is better than normal. LCD screen.
In the past, OLED screens rarely appeared in our lives because of their high prices. However, as the technology matures, the price of OLED screens is no longer a problem. The new generation of mobile phones and tablets, or other mobile devices, have also begun to adopt OLED. Screens, such as the new version of Nintendo Switch that will be launched this year, are also preparing to replace the original IPS LCD screen with an OLED screen.
OLED has excellent color and response time, so it is perfect for playing games.
The GIGABYTE AORUS FO48U professional gaming monitor uses an OLED panel, which combines the dual enjoyment of gaming and audio-visual. The 120 Hz update frequency and 4K high-quality image provide the clearest and smoothest visual experience. Equipped with a 2.1-channel audio system and Space Audio technology to enjoy the surround sound field effect, whether it is in gaming games, movies, or music, you can feel the double feast of audio and video.
In addition to the most cutting-edge display technology, Gigabyte is still player-oriented, adding 8 exclusive features including Game Assist and aiming stabilizer to provide a refreshing gaming experience.
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