Bamboo Boy
Neo Member
My New 3DS XL main screen is IPS, but the touch screen isn't.
My New 3DS XL main screen is IPS, but the touch screen isn't.
I don't think any of the displayed images are TN displays. This is what TN does with vertical angles:
I think they are different types of IPS displays. Looking at the Wiki there are different generations of IPS displays, with the latest ones having improved contrast, also at angles.
Which leaves the question, are there any regular N3DS versions with the better contrast displays?
Thinking about it. The calibration itself could be responsible for the viewing angles, my PC monitor has several pre-sets available that all affect the viewing angle, like multi viewing, top down, bottom up etc.
Yes, it looks like one of the better 3ds screens
This looks like an IPS screen, doesn't it?
Here is my comparison of "type a" and "type b" screens. All photos taken with brightness set at level 5.
Type A - IPS. Very good viewing angles, more vibrant colors, but crushed blacks and clearly visible dithering artifacts.
Type B - TN/MVA?
Here is my comparison of "type a" and "type b" screens. All photos taken with brightness set at level 5.
Type A - IPS. Very good viewing angles, more vibrant colors, but crushed blacks and clearly visible dithering artifacts.
Type B - TN/MVA?
My IPS screen has problems with dark greys:
Here is my comparison of "type a" and "type b" screens. All photos taken with brightness set at level 5.
Type A - IPS. Very good viewing angles, more vibrant colors, but crushed blacks and clearly visible dithering artifacts.
Type B - TN/MVA?
My IPS screen has problems with dark greys:
And with visible dithering artifacts:
Imgur gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/XoLYV
Test image:
http://i.imgur.com/9OIEDuk.jpg
The TN screen is still really good, IMO. My NA red N3DSXL (bought about 2 weeks after release) is a TN top screen and I am completely used to it already.
I still wish I had the IPS screen though, but I don't want to go through the hassle of transferring data, putting on new screen protectors, returning the unit, etc.
TNs aren't really better at black levels though. (Actually, cheap ones can be even worse)IPS isn't all it's cracked up to be. Viewing angles are better than other LCDs but it still loses a bit of brightness at an angle. It's not CRT, Oled, or plasma good in this regard. For 3ds do we really need wide viewing angles? The system is designed to be played head on.
Color reproduction is its best attribute but the rest? If the 3ds is using a 6-bit panel then you're left with extra dithering that can prove noticeable.
It smears fast motion more than a TN panel.
My biggest issue are black levels. IPS panels are the worst of the worst when it comes to this. The panels glow brightly leaving darker areas looking washed out. In a bright room this isn't a big issue, fortunately, making the problem easy to solve but it's still worth noting.
TNs aren't really better at black levels though. (Actually, cheap ones can be even worse)
Here is my comparison of "type a" and "type b" screens. All photos taken with brightness set at level 5.
Type A - IPS. Very good viewing angles, more vibrant colors, but crushed blacks and clearly visible dithering artifacts.
Type B - TN/MVA?
My IPS screen has problems with dark greys:
And with visible dithering artifacts:
Imgur gallery:
http://imgur.com/a/XoLYV
Test image:
http://i.imgur.com/9OIEDuk.jpg
My biggest issue are black levels. IPS panels are the worst of the worst when it comes to this. The panels glow brightly leaving darker areas looking washed out. In a bright room this isn't a big issue, fortunately, making the problem easy to solve but it's still worth noting.
The TN screen jamiola showed seems to do a much better job than the IPS displaying the details of a dark room.
That has very little to do with black levels, which are how dark a screen goes when it shows solid black.
Black levels are however related to a display's contrast ratio, but again IPS displays can have high contrast ratios. All of these phones use LCD IPS displays:
Ahh, I see! So you would say the difficult to see dark room is really down to that individual 3DS unit having a poor contrast ratio?
Ahh, I see! So you would say the difficult to see dark room is really down to that individual 3DS unit having a poor contrast ratio?
I remember seeing a massive, noticeable improvement from TN Old XL to IPS NXL in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuWBMQSYQNc&t=335 Skip to 5:35
Wonder if the TN N3DS XL beats both?
So I dropped by JB Hi Fi today - they had over forty Majora's Mask new 3DS XLs just sitting there in boxes. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me actually check any - they have a strict policy on customers not opening the box first to try the console (even if only to turn it on and off again), even though all of the boxes are already unsealed.
I could get another one...but I really don't want to without knowing that I'm getting a perfect product to replace my current one, and I'd basically be playing the lottery all over again (with the risk of not only getting another TN screen - which I'm not even sure is worse yet than an IPS without comparing the two in person - but also yellow calibration, dead pixels, etc).
This is so much more difficult than it ought to be.
I remember seeing a massive, noticeable improvement from TN Old XL to IPS NXL in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuWBMQSYQNc&t=335 Skip to 5:35
Wonder if the TN N3DS XL beats both?
Wide viewing angles are nice on a handheld actually. You do typically play it mostly head-on, but being a small screen, you will often have it tilted a bit here and there. The complaints about the previous XL's 3D was caused by people not playing it directly head-on, so it does happen often enough.IPS isn't all it's cracked up to be. Viewing angles are better than other LCDs but it still loses a bit of brightness at an angle. It's not CRT, Oled, or plasma good in this regard. For 3ds do we really need wide viewing angles? The system is designed to be played head on.
Color reproduction is its best attribute but the rest? If the 3ds is using a 6-bit panel then you're left with extra dithering that can prove noticeable.
It smears fast motion more than a TN panel.
My biggest issue are black levels. IPS panels are the worst of the worst when it comes to this. The panels glow brightly leaving darker areas looking washed out. In a bright room this isn't a big issue, fortunately, making the problem easy to solve but it's still worth noting.
You can see crushed black on the IPS display of this video
However, I tried going to a darker area in the game, and here's where you can possibly argue that the TN has an advantage - since it is lighter/more washed out (and also a little warmer, although again perhaps this is due to the calibration of the different screens), the details of objects in the shadows can be seen more easily:
Going to a darker room still, and the problem with high contrast on the IPS becomes more apparent as it means you can't see as much in the shadows (although the rest of the room is more vivid):
do you have Mario kart 7? if you do go to the kart selection screen
can you see the two yellow cables hanging down on the ips screen?
the slight tint you have on the tn panel is calibration flaw. if you do my ds game test itll probably show a red/green push.
you could also try a test image and see if both tn and ips show the same number of black levels.
Hmmm...yep, I can, although they're obviously not as visible as in that picture. This is a bit of a rubbish photo, since in person I can see the cables more clearly on the screen, but they're there:
I'll check this out too. The IPS definitely seems bluer/cooler to me.
Edit:
I'll try this as well!
Here is my comparison of "type a" and "type b" screens. All photos taken with brightness set at level 5.
Type A - IPS. Very good viewing angles, more vibrant colors, but crushed blacks and clearly visible dithering artifacts.
Type B - TN/MVA?
My IPS screen has problems with dark greys:
Okay, I just tried big_z's DS calibration test. The n3DS XL with the TN display has a square with a slight yellow/green tinge instead of being black. The n3DS XL with the IPS display is basically perfect, as I couldn't tell any difference from the black at all.
Viewing the test image from relaxvideo.hu, I couldn't see rectangles 1, 2 and 3 with the TN display, but could detect the others (rectangle 4 looked a little greenish). The IPS display had the same result (1, 2 and 3 were invisible). Next, I moved on to the black screen test that Toadthemushroom posted - only squares 8 and above were visible on my IPS panel. I moved back to the TN display - to my surprise, squares 4 and above were visible (although the first few visible squares were greenish rather than being close to black).
I wanted to do the dithering test as well, but for some reason that imgur link won't load on a 3DS.
do you have a link to that test?
The dithering test that I can't load is this one.
Here are the black level tests:
http://www.relaxvideo.hu/black.png
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.php
But the TN screen is awesome.I'm not 100% sure but I think I have an IPS screen, so it makes me feel better about my upgrade, I love the New XL.