Quote:
Originally Posted by
kaizarsoze 
With some of the new monitors being released lately, esp. the new Dells, it seems that more and more manufacturers are going the IGZO route for high resolution / 4k displays. I understand that it maybe because it is cost effective to produce the IGZO displays and the fact that they are more efficient in terms of power consumption, an important factor when mobile displays are concerned. However, for most desktop users, power consumption isn't much of an issue, so it comes down to display quality. I currently have an IPS monitor and absolutely love the color reproduction and excellent viewing angles. With that said, how do the IGZO panels compare to IPS in terms of display quality?
Sorry to bump an old thread, but since this never got a response and it's the top Google result for IGZO vs IPS, I thought I should give an answer.
IGZO is not actually a panel type. It's a type of transistor used in a display's TFT backplane, which is what controls the display panel (whether that panel is TN, IPS, or even OLED). It uses Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide as a semiconductor instead of Silicon.
Compared to amorphous Silicon (aSi) which is what is used in typical displays, IGZO transistors have a lot higher electron mobility, so their conductivity is just as good at a much smaller size (conductivity depends on electron mobility and mass. Higher electron mobility means less mass is required for the same conductivity). With its small size compared to aSi, IGZO is useful for high density displays where aSi TFTs would start to block a significant amount of the backlight, requiring more power to the backlight to compensate (increasing exponentially as the pixel density increases). With IGZO TFTs, not as much backlight is needed to get the display to a certain brightness. So all-in-all for current LCDs like IPS monitors, IGZO mostly translates into some power savings. However, IGZO can also operate more quickly than aSi which may be useful if OLED takes off and the refresh rate limitations of LCD are no longer applicable. Furthermore they can be made transparent, which again may be useful if OLED takes off, since OLEDs can be made transparent as well.
For current displays though? IGZO just means some power savings especially on mobile devices with ultra-dense displays. There is no difference in image quality, accuracy, or what have you, between aSi-TFT-driven IPS displays and IGZO-TFT-driven IPS displays.
