IPS way better than VA.
If you’re on budget go for VA, if not buy IPS.
NoBackground6203
biggest usability difference I have noticed is you need to be pretty much centered in front of a VA panel to view it, viewing angle is very limited
ghianto
I have a VA monitor for my 2nd monitor and an IPS one for the main.
I can say that some VA panels are really good and comparable to some IPS panels when it comes to color quality. But most IPS panels are just better than VA ones.
starcitizenwhale
The best VA is up there with the better IPS for certain tasks but cheap and mid VA’s are bottom biscuits. I’ve had some great luck with cheaper IPS panels. I’ve had terrible trails when moving from even some good VAs though, I feel like IPS is just better for fast moving games whatever the game.
xAtNight
Most VA panels have black smearing, so definetly look out for that.
drixkarasu
I’ve owned 2 VA panels in the past and hated the black smearing.
KingAmongstDummies
Used both (SP)VA and IPS.
IPS always has some glow over it which I really don’t like.
To me it always felt like IPS ALWAYS has that “sideview” glow you get with monitors when looking at a angle.
VA didn’t have that. Granted, I always have monitors in the 600 to 1000 euro’s range. The colors are better than anything I’ve been able to find on any IPS too but I had to settle on a 1440p in order to get all other stuff like high refresh, g-sync, and those kinds of things at the time.
At lower budgets I haven’t been able to find good VA panels.
I prefer VA over IPS due to the backlight glow. High end VA’s are just as good, if not better than IPS without that glow. There is a thing about viewing angles some people complain about but I always sit centered in front of my monitor anyway so it’s a non-issue for me.
Now I am waiting for reliable results from the first generations of OLED monitors though. I expect some first, and maybe second gen quirks but when they get solved OLED will be far superior to both techniques.
I feel like the entire VA vs IPS discussion is similar to Android vs Apple.
Many claim Apple is better but seem to forget the entry level for Apple starts at 1000 euro’s
Of-course a 100 euro’s android can’t compete. Get the 1000 euro one though and in most cases it will be better and sometimes by quite a bit.
You can get some cheap VA panels and they show the same, of-course you are not going to get 500 euro’s worth of quality if you buy a 100 euro monitor. If you do compares, compare ones in the same price range.
DerpMaster2
VA panels can have much better contrast than IPS panels and on occasion the colors can be close… but IPS is just the overall superior option due to better motion, if that makes sense. VA panels tend to smear and ghost unless you get a very expensive one, in which case you are still pretty limited by the viewing angles, another thing IPS panels are better at.
Initial_Suspect7824
I must be a simpleton, but I don’t see much difference between any screen.
My eyes gets used to the smudge eventually.
Same goes with TXAA
Annual_Horror_1258
I have IPS as main and VA as secondary both 144hz. First thing you would notice is colours. IPS are way more vivid. In high fps games, at least on screens i’ve got, IPS have no smearing. Maybe I just have bad VA, Samsung odyssey G5, still, I would recommend IPS to anyone
n1sx
I switched from high end IPS panel to a high end VA panel and I’m not seeing a difference in picture quality. Only thing I’m able to notice is that the VA panel have much darker black colors and no IPS glow which I hated so much.
For work and shit I prefer IPS but for gaming VA has more contrast. All around still I think I’d rather stick with IPS.
Old-Assistant7661
Been using a PLS pannel for 11 years. It’s not either of those but the thing works very well. It was supposed to be a IPS like screen from Asus. It’s loads better color, motion and input lag wise compared to the rest of the VA panels I’ve tried.
Low-Presence-2154
Not all VA and IPS panels are the same. There are different qualities. So it depends upon where you draw the comparison.
The_Last_Cast
I have a predator 42″ VA and I would say I don’t love reading text on it, especially when scrolling Web pages.
I don’t have a problem with colour reproduction or in gaming, but my previous monitor was the first acer 4k 27inch, which was a basic lcd. I think IPS is generally the better choice overall, but it was not an option for 42″.
piciwens
Ips felt easier to use. Turn on, pick an overdrive, and play. My VA required more tuning to find a balance between the good contrast, response time, and trying to reduce smearing. I never had a top IPS or a top VA tho. If you’re a budget baller I would probably say a entry level IPS will provide a better experience.
Varsagus
I had a VA for watching shows (2nd monitor), it was ok but decided to switch to OLED. As for gaming, always IPS for me.
DharMahn
VA panels’ backlight flicker a lot with gsync/freesync enabled, pretty much unavoidable everywhere but the most expensive panels
i will be avoiding them and going for IPS or OLED after 2 VA monitors
Karmotrine__
IPS is generally better but there’s some really nice VA monitors out there
Xidash
I still use a Panasonic IPS 720p 100Hz TV from 2006 and in term of colour accuracy, viewing angles and response time it is way ahead let’s say a BenQ VA 1080p 60Hz monitor that I bought in 2018.
Another monitor that I bought more recently which is a Gigabyte M32U IPS 4k 144Hz is definitely much closer to my old TV than to my VA panel visually speaking.
At least I’d say that any cheap VA panels are garbage in comparison. Maybe that the best VA panels can keep up with some IPS ones tho.
IMO the IPS one looks much better EXCEPT that the VA one does have a better contrast.
Methodical_Science
The viewing angles have always been my biggest regret with my VA panel. You essentially need to be directly in front of the screen, there’s not much leeway at all.
I just replaced a 5 year old VA panel with a brand new OLED and the amount of VA smearing I just got used to while using the older VA panel was so much more apparent after switching to the OLED.
If I had the chance to revise my purchase 5 years ago I would have gotten an IPS display.
spaceursid
I do a TN for gaming and a IPS for media. The TN has better response and refresh times, while my IPS has better color, brighter whites and deeper blacks.
Double_DeluXe
VA got CONTRAST and is better used in dimly lit rooms thanks to its amazing dark toned colour handling.
IPS got COLOUR and shines when watching movies or using colour precise applications.
Given the same budget for either a VA or IPS, use the room you use it in and make the strongest vhoice.
Dark room, VA. Bright room, IPS.
Wittusus
While I appreciate better blacks of VA for Tarkov for example, IPS looks better in almost all scenarios
Nubanuba
Would never touch or consider VA over IPS, and would totally pay extra for OLED
siralmasy
Had IPS and changed to VA, 3 days later went to the shop and returned it. got another IPS
Ruin914
I’ll never buy a VA monitor again because of the amount of ghosting/smearing. It’s awful.
schrollbach
I didn’t like how bad the contrast was on IPS monitors and the blacklight bleed, but VA monitors had such bad black smearing that I just put up with it.
Recently, MSI came out with some new “”””rapid””” VA panels that have had so little black smearing that I can’t even tell. It’s my new favorite monitor after my OLED TV.
abzycake
IPS and not even a question – VA has weird ghosting issues/smeariness in my experience, even at high hz
EL-rochi74
I have a pretty cheap ips as a second and a Samsung g7 as my main, Samsung is way better but the prices are too different to mean anything
MasterArCtiK
IPS looks incredible, definitely recommend over crappy VA
Tame_Trex
Recently bought an AOC 27″ 1440p VA panel.
I don’t know what it was but it hurt my eyes after a while. Returned it for an Asus IPS panel and I love it
thicctak
I have 2 cheap VAs as secondary monitors, and the black smearing is really bad, I want to change both of them for an ultra wide to use it as my new main one, but the vast majority of them are VA and I’m scared of them having bad black smearing, because I spend most of my time with a code editor opened with a really dark theme. If you have a suggestion of IPS ultra wide minotos or VA ultra wide that don’t have too much black smearing, please let me know
Da_Plague22
IPS and they’re not even in the same realm.
rdtk
Someone have anything to say about Dell S3422DWG? I want to buy it, and all reviews videos said that is a good monitor.
L0veToReddit
Ips is superior in every way
AshesTheCrow
IPS by far for me, but my next one is OLED it’s just too good.
EventPractical9393
IPS all day
Better colour accuracy, sure the blacks are better on VA but for gaming the smearing on VA is horrible
Maybe the high end VA’s are better but I’m put off them
szczszqweqwe
Well, generally IPS are god, VA can be much much worse or a bit better.
Compare 2 models, not 2 technologies.
saddas1337
VA colors are too oversaturated
acnh-lyman-fan
I don’t notice anything, tho maybe because I don’t see it side to side but I can’t remember seeing any difference
DarkZero515
My first monitor was a 16:9 Nixeus IPS. This was back when my set up was near the home TV and i couldn’t help but notice that the contrast was much worse for dark content. My monitor was just for gaming at the time so I didn’t mind.
When it was time to move to a new apartment, I got a nice desk in my room and also started to watch more media on my monitor as opposed to the TV. I decided to upgrade to an ultra wide VA which I love for watching movies and darker games looked great on it too. I do notice that scrolling on web pages has a bit of a ghosting effect but it doesn’t really bother me.
I then had to spend a lot of time away from my PC and decided to get a gaming laptop. It’s a Lenovo Legion with a 165hz IPS with gsync. I remember the Nixeus was gsync compatible but this laptop screen is far smoother than both other monitors.
So from my experience, if it’s mostly for gaming or work, go IPS. For movies and dark games, go VA. Ultra wides are also a thing to consider and I can’t go back to 16:9.
Since then, OLEDs have come out with are incredibly smooth and better at contrast too. It’s more costly and you also have to consider burn in if you’re going to have static content on the screen. I’m waiting for a 21:9 WOLED with 1800R curve to come out for my next upgrade. 800R is too aggressive of a curve, and my room has light coming in which worsens QDOLED screens
43 Comments
IPS way better than VA.
If you’re on budget go for VA, if not buy IPS.
biggest usability difference I have noticed is you need to be pretty much centered in front of a VA panel to view it, viewing angle is very limited
I have a VA monitor for my 2nd monitor and an IPS one for the main.
I can say that some VA panels are really good and comparable to some IPS panels when it comes to color quality. But most IPS panels are just better than VA ones.
The best VA is up there with the better IPS for certain tasks but cheap and mid VA’s are bottom biscuits. I’ve had some great luck with cheaper IPS panels. I’ve had terrible trails when moving from even some good VAs though, I feel like IPS is just better for fast moving games whatever the game.
Most VA panels have black smearing, so definetly look out for that.
I’ve owned 2 VA panels in the past and hated the black smearing.
Used both (SP)VA and IPS.
IPS always has some glow over it which I really don’t like.
To me it always felt like IPS ALWAYS has that “sideview” glow you get with monitors when looking at a angle.
VA didn’t have that. Granted, I always have monitors in the 600 to 1000 euro’s range. The colors are better than anything I’ve been able to find on any IPS too but I had to settle on a 1440p in order to get all other stuff like high refresh, g-sync, and those kinds of things at the time.
At lower budgets I haven’t been able to find good VA panels.
I prefer VA over IPS due to the backlight glow. High end VA’s are just as good, if not better than IPS without that glow. There is a thing about viewing angles some people complain about but I always sit centered in front of my monitor anyway so it’s a non-issue for me.
Now I am waiting for reliable results from the first generations of OLED monitors though. I expect some first, and maybe second gen quirks but when they get solved OLED will be far superior to both techniques.
I feel like the entire VA vs IPS discussion is similar to Android vs Apple.
Many claim Apple is better but seem to forget the entry level for Apple starts at 1000 euro’s
Of-course a 100 euro’s android can’t compete. Get the 1000 euro one though and in most cases it will be better and sometimes by quite a bit.
You can get some cheap VA panels and they show the same, of-course you are not going to get 500 euro’s worth of quality if you buy a 100 euro monitor. If you do compares, compare ones in the same price range.
VA panels can have much better contrast than IPS panels and on occasion the colors can be close… but IPS is just the overall superior option due to better motion, if that makes sense. VA panels tend to smear and ghost unless you get a very expensive one, in which case you are still pretty limited by the viewing angles, another thing IPS panels are better at.
I must be a simpleton, but I don’t see much difference between any screen.
My eyes gets used to the smudge eventually.
Same goes with TXAA
I have IPS as main and VA as secondary both 144hz. First thing you would notice is colours. IPS are way more vivid. In high fps games, at least on screens i’ve got, IPS have no smearing. Maybe I just have bad VA, Samsung odyssey G5, still, I would recommend IPS to anyone
I switched from high end IPS panel to a high end VA panel and I’m not seeing a difference in picture quality. Only thing I’m able to notice is that the VA panel have much darker black colors and no IPS glow which I hated so much.
As far as webpages, images and text, I prefer IPS [https://www.rtings.com/monitor/learn/ips-vs-va-vs-tn](https://www.rtings.com/monitor/learn/ips-vs-va-vs-tn)
For work and shit I prefer IPS but for gaming VA has more contrast. All around still I think I’d rather stick with IPS.
Been using a PLS pannel for 11 years. It’s not either of those but the thing works very well. It was supposed to be a IPS like screen from Asus. It’s loads better color, motion and input lag wise compared to the rest of the VA panels I’ve tried.
Not all VA and IPS panels are the same. There are different qualities. So it depends upon where you draw the comparison.
I have a predator 42″ VA and I would say I don’t love reading text on it, especially when scrolling Web pages.
I don’t have a problem with colour reproduction or in gaming, but my previous monitor was the first acer 4k 27inch, which was a basic lcd. I think IPS is generally the better choice overall, but it was not an option for 42″.
Ips felt easier to use. Turn on, pick an overdrive, and play. My VA required more tuning to find a balance between the good contrast, response time, and trying to reduce smearing. I never had a top IPS or a top VA tho. If you’re a budget baller I would probably say a entry level IPS will provide a better experience.
I had a VA for watching shows (2nd monitor), it was ok but decided to switch to OLED. As for gaming, always IPS for me.
VA panels’ backlight flicker a lot with gsync/freesync enabled, pretty much unavoidable everywhere but the most expensive panels
i will be avoiding them and going for IPS or OLED after 2 VA monitors
IPS is generally better but there’s some really nice VA monitors out there
I still use a Panasonic IPS 720p 100Hz TV from 2006 and in term of colour accuracy, viewing angles and response time it is way ahead let’s say a BenQ VA 1080p 60Hz monitor that I bought in 2018.
Another monitor that I bought more recently which is a Gigabyte M32U IPS 4k 144Hz is definitely much closer to my old TV than to my VA panel visually speaking.
At least I’d say that any cheap VA panels are garbage in comparison. Maybe that the best VA panels can keep up with some IPS ones tho.
If that can help, I once found an elabored comparison review between a M32U and a M32UC both from Gigabyte, they are almost the exact same one except that the latter is VA and curved : https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/compare/gigabyte-m32u-vs-gigabyte-m32uc/27393/32723?usage=4112&threshold=0.10
IMO the IPS one looks much better EXCEPT that the VA one does have a better contrast.
The viewing angles have always been my biggest regret with my VA panel. You essentially need to be directly in front of the screen, there’s not much leeway at all.
I just replaced a 5 year old VA panel with a brand new OLED and the amount of VA smearing I just got used to while using the older VA panel was so much more apparent after switching to the OLED.
If I had the chance to revise my purchase 5 years ago I would have gotten an IPS display.
I do a TN for gaming and a IPS for media. The TN has better response and refresh times, while my IPS has better color, brighter whites and deeper blacks.
VA got CONTRAST and is better used in dimly lit rooms thanks to its amazing dark toned colour handling.
IPS got COLOUR and shines when watching movies or using colour precise applications.
Given the same budget for either a VA or IPS, use the room you use it in and make the strongest vhoice.
Dark room, VA. Bright room, IPS.
While I appreciate better blacks of VA for Tarkov for example, IPS looks better in almost all scenarios
Would never touch or consider VA over IPS, and would totally pay extra for OLED
Had IPS and changed to VA, 3 days later went to the shop and returned it. got another IPS
I’ll never buy a VA monitor again because of the amount of ghosting/smearing. It’s awful.
I didn’t like how bad the contrast was on IPS monitors and the blacklight bleed, but VA monitors had such bad black smearing that I just put up with it.
Recently, MSI came out with some new “”””rapid””” VA panels that have had so little black smearing that I can’t even tell. It’s my new favorite monitor after my OLED TV.
IPS and not even a question – VA has weird ghosting issues/smeariness in my experience, even at high hz
I have a pretty cheap ips as a second and a Samsung g7 as my main, Samsung is way better but the prices are too different to mean anything
IPS looks incredible, definitely recommend over crappy VA
Recently bought an AOC 27″ 1440p VA panel.
I don’t know what it was but it hurt my eyes after a while. Returned it for an Asus IPS panel and I love it
I have 2 cheap VAs as secondary monitors, and the black smearing is really bad, I want to change both of them for an ultra wide to use it as my new main one, but the vast majority of them are VA and I’m scared of them having bad black smearing, because I spend most of my time with a code editor opened with a really dark theme. If you have a suggestion of IPS ultra wide minotos or VA ultra wide that don’t have too much black smearing, please let me know
IPS and they’re not even in the same realm.
Someone have anything to say about Dell S3422DWG? I want to buy it, and all reviews videos said that is a good monitor.
Ips is superior in every way
IPS by far for me, but my next one is OLED it’s just too good.
IPS all day
Better colour accuracy, sure the blacks are better on VA but for gaming the smearing on VA is horrible
Maybe the high end VA’s are better but I’m put off them
Well, generally IPS are god, VA can be much much worse or a bit better.
Compare 2 models, not 2 technologies.
VA colors are too oversaturated
I don’t notice anything, tho maybe because I don’t see it side to side but I can’t remember seeing any difference
My first monitor was a 16:9 Nixeus IPS. This was back when my set up was near the home TV and i couldn’t help but notice that the contrast was much worse for dark content. My monitor was just for gaming at the time so I didn’t mind.
When it was time to move to a new apartment, I got a nice desk in my room and also started to watch more media on my monitor as opposed to the TV. I decided to upgrade to an ultra wide VA which I love for watching movies and darker games looked great on it too. I do notice that scrolling on web pages has a bit of a ghosting effect but it doesn’t really bother me.
I then had to spend a lot of time away from my PC and decided to get a gaming laptop. It’s a Lenovo Legion with a 165hz IPS with gsync. I remember the Nixeus was gsync compatible but this laptop screen is far smoother than both other monitors.
So from my experience, if it’s mostly for gaming or work, go IPS. For movies and dark games, go VA. Ultra wides are also a thing to consider and I can’t go back to 16:9.
Since then, OLEDs have come out with are incredibly smooth and better at contrast too. It’s more costly and you also have to consider burn in if you’re going to have static content on the screen. I’m waiting for a 21:9 WOLED with 1800R curve to come out for my next upgrade. 800R is too aggressive of a curve, and my room has light coming in which worsens QDOLED screens