The Beginner's Guide to In-Plane Switching (IPS) Displays

Have you heard of in-plane switching (IPS) displays? Display devices are found everywhere. They consist of TVs, computer monitors, smartphone screens, human machine interfaces (HMIs) and other electronics that display images. While there are many different types of displays, IPS displays have become increasingly popular.

What Is an IPS Display?

An IPS display is a type of display device that uses a specific form of liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology. All LCD technologies, of course, are characterized by the use of liquid pixels. LCDs feature pixels consisting of liquid organic material. An IPS display is a type of display device that features these same liquid pixels but with a few notable differences.

IPS vs Standard LCD Technology

While they both involve the use of liquid pixels, IPS and standard LCD aren't the same. IPS is a specific type of LCD technology in which the liquid pixels are aligned parallel to the glass panels.

IPS displays consist of multiple layers. The top layer is a glass panel. Below this top layer is a pixel layer that contains the liquid pixels. And below the pixel layer is another glass panel. The pixels in the middle layer are aligned parallel to the glass panels. It's known as an "in-plane" pixel orientation. More importantly perhaps, the pixels can change their orientation in response to an electrical field.