but if we'd compare it theoretically, how much % the difference in sRGB coverage would TN and IPS have? is it something like 92%sRGB TN while 100%sRGB IPS?
i'm fairly sure above 80%sRGB is reasonably good for general purpose though, well maybe not for professional photo and video editing.
You can take a look at the reviews of the monitor. This is from
PG278Q, the G-Sync TN version. PB278 is the IPS version, PB278Q is the PLS version. You can talk theoretical performance till the cows come home, at the end of the day performance (both objective and subjective) trumps all paper-talk.
Do note that although it is TN, the
viewing angles are pretty good (for TN), and the panel is 8-bit, not 6-bit+FRC. Still, I wonder how many people would be hoodwinked by the promises of "10-bit colour" on Newegg and other sites; the only thing that is 10-bit is the internal processing.
Gamut space is usually
represented in 3D, like this:
Hence the term "gamut volume" (vertical axis represents brightness). But eh, pretty hard to see huh. Techreport uses a different representation, the CIE xyY diagram, which folds the z-axis in (it can be recalculated again from x- and y-values).
I'm showing uncalibrated (i.e. out-of-the-box results here, because c'mon let's not kid ourselves, how many of you actually calibrate your monitors even with a basic colour calibrator huh).
The gray triangle is sRGB colour space, the white triangle is the monitor colour space. The size (area) of the triangle is the gamut volume, the range of RGB colours is represented by the corners. If the white triangle is larger than the gray, that is
>100% sRGB gamut volume. If the white triangle completely covers the gray triangle, that is
100% sRGB gamut coverage.
PG278Q (TN)
PB278 (IPS)
PB278Q (PLS)
As you can see, both the TN and IPS panels have >100% sRGB gamut volume, but <100% sRGB coverage. The LED backlight doesn't seem to be able to cover B entirely, causing purpling at the corner. At least the IPS panel jsut manages to cover the G corner, while the TN misses both Band G (and actually R slightly too).
Before you go out and boycott PLS panels, do keep in mind that these charts are not typical of their respective panel technologies. In particular, in terms of colour accuracy, the PB278 is
nowhere near incumbent affordable-consumer 27" monitors like the U2713HM (look at the Delta E charts, those represent deviations from calibration points. The lower the better.) So don't think of IPS as a panacea to colour accuracy, calibration and panel quality are still important. I hope most people buy cheap IPS panels knowing that all they're buying is better viewing angles and hopefully full 8-bit colour, but not necessarily factory calibration.
For general purpose (although I never really understand what people mean by "general purpose", does that mean Facebook?), I would guess that anything better than crappy TN panel would suffice?
In any case, this is still better than what we get in the smartphone scene; just look at the
LG G3's screen performance:
LG G3
Colour points are so obviously skewed for increased saturation, it's not even funny. As much as we all like to hate on Apple, their screens (smartphone and tablet) are hands-down the best factory-calibrated screens one can get in retail. Fortunately, Samsung finally seems to be wisening up (or should I say maturing?)
Samsung S5
