If you view the screen from a wide angle, the image remains as clear as if you were looking directly at a 90º angle. Dark areas remain dark while colour saturation and contrast is more vivid than on TN counterparts. These displays are more expensive, but produce better colours. Some newer units have been equipped with IPS (In-Plane Switching) top and/or bottom displays.

This is why players often prefer having an IPS display. One of the most telltale signs of a TN display is having the screen colours appearing washed out, even inverted when viewed from very slanted angles. The main drawback is that TN displays have less-than-ideal contrast and colour reproduction. It also draws slightly less power, which in turn should allow for longer usage between charge cycles, though this largely depends on other factors such as types of games being played, 3D mode, wireless settings, and screen brightness. The most common one used is the TN (Twisted Nematic) display, which has faster pixel response times and is relatively cheaper to use. Each works in slightly different ways and have their own merits. So far, Nintendo has used two different types of display panel between the 3DS (and N3DS): TN and IPS. Since this has been asked in multiple threads and there hasn't been a unified thread about it yet, I thought I'd write one here. There have been several discussions on here about the different types of display panels used by Nintendo in different 3DS units, with some displays having better image presentation than others.

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