Viewing Angle

What Does Viewing Angle Mean?

The viewing angle of a device or piece of hardware is the maximum angle where users can still view the display well. Different types of devices and displays have different viewing angles, due to things like pixel brilliance, the flow of current through display materials and the general engineering of the ways that the screens present themselves as interfaces.

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Techopedia Explains Viewing Angle

Along with the maximum viewing angle, many factors also sometimes specify a “viewing cone” as a set of angles at which the display works well. In some cases, the viewing angle is relatively slight – for instance, with many personal laptop computers, even a relatively insignificant angling of the screen decreases the quality of the display picture. Some critics of LCD technology also point to the limited viewing angle of many screen models. One other place that viewing angle is important is in the evolution of curved display screens, as with OLED panorama televisions. By actually making the screen curved, designers are trying to enhance the process, which requires dealing with viewing angles to let users get a good experience from a wider “cone” of positions.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…