Viewing Angle Test
Free online viewing angle test for monitors, laptops, TVs and phones. Open the test chart full screen, move your head left, right, up and down, and see how much color and contrast your screen loses off-center.
What Is A Screen Viewing Angle?
A screen's viewing angle is how far you can move away from looking at it straight on before the picture visibly changes. Off-center, a screen can get darker, look washed out, shift in color or, on some panels, turn partly negative.
LCD screens make the picture by twisting liquid crystals to let more or less backlight through. That works best when light passes straight through the panel. At an angle, light takes a longer, different path through the crystals and filters, so brightness, contrast and color drift. How much they drift depends on the panel type: TN, VA or IPS.
OLED screens make light at each pixel, so they hold up better at steep angles, though some panels show a slight brightness drop or color tint. Viewing angles matter when you share a screen, watch TV from the side of the room, edit photos, or sit close to a large or wide monitor, where you already see the edges at an angle.
Straight On
Full contrast, deep blacks and accurate colors. This is the picture the screen was tuned for.
Washed Out
Blacks turn grey and colors fade. Contrast loss off-center is typical of VA and TN panels.
Color Inversion
Shades flip and colors look like a negative, usually when looking up at a TN panel from below.
How To Test Viewing Angles In 6 Steps
You move, the screen stays still. Go slowly so you can see exactly where the picture starts to change.
Remove Filters And Set Up
Take off any privacy filter, use your normal brightness and dim the room to cut reflections.
Look Straight On
Open the Angle Chart full screen, center your eyes on it and note how the colors and greys look.
Move Left And Right
Shift your head slowly to each side, up to about 45 degrees. Watch for fading, tint or darkening.
Move Up And Down
Raise and lower your head, or tilt the laptop lid. Vertical angles are where TN panels struggle most.
Check Gamma And Darks
Use Gamma Match and Dark Steps. A patch that blends straight on but splits apart at an angle shows gamma shift.
Rate And Match
Rate each direction, tick what changed and read the Panel Match card. Download the report if you need it.
Viewing Angles By Panel Type: TN, VA, IPS And OLED
Panel type decides most of what you see in this test. Here is how each one usually behaves off-center.
Mini LED screens are LCDs underneath, so they follow the VA or IPS panel they are built on.
What 178° On A Spec Sheet Really Means
A 178° viewing angle means the screen still reaches a minimum contrast ratio, usually 10:1, at 89° either side of center. That is a very low bar, so it does not mean the picture looks the same from the side. That is why two screens with the same 178° figure can look very different in this test.
Measured At Low Contrast
The angle is where contrast drops to around 10:1, far below the 1,000:1 or more a typical screen shows straight on.
Color Is Not Part Of It
The figure says nothing about color shift or gamma shift, which you notice long before contrast falls that far.
Horizontal And Vertical Differ
Spec sheets list two numbers. TN panels often quote a much smaller vertical angle, which matches what you see from below.
Your Eyes Are The Real Test
A 45° look from the side is a realistic check. If the chart still looks right there, the screen has good viewing angles.
What Each Viewing Angle Pattern Shows
Each pattern is built to make one kind of off-center change easy to spot.
Angle Chart
Primary colors, skin tones and greys together. Watch for colors fading or changing hue as you move.
Color shiftGamma Match
Fine black and white lines next to a solid grey that should match them. If they split apart off-center, gamma is shifting.
Gamma shiftDark Steps
Eight near-black steps. On VA panels, steps that merge straight on can separate at an angle, or the other way round.
Dark detailSkin Tones
Six skin shades. Faces are where people notice color shift first, turning green, grey or too pink.
Natural colorHow To Get Better Viewing Angles
You cannot change how a panel behaves, but setting it up well removes most of the problem.
Sit Centered At The Right Height
Keep your eyes level with the top third of a monitor and centered side to side. Tilt the screen so it faces you.
Use Distance Or A Curve
On very large or wide screens, sitting a little further back or using a curved monitor keeps the edges closer to straight on.
Tilt The Laptop Lid
On laptops, especially with TN screens, brightness changes with the lid angle. Adjust it until the Angle Chart looks even.
Choose The Panel For The Room
For a TV watched from several seats, or a shared monitor, an OLED or IPS-type panel holds the picture better off-center.
TV screen testViewing Angles On Monitors, Laptops, TVs And Phones
How you test depends on the device. These are the angles that matter for each.
Monitors
Check from your seat first, since you see the edges at an angle, then from the side for anyone sharing your screen.
Monitor testLaptops
Tilt the lid back and forward. Big brightness changes with small tilts point to a TN panel.
Laptop testTVs
Open this page in the TV browser and sit in every seat you use, including the far end of the sofa.
TV testPhones
Tilt the phone in your hand. Most phones hold up well, so a big change usually means a privacy screen protector.
Phone testViewing Angle Test FAQ
Answers to what people ask most about viewing angles and panel types.
What is a viewing angle test?
A viewing angle test shows color patches, greys and dark steps that change in a visible way when you look at a screen from the side, above or below. It lets you see how much brightness, contrast and color your screen loses away from the center.
How do I test my monitor viewing angle?
Open the Angle Chart full screen and look at it straight on from your normal seat. Then move your head slowly to the left and right, and raise and lower it, watching for colors fading, shifting or turning negative. Repeat on 50% grey, Gamma Match and Dark Steps.
What does a 178 degree viewing angle mean?
It means the screen keeps at least a set contrast ratio, usually 10:1, up to 89 degrees either side of center. That is a low bar, so colors and brightness can shift well before 178 degrees. Two screens with the same number can look very different off-center.
Which panel type has the best viewing angles?
OLED and IPS panels usually have the widest, most stable viewing angles. VA panels hold colors reasonably well but lose contrast and change dark tones off-center. TN panels have the narrowest angles, especially from above and below.
Why do colors look inverted when I look at my screen from below?
Color inversion from below is typical of TN panels. The liquid crystals pass light very differently at steep vertical angles, so dark shades can turn light and colors can look like a photo negative.
Is IPS glow a viewing angle problem?
Yes. IPS glow is a bright sheen on dark content that appears when you view an IPS screen from an angle, often in the corners. It changes or fades when you move your head, and it is a normal trait of IPS panels rather than a defect.
Do viewing angles matter if I sit alone in front of my screen?
Yes, on large and wide screens. Even from the center, you see the edges at an angle, so a panel with narrow angles can look darker or shifted toward the sides. Good viewing angles also matter for color work and for watching TV from a sofa.
Can I improve my screen viewing angle?
You cannot change how the panel behaves, but you can reduce the effect. Sit centered with your eyes near the top third of the screen, tilt the screen to face you, sit a little further back from very large screens, or choose a curved monitor.
Do privacy screen protectors affect viewing angles?
Yes, on purpose. Privacy filters narrow the viewing angle so people beside you cannot read the screen, and they usually make the image a little dimmer straight on as well. Remove the filter before you test.
What is a good viewing angle for a TV?
For a TV, the picture should look much the same from every seat in the room. If people often watch from the side, an OLED or IPS-type panel will hold color and contrast better than a VA panel.
Ready To Test Your Viewing Angles?
Open the Angle Chart full screen and move your head slowly to each side.