PC manufacturers have been working to translate the innovations applied in large-screen displays to small-screen displays including inplane switching. Introduced by Hitachi in 1996, inplane switching uses two transistors for each pixel with an electrical field being applied through each end of the crystal that meant that the molecules moved along the horizontal axis of the crystal rather than at an oblique angle. This reduces light scatter and improves picture uniformity and colour fidelity at wide viewing angles. The two-transistor structure also allows for faster response times. Inplane switching is used now in a wide range of products including the iPad that has a 9.7-inch 1024-by-768 resolution LED-backlit LCD screen with a viewing angle of up to 178 degrees with 8-bit colour depth. The iPhone 4 uses similar technology (on a smaller screen obviously) as does the iMac. Both the iPhone and iPad have ambient light sensing and an 800 to 1 contrast ratio. Anyway, back to LG. In 1995 LG partnered with Philips to invest in display technologies and have captured significant market share in high-definition and more recent 3D displays. Their first and probably the world's first 3D smart phone, the Optimus 3D was introduced in February 2011. The device has a 4.3-inch WVGA display provides bright images allowing users to view 2D (up to 1080p) and 3D (up to 720p). LG claim the display is 50% brighter than the iPhone4 producing 700 nits of brightness A nit by the way is not just something your children catch at school but is a US measurement term for luminance from the Latin 'nitere' to shine. A nit quantifies the amount of visible light leaving a point on a surface in a given direction. This can be a physical surface or an imaginary plane and the light leaving the surface can be due to reflection, transmission and/or emission. A nit is equivalent a one candela per square metre and you do wonder what was wrong with candelas as a measurement term even if candles do seem a touch archaic as a base for comparing luminance leve