Apple has used Retina Display screens in the iPhone and other devices for years, but the company launched the iPhone 11 with a different type of screen: a Liquid Retina Display (LRD), a type of liquid crystal display (LCD) that only Apple uses.

The Liquid Retina Display differs from other types of displays in a number of subtle, background-related ways. To understand what an LRD is, you first need to understand what a basic Retina Display is.

At its core, a basic Retina display is a screen with so many pixels packed together that you can’t see any individual pixels or jagged lines on the screen, even if you look closely. The result is a super-high-resolution screen with a high pixel density, allowing images and video to be displayed much more clearly than with other types of displays.

A Liquid Retina Display builds on that basic retina display by adding a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a standard type of display that has been around for years in computer monitors, laptop screens, smartphones, tablets, and other devices. It’s a tried and true technology that’s been around for years.