Database Users

[Q] Demo units fuzzy because of screen protectors?

Hi all, long time lurker (I had an MDA from T-Mobile a longgg time ago), first post for years
I really want a Nexus S, and I went to Best Buy today, and the screen just looked terrible; text looked significantly worse than the iPhone 4 and Moto's Droids. Very fuzzy, very obvious pixels. I felt the same way looking at the Galaxy S in the Verizon store. The only thing that I liked was the black depth.
I've seen people claim the Super AMOLED screen is to blame, but then I've also read reviews who say it looks great. I can't imagine that these people who like the screen could not have seen what I did, unless they really needed glasses.
However, both of them had screen protectors applied, which I could believe mucks up the PenTile rendering and makes the screens look worse than they are.
How are other peoples' Nexus S/Galaxy S? Is it just the protector? Is it me, or have other people noticed the same thing?
It bums me out, because I was super hyped for a Nexus (I like that it's open, that it plays well with all the Google services I use), but it didn't make me love it the same way the iPhone 4 wants you to love it, and it's mostly due to the screen.

Lewisham said:
Hi all, long time lurker (I had an MDA from T-Mobile a longgg time ago), first post for years
I really want a Nexus S, and I went to Best Buy today, and the screen just looked terrible; text looked significantly worse than the iPhone 4 and Moto's Droids. Very fuzzy, very obvious pixels. I felt the same way looking at the Galaxy S in the Verizon store. The only thing that I liked was the black depth.
I've seen people claim the Super AMOLED screen is to blame, but then I've also read reviews who say it looks great. I can't imagine that these people who like the screen could not have seen what I did, unless they really needed glasses.
However, both of them had screen protectors applied, which I could believe mucks up the PenTile rendering and makes the screens look worse than they are.
How are other peoples' Nexus S/Galaxy S? Is it just the protector? Is it me, or have other people noticed the same thing?
It bums me out, because I was super hyped for a Nexus (I like that it's open, that it plays well with all the Google services I use), but it didn't make me love it the same way the iPhone 4 wants you to love it, and it's mostly due to the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love this screen, chances are it is a poorly applied screen protector

Text just doesn't look as, sharp as the Droid or iPhone 4 because they have lcd screens with full 3 color pixels per full pixel. Amoled screens do not, they use pentile sub pixel layout which alternates green and blue sub pixels effectively sharing between pixels. It's a cheaper way to manufacture the more expensive amoled technology. But the cost is less sharp text. Nothing you can do about it.

RogerPodacter said:
Text just doesn't look as, sharp as the Droid or iPhone 4 because they have lcd screens with full 3 color pixels per full pixel. Amoled screens do not, they use pentile sub pixel layout which alternates green and blue sub pixels effectively sharing between pixels. It's a cheaper way to manufacture the more expensive amoled technology. But the cost is less sharp text. Nothing you can do about it.
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...and after two replies, we get one which loves the screen and one which says it's just the way it is! I don't have any wish to get a phone that plays videos nicely... I spend all my time using Google Reader, Gmail and browsing.
As a point of reference, I would say the text and pixel spacing both looked worse than my first generation iPod Touch. I could believe the color rendering was better.
I'd really like a good way of finding out if it was just a dodgy screen protector in both stores without dropping 530 bucks at Best Buy then instantly returning it if it isn't any better.

the SAMOLED screen is what keeps me coming back to yet another Samsung phone, even though their product quality is HORRIBLE! (GPS / Internal SD)
the SAMOLED screen is way too addictive, that tells you much about the screen, it's like having 1080p in your phone!
colors are the best in the market, and there's nothing that can match up to a SAMOLED crispy display and vivid color
yes, it is true it does suck up a lot of power when you use it at the NICE settings.
and yes, SAMOLED is move lively than the Restina Display of the iphone

I would judge the SAMOLED screen on the Galaxy S series to be more vibrant, but the LCD on the iPhone is unparalleled in its resolution:screen size ratio as far as I'm concerned. You can't even pick out individual pixels, it's a thing of beauty. Now, SAMOLED enthusiasts will say the screen is smaller so the resolution isn't actually that great and blah blah blah, but as someone who owns a Nexus S (mostly) without regrets, I still say I think the Retina Display is damn attractive, especially when it comes to displaying very fine patterns and text on solid backgrounds.
Whether Retina or SAMOLED is preferable depends on equal parts usage habits and user preference, I'd say, but the truth is (to my eye anyway) yes, individual pixels stand out more and solid-color backgrounds (especially white ones) and fine details look inferior on the SGS (Nexus S included). I'm not an iPhone fan, but I give credit where it's due, and smaller screen though it may be, it's still purdy.

I dunno, the terrible text rendering is enough to make me want to get a Droid or something, but I really don't fancy throwing my weight behind a handset that doesn't support openness and updates like the Nexus S.
I wonder if what I really want is to try and find an SLCD Nexus One...?

Lewisham said:
I wonder if what I really want is to try and find an SLCD Nexus One...?
Click to expand...
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yes, that's what you want......
If you already looked at SAMOLED and didn't like it, just move on.

Zagg screen and body protectors are best,non scrachable ,invisible.....
Sent from my Desire HD

It is the PENTILE matrix of the SAMOLED screen which is to blame, not the AMOLED technology. There are RGB AMOLED screens, take the Nokia N8 for example. Pentile is what causes text to look fuzzy. People who don't notice it and say the screen is just as sharp (text-wise) as a normal LCD just have bad vision, simple as that. =)
Lewisham said:
I've seen people claim the Super AMOLED screen is to blame, but then I've also read reviews who say it looks great. I can't imagine that these people who like the screen could not have seen what I did, unless they really needed glasses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Its more likely that people who see it fuzzy actually have the bad vision.
Sent from my Nexus S

dinan said:
It is the PENTILE matrix of the SAMOLED screen which is to blame, not the AMOLED technology. There are RGB AMOLED screens, take the Nokia N8 for example. Pentile is what causes text to look fuzzy. People who don't notice it and say the screen is just as sharp (text-wise) as a normal LCD just have bad vision, simple as that. =)
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Yes exactly. This isn't guessing, its straight fact. Just Google search the term "nexus pentile pixel layout" and read the professional articles discussing the tech and its pros and cons. Text just looks fuzzy, but you make up for it in other areas. Trade off you need to pick.

I think samsung should abandon the SAMOLED tech for now.

Burn-in, image retention, colors degrading with time my god there are so many issues with SAMOLED screens I personally dont feel that super amazing contrast is worth all that.
It seems with the galaxy S and nexus S the problems werent as huge as they have become with the SGS2, galaxy note and galaxy nexus. With an LCD phone if there is a problem it will be manufacturing problem and not something that would develop after several months.
It seems with every new generation of SAMOLED screen the image quality is getting better but the problems are getting worse. LCD's on the other hand are only getting better with no problems.
I think if samsung is unable to improve on the SAMOLED tech then they should just suspend it for now until they can improve it. Samsung makes the beautiful LCD on my nexus S, samsung also provides HTC with the screen of the HTC one X which is widely regarded as the best smartphone screen. Samsung also makes the screen of the ipad 3. Samsung obviously knows how to make an LCD thats better than the competition if they were to make one for their own flagship.
So what is your opinion on the matter?

people buy galaxy series for amoled screen so i dont think samsung ever going to stop making them..and as per anandtech review of htc one x display make is sony...
gs2...

manojcitc said:
people buy galaxy series for amoled screen so i dont think samsung ever going to stop making them..and as per anandtech review of htc one x display make is sony...
gs2...
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Alright, first of all, it's not amoled's problem. it is the pentile technology. it lowers the screen res because it shares sub pixels. However, the galaxy s ii uses AMOLED PLUS, the PLUS means it's like LCD, uses RGB layout, with superb colour contrast along with high res graphics, no pentile ruining the details. so just be patient until AMOLED HD PLUS comes out. It will have: High Res, No pentile, High Contrast. Believe me, it will be 100x better than the One X.

Billchen0014 said:
Alright, first of all, it's not amoled's problem. it is the pentile technology. it lowers the screen res because it shares sub pixels. However, the galaxy s ii uses AMOLED PLUS, the PLUS means it's like LCD, uses RGB layout, with superb colour contrast along with high res graphics, no pentile ruining the details. so just be patient until AMOLED HD PLUS comes out. It will have: High Res, No pentile, High Contrast. Believe me, it will be 100x better than the One X.
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Click to collapse
But this doesn't sort out (mainly):
-Unnatural colours which need severe and constant attention as individual OLED lifetimes progress
-Strong possibility of burn in and an effectively similar effect (due to OLED lifetimes as above)
-Generally weak outdoors
I'm not sold on either path for the long term, but there is no denying LCDs in the current day have blown past practically all of their disadvantages. The only benefit i see of OLED technology in the foreseeable future is the ability to produce a "true" black (and lower power consumption as a result). While this is an awesome benefit, there is more far bad than good beyond this.
I'm unsure how far engineering can take OLEDs though. If we're hitting the peak of the bell curve i'd have to agree with the OP. Otherwise, competition and choice is good.

After using a samoled screen I could NEVER go back to the washed out colors of a standard led. I have yet to see any type of burn in on my screen. 90% of it's life will be with screen off anyway so really who cares.
____________________
Just Flash It !!!

Go to att store and look at the HTC one x screen. Come back and report that it screen is washed out....

This tech of display was a junk which has used on benq-Siemens mobile phone five years ago.
However, Samsung bought this from someone who develop this screen and keeping develop until now. The problems still don't fix:thumbdown::thumbdown:

In my eyes, Samoled looks really gorgeous and can't live without it. But that's just my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

albundy2010 said:
Go to att store and look at the HTC one x screen. Come back and report that it screen is washed out....
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No need to go that far, the i9023's SC-LCD is a stunning looking display. My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex (which happily doesn't have strong yellow/green tints stock, which makes me like his more than most OLEDs). Considering that it is close, the only benefit his has is definitely the black contrast (big benefit no doubt). Nothing else is particularly noteworthy above the other.
But i can leave my screen on all day knowing it will be just as pretty as always.

Heck even the nexus S i9023 has such a great LCD in my opinion. The colors are more saturated than an iphone 4 but not so much as SAMOLED which in my opinion is the best balance. It's also so visibly sharper and much better whites. If nexus S had retina pixel density then the SC-LCD could match the one X to be honest.
The advantages of SAMOLED are,
Pure blacks
Fastest response time
A smaller footprint which helps in making phones lighter and thinner
Now to me only the first one is a major advantage. But is it worth all the problems? I really dont think so.

Harbb said:
My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex
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Yes exactly when I first used the gnexus I thought it's going to blow away the display on my nexus S but it really didnt. I preferred the colors on nexus S and it was also visibly brighter at full brightness.
The gnexus does destroy it in black level but then the nexus S LCD does the same to the gnexus when you compare whites, they were simply horrible on the gnexus. I am really surprised google went with a white background in the messaging app, it not only looks bad on the gnexus but would kill battery as well.

Harbb said:
No need to go that far, the i9023's SC-LCD is a stunning looking display. My Nexus S easily stands its ground next to my brothers new GNex (which happily doesn't have strong yellow/green tints stock, which makes me like his more than most OLEDs). Considering that it is close, the only benefit his has is definitely the black contrast (big benefit no doubt). Nothing else is particularly noteworthy above the other.
But i can leave my screen on all day knowing it will be just as pretty as always.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here in the states it is rare to see people with a nexus period. Most that you do see are the sprints. Chances of a 9023 are basically nil.
But yeah if you know someone with a phone that has a good LCD check it out. Or just go down to the store and look. Better yet wait till sprint stores in the us put its version on HTC one x on display. Use that side by side with gnex
That last part was to the person that said LCD sucks. Not harbb

I find it really interesting that most of the people commenting in the thread seem to prefer LCD, but the poll dominates for SAMOLED.

Good point albundy, and i know what you were saying I've never actually seen an i9020A/T/4G myself so i can't compare them to the GNex and i can't remember the last time i saw an SGS around here.
As the poll is worded quite nicely, i think i'll actually vote for once. Too many polls are black and white, nicely played Gambler.
edit: Polls are just that, polls. Just as many people said cpuidle saved more battery than deep idle (i think for quite a while it was more in favor of cpuidle). Look at how that turned out

Back when I would edit photos on my nexus. I really wanted the exact right shade for my eyes on the picture.
Well after I edited the photo on my nexus, upload it to Book it was diffdnt
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA

Guys, I had a Nexus S i9023 (LCD), and my dad has a i9020T (samoled), and all i can say is that I wish I had his phone... the colors look MUCH MUCH MUCH nicer on a Samoled man!!!!!!!

Coming from a G2, the colors on the NS look much nicer. My phone has a minor blue line where the status bar is, but you really can't see it unless you concentrate on that area. The only reason I saw it was because of some friggin' super white background on some webpage

even if they look nicer they are still fake.
fake is not cool.
Sent from my LS670 using XDA

Shark_On_Land said:
even if they look nicer they are still fake.
fake is not cool.
Sent from my LS670 using XDA
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Go f*ck your iphone
Ps : sarcasm

Heh. Maybe. I enjoy looking at them. Had I been serious about taking photos, I'd probably get an actual camera.

Screen?

Coming from a Galaxy Nexus, my main concern is - How are the black levels gonna be? I absolutely LOVE SuperAMOLED - Mainly, the blacks - I LOVE THEM and I'm sure many other users do. I don't know if the LG's black levels are gonna be as good or better? Does anything know that?
I have a choice to jump from the Gnex to the Nex4 but if the screen's black levels aren't as good - I probably won't.
What's your opinion about the screen?

Go look at a One X, it'll be similar to that (which is SO much better than the GNex screen - IPS ftw!!)

Yeah but the black levels

It definitely won't be as good. The question is, will it be good enough.
The apparent high end screen on my laptop has a rubbish black level. So I'm also hoping the Nexus 10 has good blacks, so I can use that for media instead.

But did you look at the Htc One X screen, or atleast youtube it?
Sent from my R800x

Yeah I've used the One X a lot of times and I'm not impressed at all. The color reproduction is good but the black levels don't amaze me, at all. I feel that my nexus' screen is much better than the OneX (Just my opinion, don't pounce on me)

With AMOLED, the blacks are black because the led's are switched off, it doesn't try make the colour "Black".
LCD screens do not do this. So blacks will be grey, but colours and viewing angles WILL be better. Another thing, AMOLED is a battery drain with anything other than the colour black.

OLED screens will always have darker blacks than LCDs. That's just due to the nature of how each type of screen technology works.

I very much know how AMOLED works. Guess the blacks won't be that good on the Nex4. :| Hard decision to make now :\

arzbhatia said:
I very much know how AMOLED works. Guess the blacks won't be that good on the Nex4. :| Hard decision to make now :\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But your question meant that you don't. If you know this, then you should know about LCD too...

arzbhatia said:
I very much know how AMOLED works. Guess the blacks won't be that good on the Nex4. :| Hard decision to make now :\
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Click to collapse
They will probably be as good as any IPS LCD on the market. LG makes very good smartphone displays, including iPhone 4/4S/5 displays.

Just look at the present ips screen on the LG top model phones, i'm sure the nexus 4 will be similar.

The blacks will not be the same as others mentioned but it's a tradeoff. Super amoleds have good contrast and blacks but the ips lcd's I've seen had better color accuracy and sharper images. I like amoleds but the whites and other colors aren't that good and the brightness isn't high enough for my taste. I look forward to seeing the n4 up close
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

I have mixed feelings as well regarding the screen of the new Nexus 4. I also own a Galaxy Nexus, and aside from the black levels, there is another area where the AMOLED screens shine: motion handling. LCDs tend to blur images in fast motion, motion resolution isn't usually very good. This is very noticeable when watching action films or sports, for example.
However, AMOLED screens are very fast thus their motion handling is on par (or even better than) with plasmas, which gives you crisp and clear images even when moving (blur ocurring depending on the shooting conditions but that's a whole different story).
So, to summarize the differences between the screens:
- The screen of the Nexus 4 will be slightly clearer, the pentile matrix used in the AMOLED screen makes it slightly more "blurry", although due to its high pixel density that's usually hard to see.
- The screen of the Galaxy Nexus has perfect blacks, the screen of the Nexus 4 doesn't. The point is, will its blacks be "black enough" even for multimedia? "Black enough" is very subjective...
- The screen of the Nexus 4 will probably handle motion worse than the Galaxy Nexus one. The point again will be if it handles motion well enough.
It seems that the screen of the Nexus 4 is slightly better for reading and web browsing but slightly worse for multimedia. I only have a Galaxy Nexus (no access to HTC One X, etc) so anyway I can't really compare.

Well it all depend on taste. I think the IPS screen for me will be better for contents consumption. Text clarity is a very important factor for phones and RGB array IPS excel here. Better color accuracy is the most important factor for me, without the banding, retention and dark spots that I deal with on AMOLED. I only fear of the chance of backlight leakage that can happen with regular LCD.
I know the response time of the OLED screen have very fast, but I don't do heavy gaming on small mobile devices. It also have ultra wide angle view and wider color gamut (poorly tuned however). I also like its performance outdoor and contrast. But it can be s battery eater.
Also I missed the curved glass of the AMOLED screen, before anyone say the Nexus 4 screen is curved, by what I see from the verge video it isn't, only the external glass seems to be and just a little by the edge, not the same effect.
Sent from my LG Nexus 4 32GB

eksasol said:
Well it all depend on taste. I think the IPS screen for me will be better for contents consumption. Text clarity is a very important factor for phones and RGB array IPS excel here. Better color accuracy is the most important factor for me, without the banding, retention and dark spots that I deal with on AMOLED. I only fear of the chance of backlight leakage that can happen with regular LCD.
I know the response time of the OLED screen have very fast, but I don't do heavy gaming on small mobile devices. It also have ultra wide angle view and wider color gamut (poorly tuned however). I also like its performance outdoor and contrast. But it can be s battery eater.
Also I missed the curved glass of the AMOLED screen, before anyone say the Nexus 4 screen is curved, by what I see from the verge video it isn't, only the external glass seems to be and just a little by the edge, not the same effect.
Sent from my LG Nexus 4 32GB
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The Nexus 4 will have better viewing angles than the AMOLED.
Sunlight will probably be better too. Colours will be more realistic, and battery life will be lower apart from on a black screen.

I don't like the oversaturated colors of amoled screens, and true colors are important in my work, so I much prefer a good IPS screen. Too bad about the blacks though.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I hope the Nexus 4 display will be better. On my Gnex whenever I watch videos with dark scenes or blackground, I get this noise/artifact thing in the background. Do you guys get that? Also, black is technically not completely black on the Gnex because the pixels do light up a little for faster switching. There are a few threads in the Gnex forum that talk about that. It is only noticeable when there is very little or no ambient light. You can test it by going to a dark room and open an image that is completely black. You will see some dim light coming out from the AMOLED.

I would have to say my biggest concern is how the screen will perform in the direct sunlight. Of the phones I've had the gnex does best in direct sunlight. Very easily readable and use able in direct sunlight. All my other phones have been washed out in the sun. They where some form of lcd's, but not any of the newer generation super performing lcd's that are out now. The HTC Rezound I had was the best LCD screen I've owned. Amazing picture but suffered in the sun.

NexusDro said:
I hope the Nexus 4 display will be better. On my Gnex whenever I watch videos with dark scenes or blackground, I get this noise/artifact thing in the background. Do you guys get that? Also, black is technically not completely black on the Gnex because the pixels do light up a little for faster switching. There are a few threads in the Gnex forum that talk about that. It is only noticeable when there is very little or no ambient light. You can test it by going to a dark room and open an image that is completely black. You will see some dim light coming out from the AMOLED.
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I think that's either black crush like the original note had or the black spots which nearly all amoled screens get because of the way they are produced.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does the GS4 have the best phone screen?

I was playing around with the GS4 yesterday and the screen probably impressed me the most. I held it next to the GS3 and it was quite a bit better: sharper and brighter.
I haven't had the opportunity to look at the One yet, but I have to think the GS4 is a strong contender for the best phone screen. Of course it depends on your preference for AMOLED versus LCD; I probably prefer the former.
So to those who have been using the phone: how would you rate the screen? Do you consider it a big jump over the GS3 and how would you compare it to other phone screens, especially the One?

Strategist said:
I was playing around with the GS4 yesterday and the screen probably impressed me the most. I held it next to the GS3 and it was quite a bit better: sharper and brighter.
I haven't had the opportunity to look at the One yet, but I have to think the GS4 is a strong contender for the best phone screen. Of course it depends on your preference for AMOLED versus LCD; I probably prefer the former.
So to those who have been using the phone: how would you rate the screen? Do you consider it a big jump over the GS3 and how would you compare it to other phone screens, especially the One?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WAY better than GS3 but trades shots with the One.
I prefer a larger screen with true blacks so I prefer the GS4's screen. If you prefer a smaller screen and colour accuracy then the One's screen would be better.

"The best" is highly subjective. For instance, if you prefer outdoor visibility, it's still nowhere near iPhone or the One. That said, I prefer (properly calibrated) AMOLEDs for the contrast ratios and superior blacks despite all the drawbacks
Personal preference, really.

I have a One, and I have had a look at the S4 display. I have to say both displays look great.

You like Amoled then this is the best, if you like LCD real colors then One is the best. Personally prefer the One display.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

It really depends on your preference. I have owned all the Galaxys, and some sony/HTC`s and i will say it is not.
There is no doubt the S4 screen is amazing, but only when it comes to colours. After using the S4 for a period of time, my eyes is starting to get tired. And thats because of the deep, saturated colours.
In the end it comes up to your personal preference. For me the Xperia Z/One is the best one. Nothing beats watching a movie on an LCD-panel.
- Sorry for bad English

While I love the screen on my GS4, I must humbly admit the SLCD3 screen in the HTC One is superior. While the blacks aren't completely black because it can't shut off pixels like AMOLED does, it's blacks are however very very impressive, color accuracy and sharpness are also more superior on the HTC One as well (the S4's Adobe RGB mode, aka (Professional photo) looks off a bit, especially on reds, so don't be fooled into thinking this option will make up for the inferior color accuracy). The only downside to the HTC One's screen, is it's only 4.7" which is a knock in my opinion as I prefer a larger screen.

Smurflin96 said:
It really depends on your preference. I have owned all the Galaxys, and some sony/HTC`s and i will say it is not.
There is no doubt the S4 screen is amazing, but only when it comes to colours. After using the S4 for a period of time, my eyes is starting to get tired. And thats because of the deep, saturated colours.
In the end it comes up to your personal preference. For me the Xperia Z/One is the best one. Nothing beats watching a movie on an LCD-panel.
- Sorry for bad English
Click to expand...
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So use Adobe RGB mode...

No it has really bad ghosting.

One of the best. I've recently switched to "movie mode" as various professional display reviewers have noted this mode as having the most accurate colors and I've been loving it. Feels more like an LCD which I used to prefer. I was also surprised at the amount of additional detail I'm seeing in movie mode that were not present in standard (for instance, the tapatalk app icon)
You will need a day to adjust from standard mode, but once you do I'm betting the standard will be hard to look at for you.
The resolution and PPI speak for themselves, obviously.
Edit: great info here http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S4_ShootOut_1.htm
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Note 2 screen looks great. No pen tile.
my gnote2 is bigger than your puny iPhone.

The s4 screen has a wow factor since the colors pop and the blacks are inky. The One's screen is great too much IMHO, the I prefer the S4 since it is bigger and more vibrant. The One's screen is like looking at the Iphone's screen but bigger since even on the Iphone you can't see pixels so it didn't wow me as much.

Guys i just compared my s3 to also mine s4 and must say the s3 display is sharper and I see more details on it. I just run few same clips on both. Can someone confirm it.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

Samsung displays are horrible when it's outside in bright sunlight.

If you want vibrant colours they are the best. If you want realistic I'd say the One and iPhone 5 are the best. The movie mode is very good on the S4 but it's not as well calibrated as the iPhone 5s screen. Looking in the forum the S4 has ghosting/smearing and some weird pink tint issues. AMOLED screens also are poor in daylight and can get burn in.

Now that it has an option to show accurate colors. Displaymate rate it on par with iPhone 5 which is rated as the best LCD screen they tested in a mobile phone. For me SGS4 is the best out there simply because it offers best of both worlds. There is a mode to show vibrant colors which I personally like especially when watching movies. LCD will pale in comparison next to AMOLED which can show pitch black . It is still Pentile arrangement however I tried hard looking closely as I can and men I can't see any pixels or cross hatch pattern that I can detect on SGS3. I even think that it's icons are much sharper compared to iPhone 5. Now that the Pentile weakness has been totally eliminated by ridiculous 441 pixels per inch. Is there another phone out there that can beat this in terms of display?
From Displayemate which is world renowned for display diagnostics
Comparing the Galaxy S4 with the LCD Display on the iPhone 5:
The iPhone 5 is now more than half way through its product cycle, which is important to keep in mind for our comparison. However, high-end LCDs like the iPhone 5 are a very mature and refined display technology, so other than screen size, resolution, and the Pixels Per Inch not much is likely to change in the next generation, no matter what Apple decides to do. The iPhone 5 is significantly brighter than the Galaxy S4, particularly for screens with mostly peak white backgrounds. Its color calibration is a bit better, although the Galaxy S4 has a more accurate White. The Galaxy S4 has a much bigger screen, higher resolution, higher PPI, much darker blacks, and better screen uniformity than the iPhone 5. They each have their own particular strengths and weaknesses, but if you scan our color coordinated Comparison Table below, both displays are quite good and comparable overall – so it’s currently a tie – we’ll see how they both evolve and improve in the next generation…
http://www.displaymate.com/
http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S4_ShootOut_1.htm#Table

@rbiter said:
Note 2 screen looks great. No pen tile.
my gnote2 is bigger than your puny iPhone.
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With the current pentile matrix they are using and as high density as the 1080P display is, it doesn't affect the quality of the display.
Pentile really is no longer a useable arguement.

Seriously guys, calibration is not an issue. As long as you can get rid of that blue tint, I'm sure you'll get Perseus kernel with top calibration. I do on my Note II and it's absolutely perfect, if not better. Properly calibrated, AMOLEDs have an advantage when it comes to the contrast ratios.
Brightness still sucks though.

I've alway thought Samsung screens always looked too blueish and not so true to life. HTC always seems to get it right when it comes to screens. Just my opinion.
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The ones slcd is superior to the sgs4... Yes the colors are more vibrant and black is real black... But there are too much downsides in my opinion:
- White just doenst look white - ok and full brightness, but not below that
- Loss of detail in dark areas
- Low brightness on automode (even on +5)
- Low brightness on maximum brightness (the ones slcd is superior in sunlight)
- Burn-In
- Pentile - still visible for me
- Smearing / ghosting
- power consumption on browsing
- red black (fixed?!)

Anyone else want Samsung to go with high quality LCDs instead?

After comparing my Galaxy S6 AMOLED display to an iPhone 6 and an LG G4, the whites on AMOLED just look horrible with AMOLED. Samsung has made tremendous improvements to Super AMOLED technology in a few short years, since the S2/S3 era. Whites look brighter and more accurate, but they still can't touch LCD.
It would be nice to see Samsung go with a cutting-edge quantum dots LCD, we could have brighter whites and still save energy consumption. Due to the inefficiency with the technology to display whites, I doubt we'll ever see them look as LCDs with their back lights.
AMOLED screens don't achieve the best on-screen times either due to most content on the Internet having very high APL. Most of the Internet and UI interface has bright colors and white backgrounds too. Until Samsung can put more development breakthroughs with AMOLED or develop the more brighter and energy efficient QLEDs, I would love to see a high quality LCD with all the same profile calibrations Samsung offers for their OLED screens.

megagodx said:
After comparing my Galaxy S6 AMOLED display to an iPhone 6 and an LG G4, the whites on AMOLED just look horrible with AMOLED. Samsung has made tremendous improvements to Super AMOLED technology in a few short years, since the S2/S3 era. Whites look brighter and more accurate, but they still can't touch LCD.
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No never. I will not ever buy LCD again, even after the moto x 2014 it became clear to me that amoled is superior. Maybe the whites are still not as good but the blacks are better (and in truth the s6 has the best color reproduction of any display) BUT amoled is functionally so much superior to LCD I would even be willing to give uo some display accurary for the added benefits of amoled (ambient/active display, no power consumption for pure blacks)

No LCD
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X2 for no way. Amoled has those awesome blacks and better contrast. But also, amoled can save battery by using black, dark themes etc since the pixels aren't on when displaying black. That's such a great advantage. Whites look perfectly fine to me too. I see no issue there.
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benjmiester said:
X2 for no way. Amoled has those awesome blacks and better contrast. But also, amoled can save battery by using black, dark themes etc since the pixels aren't on when displaying black. That's such a great advantage. Whites look perfectly fine to me too. I see no issue there.
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godutch said:
No never. I will not ever buy LCD again, even after the moto x 2014 it became clear to me that amoled is superior. Maybe the whites are still not as good but the blacks are better (and in truth the s6 has the best color reproduction of any display) BUT amoled is functionally so much superior to LCD I would even be willing to give uo some display accurary for the added benefits of amoled (ambient/active display, no power consumption for pure blacks)
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Unless you're going to run your display in negative mode most of the time, most of the content you display isn't going to be black. That's not the design ethos most websites and UIs use. Besides, bad blacks are only noticeable in the dark. Poor whites are noticeable in all types of environments. The color reproduction might be good on Samsung's Super AMOLED displays [not other AMOLED displays] but everything else about them is seemingly underdeveloped. Contrast viewing angles has never been a major selling point for me or a particularly useful additive, high-quality IPS LCDs have proven to be good enough.
LCDs are just better at the moment. Samsung's Super AMOLED technology [again, forget the inferior AMOLED panels used by other manufacturers] is a few years away still from surpassing top-end LCDs. They have the potential though. Just don't see it happening this year. While LG's G4 isn't that great of an LCD, it's a good example of how blacks can be made acceptable on LCDs with quantum dots technology.

megagodx said:
Unless you're going to run your display in negative mode most of the time, most of the content you display isn't going to be black. That's not the design ethos most websites and UIs use. Besides, bad blacks are only noticeable in the dark. Poor whites are noticeable in all types of environments. The color reproduction might be good on Samsung's Super AMOLED displays [not other AMOLED displays] but everything else about them is seemingly underdeveloped. Contrast viewing angles has never been a major selling point for me or a particularly useful additive, high-quality IPS LCDs have proven to be good enough.
LCDs are just better at the moment. Samsung's Super AMOLED technology [again, forget the inferior AMOLED panels used by other manufacturers] is a few years away still from surpassing top-end LCDs. They have the potential though. Just don't see it happening this year. While LG's G4 isn't that great of an LCD, it's a good example of how blacks can be made acceptable on LCDs with quantum dots technology.
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Lol, that's funny. How about black wallpaper, lock screen, black theme, black browser theme, I use Voxer all day for work in a dark theme. So yeah, there's tons of places to utilize that. Not to mention amoled uses less power already as is and the newest amoled is super color accurate. There's basically no advantages to LCD anymore. You're crazy, but if that's what you want, buy one. Just don't expect support for it here, where everyone would much rather have amoled. You're not converting anybody (what seems like you're trying to do).
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Hey op go get an iPhone for that lcd, you'll be back trust me I know ....

benjmiester said:
Lol, that's funny. How about black wallpaper, lock screen, black theme, black browser theme, I use Voxer all day for work in a dark theme. So yeah, there's tons of places to utilize that. Not to mention amoled uses less power already as is and the newest amoled is super color accurate. There's basically no advantages to LCD anymore. You're crazy, but if that's what you want, buy one. Just don't expect support for it here, where everyone would much rather have amoled. You're not converting anybody (what seems like you're trying to do).
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All I heard from you was "blah blah blah, I like AMOLED so I don't care blah blah blah" - not exactly a good argument. Not everyone wants to use a dull and boring dark themes that consist of black. People have different ideas of creativity and most people like to use wallpapers and backgrounds that have regular colors that have bright backgrounds. AMOLEDs do NOT use less power unless content is not above 65% APL. Most web pages and UIs out of the box have 70-80% APL with all the whites and other colors that AMOLEDs aren't efficient with [such as blues] - If Samsung pours in a couple more billion in R&D, Super AMOLED technology might be prime to surpass the current advancements in LCDs. For now, I think and would prefer if they put in a class-leading LCD panel in the S7 and Note 6 for 2016 with display calibration profiles, at least until they iron out their OLED limitations and inefficiencies.

megagodx said:
All I heard from you was "blah blah blah, I like AMOLED so I don't care blah blah blah" - not exactly a good argument. Not everyone wants to use a dull and boring dark themes that consist of black. People have different ideas of creativity and most people like to use wallpapers and backgrounds that have regular colors that have bright backgrounds. AMOLEDs do NOT use less power unless content is not above 65% APL. Most web pages and UIs out of the box have 70-80% APL with all the whites and other colors that AMOLEDs aren't efficient with [such as blues] - If Samsung pours in a couple more billion in R&D, Super AMOLED technology might be prime to surpass the current advancements in LCDs. For now, I think and would prefer if they put in a class-leading LCD panel in the S7 and Note 6 for 2016 with display calibration profiles, at least until they iron out their OLED limitations and inefficiencies.
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You're kidding right? That literally went the opposite way... I made a perfectly valid fact based response, and you completely ignored/tried to discredit all of the reasons I stated.
And nobody is making anyone theme anything it's just an advantage one could do with Amoled that they cannot with lcd. Also that's an opinion, most people like dark themes better as is.
I guess that's my mistake though, I thought this was a discussion, but it sounds like you're asking a question, and then ignoring everyone's response until you hear the one you want. Is it just me? Am I being an asshole?
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Dunno, the fact that 99% of the s6 i have seen have color uniformity issues, ide rather have the lcd. S6 with a iphone screen would be my preferred phone.
Like the other poster said, you always notice the bad whites, the pitch black contrast of amoled you can only really see at night.
And btw i hate ios, and i own an s6. And its the 6th one ive owned because the the horrible pink screen and color uniformity issues.
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Which mode was your Galaxy s6 on? Keep in mind both the iPhone 6 and the LG G4 have slightly blue white points. I have no complaints about the whites in the s6.
I used to think Samsung should go with LCDs too, but after the vast improvements with the note 4 and s6 I love amoled displays now.

megagodx said:
After comparing my Galaxy S6 AMOLED display to an iPhone 6 and an LG G4, the whites on AMOLED just look horrible with AMOLED. Samsung has made tremendous improvements to Super AMOLED technology in a few short years, since the S2/S3 era. Whites look brighter and more accurate, but they still can't touch LCD.
It would be nice to see Samsung go with a cutting-edge quantum dots LCD, we could have brighter whites and still save energy consumption. Due to the inefficiency with the technology to display whites, I doubt we'll ever see them look as LCDs with their back lights.
AMOLED screens don't achieve the best on-screen times either due to most content on the Internet having very high APL. Most of the Internet and UI interface has bright colors and white backgrounds too. Until Samsung can put more development breakthroughs with AMOLED or develop the more brighter and energy efficient QLEDs, I would love to see a high quality LCD with all the same profile calibrations Samsung offers for their OLED screens.
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http://www.sammobile.com/2015/03/11...-s6-edge-as-best-mobile-displays-ever-tested/
Best display ever, 'nuff said.

megagodx said:
LCDs are just better at the moment. Samsung's Super AMOLED technology [again, forget the inferior AMOLED panels used by other manufacturers] is a few years away still from surpassing top-end LCDs. They have the potential though. Just don't see it happening this year. While LG's G4 isn't that great of an LCD, it's a good example of how blacks can be made acceptable on LCDs with quantum dots technology.
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LCD will never have the functionality of AMOLED, that's even when AMOLED is their color reproduction and brightness are slightly inferior to LCD (which btw is not even true) they lack the possibility for ambient display

I'd vote for LCD on the S6. X100
The display on the S6 is pretty poor to be honest. Colour reproduction is no where near real life on any setting and anyone who thinks it is reads reviews are gospel because in real life it's a different story, with white's are awful and blacks which are only slightly better than the current top level LCD's.
Add to the fact, removing all the nonsense about Amoled being better on battery, which in real world usage is rubbished, most work done on 99% of phones is white background, negating any battery advantage, which is negligible and indistinguishable in real world use and testing.
Black themes on HTC One M9 look just as good as on the S6, possibly even better thanks to the other colours being better, and anything with a light or white background looks leaps and bounds better on it's LCD.
Can't get around the fact that 99% of Samsung's current displays have pink tint and uniformity issues and look pretty poor.
Mine was replaced and the pink tint which looked better, is worse than ever after just a few days or so of use.
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godutch said:
LCD will never have the functionality of AMOLED, that's even when AMOLED is their color reproduction and brightness are slightly inferior to LCD (which btw is not even true) they lack the possibility for ambient display
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Have you even looked at real world pictures or looked through the camera of the S6 lately? No mode is true to life with colours and the my M9, or in fact probably any top end LCD lately is better in direct sunlight. The S6 display looks like a ghost while the M9 actually is still crisp and sharp. As for ambient display, who uses it and how long is it on screen for ? .5 of a second? Useless.

Among the reasons for having bought Samsung phones for years the screen is one of the main reasons, if they changed to LCD I would most likely change brands. Samsung lead the world in AMOLED display so why change that to become like Apple. All I can say to those posing this ridiculous suggestion is change your phone to a manufacturer that gives you what you desire. I still get comments from my friends that have Iphones (the 6 included) that Samsung displays l;ook better so maybe its not that bad at all even if it isn't representative of "real" life its just easy on the eye. My opinion of course

Jonathan-H said:
Have you even looked at real world pictures or looked through the camera of the S6 lately? No mode is true to life with colours and the my M9, or in fact probably any top end LCD lately is better in direct sunlight. The S6 display looks like a ghost while the M9 actually is still crisp and sharp. As for ambient display, who uses it and how long is it on screen for ? .5 of a second? Useless.
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I used to use ambient display all the time, too bad samsung disabled it (for now). And you must be using your display wrong, the S6 has the brightest display by a long margin, almost twice as bright as some of the competition but you have to leave the brightness to auto

No, thanks.

lol, no way, the screen is the main reason I still use Samsung devices...not that the other hardware is bad but OLED is the way to go.

The AMOLED display is one of the main reasons I stick with Samsung.

AMOLED fan here also. Not 100% certain which technology is more efficient/better based on technical specs but for daily usage, I much prefer my S6 SAMOLED over the G3's LCD.