Why are the AMOLED screens considered to be so "good"?

[ChrisW6ATV]

Hi-

I am likely going to get an Android phone soon (on Sprint), and I figured to go to the "top" and get a Samsung Galaxy S3. However, a friend has an AT&T Galaxy S2, and his phone's screen always looks too blue-green tinted, with weak red. (I work in the video display industry as well as restoring antique TVs as a hobby, so I notice color issues easily.) So, I looked at the S3 at the Sprint store and sure enough, it has the same tint problem. Then, I saw the HTC Evo 4G LTE, and its screen blew away the Samsung. Much better color balance, and nearly invisible pixel structure, as opposed to the Samsung. I know the AMOLED screens should have better off-angle viewing/black levels, but do others not notice the tint issues? On top of that, the S3 had a bit of "burn in" (ghosts of images displayed for a long time, visible on bright areas of the screen when the picture is changed), something I had not seen before on a phone.

What do you all think? Am I missing some "magical" thing about AMOLED screens?

[cloudstrife1ph]

I don't like amoled either because of those reasons too. If it's amoled, it's out from my wishlist.

I guess people doesn't care with the cons if the images are more vibrant *over saturated cough*. And on average, people tend to replace them and get the latest phone after 6 months to a year for them to start or even endure the cons...

[TC_Mits]

Here's another problem with Amoled -- screen burn:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1755709


Perspective instantiates reality.
[From DX by HoFo app.]

[Corvillus]

The main benefit is the contrast ratio (since each pixel can be turned on or off, much like a CRT so true black actually exists, while on an LCD you get a dark grey due to the backlighting). The disadvantage is the burn in. The oversaturated blues are to prolong the life of the blue LED's which burn out faster than the other colours.

Personally, as long as it's an IPS SLCD or a SAMOLED, I don't particularly care which one it is (both are quite good to me) and go for the rest of the phone specs. But I can see how many would have a specific preference.

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[sremick]

I prefer SAMOLED because of the brighter, more-vibrant colors (they're only over-saturated if you make them that way), thinner screens/devices (an OLED display is much thinner and simpler than LCD), lower power-consumption, and the amazing contrast (black is BLACK... truly off).

My iPhone-owning fans always drool when they see my phone's screen. They never realized how good a display could be.

It always bugs me when websites try to take pictures comparing SAMOLED to LCD... pictures which will then just be shown on someone's LCD monitor. Making it impossible to actually convey the difference.

My last 2 phones have been SAMOLED and I've not experienced any burn-in.

And if you feel the color-balance is off on your screen or are just OCD about such things (which is fine... I calibrated my home theater projector setup), there are plenty of utilities and replacement ROMs which offer you the functionality you desire to adjust this.

[NickC]

OP: do you not like amoled screens even with the brightness turned down? I found that to look much nicer. But overall my experience has been the same as others have said - they each have their + and - points.

I was also hoping not having a separate backlight would make amoled more battery conserving but didn't notice that - even with using a mostly black wallpaper.

[Tsepz_GP]

Im not too paticular, both LCD and SAMOLED have their advantages.
LCD has that smooth and more dense look and more softer/natural colours, while SAMOLED has the more vibrant and deeper colours.

I personally like dark colours and always have dark blue, black or dark purple wallpaper/theme, so im very happy with the SAMOLED Plus of my GS2. the contrast is amazing, many of my friends who own BBs and iPhones are simply blown away by my GS2's colours, and so am i each time i come back to it after looking at another phone/tablet/tv screen thats LCD, i like that "WOW Factor" of the SAMOLED.

Samsung have done a great job of allowing you to adjust your SAMOLED display Screen Mode, so you can choose if you want the very vibrant colours or just want normal colours.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Thank you all for the detailed comments and suggestions. It is good to read many of the specific reasons to prefer any one technology over another.

[sremick]

http://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy...eramoled-panel

[dingo13x]

Depending on the device, there are many kernels that will allow you to modify color temps. The one I've seen the largest change from was the Galaxy Nexus using the Trinity kernel.

I'd recommend checking XDA-Developers and finding out if the SGS3 has a similar kernel available. If so, you can tune until your hearts content.

Additionally, comparing the SLCD on my One X next to a Galaxy Nexus, they're a very even match and my friend and I felt like the LCD gave a but better colors when the brightness was cranked all the way up. YMMV of course, but I don't think you would go terribly wrong with any of the super phones on the market, but you may need to do a bit more work to really make that AMOLED screen look fantastic.

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[XDDX]

I have a galaxy nexus and I can't endure the screen which never show me the original colour.
When i'm appreciating a photo, it use purple instead of blue, use green instead of yellow and never show me white.
I want a honest screen, not a swindler.

[dingo13x]

Read my post directly above yours and install the Trinity kernel and app and you can tune your screen colors to get a color closer to 6500k.

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