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Can burn-in be removed with apps (e.g. Display Tester)?

Hey everyone, I bought my HTC One S used, and at a discounted price because of screen burn-in. The burn-in isn't noticeable at higher brightness settings, but when there is a dark background applied, or when the backlight is dim, you can clearly see burned in areas.
Has anyone had any success using any burn-in removal techniques with apps like Display Tester?
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gombosdev.displaytester&hl=en)
Just realized this should've been in the Q&A section.. woops!

spartanerik said:
Hey everyone, I bought my HTC One S used, and at a discounted price because of screen burn-in. The burn-in isn't noticeable at higher brightness settings, but when there is a dark background applied, or when the backlight is dim, you can clearly see burned in areas.
Has anyone had any success using any burn-in removal techniques with apps like Display Tester?
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gombosdev.displaytester&hl=en)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly is screen burn-in? Is it the same as the screen has different color depending on what angle you are looking at it? My experience is when i look directly on my screen, it show some yellowish in white background, but when i tilt it forward or backward, the white becomes white with no yellowish color. And when i turn it sideways it become pinkish.. do you think my screen is busted? Or is it what you call the screen burn-in?
Sent from my HTC One S4 using xda-developers app

angeloalonzo01 said:
What exactly is screen burn-in? Is it the same as the screen has different color depending on what angle you are looking at it? My experience is when i look directly on my screen, it show some yellowish in white background, but when i tilt it forward or backward, the white becomes white with no yellowish color. And when i turn it sideways it become pinkish.. do you think my screen is busted? Or is it what you call the screen burn-in?
Sent from my HTC One S4 using xda-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, exactly how you described it. Looks yellowish/orange depending on the background
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4147471980_4e153af3bf_o.jpg
^-That's a good example of what a screen burn (or is it image retention?) looks like. Found this image on Google just for the purpose of an example, it's clearly not from an HTC One S haha
My friend who uses the HTC Sense clock has developed minor screen burn from having the clock widget in the same place since day one of his phone

spartanerik said:
Yeah, exactly how you described it. Looks yellowish/orange depending on the background
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4147471980_4e153af3bf_o.jpg
^-That's a good example of what a screen burn (or is it image retention?) looks like. Found this image on Google just for the purpose of an example, it's clearly not from an HTC One S haha
My friend who uses the HTC Sense clock has developed minor screen burn from having the clock widget in the same place since day one of his phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But i don't have that kind of burn-in like in the picture.. the yellowish color i see is in the whole screen but in the picture you post ia only a part of the screen is having the yellowish patches..
Sent from my HTC One S4 using xda-developers app

TC is probably referring to ghosting. Kinda like
http://www.pixeltuneup.com/images/screenburn.jpg
or to a lessor extend but more common
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5523/2005fpwsw2.jpg
Notice the faint icons? As to fixing it, I don't believe there is a way other than replacing the screen. It happens when an image is displayed without movement. It sort of "burns" into the screen, and when viewing something else, its slightly visible, thus "ghosting"
As for the yellow tint you see in the whole screen, I believe some displays are just like that.

Hgaara said:
TC is probably referring to ghosting. Kinda like
http://www.pixeltuneup.com/images/screenburn.jpg
or to a lessor extend but more common
http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/5523/2005fpwsw2.jpg
Notice the faint icons? As to fixing it, I don't believe there is a way other than replacing the screen. It happens when an image is displayed without movement. It sort of "burns" into the screen, and when viewing something else, its slightly visible, thus "ghosting"
As for the yellow tint you see in the whole screen, I believe some displays are just like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the explanation.. but i don't have that ghosting nor the faint icons.. i only experience the different colors when viewing in different angles, i just hate it, nothing else, but why is that?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

angeloalonzo01 said:
Thank you for the explanation.. but i don't have that ghosting nor the faint icons.. i only experience the different colors when viewing in different angles, i just hate it, nothing else, but why is that?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tbh i wonder what would happen if you attempted to burn in the color inverted (dont do it, lol)
But most likely a new screen, which isn't too expensive.
If you had a big enough discount, it'd be no problem.

[FIX] fix the yellowish screen tint (from one x+ xda forum)

I found this one one x+ general forum. Credits to roobeyn.
"Warning!!! As someone commented he was totally unaware of this problem until he used this fix and it destroyed his experience with his phone
[REQ]Any developer that could help me with something? I want to make this app matching system UI with ready filters and put it in Setting so that it will look integrated like the galaxy screen settings, that would help ppl think the screenproblem is just a soft problem and doesn't depend on hardware. Please be kind and PM me
As many have noticed, and even made some ppl crazy is the yellow tint on our screen(HTC One X, Xperia Ion, S etc).
Searching for screen filtering at play store made my day!
Then i found this app: LINK https://play.google.com/store/apps/...e=search_result&rdid=com.netmanslab.sa&rdot=1
I installed it and then made a filter with:
Red 0
Green 0
Blue 8
Brightness: 100%
Contrast: -0
That made me feel like replacing the whole screen!
Second thing you should do is:
Press the MENU-button and go in to Options
Autorun [YES]
Hide status bar icon [YES]
Enjoy your screen!"
Works perfectly! Thanks again to roobeyn

Wow!
People are often choosing blue screen as being more white than real white color is. Please read why choosing white other then 6500k is making your eye not seeing many colours.
http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/learnabout/definitions/why6500k.html
Screen in one s is really very good calibrated as in every HTC phone past HTC Desire with amoled (which was first HTC calibrated screen with ota update and that update made reddish screen looks better).
Of course as every amoled it is very oversaturated, but it looks good on phone screen.
Anyway your advise for people which likes blue screen: adding blue to everything makes black not true black. This is looking bad, kills amoled contrast when normally black pixel are totally blank (because they are not lighting) and in that way will shorten battery life as normally on amoled black parts of the screen are not using any power.
sent from my OneS

Thanks for sharing the app. I don't use the color settings, I love the screen as it is, but the lower than usual brightness helps me at night..
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

What yellow tint, using that filter your screen is "colder", and like every filter you loose processing power and some colour. You are free to use it, but when you bought the phone, you checked the screen... Right?

Thanks for sharing I didn't notice the tint till I got the nexus 7, the one s screen is yellow compared to it, that edit with your settings fixed that, thanks.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

No problem. glad to help.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

One s screen is yellow wish. Its because of the amoled screen we have
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

Never minded of the yellowish screen but i've tried tour app band the screen looks better white now is a real white

phoenixita said:
Never minded of the yellowish screen but i've tried tour app band the screen looks better white now is a real white
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But all of the other colors are blue..
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

Galaxy S IV - Screen, display, auto brightness, etc explained

As it seems there are a few threads on auto brightness and color issues, i figure i should do the best i can to explain how it works on the S4, and mobiles in general. I work in Television/Film and have been shooting for almost a decade.
ANY QUESTIONS, feel free to PM me, i'll probably ask for very specific photo's (ISO/WB and other data) so i can help you in a professional manner, and i'll try to reply within 6-8 hours. No one should live with a bum screen!
To fully understand what im trying to express, load the attached image onto your phone, and on a bright sunny afternoon, print out the attached image on a small piece of decent photo paper, grab your phone, and find a room in your house that has only fluorescent lights and close any windows or shutters.
Look at the photo in the sunlight; note the colors. Now go inside to the fluorescent dark room, note the change in what the colors look like, and that white is still pretty white (thats your brain), then turn your camera flashlight on (LED), and note the changes in color again (some reds may look purplish or greens bluish), but white still looks kinda white (should look very light blue). Now repeat and look at the print out versus the same image on your phone screen; it should match best under 6500k lighting, but still be off (thats a printed image vs monitor thing though). Also depends on your printer ink type (dye/pigment), color space, etc etc etc. Your eyes take raw data in, but your brain does the magic, and says 'nope, thats white', so you perceive it as 'white' or 'white enough' and you 'know' it is meant to 'represent' white.
Hardware - This includes an ambient light sensor. The way these work is similar to metering systems in cameras; they measure the amount of light hitting a photodiode. Even in high end (DSLR) cameras, sometimes the light meters are junk. On cell phones, they are typically pretty crappy. The iPhone 5's have excellent ALS (ambient light sensors) and they ramp up/down smoothly; much better than any other device i've used.
The way the ALS works in most devices is simple; there are several photodiodes, each tuned for a specific spectrum of light. Say two for 3200k, two for 6500k, two for whatever else, etc, and they basically average the reading, apply a curve, and adjust the screen appropriately. They do NOT accurately measure color temperature very well, and 'see' brightness only in limited spectrums, meaning their idea of what 'bright' and 'dim' is may be vastly different from the human eyes' perceived 'bright' or 'dim'. Also, the 'curves' applied don't match up that well with how the human eye perceives brightness; its really amazing we can fake it as close as we can, really, but most of the magic lies in your brain.
Lighting - this is kind of tricky; and i don't feel like getting into it too deeply, but what you perceive as 'white' is mostly dependent on your brain; not your eyes or the lights around you. Think about reading a book (a real book) inside a library under fluorescent lights; the pages are white, even though the color temperature might be 5000k or 6500k. Now that same book outside; thats 5800k. Now under some old incandescent lights; that might be 2800k. Yet you know it SHOULD be white. Thats your brain. And thats reflected light; its based on the ambient color temperature around you; so reflected light 'looks' white or blue or whatever.
Your phone screen (galaxy S IV) is basically white balanced at 6600k , so it will appear most white when around lighting around 6500k, which is on the bluer side of daylight/cloudy and indoors.
Screen Mode - The Galaxy S IV has a feature that allows it to dynamically change based on the ALS, or can be overridden by the user, which mostly affects color gamut, and either amps up contrast and saturation while shifting hues slightly, or flattens them to a more realistic (usually most people prefer high saturation/high contrast images) image.
Sampling frequency - i have no idea what the ALS sensor samples at, or any definitive specs on the exact sensor and how it interacts with auto brightness, its priority, etc (yet, ive emailed Samsung and i wouldn't mind coming up with a simple app to adjust this if i can figure out the sensor specs and their software). But certain lights (fluorescent mostly) flicker at either 50hz or 60hz depending on their AC current, which may, at times, interfere or give bad readings to the ALS depending on the ALS sensor reading timings (again i do not know exactly what those values are, i suspect they are long as my S III and S IV typically react about a half-second behind lighting changes).
DETERMINING IF YOU HAVE A BAD DISPLAY
All together, it works pretty darn good, if a bit slowly, but there seems to be a lot of confusion and people wondering if their screen is bad. The BEST and EASIEST way is to go to any cell store or mall, and compare YOUR screen and the SAME image to another S IV, with the same settings. The best settings for this are to turn power saving OFF, turn off ALL power saving apps, turn auto brightness OFF, turn brightness up ALL THE WAY, go to 'settings', 'display', 'screen mode', and change the setting to 'movie'. Compare several IDENTICAL images or pages. Then change the 'screen mode' to 'standard' and compare the same images.
While doing so, be sure to check out images such as the one i provided and make sure the colors match, grays are grays or at least the same slight caste of pink/green/etc, and while doing so, TILT THE SCREENS at various angles together (level surface, side by side, tilt to 45 degrees at the same time on all 4 axes), and look for discoloration or bleeding; if you see big differences between two or three other phones and yours, you got a bum screen. I haven't seen a 'bad' one yet, and i made the poor AT&T guy open up five of them and let me play with them (AMOLED also has jet black splotches with full blacks in a fully black room; i wanted the screen with the least noticeable splotches).

Thanks for this. Question though. When I pull my keyboard up to type on something or if I'm in a YouTube video and I tap the screen to bring up the progress bar the color shifts dramatically. I've tried many settings and it always does this. Also tried it on another s4 multiple ones did the same thing...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Just hoping for a fix for it
The white balance can actually be calibrated by changing the calibration levels of the LEDs sitting under the screen
Lets hope for the best

jetlitheone said:
Thanks for this. Question though. When I pull my keyboard up to type on something or if I'm in a YouTube video and I tap the screen to bring up the progress bar the color shifts dramatically. I've tried many settings and it always does this. Also tried it on another s4 multiple ones did the same thing...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, do me a favor, I would prefer if you had either a prosumer camera you could use, or better yet a DSLR you could borrow that i could guide you through how to take two shots of the differences with all the important variables locked down so i can figure it out for you. I believe the screenshot feature ignores the 'Screen Mode' settings, as it should (you wouldnt want a screen mode dictating recording colorimetry options), so it does require real photos to figure out.
Have you changed the standard 'Screen Mode' setting or left it at 'Adapt Display' or 'Dynamic'? Those will keep changing it; Professional photo and movie are more flat, but they do not change. Again disable power saving mode, power saving apps, turn off auto brightness, (in this case set brightness to where you want it) and check it out again; if it doesnt change colors, (which it should not), you have no issues; its a normal 'feature' of the device. The idea is to limit all variables. Try that and PM me the results. If the colors no longer shift, the issue was 'adapt display' or 'dynamic' Screen Modes. Auto brightness/powersaving mode/power saving apps should only affect brightness; we are only disabling them to limit perceived changes.
To try to trouble shoot this, change screen mode to a static setting like 'professional photo' or 'movie' in Screen Mode and turn off auto brightness, turn off power saving and turn off all power/battery saving apps/etc, bring up a Youtube video and play it, then bring up your keyboard and see if the color shifts (it shouldnt if you have changed Screen Mode to Pro Photo/Movie and disabled powersave/all battery apps/auto brightness). Then let me know if that fixes it via PM.
rapaholic999 said:
Just hoping for a fix for it
The white balance can actually be calibrated by changing the calibration levels of the LEDs sitting under the screen
Lets hope for the best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
problem is most calibration settings/programs and methods i know of are non-pentile and are mostly software fixes for what ive used; AMOLED is different PenTile (RGBG) than what i tried to fix before which was Motorola Atrix 4G PenTile (RGBW, red green blue white), CCFL LCD is way different (more what im used to, as well as LED LCD and even IPS is easier as it is still RGB), and all the curves software etc are all proprietary to manufacturers. Granted controlling just the R/G/B/G LED's would help, but getting the curve right and correcting might take longer than the Galaxy S V arrival. I spent months calibrating all my gear; most of it is 2-3 years old, and at least 6-12 months old before i get it all settled and can rely on it for a given job. Usually i rely on calibrated displays, knowing my own color limitations, RGB histograms, vector scopes, etc (i have a very slight red/green color weakness, but extremely sharp vision and i know how to work around my limitations).
I actually emailed Samsung about this for as much information as i could get (not much so far but im digging). I have a friend playing with LUT curves on his S IV and he says its a close second to the iPhone screens for AdobeRGB in 'movie' mode, which i happen to agree with; its pretty flat, but the contrast on greens is still high, which again is a PenTile RGBG specific issue; we are both vets of backlit RGB panels. My friend also works with the same company i consult/represent; it took him almost three months to properly calibrate LUT curves between a single sensor and a simple 480P CCFL LCD display, and that was with full manufacturer support. Colorimetry is a science.

jetlitheone said:
When I pull my keyboard up to type on something or if I'm in a YouTube video and I tap the screen to bring up the progress bar the color shifts dramatically. I've tried many settings and it always does this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Thanks for the write up but I'm seeing the same thing.
I dim the display with the Screen Filter app for reading in bed and whenever my keyboard pops up (SwiftKey, TouchPal or stock) the entire screen gets a green cast. Under these conditions it is very dramatic.
I use manual brightness and turned off the Autoadjust Screen Tone setting
Some other apps exhibit a fluctuation in color cast when I put my finger near the screen which is double weird. :-\
-darren
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Yes it's weird I don't know what's happening. Anyways I'd toy turn the brightness up past half way the color cast goes away. .. Not sure what it is
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

If you go to a settings menu and scroll up and down fast, my phone gets a purple tint and leaves like a shadow of the words behind... Kinda annoying.. Anyone else notice this?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Yes smearing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

MrPlNK said:
If you go to a settings menu and scroll up and down fast, my phone gets a purple tint and leaves like a shadow of the words behind... Kinda annoying.. Anyone else notice this?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats because AMOLED usually have a slower response time, upwards of 20ms
jetlitheone said:
Yes smearing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, i have some old LG CCFL LCD monitors with a claimed 2ms (more like 6-10ms) response time from 2006; they were about $300 each back then. i also have a new IPS with 30ms response time; it is annoying.
also some pentile displays are slower between subpixels; my Atrix 4G had very slow blue white pixels (RGBW) so you had a weird dimming as well when scrolling through texts.
Settings, Display, disable Auto Adjust Screen Tone' as well, its a power saving thing i forgot to mention in the first write up.

Slade8525 said:
thats because AMOLED usually have a slower response time, upwards of 20ms
yep, i have some old LG CCFL LCD monitors with a claimed 2ms (more like 6-10ms) response time from 2006; they were about $300 each back then. i also have a new IPS with 30ms response time; it is annoying.
also some pentile displays are slower between subpixels; my Atrix 4G had very slow blue white pixels (RGBW) so you had a weird dimming as well when scrolling through texts.
Settings, Display, disable Auto Adjust Screen Tone' as well, its a power saving thing i forgot to mention in the first write up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it can be fixed with color adjustment though so maybe a software update can fix it as well

I bought the s4 the first day it came out, after using it for couple of days i started noticing weird stuff on my photos, especially on low light photos... i went to att and one of the rep said its a known issue its called "elephant effect" im into photography and i havent heard that term before, he also said that it will be fix on the next update... so i went home and did some research about "elephant effect" unfortunately i cant can find anything related with my issue... i also did some pixel peeping and im 100% positive there's something off on the display of my phone.
Sample photos
These photos are just screenshots
You can see those weird artifacts on the pictures, i also compared my screen display to my coworker's phone and my phone was way off...
What i would suggest for those who wants to buy the new s4 or currently users, is to check the display by taking a photo on a low light and do some pixel peeping...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Has anyone else noticed a color and contrast shift from the top to the bottom of the screen? In very low brightness settings my screen gradients from crushed black levels and a reddish hue at the top of the screen to a acceptable black levels and an more green hue at the bottom of the screen. I can try to get some pictures with my DSLR tonight to illustrate. I'll have to compare to other S4's in the same scenario. In every day use its not too noticeable, but while watching video in a completely dark environment with the brightness all the way down it now bothers me some.
Anyone have a similar experience? Thanks!

Yes I notice it. It fixes itself if you change the brightness with an app. so I'm guessing its a weird kernel thing. It only happens when the keyboard is up
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

jetlitheone said:
Yes I notice it. It fixes itself if you change the brightness with an app. so I'm guessing its a weird kernel thing. It only happens when the keyboard is up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I notice it with or without the keyboard. I use the Display Tester app to display a full screen white or 50% gray and now that I look at it, the red hue at the top of the screen is visible at all but 100% brightness levels. What app were you using to dim the screen, I would like to try it out.
Here is an exaggerated image I made showing the gradation (50% gray). The top of the screen would be to the left. Black levels get crushed at the top of the screen also.
(Sorry for the bad image compression, my screen doesn't have the extreme banding in it!)

WestonWW said:
I notice it with or without the keyboard. I use the Display Tester app to display a full screen white or 50% gray and now that I look at it, the red hue at the top of the screen is visible at all but 100% brightness levels. What app were you using to dim the screen, I would like to try it out.
Here is an exaggerated image I made showing the gradation (50% gray). The top of the screen would be to the left. Black levels get crushed at the top of the screen also.
(Sorry for the bad image compression, my screen doesn't have the extreme banding in it!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
screen adjuster, lags like hell but you can see it fixes it.
set values +5 for each color.

batanuenio said:
I bought the s4 the first day it came out, after using it for couple of days i started noticing weird stuff on my photos, especially on low light photos... i went to att and one of the rep said its a known issue its called "elephant effect" im into photography and i havent heard that term before, he also said that it will be fix on the next update... so i went home and did some research about "elephant effect" unfortunately i cant can find anything related with my issue... i also did some pixel peeping and im 100% positive there's something off on the display of my phone.
Sample photos
These photos are just screenshots
You can see those weird artifacts on the pictures, i also compared my screen display to my coworker's phone and my phone was way off...
What i would suggest for those who wants to buy the new s4 or currently users, is to check the display by taking a photo on a low light and do some pixel peeping...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ill check that out; it looks like compression artifacts; what settings are you using when you shoot? also to internal or external SD card? and speed rating/brand/type of external SD card?

jetlitheone said:
screen adjuster, lags like hell but you can see it fixes it.
set values +5 for each color.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that and it made little to no difference on my phone. I went to the AT&T store on my lunch and compared my phone to the display unit. My phone has a noticeable difference. The rep at the AT&T store suggested I take it to the local repair depot... I've never been there before but I hope they don't try to pawn a refurb phone off on me to replace my 17 day old S4. I'll let you guys know what I find out.

Slade8525 said:
ill check that out; it looks like compression artifacts; what settings are you using when you shoot? also to internal or external SD card? and speed rating/brand/type of external SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using auto mode on my camera and used the internal mem.

batanuenio said:
I was using auto mode on my camera and used the internal mem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you zoom in, and what size (pixel wise) did you use? thats textbook macroblocking.

Hi my s4 have a yellow tint, i compare with other s4 and my s4 screen have much yellow in white screen, is faulty? Is possibile to fix it with gamma correction?

Smearing issue "fixed" in MF8 - The truth behind it

So, we all knew that the smearing issue happening in our phones happened generally around images/text on a black background.
Many of us thought this could be a software issue but in reality this is an hardware limitation (I know many users already know this but there are some still hoping for it to be a software issue).
I had a lot of issues with the first S4 I bought. Most of the issues were around the back light bleed on the bottom and screen color uniformity. After 3 months battling with Samsung with no end in sight, I bought a new one, this time I choose the white one.
The new one has nice whites and the screen uniformity is close to perfect (or at least it seems so, so far). After checking the screen for some hours, I decided the phone was good to be used and started by updating the firmware to the latest available to me (MF8). After this I went to the settings menu to setup some options and I was amazed to see the smearing was almost gone. I never believed it to be a software issue so I was very surprised by this.
However, my surprise ended very quickly when I check the screen on a dark environment. Samsung did not fix the smearing (as it is a hardware limitation and not software like I always thought) they just changed the background of the settings menu from pure black to a very very dark gray.
This can be confirmed if you go to the settings menu and check the background. Then while in the settings menu, drop down the notification back. The notification bar is pure black, while the setting background isn't. Check this on a room without any lights and it will be very easy to detect.
The whole point of this thread is to inform other people from XDA that Samsung just used a workaround (like everything done by Samsung) to "fix" this issue. There is no way to fix this, this is a refresh rate limitation of the screen. If you want the smearing to be gone you cannot have pure blacks.

Nandui said:
So, we all knew that the smearing issue happening in our phones happened generally around images/text on a black background.
Many of us thought this could be a software issue but in reality this is an hardware limitation (I know many users already know this but there are some still hoping for it to be a software issue).
I had a lot of issues with the first S4 I bought. Most of the issues were around the back light bleed on the bottom and screen color uniformity. After 3 months battling with Samsung with no end in sight, I bought a new one, this time I choose the white one.
The new one has nice whites and the screen uniformity is close to perfect (or at least it seems so, so far). After checking the screen for some hours, I decided the phone was good to be used and started by updating the firmware to the latest available to me (MF8). After this I went to the settings menu to setup some options and I was amazed to see the smearing was almost gone. I never believed it to be a software issue so I was very surprised by this.
However, my surprise ended very quickly when I check the screen on a dark environment. Samsung did not fix the smearing (as it is a hardware limitation and not software like I always thought) they just changed the background of the settings menu from pure black to a very very dark gray.
This can be confirmed if you go to the settings menu and check the background. Then while in the settings menu, drop down the notification back. The notification bar is pure black, while the setting background isn't. Check this on a room without any lights and it will be very easy to detect.
The whole point of this thread is to inform other people from XDA that Samsung just used a workaround (like everything done by Samsung) to "fix" this issue. There is no way to fix this, this is a refresh rate limitation of the screen. If you want the smearing to be gone you cannot have pure blacks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people really make me :crying:

MichelN said:
Some people really make me :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to elaborate on your comment?

i never had any smearing on my s4 so maybe is not a universal issue
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 4

It's not fixed and will never be fixed.
Maybe except some dirty trick such as replacing pure black with dark grey at kernel level etc.
I've lost hope.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda premium

changing the background color from black to dark grey wont do anything samsung....
i wish there was a real fix but sadly i dont think there will be because of the way this new amoled works

It's the technology, it's the amoled, it's all about the inertia. Sell your phone If u can't stand it. It can't be fixed. Period. Deal with it or get different phone.
Wysyłane z mojego GT-I9505 za pomocą Tapatalk 2

Am I the only one who NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM with my S4?

My s4 works perfectly. So keep me out of your bubble of mishaps.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

Smearing? Never experienced that in my i9500. Is it a myth?
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using XDA app

Some people seem that they don't care enough to even notice that the smearing even exists ...
Also in settings it was a bit annoying but i prefer to have pure black if that's the only disadvantage because i don't think it will proc in anything else other than scrolling because it won't need faster refresh rate ...
I'm not an expert in any form on this kind of things but when i upgraded my phone and saw no smearing in the settings i was first surprised but since i ve read that this is a hardware issue and i double checked it to notice that is a placebo ... but since my phone works as it should and doesn't annoying me with the things i want it to do i don't care that is that this "fix" it's just a cover to the problem and not an actual solution

joyo22 said:
Smearing? Never experienced that in my i9500. Is it a myth?
Sent from my Galaxy S4 using XDA app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone has smearing as well. They all do. Not seeing it yourself doesn't make it a myth

wanna see smearing? get some white yellow blue or something like that walpapper (stock blue is perfect), install MX Player from Market.
Get to menu, scroll to the page when the icon of MX Player is, now quickly swipe from right to left, you'll see that black part of icon is extending for maybe 0,1 sec...
That's the smearing, but many of users are pissed with this minor thing, which I can barely see.

drakexpl said:
It's the technology, it's the amoled, it's all about the inertia. Sell your phone If u can't stand it. It can't be fixed. Period. Deal with it or get different phone.
Wysyłane z mojego GT-I9505 za pomocą Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
So you knew that there will be smearing issue before you bought S4???
And also quite surprised so many people haven't able to observe this issue in their phones.

Yes, I knew that, It's still so tiny tiny issue comparing to those on HTC ONE or Xperia Z (I had Z and One before S4).

Everybody should just download screen adjuster and up the contrast to 13 or 15
That way it will still be very very dark gray looking black with almost non existent smearing. Problem (kinda) solved!

THANKS
soulzero said:
Everybody should just download screen adjuster and up the contrast to 13 or 15
That way it will still be very very dark gray looking black with almost non existent smearing. Problem (kinda) solved!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANKS MATE! This solved it all! I couldn't stand that problem, to the level I couldn't use ANY black background, thanks, thanks, thanks.

Andresgomezsar said:
THANKS MATE! This solved it all! I couldn't stand that problem, to the level I couldn't use ANY black background, thanks, thanks, thanks.
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Click to collapse
Why didn't my GT-I9300 S3 had this?
Why didn't my GT-N7100 Note 2 had this?
Why does my GT-I9505 S4 have this?
It makes me wonder.... do the Note 3 have it as well?

born4trance said:
Why didn't my GT-I9300 S3 had this?
Why didn't my GT-N7100 Note 2 had this?
Why does my GT-I9505 S4 have this?
It makes me wonder.... do the Note 3 have it as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because they didnt turn off black pixels completely until S4. Note3 should be same as S4
Sent from my GT-I9500

dragon135 said:
Because they didnt turn off black pixels completely until S4. Note3 should be same as S4
Sent from my GT-I9500
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noticed ... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=46123130&postcount=21

Weird green tint

has anyone else noticed this?
Weird Green banding in dark mode and low brightness
Did a factory reset for battery purposes and noticed this... didn't think i saw it before I reset it??
Soz for the bad pic but basically the left side has a big green tint

Yes... I think many of us have it. The display is also slightly yellowish when it is showing white colors when compared to Note 10+
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

So odd that i didn't notice before
Could have sworn it wasn't there before I reset

podface said:
has anyone else noticed this?
Weird Green banding in dark mode and low brightness
Did a factory reset for battery purposes and noticed this... didn't think i saw it before I reset it??
Soz for the bad pic but basically the left side has a big green tint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some users have reported that in Reddit and SamMobile. I posted a thread a couple of weeks back here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...n-affected-t4153251/post83406075#post83406075

I have reported this in this forum as well. Mine is more a yellowish tint to the overall display. When you look at chrome or YouTube in dark mode, you'll notice the blacks aren't as deep. I have come across 3 different note 20 ultra with the issue which leads me to believe most if not all units have this even if not many ppl report it.

I saw it yesterday when its on low brightness and dark mode on. Even when watching prime video there is green tint though I brought whole green hue to 0

Any of my devices with amoleds look green to me. Must be 65 y.o. vision. Did the trick of turning down the green all the way. No dice.
I use a neat app from the play store called Screen Balance which is a Godsend. You can really fix the tinting with it. I like cooler colors without green and it does the job... but... the saturation and contrast in the Ultra just isn't up to snuff. I only notice it when I put the phone side by side with the Note 9. I have Screenbalance installed in both devices, and the 9 beats the Ultra firmly.
Thoughts or updates?

dorpmuller said:
Any of my devices with amoleds look green to me. Must be 65 y.o. vision. Did the trick of turning down the green all the way. No dice.
I use a neat app from the play store called Screen Balance which is a Godsend. You can really fix the tinting with it. I like cooler colors without green and it does the job... but... the saturation and contrast in the Ultra just isn't up to snuff. I only notice it when I put the phone side by side with the Note 9. I have Screenbalance installed in both devices, and the 9 beats the Ultra firmly.
Thoughts or updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need an app for colour filters, it's also in Settings > Accessibility > Visibility Enhancements > Add colour filter
And also in the same location > Colour Adjustment

*Detection* said:
You don't need an app for colour filters, it's also in Settings > Accessibility > Visibility Enhancements > Add colour filter
And also in the same location > Colour Adjustment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I saw was Add Color Lens but at the lowest number washed everything over with the chosen color. Same with color adjustment-barely any changes with the sliders even though I do have the green at zero.
That app is the ticket for me. It has various filters for different screens and the one I chose I adjust for *just* a hint of blue-takes out the greenish without putting a visible tint over everything. I do it on every device I have and for me, works great. Believe me, I've tried everything with every amoled and it's the most workable for me, and I'm anal about this stuff. :rolleyes

dorpmuller said:
All I saw was Add Color Lens but at the lowest number washed everything over with the chosen color. Same with color adjustment-barely any changes with the sliders even though I do have the green at zero.
That app is the ticket for me. It has various filters for different screens and the one I chose I adjust for *just* a hint of blue-takes out the greenish without putting a visible tint over everything. I do it on every device I have and for me, works great. Believe me, I've tried everything with every amoled and it's the most workable for me, and I'm anal about this stuff. :rolleyes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I'm running the Android 11 beta so looks like they renamed a few things, but they're the same settings, yes I tried those settings too and got the same effect, I assumed that was what the app did too, looks like it works a bit differently to the stock settings method.
Great you found a solution anyway

*Detection* said:
Ah I'm running the Android 11 beta so looks like they renamed a few things, but they're the same settings, yes I tried those settings too and got the same effect, I assumed that was what the app did too, looks like it works a bit differently to the stock settings method.
Great you found a solution anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the app works reallt well. Did you try it?

dorpmuller said:
Yeah, the app works reallt well. Did you try it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the green tint issue thankfully, I did install it to have a look but the free version is limited to one colour and setting so couldn't explore it much, but have bookmarked it incase any future devices suffer from it, thanks.

dorpmuller said:
All I saw was Add Color Lens but at the lowest number washed everything over with the chosen color. Same with color adjustment-barely any changes with the sliders even though I do have the green at zero.
That app is the ticket for me. It has various filters for different screens and the one I chose I adjust for *just* a hint of blue-takes out the greenish without putting a visible tint over everything. I do it on every device I have and for me, works great. Believe me, I've tried everything with every amoled and it's the most workable for me, and I'm anal about this stuff. :rolleyes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the "Screen Balance" app! This app seems to be the only one that gives the fine tuning for white balance without turning Vivid mode ON. It has significantly reduced the yellow tint on my N20 Ultra. I did notice however that it makes the text on screen a little bit less sharp.

I don't have the green tint either. Was all in my head.
Then again maybe not. Lol. I see it and don't see it at night. Regardless of 120 or 60Hz.

VICosPhi said:
Thanks for the "Screen Balance" app! This app seems to be the only one that gives the fine tuning for white balance without turning Vivid mode ON. It has significantly reduced the yellow tint on my N20 Ultra. I did notice however that it makes the text on screen a little bit less sharp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did by going into visibility enhancements, personalized & chose the colours & voila natural mode is now much more white & saturated.

RISHI RAJ said:
I did by going into visibility enhancements, personalized & chose the colours & voila natural mode is now much more white & saturated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that also, but there was still significant yellow tint. The app helped me reduce the yellow tint quite a bit
Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Well the green tint keeps coming and going on mine.
Noticeable at low light and night time usage when device is in dark mode. Sent it back., I’m nothaving this issue hover over my head with no warranty after dropping over 4 digits on this device.

Limeybastard said:
Well the green tint keeps coming and going on mine.
Noticeable at low light and night time usage when device is in dark mode. Sent it back., I’m nothaving this issue hover over my head with no warranty after dropping over 4 digits on this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent it back for a replacement or returned it to go to a different phone ?

seczdbz said:
Sent it back for a replacement or returned it to go to a different phone ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ordered another one, unfortunately USA model with crippled dual sim functionality. Least I have 12 months peace of mind now. Oh well...

Limeybastard said:
I ordered another one, unfortunately USA model with crippled dual sim functionality. Least I have 12 months peace of mind now. Oh well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting.....I guess I'm one of the few lucky ones with no green tint or I'm just not noticing it....let us know how your new one is !!! The only "problem" I've had with mine is a little speck of dust inside the camera module but its not on the lens so it doesn't affect my pictures ??*