[Q] Screen Quality - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi everyone,
It's my first time using a Nexus device.
I just switched from Samsung Galaxy S2.
With the samsung screen, the black is a real black whereas in the Nexus the black shows the backlight of the LCD (or however it is called now) screen so there's this white glow coming out when it supposed to be pure black screen.
I'm not referring to when the phone is off, I'm referring to when it suppose to display pure black background like when using the Daydream clock feature.
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand if this is how it supposed to be
Thanks

gil80 said:
Hi everyone,
It's my first time using a Nexus device.
I just switched from Samsung Galaxy S2.
With the samsung screen, the black is a real black whereas in the Nexus the black shows the backlight of the LCD (or however it is called now) screen so there's this white glow coming out when it supposed to be pure black screen.
I'm not referring to when the phone is off, I'm referring to when it suppose to display pure black background like when using the Daydream clock feature.
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand if this is how it supposed to be
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's normal. Use this for awhile and then go back to the s2, I have one too. You'll see how much better this screen is.

I agree that sharpness and colours are amazing on the Nexus but it's not the black colour / contrast I got used to from the S2.

I came from an S3 and I love the screen quality. I can actually see my phone in daylight.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

gil80 said:
I agree that sharpness and colours are amazing on the Nexus but it's not the black colour / contrast I got used to from the S2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
samsung uses samoled screens, the blacks are blacker and the colors are more vivid. but, samoled screens dont show the real colors, they are much more overly saturated. oh, and black.. samoled dont light up pixels for black, thats why it seems blacker.

klin1344 said:
I came from an S3 and I love the screen quality. I can actually see my phone in daylight.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could see as well with the S2
Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not complaining or anything... I just didn't know if the black I was expecting to see on the Nexus is about the same as in the S2...
Unfortunately, I must admit that the S2 presented a much deeper black and the Nexus 5 displays white glow rather than black.

IPS != AMOLED
S2 -> AMOLED. That's almost pure blacks and too saturated colours.
N5 -> IPS. In the N5's case, pretty accurate colours, but with background light, cause the tecnology is like that. You're not gonna get black blacks with IPS. The panel is quite a lot better in every other aspect though.

thanks @Molitro
I agree that besides the blacks, this screen is amazing

As others have hinted, only Oled screens can turn their pixels off complely (0nits) and that's why they can do cool things such as active notifications on the Moto X. When looked on head on the black levels of the Nexus 5 IPS screen are quite good compared to other non Oleds. Infact it out right destroys my desktop and laptop Tn displays in that regards.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Related

The contrast ratio is terrible on this phone

Forget the bleeding lcd edges , its the horrible contrast on this phone that will probably cause me to return it.
After coming from the inky black Amoled screen on the Nexus s , this is the most disappointing aspect of otherwise top of the line phone. You can't get a true black on this phone , the best it does is dark glowing gray. In fact anything with a black background looks gray , not total absence of light Black.
I realize that this phone has an LCD screen not an amoled screen , but I never thought the difference would be this pronounced. Example : when I power up my Nexus S the screen is pitch black and when the white Google logo appears , it will appear to floating in space in a dark room. The G2x display will put off it own light, making it very visible in a dark room.
Deep blacks are awesome but I find this screen better in other areas over AMOLED/SAMOLED IMHO. You have to pick what matters to you. I don't spend a ton of time looking at blacks so doesn't bother me
mobilehavoc said:
Deep blacks are awesome but I find this screen better in other areas over AMOLED/SAMOLED IMHO. You have to pick what matters to you. I don't spend a ton of time looking at blacks so doesn't bother me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed with you sir. The colors on this phone are awesome and I come from a Galaxy S 4G.
Its up to but every G2X I have sold out my store as well as mine the screen looks great. I am loving this phone for everything it has. Way better then my N1.
There's nowhere you can compare contrast of AMOLED because it's unlimited.
However, I think the black on G2x is a bit "darker" than my MT4 (good screen).
Prod1702 said:
Its up to but every G2X I have sold out my store as well as mine the screen looks great. I am loving this phone for everything it has. Way better then my N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree... My moves encoded to WVGA 800x480 @2500k bit rate look great or just as good as my SAMOLED.
The blacks on AMOLED will always be darker than the blacks on LCD that uses backlighting. The blacks on amoled doesn't have light behind it so its gonna be darker, because there isn't a light source lighting up behind it. This comparison doesn't make sense. If you compare the GX2 any other LCD display on a phone it will out shine it hands down.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
I am coming from a Vibrant and find the G2x display easier on the eyes. Yes the blacks looked better on the S-AMOLED but the colors are more natural on the G2x. However what I find to be most important is text look a lot better on the G2x display than the Vibrants Pentile display. I don't have to zoom in anymore to read text on webpages like I did with my Vibrant.
I have a thunderbolt and a nexus s also. The nexus s just sold on eBay. As previously stated you can not compare the blacks on a nexus s with the G2x, two totally different technologies. But compared to the thunderbolt the G2x shines. And the G2x has more clarity and better whites. When compared to the nexus s. G2x has great viewing angles. Over all a great screen, once you get past the back light bleeding.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
moemoney12 said:
I have a thunderbolt and a nexus s also. The nexus s just sold on eBay. As previously stated you can not compare the blacks on a nexus s with the G2x, two totally different technologies. But compared to the thunderbolt the G2x shines. And the G2x has more clarity and better whites. When compared to the nexus s. G2x has great viewing angles. Over all a great screen, once you get past the back light bleeding.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed completely
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Do you like the One S display?

I just want to know if you satisfied with the One S pentile matrix screen. I have a Sam S2 and recently bought a One S (S3 chipset) and i noticed the lcd is very pixelated (if its a real word, sry for my English) compared with the S2's screen. Its not too bad but noticeable and a bit disappointing. How you live with this?
gszabi said:
I just want to know if you satisfied with the One S pentile matrix screen. I have a Sam S2 and recently bought a One S (S3 chipset) and i noticed the lcd is very pixelated (if its a real word, sry for my English) compared with the S2's screen. Its not too bad but noticeable and a bit disappointing. How you live with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By not being incredibly picky. The phone wasn't cheap, so before I signed a contract, I made sure I was happy with every aspect of the phone. While I do agree it's pixelated, and that my Sensation had slightly better quality, I am incredibly happy with the screen. I'm rarely centimeters away from the screen so I can live with it especially because the color reproduction is amazing.
gszabi said:
I just want to know if you satisfied with the One S pentile matrix screen. I have a Sam S2 and recently bought a One S (S3 chipset) and i noticed the lcd is very pixelated (if its a real word, sry for my English) compared with the S2's screen. Its not too bad but noticeable and a bit disappointing. How you live with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you just get used to it after a while. I couldn't stand the screen when I first got the phone, It stopped me using it regularly because I just used to get annoyed at the screen! (sad I know) But now I don't even think about the screen because I'm so used to it. I came from the Desire S which had a S-LCD display and a 480x800 display so that was a very good screen considering it was only 3.7 inches! I found the amoled colours of the one s to be extremely saturated. I didn't like the yellowish/blueish whites and the fact that every time you slightly changed the angle of the screen the colours would turn slightly blue. Text looked pixelated especially on a white background, that doesn't help considering a key part of sense 4 settings is all white background. It took me a good month to get used to the screen and 3 months in, I'm used to it Possibly getting the Nexus 4 soon so doubt I'll have much longer with this phone anyway.
Sorry for the little off topic might pickup a one s didn't want to start a new thread...
I saw the one s at my local fido store and damn its so snappy even whit sense !! But i tried the one x and it was somewhat slower is this normal ? Flicking through homescreens just werent the same..
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
I did notice it some when I first got it, but I really don't anymore at all, and like was said above, I'm never close enough to my display to really notice it. I think the screen is incredible, as is every other aspect of the phone. I LOVE my One S.
I thought it would annoy me, but the phone was free so I decided to bite the bullet. I've had the phone 6 months now, and I really don't notice it at this point.
I love the one S display, sure the screen isn't as sharp as the GN, GS 3 and one X etc. and you don't get as much screen real estate but everything else is just as good, if not better:
- one of the best screens in sun light, don't even have to put my screen above 70% brightness in direct sun light in order to be able to make stuff out easily and this is on a darkish background too, MUCH better than the GN and GS 2 in this area
- colour reproduction is superb, my screen is pretty much perfect, whites are super white, brighter white than my dell u2311h, iirc a review site stated that the screen is better calibrated than the GS 3 SAMOLED screen
- no tinting at all on mine, usually with AMOLED screens you get a blue or yellow tint, which is noticeable at angles on whites but not on mine (this varies with every single screen though)
- of course blacks are black and the viewing angles are superb
- high contrast ratio etc. so games and videos look great
I only notice the pentile when looking at white text on black backgrounds and a few icons, but only when I really look for it and have my face pretty close to the screen. I find the one S screen to be sharper overall compared to the GS 2 screen.
I have had the one S beside the GS 2, GN and GS 3 and personally I didn't like the GS 2 screen at all, res. is too low so things are huge (felt like an old man using a phone designed for people with poor eye sight ), colours are far too saturated/warm. The GN screen is nice and sharp but the colours aren't saturated enough, rather dull over all and plus both phones are poor in comparison to the S for view ability in the sunshine. The GS 3 screen is great, better than the GN, however, I think the one S screen looks better for colours.
Anandtech more or less summed up my thoughts:
What’s different, however, is how well HTC has controlled the color temperature and gamma compared to Motorola in the RAZR. As shown in the HCFR galleries below, gamma is pretty close to 2.2 until you get to the high end, and color temperature is pretty close to 6500K, except at the two darkest grey points. This is so much better than any other OEM calibration of an AMOLED panel I’ve taken a look at, which is rather humorous because the panel is undoubtably Samsung’s. HTC is also letting the panel go pretty bright, up past 350 nits, instead of clamping it way down around 200 (I’m looking at you, Galaxy Nexus) to save power. I also haven’t noticed blacks not being totally off on the One S like I have with some others. Of course, colors are still massively oversaturated if your source color space is sRGB.
I’ve griped about PenTile RGBG before on this panel and other SAMOLED displays, but I find the One S to be completely enjoyable in spite of having it thanks to two things. First, how well HTC has controlled the panel (no awful hues, weird white points, or dramatic shifts as you change brightness) - this is basically the best I’ve seen this particular panel, and until SGS3, the best I’ve seen AMOLED in general. Second, because HTC doesn’t appear to be applying any processing that applies sharpening (like Samsung’s mDNIe) to text.
How you feel about PenTile really is the final factor: it’s there, but I’ve slowly become accustomed to it after staring at it for so long. If you go back to the Nexus S days, I was one of the most outspoken critics because of how large those subpixels were. With small enough subpixels (below visual acuity), PenTile starts to make sense. In other news, HTC moving back to Samsung AMOLED for phones is an interesting move after supply issues forced HTC to SLCD with some earlier phones, here on the HTC One S however, it looks great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5868/htc-one-s-review-international-and-tmobile/6
My solution: Get old. You probably can't see all the minute issues you guys think matter, and you don't really care if you do. Every phone I've ever had has had a better screen than the previous and I think that's pretty nice.
I hate the screen, drives me nuts. I found that using a theme that mostly uses blacks and whites makes it more bearable though.
mbh87 said:
I hate the screen, drives me nuts. I found that using a theme that mostly uses blacks and whites makes it more bearable though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to agree. Thing is apart from the screen it's a fantastic phone. It's so fast, battery life is great and the camera is great. I don't even think the screen would be that bad if it wasn't pentile it's just the fact that it's a pentile display it makes the phone look way more pixelated than it should be
I think I need to go to specsavers, I've never noticed a problem with the screen.
The screen on this is amazing. Don't notice any pixellation whilst on it . It's quite an improvement over my old Wildfires QVGA 3.5 inch 240x320 TFT display.
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2
If you switched from Wildfire you cant see this but if you had any phone in the alike pixel density and resolution you can see the difference. According to others opinion its not bad, the perfect color saturation, contrast etc will eliminate the bad feeling about those subpixels.
HTC does calibrate their screens nicely
I suppose it depends on what you're used to. When you come from an iPhone or high-end LCD-screen you probably will get annoyed with this display. However, when this is your first touchscreen smartphone or when you had a smartphone with a low-end display before this one, you will probably be able to cope with the slight pixilation.
Personally, even with this being my first touchscreen smartphone and coming from an E72 with a PPI of about 170, the display of this device would be the only reason for me to buy a One X or Nexus 4. That being said; you don't buy a smartphone solely for its display, you buy it for the complete package (price, battery, design, display, size, cpu/gpu, storage, support, OS, cloud integration etc.). And for me, the package the One S offers is more compelling than that of most other smartphones one the market.
I compared the One S screen to that of my Galaxy Nexus and honestly, when it comes to clarity, there isn't much of a difference. If you are in your twenties with near perfect eyesight and able to hold the phone less than a foot from your face then you will probably see pixelation but at normal distances it isn't an issue. For me it seems that anything above 250ppi is fine - my original Galaxy S was less (I think 233ppi) and that display was pixelated to me, but then again it was an earlier generation screen, I'm sure there have been other refinements besides resolution since then.
One S 256 PPI
Sam Galaxy S2 217 PPI but looks sharper.
Its all about the pixel placement, pentile matrix is a pattern. This matrix gives us better colors because more subpixels. Google for it there are many info i cant explain it in english
I come from an LG Optimus 2x, 4'' ips display, 800x480, and I feel this display better IMHO.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
gszabi said:
One S 256 PPI
Sam Galaxy S2 217 PPI but looks sharper.
Its all about the pixel placement, pentile matrix is a pattern. This matrix gives us better colors because more subpixels. Google for it there are many info i cant explain it in english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I said Galaxy S, not S2.
Yes the S2 was/is superior despite the lower resolution thanks to the RGB arrangement (not pentile). The original Galaxy S was pentile, and not that great by today's standards.
It's okay, but I'm actually kind of unsatisfied with the blacks. I thought it would be completely black, but when I have a black picture shown on the phone in a completely dark room, the screen still lights up
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

Note3 AMOLED Screen Quality *edit: tested 6 devices so far*

hi,
i just started this thread to get your opinions regarding the display quality of the note3!
i have to admit upfront that i'm a hypocrite when it comes to amoled screens, so far i had to switch all of my amoled devices a least 5 times until i got a unit which satisfied me. done this with the first note, and also with the second.
as far as i can say the screen of the note3 is the best i've ever seen (by far better black-levels as note1 and note2), although i also identified a few flaws as well:
the color RED has very bad viewing angles: when tilting the device a little bit the color gets orange immediately.
try this by enter *#0*# in the dialer, and click on "red" then tilt the device. let us know how "your red" is, thx!
the gamma of the screen is totally screwed: can see down to "1" in gammatest.png:
the disadvantage of this is that you are actually able to see dark grey screens which you should not.
on the left side of the screen border there is a small strip which has also more gamma then the rest of the screen, in menus etc.
this is clearly visible when its dark around. also only visible when at least a little grey is to display, pure black is ok!
this week i will test one or two more note3's, just to have a comparison and to determine if the quality spread is as big as with previous devices. for note1 and note2 the differences between devices were really huge. some screens were near to perfect, most of them had flaws with color unevenness.
what are your impressions?
and: do you care?
regards,
markus
edit 03.10.2013:
just got my second note (this time from amazon.de): the screen is considerably better!! the "more gamma" strip on the left side is non existent on the second device, in gammatest.png the screen is much more uniform! also the red viewing angle is better, it still fades to orange when tilted, but not as much as with my first device!
conclusio: the big differences in screen quality are still existant, it's still luck of the draw if you get a decent one or not...
also the general build quality differs: on the second device the pcb is not exactly in the middle of the casing, the camera hole is not centered in it's protrusion, and the power button extends a little more out of the casing.
again, i may be a "little" freaky about this things, but for > €700 I want to have a decent device!
screen quality is very important for me, because i read a lot with the device, especially in dark environments where the left gamma strip i mentioned was really annoying! i also showed this to a few colleagues of mine, and they agreed.
edit 04.10.2013:
another finding: when CPU load is high, the brightness jumps between a lower (darker) and a higher (brighter) state, even if brightness is set to manual: both devices show this behavior, although not exactly identically: my first device needs more load to start with this (it takes longer), the second one starts the dimming relatively early.
how to test: load a stress test tool (cpu prime benchmark from google play) and let it run, set the brightness to manual maximum and wait.
you will see that after a few seconds the screen will go darker, and will switch between this states. this is independent from the brightness level, it is only better seen at maximum!
i guess this is some power and/or thermal limitation (when more cores are under heavy load), it would be interesting how this kicks in in summer when ambient temperatures are higher...
edit 25.10.2013:
just to let you know: i'm now through 6 devices, all of them had display flaws in terms of uneveness.
a issue most of the devices suffer is the lower dark half of the screen: on 4 of my 6 note3's the lower half of the screen has been signifcantly darker then t´he upper half,
one had a very bad gamme increase on the left 2mm, one had a bad gamma increase on the top 2cm. 4 had a warmer white, two of them were more cold (more blue). could be due to missing or wrong factory calibration...
what is gone is the "blotch issue" i had with sgs2, note1 and note2, and: black is now really black!
but on dark grey levels the uneveness is clearly visible, look at the attached "gammatest.png"
this shows the lowest grey tones. and should be a very visible gradient from top to bottom.
go in a totally dark room, open the pic, zoom in max, and navigate to the top left corner. then pull the
picture down, and look how the numbers fade. for example: "6" should be at the same brightness level on top
and bottom of the screen. it definitely is not...
go out and test for yourself, and post your findings!
Hi there, I should be receiving my N3 next Wednesday. Are the blacks the 'true blacks', as in taking the phone in a pitch black room and blacks cannot be seen?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
cd993 said:
Hi there, I should be receiving my N3 next Wednesday. Are the blacks the 'true blacks', as in taking the phone in a pitch black room and blacks cannot be seen?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OLED screens are the only ones I know of that can get true black. With OLED the pixels make there own light so no back light is needed, thus black pixels are not being used at all so a black image has a nice inky black color. You notice it the best when you have a colorful picture with black in it.
Malkozaine said:
OLED screens are the only ones I know of that can get true black. With OLED the pixels make there own light so no back light is needed, thus black pixels are not being used at all so a black image has a nice inky black color. You notice it the best when you have a colorful picture with black in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, but this is a wrong statement. all amoled screens so far were NOT totally black, even if you displayed a totally black image! the reason is that if the screen is active the display controller is powered (which is the case when displaying a black image, and not if the screen is "off") which can be seen as a faint and VERY dark glow. you can only see this when the room in which you are is totally dark, and your eyes had time to accommodate. to make it worse: on all AMOLED devices i've seen so far there were patterns (like hair lines and blotches) in this grey glow, due to the manufacturing technique used (lithography).
see for reference:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1365032
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1986338
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1949306
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=32803480#post32803480
and so on...
so the question of cd993 is reasonable!
answer: note3 is the first device where i cannot see this dark glow, even in a total dark room! so a big improvement on this side. not sure what they changed, but the glow is definitely gone!
Red turns orange here to, but it doesent bother me as the screen is nice overall. Much better than my note 2
Red turns orange when screen is tilted, yes. Black are true blacks in Note 3. If you go to a pitch black room, and display a completely black screen in Note3, the phone will blend in and disappear.
Thanks guys, cannot wait to receive my device!!
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
TML1504 said:
hi,
i have to admit upfront that i'm a hypocrite when it comes to amoled screens, so far i had to switch all of my amoled devices a least 5 times until i got a unit which satisfied me. done this with the first note, and also with the second.
regards,
markus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please make a quick guide of what to test and what to look for on a new note 3, in order to decide whether or not to return or warranty claim. Basically: On arrival, what would you check for, and what result would make you return it and get a replacement? How much of any issue would be ok for you to keep it..?
N3 screen : brighter and look better than Note 2 and S4 but still can not compare to the best IPS screen about white color
TML1504 said:
i have to admit upfront that i'm a hypocrite when it comes to amoled screens, so far i had to switch all of my amoled devices a least 5 times until i got a unit which satisfied me. done this with the first note, and also with the second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll do that with any Android phone whether LCD or AMOLED because their screens aren't individually calibrated (iPhone's are). So there's some degree of acceptable production tolerances that means all built won't be identical. So whatevery you went through before you'll go through again with the N3.
Oled = true black
LCD = true white
Sent from my note 2 ya bish!
Today I got my N3 and all I can say its SUPERB!!! Abs everything
My only concern with AMOLED is the blotches that show on a grey screen in a dark environment like the first time I noticed it using Facebook. I had to replace my first Note II and even the second has some blotches but not quite as big and bad.
I've attached a grey background for your convenience to see if your AMOLED has blotches. You'll need to be in a dark environment like reading at night without the lights on (simulate by going into the bathroom and turning off the light).
mi7chy said:
My only concern with AMOLED is the blotches that show on a grey screen in a dark environment like the first time I noticed it using Facebook. I had to replace my first Note II and even the second has some blotches but not quite as big and bad.
I've attached a grey background for your convenience to see if your AMOLED has blotches. You'll need to be in a dark environment like reading at night without the lights on (simulate by going into the bathroom and turning off the light).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My ps vita has those blotches really bad!
You only see them in a pitch black room but I think they are the same thing.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app
Pointing out to OP that the leaking light on the Note 2 (and s3) is extremely reduced in the S4 and Note 3 - you should not compare the Note 3 with the Note 2 in that aspect.
Black wallpaper on n3 = better battery life then?
Other than seeing imperfections in impractical situations, is there anything about the display that is actually bad in normal use? I mean do you see whites on this phone and think, hmm that's more of an off-white or is it like so small in difference that you need a color spectrometer to prove that it's not "true" white?
mi7chy said:
My only concern with AMOLED is the blotches that show on a grey screen in a dark environment like the first time I noticed it using Facebook. I had to replace my first Note II and even the second has some blotches but not quite as big and bad.
I've attached a grey background for your convenience to see if your AMOLED has blotches. You'll need to be in a dark environment like reading at night without the lights on (simulate by going into the bathroom and turning off the light).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean. I had that on my note 2. Not so on my note 3. When I open black screen in a pitch black room, the phone becomes completely invisible as it blends in perfectly with the dark. And yes, I'm not exaggerating. It's the deepest black I've ever seen on any display, it's like the phone is actually turned off.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hi Guys!
Need info about PURPLE SEMARING. Does the Note 3 has this issue? Because all the S4 has this semaring issue although it has a pitch black. Please confirm this purple smearing. If it's totally pitch black and without smearing it will be the perfect screen out there
Thanks guys! :highfive:
iede said:
Hi Guys!
Need info about PURPLE SEMARING. Does the Note 3 has this issue? Because all the S4 has this semaring issue although it has a pitch black. Please confirm this purple smearing. If it's totally pitch black and without smearing it will be the perfect screen out there
Thanks guys! :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely pitch black...
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app

Used the GS6 last night, can't stand AMOLEDs anymore

I never really cared much for the AMOLED VS LCD wars, my favorite screen was whatever panel had the best calibration and just looked most natural.
Given that Samsung's new AMOLED panels are extremely well calibrated, I was a little more excited to take a look at their panels over a slightly longer period of time. I've definitely toyed with their latest gen at B&M stores, but I finally had a chance to really sit down and compare my new X with my GF's new work phone, the S6 edge.
The first thing you notice about the S6's whites are that they're not white like on the X, they're sort of green-tinged. The S6 also offers multiple screen modes, but the whites are still the same in nearly every mode.
The Samsung AMOLED panels really excel when you're looking for depth in very dark scenes, but for an average person like me who likes to surf the web, white backgrounds are what you'd encounter the most.
And considering that material design will be the standard for a at least a couple more years, I don't see my opinion changing at this point.
I for one, am glad that Moto went with an LCD screen this time around. Yeah, moto display is worse off for it, but whatever, that accounts for literally 1% of my on-screen time.
Agreed. Coming from super amoled to this screen is a blessing.
Bangin' on my unlocked/rooted
Moto X Pure
eh. my note 4 amoled looks damn good. the whites on the moto x don't seem as white which is funny. maybe I just have a warmer panel, but the whites are a bit warmer on the LCD compared to the amoled which is opposite of what it used to be.
Sent from my Moto X Pure Edition
i've always been a huge fan of LCD over AMOLED. I always consider it a plus when a phone has LCD. Would gadly take the small hit on battery life. I always like to "cooler" whites and LCDs seem to do a better job of it. By far my favorite screen to date is the one in the G4. It's the closest i have seen to a LCD that can hit deep darks and be bright like AMOLED but hold the good LCD whites I miss it sometimes
I know! I used to love my amoled on my note 3 but after switching to an ips lcd damn it looks so gorgeous and none of those yellow whites anymore!
I was thinking of getting S6 after reading all that praise to supper accurate and great amoled panels then I went and checked it out my self just to find out its not entirely so. Black's in the darks have very little gradient and are simplybtoo dark. If set sreen to basic mode to get sRGB color space whites are not whites but dull yellowish . I checked couple of panels and they all looked the same. I honestly don't get all that buzz around this panel.
I returned my moto x pure edition precisely because whites were yellow. It was as bad as my current Note 4. I'm now wondering if my Moto x Pure was defective. Try it again or wait for 6P? Decisions. Decisions.
The 6P may be yellow, or white. It seems that it's a crap shoot with all phones no matter the brand or the tech used for the screen.
AM08 said:
I returned my moto x pure edition precisely because whites were yellow. It was as bad as my current Note 4. I'm now wondering if my Moto x Pure was defective. Try it again or wait for 6P? Decisions. Decisions.
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You can always wait for a kernel and change the color balance tho
The 6P might have the same problem, like someone said, every phone its kind of a lottery with the screens
I was thinking about getting the 6P but considering that i would only get the 64gb version, i dont know if i could justify the extra $150
Enviado desde mi XT1095 mediante Tapatalk
Me too. I like LCD displays over AMOLED. LCD in my experience always tends to be brighter with white looks really white.
However, this doesn't seem to be the case with moto X PE. I got a screen with yellow tint. White pages look really yellow when I put it next to my OnePlus One. I wish there is a way to change the screen color temperature.
Moto's own feature (moto display) makes a really good use case for amoled though. I do prefer LCDs, but ambient display and moto display are features I really really like, and LCDs just kill that for me. I'm on a nexus 6 right now and it seems really accurate, not too warm or over-saturated.
I'm fine with the 6P's amoled screen until I see a LCD again and I get sad. It's a trade off, deep blacks and yellow/pink whites or whites with shallow blacks (although the G4 has impressive blacks for a LCD)
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Contrast (true blacks)

How well do you know your fifty shades of grey? Rate this thread to express how good the Huawei Nexus 6P's display contrast is. A higher rating indicates that black is true black, rather than a very dark gray.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Great contrast thanks to AMOLED
It gets backly black as if the screen was off exactly like other OLED displays I've used(S4, Note 4, S6)
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
AMOLED
/thread
Actually, in real world usage blacks are pretty poor/washed out, unless you're in a dark room. When the screen is off you can see the surface of the screen is much lighter than, say, Samsung AMOLED phones. It's more like greenish dark grey rather than black so even if the actual pixels are turned off, it doesn't look black. It's even worse than many LCDs. I have no idea how come no one has mentioned this in any reviews, or at least I've never seen it.
Jockson said:
Actually, in real world usage blacks are pretty poor/washed out, unless you're in a dark room. When the screen is off you can see the surface of the screen is much lighter than, say, Samsung AMOLED phones. It's more like greenish dark grey rather than black so even if the actual pixels are turned off, it doesn't look black. It's even worse than many LCDs. I have no idea how come no one has mentioned this in any reviews, or at least I've never seen it.
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ROFL are you hallucinating? My 6P's blacks are pitch black. The way I can tell... The edge of the screen, when black, is equal to the blacks on the top and bottom of the screen.
Eric214 said:
ROFL are you hallucinating? My 6P's blacks are pitch black. The way I can tell... The edge of the screen, when black, is equal to the blacks on the top and bottom of the screen.
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Except that is not true. Take a look at the screen when it is turned off. The surrounding bezel is truly black but the screen itself is greenish gray, meaning blacks are not getting darker than that. Then look at a Samsung AMOLED phone and you'll see it's the other way around, it's the screen itself that is as black as it gets. Samsung obviously uses different filters/polarizers which result in much better blacks in anything other than total darkness. I just compared my 6P to an old Galaxy S2 and again, the S2 has much deeper blacks thanks to the actual surface being much darker. You only really get true pitch black when you're using the 6P in a dark room. Otherwise blacks are pretty much on par with your average LCD, which is a poor result for an AMOLED screen.
Jockson said:
Except that is not true. Take a look at the screen when it is turned off. The surrounding bezel is truly black but the screen itself is greenish gray, meaning blacks are not getting darker than that. Then look at a Samsung AMOLED phone and you'll see it's the other way around, it's the screen itself that is as black as it gets. Samsung obviously uses different filters/polarizers which result in much better blacks in anything other than total darkness. I just compared my 6P to an old Galaxy S2 and again, the S2 has much deeper blacks thanks to the actual surface being much darker. You only really get true pitch black when you're using the 6P in a dark room. Otherwise blacks are pretty much on par with your average LCD, which is a poor result for an AMOLED screen.
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Well, it's true on mine. Maybe your panel is different then mine. I just compared my 6P to my Note 4 and they look the same. Which makes sense since Huawei buys there panels from Samsung so they are the same panels. Only difference is Samsung panels get a few nits brighter.
Guess we can agree to disagree. Especially since you can get different quality panels from phone to phone. Just like that can happen on Samsung phones.
Oh and I forgot, there are no filters to make blacks, black as you don't filter light on Amoled screens. The pixel just doesn't receive power so the pixel is off, not filtered. What you are referring to is an LCD panel, not Amoled
Eric214 said:
Well, it's true on mine. Maybe your panel is different then mine. I just compared my 6P to my Note 4 and they look the same. Which makes sense since Huawei buys there panels from Samsung so they are the same panels. Only difference is Samsung panels get a few nits brighter.
Guess we can agree to disagree. Especially since you can get different quality panels from phone to phone. Just like that can happen on Samsung phones.
Oh and I forgot, there are no filters to make blacks, black as you don't filter light on Amoled screens. The pixel just doesn't receive power so the pixel is off, not filtered. What you are referring to is an LCD panel, not Amoled
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It has nothing to do with pixels being off. Look here https://technology.ihs.com/509943/w...izer-technology-trend-of-amoled-use-polarizer
Remember the first Nexus, the Nexus One? It also had an amoled screen, with terrible blacks. How was that possible? Because the actual surface of the screen was so reflective, if there was even a little bit of ambient light reaching the screen it would completely wash it out. Whether the actual pixels emitted any light was irrelevant in any other conditions other than complete darkness.
There are no different panels being used on the 6P. Just take the phone out of a dark room and you'll see the screen is clearly not as black as the bezels when it's turned off. I have so far compared it to the following phones: Note 5, S6 edge, S4, S4 mini, S2. All of them have deeper blacks than the 6P due to their surface being darker. It may be a Samsung panel but it's not the same one as used by Samsung on their devices. Even Anandtech have mentioned it uses different lamination which actually provides slightly better viewing angles. What's strange is that the more off angle you go, the lighter the surface appears. Can be seen in this video comparing the 6P to the 5X http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtDCBSKQV8&t=3m44s Obviously it's not as bad when looking head on but it's still pretty poor for an amoled screen.
Jockson said:
It has nothing to do with pixels being off. Look here https://technology.ihs.com/509943/w...izer-technology-trend-of-amoled-use-polarizer
Remember the first Nexus, the Nexus One? It also had an amoled screen, with terrible blacks. How was that possible? Because the actual surface of the screen was so reflective, if there was even a little bit of ambient light reaching the screen it would completely wash it out. Whether the actual pixels emitted any light was irrelevant in any other conditions other than complete darkness.
There are no different panels being used on the 6P. Just take the phone out of a dark room and you'll see the screen is clearly not as black as the bezels when it's turned off. I have so far compared it to the following phones: Note 5, S6 edge, S4, S4 mini, S2. All of them have deeper blacks than the 6P due to their surface being darker. It may be a Samsung panel but it's not the same one as used by Samsung on their devices. Even Anandtech have mentioned it uses different lamination which actually provides slightly better viewing angles. What's strange is that the more off angle you go, the lighter the surface appears. Can be seen in this video comparing the 6P to the 5X http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtDCBSKQV8&t=3m44s Obviously it's not as bad when looking head on but it's still pretty poor for an amoled screen.
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Hmmm sorry man mine is just black. Agree to disagree. Can't say any better then that. I'm moving on. If your not happy with the phone for that reason, sell it and get a Samsung.
Well, it was nice discussing with you but one may as well say "mine is pink, agree to disagree". It doesn't really mean anything as far as facts go.
I just took out my old Nexus 5 and surprise surprise, it absolutely kills the 6P when it comes to black depth in well lit conditions. The surface of the screen simply reflects way too much light.
Hahaha so many people here producing disinformations...
AMOLED, especiall Super, has 0.098% of light coming thru when fully black but on. That's the blackest as it gets.
6P, Note's, S6, S7. have the BEST SCREENS around. And by far.
Turn on sRGB mode in developer options if u want, a bit washed, but 100% accurate colors. What u see is what u get on print. But why would u use that, unless you're a professional photographer like me.
mihovil13 said:
AMOLED, especiall Super, has 0.098% of light coming thru when fully black but on. That's the blackest as it gets.
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Coming through what? Screen surface reflectiveness is what matters the most when it comes to black depth outdoors. LCDs have extremely high MEASURED black levels in comparison to AMOLED but you can't see that outside because of ambient light. Case in point, the 6P looks worse than most good LCDs outside. It's like when people claim plasma TVs have amazing blacks but forget to mention that is only true in low light conditions.
Jockson I understand and agree with you. The screen on the 6P has a lighter surface color than the black bezels above and below which is noticeable. It isn't a major detractor from the visual quality screen on, but I agree that in a bright setting, blacks don't get to be as black as could be. It isn't bad by any means, but unless you get a completely black unreflective layer it may not be easy to improve (or Samsung is hogging it all to themselves).
Either way, you're right though the quality of the screen is still really good on the 6P so, yea. Still like my 6P, even after using a HTC 10 with it for the past 6 months. Both great, but the 6P has me returning to it more, for now.
Finally someone understands what I'm talking about. I don't want to "sell this phone and buy a Samsung then". I already had the Note 5 and got rid of it for the 6P. Love this phone, love the screen as well in low light conditions. But this really caught me by surprise. I've switched to a full black theme and outside, it really shows how washed out it really is. On a cloudy day outside, blacks on the Note 5 look almost perfectly black and yet the 6P next to it looks horribly washed out and more like greenish grey. I knew it wouldn't compete with the Note 5 in direct sunlight but it's pretty disappointing that it loses out considerably in medium light conditions as well. And not only to the Note 5 but to the ancient S2 as well. The display surface just doesn't look like any Samsung amoled phone ever which is pretty strange.
Jockson said:
Well, it was nice discussing with you but one may as well say "mine is pink, agree to disagree". It doesn't really mean anything as far as facts go.
I just took out my old Nexus 5 and surprise surprise, it absolutely kills the 6P when it comes to black depth in well lit conditions. The surface of the screen simply reflects way too much light.
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I agree with this completely. It's pretty hard not to notice that there is a definite green/brown tint to the display in contrast to the surrounding black bezel when in good ambient light. I came from a Nexus 4 and I was immediately disappointed by this aspect of the 6P display. Since then I have reconciled this disappointment with the fact that the 6P is overall a fantastic phone with substantially better value than other premium phones.
I'm not 100% sure that it's much better on Samsung devices because Samsung goes out of its way to mask this issue by making the top and bottom bezels of their phones different (non-black) colors. I'll even go so far as to suggest that the curved display on the Edge was a gimmicky attempt to obscure this issue. This, among others, is an AMOLED problem and why Apple hasn't used them. Still love the 6P, especially now on Nougat.
You are absolutely right regarding Samsung making their bezels non black. Even on their black phones bezels are often very, very dark grey. But still, their screens do have far less reflective surface. I wasn't really sure myself was it such a big difference until I compared it side by side with the Note 5, S6 edge and S2. The 6P just looks green and very washed out in comparison.
People often forget it's the perception of contrast that matters, not the absolute measured black level. LCD often gets criticized for poor contrast but visually it has deeper blacks than plasma and CRT do, except in low ambient light. Same story with the 6P. Great blacks when there isn't much light around, otherwise pretty poor and washed out.
Jockson said:
You are absolutely right regarding Samsung making their bezels non black. Even on their black phones bezels are often very, very dark grey. But still, their screens do have far less reflective surface. I wasn't really sure myself was it such a big difference until I compared it side by side with the Note 5, S6 edge and S2. The 6P just looks green and very washed out in comparison.
People often forget it's the perception of contrast that matters, not the absolute measured black level. LCD often gets criticized for poor contrast but visually it has deeper blacks than plasma and CRT do, except in low ambient light. Same story with the 6P. Great blacks when there isn't much light around, otherwise pretty poor and washed out.
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Well yes if the screen is off and you're in sunlight, you can see the difference from the bezel. That's normal for every phone. I rarely use my phone in direct sunlight. I'm talking about normal use and when the screen is on, I can not tell the difference if say the status bar is black and the edge/top/bottom of the bezel. So if you're just talking about screen off and in bright light/sunlight.... that's every phone basically. But I don't stare at my phone and worry about how dark the screen is when it's off.
Eric214 said:
ROFL are you hallucinating? My 6P's blacks are pitch black. The way I can tell... The edge of the screen, when black, is equal to the blacks on the top and bottom of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. I usually root to get the tinted navigation bar but this time i didn't root to get that because the blacks are usually same as the bezel of the phone which looks damn good.
Eric214 said:
Well yes if the screen is off and you're in sunlight, you can see the difference from the bezel. That's normal for every phone. I rarely use my phone in direct sunlight. I'm talking about normal use and when the screen is on, I can not tell the difference if say the status bar is black and the edge/top/bottom of the bezel. So if you're just talking about screen off and in bright light/sunlight.... that's every phone basically. But I don't stare at my phone and worry about how dark the screen is when it's off.
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Click to collapse
How dark the screen is when it is turned off IS what the blacks actually look like. It can't look any darker than that, the screen doesn't emit the "black" color When there is bright content on the screen it just tricks your eyes/brain into thinking black areas are darker than they really are but in reality, contrast is still pretty poor.
I'm not talking about direct sunlight either. Even in medium ambient light blacks wash out considerably. Certainly MUCH more than they do on Samsung AMOLED phones and most LCDs so no, not every phone is the same. The 6P display just isn't very good in this regard.

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