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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
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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?
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Yes smearing
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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
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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
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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?

Something strange with the screen, need your advise

Hi,
I got my S6 4 days ago and so far I'm really happy with it.
I have a tiny thing with my screen, can't even call it by a name and definitely don't know if it is an issue, so I'll try to describe it.
I noticed it by a mistake... after I got it, I opened the device, played with it to drain the battery in order to fully charge it.
When it went to 5% the device has reduced the brightness automatically to save the battery and than it appeared...
A one, look a like white pixel, somewhere around the middle of the screen that I didn't (and couldn't) notice before.
It stayed there no matter what i did or in which app I used.
After I got to 1% I plugged it to the power to charge it and than, when the brightness was automatically got brighter, it looked like
It disappeared... all looked fine.
After playing with it, I can summarize that I can clearly see this white pixel in 3 occasions:
1. When closing the screen, it appears for a millisecond on the black, like flashing and than the screen is shut off.
2. When opening the screen, the same, for a millisecond, like flashing.
3. When reducing the brightness.
In addition, if I am really trying, I can barely see it even in almost full brightness but just because I know it is there.
I understand that it is always there and because the brightness is high I can't almost see it.
I can say for sure that no one can see it if I won't point on it or mention it, even when closing the screen, you won't see it
unless you know it's there and you saw it after reducing the brightness.
Another strange thing (or maybe not) is that I took screenshots so I will be able to show it to you but it is not appearing over it
Even on a black screen - saw it but it is not there in the picture.
I can live with it, unless it is something can effect in the future. this is my only worry.
I know that the easy way is to go with the warranty, but as there are other issues with the screen like pinkish/yellow/green
Maybe if it's not an issue, better to leave it like that.
I really will appreciate your advise and opinion.

Dial *#0*#. Go Red, Green, Blue, Dimming. If the dot it's still visible in any of the tests you might have a dead pixel.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

pokr777 said:
Dial *#0*#. Go Red, Green, Blue, Dimming. If the dot it's still visible in any of the tests you might have a dead pixel.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it, and pretty much the same as I described.
Red, Green, Blue - Nothing
Dimming - See it just after dimming is happening, meaning just after the second click (on first click see nothing).
So, it's dead? half dead?
Can it be worse?
Like I wrote, it is bother me just because:
1. I know it's there
2. Mostly because I'm afraid how it will effect in the future or if it means that my screen is defect.
What do you think?
Thanks for your help.

This is a strange issue, normally the pixel is either dead or not, whats even stranger is that you and others are suffering from dead pixels, i tought this was a thing of the past with oled screens but clearly im wrong.
I have 1 suggestion for you, put on your google chrome browser in your phone, a very dark gray (not black) picture and see if you can spot that pixel in that background and report back please, while viewing the picture, play with the brightness, put it manual on max manual on medium and manual on low, be sure to check it in a dark-ish environment.

Same same.
In a room with regular lights:
Can spot it on full or 6/8 contrast just because I know it's there and even than it is really hard to notice it.
When put it on medium it is more visible but I'm not so sure that in "regular" looking someone will see it unless he will look for it or by a mistake it will jump on his eyes.
When put it in lowest - it is very clear and shine.
In a dark room:
Can spot is all the time but:
On full or 6/8 contrast it is noticed but not shine. like a brighter gray.
On medium or the lowest contrast - it is very visible - clear and shine.

Was your S6 ever opened? ) Maybe you have a small piece of dust under the glass? Screen protector? Try to check if it's visible in direct sunlight with the screen off.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

pokr777 said:
Was your S6 ever opened? ) Maybe you have a small piece of dust under the glass? Screen protector? Try to check if it's visible in direct sunlight with the screen off.
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't open, it is brand new.
I have a glass screen protector - can something like dust cause this kind of an issue? I don't think so (bit don't know of course) as if so I would see it all the time + it wasn't like showing/glowing for millisecond when closing the screen.
Doesn't' it?

Never leave your battery die! This is a common mistake people make. Lithium ion batteries needs to be charged as often as possible never leave it die as it will deteriorate the battery.
That strange pixel will probably settle after some use. The pinkish colour on the screen seems like a lot of people have that problem. That would be the only reason I would send that back for warranty

Hi,
I think that it is indeed a dead pixel. However as your phone has such high resolution and pixel density, I think it is harder to see sometimes.
Regarding the future of this problem, I don't think it will affect you more than this. I've owned some devices with dead pixels and never ever they gave me problems (my good ol Nintendo DS had 2 haha, I've been playing it since 2006 IIRC). But if you want professional guidance, maybe it's a good idea to take the phone to a Samsung Technical Center or something like that and show them the dead pixel (or try), and also talk about the pinkish screen.
All the best,
~Lord
Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Thanks for your help.
I went to the local Samsung store and it is indeed a dead pixel (or whatever) - They gave me a brand new device.
Regarding the battery, thanks for the information, I wasn't aware of it at all, I did leave it to die at first use as I was away, but anyway, even without knowing it, Today I charged it at around 30%
as usually I'm not waiting for it to die, but from now on I will give it more attention.
Thanks all.

S8+ AMOLED Display Quality (Red Tint Issue) - worse as previous Samsung devices

Hello fellow XDA members,
In the past I started some threads regarding Samsung AMOLED display quality, especially for the Note devices.
Please see here if you are interessted:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/general/note4-amoled-screen-quality-t2906365
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2463786
Now, with the S8+ (and the S8, the problem is the same), even the media recognized the display problems, known as "red tint", just google for it!
Samsung tells the people that this is due to wrong settings, and/or the adaptive display setting turned on! THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!
I got 2 pieces of S8+ today, and both displays are not OK. One screen has the red tint issue, but only on the upper half of the screen.
The other device has no red tint, but is generally darker and looks more "washed out" and has a slight yellow tint.
So again the display lottery is back, it is only "luck of the draw" if you get a decent screen or not!!!
If you do not believe me just compare a few devices beneath each other with the exact same display settings. Turn adaptive display off, then go into the dialer and type *#0*#, with this you ensure the brightness settings are the same and you have the same sceen content on both devices. You will notice that every single device has a different screen quality (tint, evenness, ...)
What do you say? Acceptable or not?

With all of us over at the tmobile shipping thread we've been waiting and crying and hoping that we get our devices early....and then when we finally got our devices ****ty things like red tint leaves a sour taste in our mouths..sad really, samsung already made this device feel rushed with all the Bixby and fingerprint scanner awkward positioning and what did we do after the note 7 debacle? We forgave these fools...and now this?....i do feel bad for those that actually paid full retail price for these expensive devices and to unbox and realize the screen is pink...that right there is not how to say forgive us for our mistakes instead a huge f u to all the customers who were unlucky enough to get such a horrible display color....but I will say I won the lottery because out of the box my s8plus came out nice no red pinkish tint whites are white...but why am I still pissed? Because my note 4 was the same whites were white and then after a year or so my eyes were fixed on a strange color that was taking up half of the screen that came out of nowhere...so yes I will be forever paranoid with sammys displays now....if my s8plus came in like that I don't think I would've came back....but then again I'm here lol

Settle down guys, this will likely be fixed with a future fw given the attention its gotten, this is pretty simple for samsung to fix actually, all samsung needs to do is what video games have been doing for years; offer the user an option to calibrate based a sample image. Once thats in, the presets can be established based off of those generated values from the user selection.
It seems like they will indeed need to implement a fix of this sorts, because it does seem the displays hue varys from device to device.
Anyways, for the most part, I hardly notice it and it seems even, and the more I look at it, the more i can't make sense out of it? Seems to play tricks on my eyes... lol.
Beautiful phone and display though!

cantenna said:
Settle down guys, this will likely be fixed with a future fw given the attention its gotten, this is pretty simple for samsung to fix actually, all samsung needs to do is what video games have been doing for years, offer the user an option to calibrate based on a sample image provided, once thats in the presets can be established based off of those generated values.
It seems they will need to implement thia because the displays vary so from device to device.
Anyways, for the most part, I hardly notice it, it seems even, and the more look at it the more i can make sense out of it, seems to llay tricks on my eyes, lol.
Beautiful phone and display though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a hardware problem, a real software fix IS NOT POSSIBLE!!!
Samsung can only try to cammo the problem with increasing the range of the color-sliders in the display settings, so that you can turn down red more then now. But this wont fix that the red tint is NOT EVEN ACROSS THE DISPLAY!!
What else proves that this is a hardware error is that if you put 5 devices next to each other (with the exact same settings), each of them will look different in regard to screen quality! Believe me, I know what I'm talking about, see my previous threads regarding that!

I agree that it should be even otherwise you may have a hardware problem but my concern is your criticism has more to do with amoled in gerneral and what we are observing is a consequence of the tech used. Samsung is also pushing the boundries here too with the display tech so the norms for amoled to compare to may not even apply anymore. And your comment to my comment regarding masking the problem, there is a reason why every display on the planet has picture settings.. right? No 2 displays are exactly the same...
I just went through the crap with my Surface Pro 4 too, trust me, they are a good example of no 2 displays alike, must have went though at least 11 Surface Pro 4 on my mission for perfection display and I had to give up in the end because truth is, its still an awesome device!

that happens when you get the early batches of s8+

h4ck3r69 said:
that happens when you get the early batches of s8+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely unacceptable reasoning. They shouldn't be putting out a product if the "early batches" are DEFECTIVE
Obviously it's a QC problem, which they seem to have some fairly big issues with, over and over.. They will lose customer faith if they keep doing this ****

ingenious247 said:
Absolutely unacceptable reasoning. They shouldn't be putting out a product if the "early batches" are DEFECTIVE
Obviously it's a QC problem, which they seem to have some fairly big issues with, over and over.. They will lose customer faith if they keep doing this ****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps but then again why did you buy a phone from samsung in the first place?.....

I was in the Samsung store yesterday for the launch party. They had 3 S8+ on display next to eachother. Each was running the exact same retail mode, showing the exact same content at the exact same time.
One display was white, one was red hued, and one was pee yellow.
(No, it wasn't display calibration settings, I checked).
There are definitely quality control issues.

GibMcFragger said:
I was in the Samsung store yesterday for the launch party. They had 3 S8+ on display next to eachother. Each was running the exact same retail mode, showing the exact same content at the exact same time.
One display was white, one was red hued, and one was pee yellow.
(No, it wasn't display calibration settings, I checked).
There are definitely quality control issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And which of the 3 do you have?

I noticed a slight pinkish tint when the shipping screen protector was on, but looks ok without it.

Something slightly different this year is there seems to be a pink tinge on all four sides of the display (top, bottom, left and right). It's a very consistent along the sides of the screen and very noticeable, a few people here have also noticed it: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/help/red-tint-screen-t3592335
So it's not just another pink/yellow/blue/green spotty tinge problem, theres now uniformity with the example i've provided.

I've got the S8+ and the screen is not red at all. The left and right edges if anything have a slight blueish tone to them but I believe this to be the effect of the screen curving to the sides distorting the colour (Colour shift?).
Unless you have bought one and have the problem with it, you have no right to complain.

cantenna said:
And which of the 3 do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine had a very slight pink tinge when I got it, at the very top and bottom (maybe half the status bar thickness), and it's since gone way.
The over all display color was a little too warm for my liking, so I knocked the red slider down to half, and now it's fine.

Got me and the wife one yesterday from At&t. No red tint and best phone yet. I love it.

My display is freaking beautiful and I love the fingerprint location. I never had any trouble. My finger finds it very naturally
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

TML1504 said:
Hello fellow XDA members,
In the past I started some threads regarding Samsung AMOLED display quality, especially for the Note devices.
Please see here if you are interessted:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/general/note4-amoled-screen-quality-t2906365
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2463786
Now, with the S8+ (and the S8, the problem is the same), even the media recognized the display problems, known as "red tint", just google for it!
Samsung tells the people that this is due to wrong settings, and/or the adaptive display setting turned on! THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!
I got 2 pieces of S8+ today, and both displays are not OK. One screen has the red tint issue, but only on the upper half of the screen.
The other device has no red tint, but is generally darker and looks more "washed out" and has a slight yellow tint.
So again the display lottery is back, it is only "luck of the draw" if you get a decent screen or not!!!
If you do not believe me just compare a few devices beneath each other with the exact same display settings. Turn adaptive display off, then go into the dialer and type *#0*#, with this you ensure the brightness settings are the same and you have the same sceen content on both devices. You will notice that every single device has a different screen quality (tint, evenness, ...)
What do you say? Acceptable or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
=======
im not tying to be a jerk but just curious what happens when you cycle the --blue light filter-- button in the pull down menu with the wifi, Airplane mode ect.
reason i ask my displays is perfect but with the blue light filter on which is to reduce eyestrain ..then the display is very red
Really did not know they had this till i play around with it

Jonathan-H said:
I've got the S8+ and the screen is not red at all. The left and right edges if anything have a slight blueish tone to them but I believe this to be the effect of the screen curving to the sides distorting the colour (Colour shift?).
Unless you have bought one and have the problem with it, you have no right to complain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an S8+ as per my posts in the other thread, so I have a right to complain.

Firstly, it could well be fixed by software, even if its uneven, HTC had issues with the camera doing this a number of years ago (big red spot in all pictures). It was fixed with software
Secondly, it might disappear with time. AMOLED, OLED and other self lighting technologies (like Plasma in TVs) have a bed in time, where some colour ranges need to burn in. I would suggest a full red screen using a screen tester app for a few hours, to see if it beds in the red.

Guys, I would like to take this device, there is a possibility of having a faded display?

AMOLED screen burn-in

I'm using Waze app every single day for about 1.5 hour.
in the past when i had galaxy S4, after 2 month of daily use, i noticed on white pages i still see all the static banners and buttons of waze.
baisically, using Waze in daily basis, burn-in my screen in the static area of the app like the up and down banners, speed meter etc...
Can it happen also in my new galaxy s8+? what to you think? did the amoled technology haven't changed a lot in the past 4 or 5 years?

There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far

Shaady said:
its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far.... the phone is pretty new so we can tell right now. hope it will never happen but my S4 experience keeps me worried about this phenomenon.

Shaady said:
There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked in Waze setting and could not find this option. Where is this option?

Shaady said:
There is a new feature in Waze called battery saver, it dims the screen when you are over a certain speed and a certain distance from the next instruction, that might help with it.
Though to be honest I use it for about the same amount of time everyday and don't even think about any burn in, its definitely not something that I've noticed happening on my phone so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't find this option in waze.... which app version installed on your phone? which country?

I had that problem with my s7 edge. I got it changed on warranty. I'm too scared to use waze on my s8+.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

mouzam said:
I had that problem with my s7 edge. I got it changed on warranty. I'm too scared to use waze on my s8+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much time did you use your s7 before the burn-in happen?
How much time you used waze each day?

Flame Red said:
I looked in Waze setting and could not find this option. Where is this option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today i received an update to waze from play store and the function was added :good:

Definitely can still happen on the s8+. I'd recommend not having your screen excessively bright while static images are on screen if you can help it. It's a pain but this is just an unfortunate trade-off with these beautiful screens.

xeathpk said:
Definitely can still happen on the s8+. I'd recommend not having your screen excessively bright while static images are on screen if you can help it. It's a pain but this is just an unfortunate trade-off with these beautiful screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.

pieces of cake said:
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry if you dont like it but its the truth. I absolutely love the Samsung phones so I'm not against the phone. I've had the Note, S3, S4, S5, S6E, S7E and now the S8+.
I'm the first person to correct somebody wrongly bashing these phones but in this case it is what it is mate. Its well documented and accepted as fact that screen burn in on Amoled is more prevalent than some other display technologies. You need to be a little bit more mindful with Amoled if you want to keep the screen looking nice with heavy use.

xeathpk said:
I'm sorry if you dont like it but its the truth. I absolutely love the Samsung phones so I'm not against the phone. I've had the Note, S3, S4, S5, S6E, S7E and now the S8+.
I'm the first person to correct somebody wrongly bashing these phones but in this case it is what it is mate. Its well documented and accepted as fact that screen burn in on Amoled is more prevalent than some other display technologies. You need to be a little bit more mindful with Amoled if you want to keep the screen looking nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on your response, it's apparent that you didn't quite grasp mine. Anyway, cheers!

pieces of cake said:
Based on your response, it's apparent that you didn't quite grasp mine. Anyway, cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on your first response you obviously didn't grasp mine at all whatsoever. I wasn't comparing Amoled directly to any other screen technology but the fact remains that the prevelance of screen burn in is generally higher than other screen types in general. That's not just conjecture on my part.
Its accepted fact. Also I'd appreciate it if you dropped the childish, rude and flippant attitude towards me. I was simply responding to your straw man argument.

xeathpk said:
Based on your first response you obviously didn't grasp mine at all whatsoever. I wasn't comparing Amoled directly to any other screen technology but the fact remains that the prevelance of screen burn in is generally higher than other screen types in general. That's not just conjecture on my part.
Its accepted fact. Also I'd appreciate it if you dropped the childish, rude and flippant attitude towards me. I was simply responding to your straw man argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, ok then. Enjoy!

XkobiX said:
How much time did you use your s7 before the burn-in happen?
How much time you used waze each day?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

mouzam said:
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah unfortunately its one of those things that you just have to be mindful of, even when you're not on full brightness.
I was pretty lucky with most of my galaxy phones especially considering how heavily I used them, although my S7E was an exception.
I still have the phone and after just 13 months you can clearly see discoloration on the screen and admittedly very feint burn in on UI elements ie. the status bar. The screen discoloration is pretty bad and perfectly matches the YouTube app, where the video is playing up top and the static white comment section below put uneven "wear" on my screen. I'm now trying to make a habit to watch longer YouTube videos in fullscreen to avoid a similar result.

mouzam said:
There was one week where I used it excessively. And I kept the screen full bright. When I saw the screen burn in with the arrow of waze navigation. I started looking up on the Internet to solve the burn in issue somehow. That's when I found out that it's a common issue on amoled screens apparently. And the only way to solve it was to send it back to Samsung for a repair or replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So they replaced it for you? If it is so common on amoled display, they still replace or repair burned in screens?

XkobiX said:
So they replaced it for you? If it is so common on amoled display, they still replace or repair burned in screens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes they did. I rang samsung and told them about the issue. They got the phone picked up from my house. I was expecting them to probably just replace the screen but to my shock they sent me a brand new sealed s7 edge.
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Amoled is notorious for burn-ins. I would avoid using any app for prolonged periods of time.

pieces of cake said:
It's not a trade-off. It can happen with virtually ANY type of display. LCD, LED, OLED, etc. No mobile phone display is immune.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for a carrier and never in my 14 years have I seen a LCD screen burn in I have however seen multiple AMOLED panels with burn in especially demo phones (yes on all day rolling content but so are the LCD models) this is a risk with organic displays to his point is true it is a trade off whichever way you sugercoat it

Burn in after less than 24 hours

Not even 24 hours. I don't even go pass 40% brightness. The burn in is towards the right corner of the screen next to the notch. It's not image retention because it would have faded away after a couple of minutes. Will be chatting with customer service in a few. I'll let you know the outcome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEcKTdIT3kLrux6yysTbyZthBq63MvOL/view?usp=drivesdk

MervinsOnlineID said:
Not even 24 hours. I don't even go pass 40% brightness. The burn in is towards the right corner of the screen next to the notch. It's not image retention because it would have faded away after a couple of minutes. Will be chatting with customer service in a few. I'll let you know the outcome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEcKTdIT3kLrux6yysTbyZthBq63MvOL/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are we to be seeing? I only see all white like the rest of the display.

It's basically the notification bar. Gonna try get a better angle.

bobbyphoenix said:
What are we to be seeing? I only see all white like the rest of the display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I just zoomed in all the way on the image, and I can't see anything...
Clickbait title is clickbait?

Most likely image retention, not burn in.

white ui must die!!!

I wish that it was clickbait. :crying: Don't really like to go through the whole RMA process again with Google. It's quite hard to snap a picture of it but this one captures it better than the original photo. I played a number of videos for an hour or so to see if it goes away. The image burn is still noticeable.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z-JIEXSZ5ZPRycYTsoJw91tA3ismkI_d/view?usp=sharing

MervinsOnlineID said:
I wish that it was clickbait. :crying: Don't really like to go through the whole RMA process again with Google. It's quite hard to snap a picture of it but this one captures it better than the original photo. I played a number of videos for an hour or so to see if it goes away. The image burn is still noticeable.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z-JIEXSZ5ZPRycYTsoJw91tA3ismkI_d/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's image retention. I don't see a thing. This is a non issue.

I think you might have a case of hypersensitivity.. I cannot see the slightest difference across any of the pics you provided
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's image retention, not burn-in. Many OLED displays do this. As long as you don't keep the phone at max brightness or still images on the screen for extended periods, this should not be a big issue.

Are you turning "off" the notch by enabling the black area around it? if so, that turns off the pixels and there will be some retention. I believe it is actually the rest of the screen "burning in" as it is being lit up and the area with the pixels being off now looking a bit different.

elreydenj said:
Are you turning "off" the notch by enabling the black area around it? if so, that turns off the pixels and there will be some retention. I believe it is actually the rest of the screen "burning in" as it is being lit up and the area with the pixels being off now looking a bit different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The notch is on. I haven't messed with that setting yet. I barely just finished transferring my data from my older phone when I noticed it. Well, hopefully it does go away.

MervinsOnlineID said:
Not even 24 hours. I don't even go pass 40% brightness. The burn in is towards the right corner of the screen next to the notch. It's not image retention because it would have faded away after a couple of minutes. Will be chatting with customer service in a few. I'll let you know the outcome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MEcKTdIT3kLrux6yysTbyZthBq63MvOL/view?usp=drivesdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you hide the notch?

Crazycat362 said:
Did you hide the notch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Haven't touched that setting yet.

Damn Google went with a Samsung panel this time on the XL you would think the burn in problem was solved... I'd suggest running an app to fix that there are a few on the play store... Could help

Can't see what you're talking about in those pictures at all tbh

For what it's worth I did see it in your first pic but really wouldn't worry about that. I'm confident it will fade as you continue to use the phone without "hiding" the notch.
Also, what screen protector is that? I'd greatly appreciate a link.

sn0warmy said:
For what it's worth I did see it in your first pic but really wouldn't worry about that. I'm confident it will fade as you continue to use the phone without "hiding" the notch.
Also, what screen protector is that? I'd greatly appreciate a link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Here is the screen protector. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FNNJ4TY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's very responsive. However, the edges are lifting. I guess it will do for now until whitestone dome decides to release one for the Pixel 3 XL.

Almost 48 hours in and ZERO burn in. I checked yesterday and just now with an all white picture and a grey one. Zip. I've had a lot of screen on time the last two days too. Let's see what things look like in a week. If nothing then, I won't be too worried about it. The 2 xl's that had burn in problems showed quite a bit after a few days to a week.

Been hiding the notch on mine since I got it on Wednesday. Have not noticed anything at all on mine. Using Nacho Notch to hide it and still have the notification bar on the sides of the notch. Just blacked out with white text like a few phones that have done this. Plan on leaving it like that for the whole time I have my phone as it gives more screen area for other things.
Now I just need root to completely remove the navigation bar so that I can go back to Pie Controls...