Are screen dimming apps really that bad for OLED? - General Questions and Answers

I used to often hear that apps that put an overlay over your screen to make it dimmer or a different color were really bad for OLED screens. Is this true? I don't see how just making the pixels dimmer would damage it in any way. Sometimes OLED screens don't get dark enough at night so it's nice to have an app to add some dimming, works way better than on an LCD

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How black wallpaper can save your battery

In the smartphone market the majority of displays are either AMOLED or LCD, but many people don't know that the wallpaper color you choose, yes, wallpaper, can actually make a difference to your smartphone battery life depending on the type of screen with which your device is equipped. Pure black wallpaper, or a dark-colored background in general, can actually save you a significant amount of battery life.
Display tech explained: LCD
LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display and it's the same kind of technology you'll find in your televisions, monitors and so on. As the name suggests, Liquid Crystal Displays are actually crystals, and as such, they don't emit light of their own but rather transmit light from a light source behind them.
This means that even if you're looking at black on your smartphone or tablet screen, it is actually black lit up from behind. Therefore, LCDs don't really display "true" black
Display tech explained: AMOLED and OLED
Next, AMOLED. AMOLED stands for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode and it is also used for televisions screens but more notably, for smartphones. OLED displays are similar, but do not use an Active Matrix.
Samsung displays, for example, are usually AMOLED: the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 4 all use an AMOLED display. The LG G Flex 2 uses a Plastic OLED display and the Google Nexus 6 also uses an AMOLED screen.
As the name implies, the screen is made up of organic material that actually produces light when a current is passed through it – electroluminescence. Because AMOLED displays can be lit up pixel by pixel like on the Moto X, black is "true" black because there is no back-lighting.
This also means AMOLED displays are easier on your battery because every pixel is not always lit up.
Battery life: AMOLED vs LCD
AMOLED
You can probably see where this is going: if you have an AMOLED display then you can actually save some battery life by using black wallpapers, or generally darker wallpapers and themes.
little experiment and figured out that you can save about 6% battery life/hour at 20% brightness by using a black wallpaper on an AMOLED display, and about 8%/hour at full brightness.
These results are based on an always-on screen, but the basic theory is sound even if the figures are not exactly set in stone. Another tester using a different method came up with a general 18% saving all day.
LCD
What about LCD battery saving wallpaper, I hear you ask? Sorry, LCDs rely on back-lighting, so there's nothing you can do to save battery there.
The only thing you can do is set your device settings to Battery Saver mode and try not to turn your screen on all the time. Keep your display brightness as low as possible and your screen timeout nice and short.
The good news is you can have the brightest colored wallpaper and themes imaginable and it won't make a difference to your battery. Just think about that when you look at the gloomy screens of AMOLED owners clinging to extended battery life (just don't stray too far from a charger while you gloat).
Other battery life tips for AMOLED screens
There are other things AMOLED owners can do to maximize their battery life too, like setting as many app themes to be as dark as possible.
If you can change the appearance of a bunch of apps you use frequently (or download a different app that does the same thing but that does allow appearance customization), you can save even more battery life.
After all, we don't spend all day on our home screens but more time in apps. You can also set your text and email preferences to be black background and white text, depending on your device and chosen apps.
The easiest way to figure it out for yourself is to fully charge your device as is and wait until it's almost totally dead and look at how much of your battery was used by the display. Just go into your Settings menu and look under Device Settings for Battery.
Make a note of the percentage your display has used up, then, while recharging your phone, switch to a black wallpaper and repeat the cycle to see the difference.
Great app :good:

Anyone has "backlight" in the Always On display?

I noticed that when I have Always On display at maximum brightness, the device turns on many random white pixels in the area that was supposed to be black, kind of simulating a LCD backlight.
It is noticeable by exposing the sleeping phone to a bright light so it will go to maximum brightness while Always On, then turning off the lights while the brightness is at maximum you can see the "backlight" (white pixels in the black area). As soon the phone adjusts the brightness you can't see it any more.
Here are some pictures, comparing maximum brightness, low brightness and also comparing to a S8.
https://imgur.com/a/pZgzT
Please note that by taking a picture makes it more evident, in reality it looks just like a LCD backlight, not a star constellation like in the picture. Even though it is not bad in reality I am concerned because this should not happen in a black screen in an OLED display right?
I tried replicating this with a regular image and I cannot, I can only see it while in Always On display.
Anyone else having similar issues with the regular Pixel 2? Or even in the 2 XL? I did not notice this happening when I had the 2 XL.
My blacks have always had that LCD type backlight look. I was wondering the same thing but I've seen others with it so I just assume it's the design. Not keen on it but it's not the end of the world for me
To me it only happens in always on display. If I have a black picture on my screen it doesn't show this "backlight"

Display

Amoled or OLED screens are overrated, Poco-f1 screen doesn't lag behind in any circumstances.:cool
Yeah, but it drains more power even with an all black setup.
Hemudon said:
Amoled or OLED screens are overrated, Poco-f1 screen doesn't lag behind in any circumstances.:cool
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Lo. I wonder if you have ever used a Samsung device with sAMOLED display? Just place both a sAMOLED and a LCD display side by side and see the difference.
Rowdyy Ronnie said:
Lo. I wonder if you have ever used a Samsung device with sAMOLED display? Just place both a sAMOLED and a LCD display side by side and see the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Previous phone was Galaxy S8, I don't find much of the experience difference.
IPS LCD and AMOLED displays has advantages and disadvantages
IPS LCD has that AMOLED doesn't have:
-Sharpness and Clarity is good
-Natural Colors (AMOLED is little saturated on Colors)
-Can recover to accidental burns or screen burns (AMOLED cannot recover on screen burns thus leaving white marks)
-Longer pixel life (AMOLED's pixel quality degrades over time)
AMOLED has that IPS LCD doesn't have:
-Improve battery life as turning off pixels without backlight (Good for Dark Themed apps, videos, photos)
-Brightness and Contrast is good
-Good Viewing angles
-Always-on Display (IPS LCD cannot support this due that it uses backlight rather than turning off black pixels thus increasing power consumption)
Verdict:
No clear winner. It is the preference of both users and the manufacturer on what type of display they want to use. This is why Xiaomi uses IPS LCD Displays because it is cheaper than AMOLED ones. The target is being a budget flagship-tier phone thus achieving it.
Rowdyy Ronnie said:
Lo. I wonder if you have ever used a Samsung device with sAMOLED display? Just place both a sAMOLED and a LCD display side by side and see the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah best done with a gray picture so you can see the burn in on the oled. After some burned oled I only buy IPS screens.
I can't understand the "true black" hype as there is no such thing in real life and as the brain even can interpret white as black if the contrast is right.
As long as OLED tends to burn in, it's a no-go for me.
faeArai said:
Yeah best done with a gray picture so you can see the burn in on the oled. After some burned oled I only buy IPS screens.
I can't understand the "true black" hype as there is no such thing in real life and as the brain even can interpret white as black if the contrast is right.
As long as OLED tends to burn in, it's a no-go for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Three reasons why Xiaomi should go the OLED route :
True black :
Here's an example of true black :
On you Poco, go to full screen settings and turn off the notch. Now to two top corners are rounded as the bottom ones. Now go to a dark room, as if you were using your phone at night. Well you still see the top corners of your phone's screen on. Of course that color is black, but it's awful. (In a dark room you see it better, but I see it in the sun as well).
Always-On-Display or AOD :
You can't have AOD on an ips panel. End of the story.
Brightness :
Outside in full daylight, I constantly have to block sunlight off the screen and put it right up to my face to see what's on it. OLED is way brighter.
Bonus :
Dark mode is here in the MIUI beta and coming to everyone later. MIUI 11 will have it out of the box. This means phones with OLED screens will have a great battery advantage over ips.
Also - OLED and AMOLED tend to use very low PWM which may give you a headache/migraine.
For instance - Xiaomi Mi 8 with AMOLED panel has backlight that flickers at 100 Hz, Samsung S9+ has AMOLED panel with backlight that flickers at 215.5 Hz while Pocophone has a backlight that flickers at 2315 Hz (source - notebookcheck reviews)
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Why-Pulse-Width-Modulation-PWM-is-such-a-headache.270240.0.html
Rowdyy Ronnie said:
Lo. I wonder if you have ever used a Samsung device with sAMOLED display? Just place both a sAMOLED and a LCD display side by side and see the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have pros and cons, both of them. While sAMOLED has better contrast, black colour, and often better viewing angles, IPS has most of the time better colour accuracy and it's better to look at while exposed to direct sunlight. I mean, you use the one which suits you the best. Unfortunately, Xiaomi uses probably some cheat IPS panels, so they look worse compared to some higher end phone with IPS panels.
True black is just an excuse ??
And amoled panels aren't bad or anything. They are just over rated and people say. Amoled- amoled l. Look it's not that a big of a deal.
And battery consumption difference is just minor
Like 3 or 4% through dark mode in amoleds too
So what's the hype
I just said Poco-f1 LCD panel is just as good as OLED
If not it's only a difference of 19-20
Nothing more
Ill always prefer lcd. When i bought the phone i had to keep it on over night for data transfer via wifi as i had no pc , to keep the wifi transfer app alive i had to keep screen timeout to never, on morning i noticed lcd retention all over the screen ?(similar to amoled burn in but not permanent), had it been an amoled surely my screen would have to be replaced day 2 of buying a new phone. I had to use the phone screen a lot but the Lcd retention went away completely after around 8 hrs:victory:, so no amoled ever unless they fix burn in!
lol this thread is like a circlejerk. my poco f1 has crappier display than my a2. it has the lowest quality lcd possible. this comes from someone who has used over 37 android smartphones throughout this decade with many being top tier flagships.
But poco F1 has a comparatively dim display even for an LCD. Under heavy sunlight it becomes difficult to see the display. On S10 for example you can clearly see it in any condition. That is why they bumped up the brightness in the poco X2

Display isn't bright?

Have had the Note 20 Ultra from T-Mobile since Wednesday and then phones been be great except for two flaws. One is native gestures still not working 100% smooth with third party launchers - which is okay, I am using FNG anyway, but another is the screen brightness.
Despite being in direct sunlight, the panel doesn't get bright. Samsung claims 1500 nits of brightness, it definitely doesn't get there through either manually sliding the brightness or setting it to auto brightness. Definitely isn't as bright as my OnePlus 8 Pro.
I've annoyingly factory reset the phone to no avail. Anyone else having issues?
Yes, it's not great .... my Note 8 is brighter in normal use.
The panel does get brighter in strong daylight but the maximum manual brightness is poor.
AhsanU said:
Have had the Note 20 Ultra from T-Mobile since Wednesday and then phones been be great except for two flaws. One is native gestures still not working 100% smooth with third party launchers - which is okay, I am using FNG anyway, but another is the screen brightness.
Despite being in direct sunlight, the panel doesn't get bright. Samsung claims 1500 nits of brightness, it definitely doesn't get there through either manually sliding the brightness or setting it to auto brightness. Definitely isn't as bright as my OnePlus 8 Pro.
I've annoyingly factory reset the phone to no avail. Anyone else having issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is some kind of protection bec extra brightness for long time damage Amoled displays so they decided to limit it in normal usage
It's bright but the white point is um, weird.
Reminds me of the Surface Pro IPS panels, always, always, too green!
And the ability to adjust RGB levels has nary an effect!
I want the ability to calibrate the display properly FFS!
I know it's a decent display but gimping the calibration ability makes about as much sense as putting bias ply tires on a Ferrari!
cpufrost said:
It's bright but the white point is um, weird.
Reminds me of the Surface Pro IPS panels, always, always, too green!
And the ability to adjust RGB levels has nary an effect!
I want the ability to calibrate the display properly FFS!
I know it's a decent display but gimping the calibration ability makes about as much sense as putting bias ply tires on a Ferrari!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read what samsung say about its Dynamic Amoled panels you will understand why the white looks weird , they have implemented a Hardware blue light filter which filters the harmful blue light emissions that is why all new samsung displays show white a llitle yellowish , It might not be the best looking but is is safe for your eyes and renders a more accurate colors.
hoss_n2 said:
If you read what samsung say about its Dynamic Amoled panels you will understand why the white looks weird , they have implemented a Hardware blue light filter which filters the harmful blue light emissions that is why all new samsung displays show white a llitle yellowish , It might not be the best looking but is is safe for your eyes and renders a more accurate colors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the point of having that?
It's clearly inferior to my professional displays.
Proper calibration and white point is *everything*.
It does NOT look yellowish, it has too much green.
That looks horrible.
After using it for a day I cannot believe how much better my Mac, 11 Pro Max and S20 Ultra looks.
Can you please tell me if the screen isn't bright if adaptive mode is turned off? (120hz)
Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk
Brava27 said:
Can you please tell me if the screen isn't bright if adaptive mode is turned off? (120hz)
Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Its significantly brighter with it off
mickeyleah said:
Its significantly brighter with it off
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Yeah, that is what someone pointed out. Thanks
Compared to the Note 10+ it's significantly brighter even in 120Hz, and I often need to lower it even with the adaptive brightness on.
It's somewhere around 1/5 or 1/6th of the brightness bar.

The LCD's blacklevels

How is the LCD's black levels? Also at the lowest brightness.
SaladEsc said:
How is the LCD's black levels? Also at the lowest brightness.
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Click to collapse
Hi. I got the device today and I'm fairly impressed with the black levels from this LCD display. Even with low brightness.
The panel, at least mine seems pretty homogeneous and viewing angles are good.
Ah, and I'm coming from an amoled screen (Samsung A71).
well thats brilliant and reassuring thanks Patoilo , I ordered mine a day ago and my context is as a movement and cognition impaired (light and sound sensitivity,reduced memory) disabled dude I keep inducing burn in on OLED displays after 1 year to 18 months AND the PWM brightness moderating method plus pentile subpixel arrangement all mess with my vision and comfort when trying to read. I was super excited to see this combination of 120hz, LCD, big battery etc - the physical size is the only draw back but its mitigated by the reliability of both the screen robustness (not going to burn in or discolor over time) and the fact this thing should last a long time even if I had to go to hospital halfway through it charging
Ill report back about the display when the phone arrives especially stuff like how pronounced any ghosting is at 120hz, how nice the 1080p+ clarity is now that im not on Pentile etc
Im very impressed with the display, coming from a oneplus3 oled, this display is so much better.
Colors are much more vibrant, black level is good and the display is massive in size.
Watching movies in 21:9 with the dual speaker is insane.
One think to note, with "dark mode" enabled it changes multiple colors like white to dark grey, yellow to dark orange etc. so dont keep that always enabled.

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