Hello XDA,
I've searched around for this problem a bit, and it seems this issue hasn't been brought up anywhere. If it has, then I apologize.
The S2 has an awesome display with great colors, blacks included, but I noticed this issue one night when I was watching a film on my S2. When the display is showing black/dark images you can clearly see what appears to be glue smudges all over the screen, especially along the rims. It is only noticeable when there's little to no other light in the surrounding environement. Increasing brightness seem to worsen the problem.
It is hard to describe and very difficult to capture on camera but I made an attempt. I can't post links yet it seems but here's an imageshack url:
img842.imageshack.us/img842/5420/blotches.jpg
The image was taken with a Canon 450D with 20 sec exposure (hard to focus when it's that dark I'll tell you). Edited slightly in photoshop to cut down the size.
Here you can see the general color of the screen (gray-ish) and some of the blotches of (what I'm guessing is) glue in the back. If I had to guess I suspect the blotches might come from the capacitive touch layer of the screen. Is this an issue or is it to be expected on phones like these? It's not a major problem but it's actually quite annoying when you're watching a film/youtube clip/playing a generally dark game or whatever. Should I return my device? I've used it for just about a week and a half.
Thanks in advance for any help.
i have this too, its the AMOLED display. you can turn the screen off and on and you'll see it go off n on. not the sgs, but amoleds generally. my omnia HD had this too (1st gen AMOLED)
the blacks are not 100% black i say
Im having this too, nothing to worry about this as it doesnt disturb the beautiful display of this mobile.
Related
I just got my refurbed Tab yesterday. I've owned many tablets over the last year, but I've never experienced a soft kind of glowing effect on dark parts of the screen (like in a dark scene in a video, or even the bottom control bar) when viewed at any angle at all. The image almost becomes difficult to see unless you're looking straight ahead. I only notice this when there's little to no ambient light in the room (which is when 90% of my tablet usage is- reading or watching a movie in bed).
I compared with my touchpad in the same scenario and while there was a *very* slight glow, it wasn't nearly as bad as on the gt 10.1.
I found next to nothing on Google about this. Does anyone else get this, or do I possibly have a bad refurb? It's a shame because I'm completely in love with it otherwise...
neags23 said:
I just got my refurbed Tab yesterday. I've owned many tablets over the last year, but I've never experienced a soft kind of glowing effect on dark parts of the screen (like in a dark scene in a video, or even the bottom control bar) when viewed at any angle at all. The image almost becomes difficult to see unless you're looking straight ahead. I only notice this when there's little to no ambient light in the room (which is when 90% of my tablet usage is- reading or watching a movie in bed).
I compared with my touchpad in the same scenario and while there was a *very* slight glow, it wasn't nearly as bad as on the gt 10.1.
I found next to nothing on Google about this. Does anyone else get this, or do I possibly have a bad refurb? It's a shame because I'm completely in love with it otherwise...
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Is it coming from the sides? If so, it's LCD screen bleed. It unfortunately happens with backlit LCD panels. It doesn't appear to be too common with the Tab as I haven't seen it mentioned before. I'd send it in for repair while it's under warranty. They changed the screen design in October and you'll get it back with a better display then it has currently.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
No, it's not from the sides. There's no bleeding. It's on the screen itself. It's almost like kind of a ghostly white glow on top of the dark colors on the screen. A shimmering effect, maybe? I'm not sure how else to describe it.
neags23 said:
No, it's not from the sides. There's no bleeding. It's on the screen itself. It's almost like kind of a ghostly white glow on top of the dark colors on the screen. A shimmering effect, maybe? I'm not sure how else to describe it.
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if possbile post the screenshot.
Hm. I guess i'm not explaining it well.
While it is on the screen itself, it's only when you tilt the device to the viewing angle isn't straight on.
Here's a thread from a different forum discussing it:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1546595
There are also youtube videos showing it, like this one:
http://youtu.be/-eA2IjlotJU
I just compared my G-Tab with an ASUS Transformer, and it was still there on the Transformer, but not as bad as the G-Tab.
There are a few threads out there that have touched on this issue but none as far as I can see that deal with it directly.
The problem comes when you display a pure black screen in low light conditions. It shows that the AMOLED screen is actually grey / blotchy / cloudy instead of being pure black. Initially I thought mine had fingerprints or smudge marks on it, until I realised they were behind the screen. I guess I might have got a phone with a screen that was replaced, but the amount of people who have also reported a similar issue leads me to believe that it might be a manufacturing default? The blotches / clouds on the screen dont change, but exhibit a random formation as one would expect from a defect. It is also possible to see a very faint outline of light running along 3 edges of the screen.
Naturally this is a situation that doesnt reveal itself very often. But I as I use my phone a lot at night, especially reading ebooks or watching films, you start to notice it more and more where you have large expanses of empty black screen.
What I would like to know is how many people have got screens that exhibit this behaviour and how many of you have sent them in for service or had them replaced?
Is it a common issue and something that is to be expected from this type of screen?
You can test if yours has this problem using 'Screen Test' (its free) from the market place. It cycles through solid colours and patterns every time you touch the screen.
Just do it in bed with all the lights out P), give your eyes a few seconds to adjust and see what your screen looks like displaying pure black.
I'm very interested in everyone's experiences and any input or information you have.
Thanks everyone in advance!
ps: I came from a ZTE blade (OLED) which has a uniformly dark grey background when displaying pure black. I kinda expect this as it is a budget phone (albeit with a better than budget screen), but I didnt expect the SGS2 to be quite as bad.
Use "screen adjuster" from the market and set contrast to -60
i have never seen this black low light screen defect. but i am asking you people if any of you have noticed that ugly blurry shadows which are perfectly visible with low light, on white backgrounds especially. they look like marks above the actual display and make high quality images look like low resolution.. it is annoying as hell..
I have this. Noticed it one night when my phone was switched off and charging.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
I also have this, noticed the first evening i used the phone...you can notice this during the screen wake delay, or when in a call if you cover then uncover the proximity sensor...don't know if it's a defect but sure it bugs me, i know many won't notice it and will say they don't have this...i will add that if u look carefully to the screen dimmed at lowest brightness in a low light (buy not dark) environment, like early morning, you'll see some "interferences" behind the image, also the darker/yellower left half screen is still visible in these conditions
These things shouldn't be there in a 500€ phone
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Thanks for the feedback already.
@elmerendeiro: I have also noticed some 'interference' lines on my phone from time to time. I did a bit of research and it seems when your phone's brightness is set around 25 - 30% it picks up interference from either the wifi or 3g radio. Notch the brightness either above or below this level and you wont see it anymore.
I agree with you when you say we shouldn't be having these problems on such an expensive phone.
It bugs me too - if it wasnt for this i'd have to say it would be an amazing phone
Might give the Samsung service center a call and see if its something they're aware of and if they are replacing screens with this problem?
Hello,
Im Using Amoled Smartphones since the Galaxy (i7500). They all were always showing at 100% Brightness for Black parts of a picture a true Black like the Display is OFF.
If you put the Brightness to 100% and go to an complete Dark Room and open an Black Picture you see some Gray/Yellow Tint on the Screen. You can compare this good by locking the phone to see the Screen OFF and than unlock it to view the Black Picture again. You should see a huge difference. Hope to hear from your experiences.
I've seen that already on the S1 when abusing it a a nightstand clock.
Best guess I've heard is that the (AMO)LED screen leaks some luminosity to other pixels in the background which is then visible as a very faint glow.
However I rather believe that the AMOLED are not truely off but rather get some leak voltage and thus have a very-very-very faint glow (like one photon per second xD )
That would explain the black spots most people seem to mind on AMOLED when on minimum brightness with a black screen; they are truely off or without insufficient leak voltagage (LED's requie a minimum voltage to work).
AMOLED production is somewhat complicated (very thin layer of silver as a power source and a control-layer) so I wouldn't be surprised if the above is true.
Nothing is perfect, especially not a rather new technology.
What else did you expect from a backlit display.
jbadboy2007 said:
What else did you expect from a backlit display.
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It's not backlit is the point.
Correct me if im wrong here but amoled is, by design, not backlit.
Sent from my LG-P920 using xda premium
Yeah so I was wondering why it does this little/ hard noticeable yellow/gray tint on a dark room...
There is no Backlight... Unfortunely i Sold my Galaxy S2 so I cant compare it.. But im Sure it wasnt like this
I have this on my gsiii and also on the Gnote... I think is due to the pentile screen
I had this on my Fascinate but realized it wasn't a big issue. Definitely more noticeable on my Gnex but it also has more pixels so that could be why you see more light. I wouldn't call it a problem because the majority of the time it's absolutely unnoticeable. Each pixel has so have some sort of voltage to be ready to react to changes. Turning off/on completely each time light is needed might waste battery.
P.S. I'm noob at displays but that's my theory.
Zacisblack said:
I had this on my Fascinate but realized it wasn't a big issue. Definitely more noticeable on my Gnex but it also has more pixels so that could be why you see more light. I wouldn't call it a problem because the majority of the time it's absolutely unnoticeable. Each pixel has so have some sort of voltage to be ready to react to changes. Turning off/on completely each time light is needed might waste battery.
P.S. I'm noob at displays but that's my theory.
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I was curious about this issue as well. It's my understanding that OLEDs do not produce any light in their inactive state.
Regarding your theory, I wonder if it's similar to plasma displays. Even though plasmas are capable of true black (they do not use a backlight) The individual plasma cells have better response times if they aren't fully discharged on blacks. So they have a faint glow that comes from the low power they are using to keep the pixel charged up and ready to go when a color change is needed.
This actually costs a little power though, rather than saving it. So if thats what they are doing, it is for screen quality reasons so that movies and other things look better.
Did some Googling and I couldn't find much information, but there is talk of delivering pre-charge voltage to the OLED pixels to improve response times. So it could be that they are indeed similar to plasma displays in that respect: Capable of true black, but the benefits of not using true black are too good to pass up.
Are you SURE the picture is actually true black? By that i mean pure 100% black in an uncompressed image? If not then you cant expect the phone to display true black. A JPEG of black may not be enough.
My screen it totally off when displaying true black.
I can confirm the screen showing a faint glow on S3 with a true black screen.
Use Firefox with Fullscreen extension (Chrome and the default browser don't seem to have fullscreen mode yet) and go to http://d4f.pf-control.de/black.html
That's rendered on the phone so we can expect it to be the blackest black an app can produce, however in a (very) dark room you'll see a very faint glow coming from the screen and you'll be able to see the black spots (truely black) that people keep complaining about.
The theory about it being a precharge voltage does indeed sound plausible since LED's have a certain reaction time which unfortunately cannot be compensated by e.g. Overdrive as is used in LCD screens.
Note that the S3's "black" is still far better than any LCD.
No mine is still jet black, no light at all.
Go to a COMPLETELY dark room and make sure the screen is actually turned on when on the website (not timed out).
Then take a long-exposure photograph of your phone (still make sure the screen is turned ON!).
I don't have a long exposure camera, but the room is completely dark and my eyes have adjusted, there is no light.
All sgs3 ( as sgs2) screens emit a very week glow on a black pictures ( with the screen on )
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
It would seem to me that the 'ink spots' many have are not overly dark spots at all, they are what the screen should be. My screen emits no visible light when displaying a true black image, at least nothing my eyes can see, even at the edge of my vision field where light cell are most sensitive. My screen is on maximum brightness.
My screen has no patches, no streaks, no spots, no pink or excessively blue tint. I guess i have a screen thats as near to perfect as they get.
yes there is very faint glow indeed making the screen a bit greyish instead of pitch black
Excuse me if I am being naive but where is real life use would this ever be a negative impact?
jfenton57 said:
Excuse me if I am being naive but where is real life use would this ever be a negative impact?
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no negative impact, but still raises a question "why so?"
jfenton57 said:
Excuse me if I am being naive but where is real life use would this ever be a negative impact?
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I don't think anyone is trying to paint it as an issue that needs to be resolved. It's more of an odd technical mystery rather than a real problem. The blacks are still extremely deep on an AMOLED, just like with Plasma it puts LCD to shame in that department.
So i've heard that the S-AMOLED and S-AMOLED Plus technology has "Perfect" Blacks! Like the Blacks don't even "Light-up".
Is it true? Or is it just a marketing thing? :/
Try this and tell me what do u have?
Turn off all the lights in the night and then view some BLACK picture. U'll see that the Blacks are kinda "Greyish" :/
And there are some pixels that are perfectly black.. but they're just Random... :/
known "issue" on lowest screen brightness
Ohk.. So its not "Completely Black".
theres also another problem with it aswell... When I view some pitch black picture in a completely dark room. I see some small rectangular shapes that are "Pitch Black" in that Greyish background. I cant snap a picture of that unfortunately but u kinda get the idea. Can someone try this with there own S3 and report me? :/
It'll be quite helpful
Is well known issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1703086
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Mine does the same thing: darker black splotches when viewing a black picture on the dimmest screen setting in a dark room.
Fortunately I don't often find myself looking at all-black images in the dark. It's hardly a major issue.
this issue is quite common, even on iPads, Motorola etc...apparently it is the adhesive within the layers of the AMOLED that causes an "ink" mark when screen displays black images within a dark environment...nothing is actually wrong with your scren, mine has 2 very small dots...while my other friend has had his replaced because the issue was far more prominant...so there is a possibility of claiming warranty? but this will depend on the country/retailer/etc...but always worth giving it a shot if you cant stand this issue...but yes, earlier batches, the issue was far more obvious...but later ones are better but information from other XDA threads suggest that you WONT find a unit without any marks...period.
Hello, I own a i9100 and I have some burn-ins at the top of the screen that replicate some buttons of a browser or something, and some burn-ins at the bottom as well. I have read that leaving overnight an app that's constantly switching colours, with full brightness, could help a bit on that. I also read that leaving a blank screen (white image) on the same conditions (overnight, full brightness) would help as well. My question is, how true these both things are? I don't want to end with a bigger problem than the one I currently have. The burn-ins are most viewable at Blue, Red, and Black screen colors.(like if I put a background with one of those colors on it)
Never had any of these on my S2,but from my experience with the galaxy s plus,these tricks won't work.None will to be honest.It's permanent.This shows how immature amoled technology is.Learn to live with it or replace the screen if that bothers you much.
what a sign you got there...
Lucky you. Mine is not THAT noticeable if you're using it normally, but as soon as you open something with a plain color on it, the burn in shows itself on all its glory. So right now you can't tell if leaving the white image all the night or the thing switching colors will damage my screen more?
mwehehe
Well,back then when I tried every method you described above on my i9001,I didn't noticed any improvement nor any further damage.Even after running those for 10h+.So I assume it's safe.Can't say the same for the S2 though,have no problems with it.