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I've been watching this topic for about a week and assessing my own phone. At this time I'm reasonably confident I have a good display however I've come to the conclusion there's traits with it that I don't love that could be addressed with software should Apple choose.
Winding right back I found the thread when on day two or three of owning the phone I noticed that it did seem rather yellow at the time, although I hadn't immediately noticed that on day one. A google lead me here and I've been reading other peoples experiences. I didn't change any settings for a few days and noticed that the hue certainly shifted dramatically over the course of the day, I believe likely coinciding with where I was at the time. I believe thats just True Tone doing its thing. In particular I've had a very yellow display when using the phone in my living room however the lighting in the room is very warm to begin with, so I'll assume thats the display matching the lighting. In other rooms I got a good white.
None the less I turned on the filters a few days ago and found that'd give a more consistent display of white (True Tone left on). Today I visited an Apple Store and looked at three display units which as many noted looked great in the stores lighting. I compared to my own phone and noted mine was slightly duller. I proceeded to turn off my phones filters and the display ended up being basically identical to the display units which I think verifies my hunch that my displays fine but the true tone setting can send the display a bit too yellow for my liking in warm lighting. Certainly I was seeing a good white at the time.
I've also noted that turning true tone off gives a very cold/bluish display. The Apple Store units also experienced this. Given they had a much better white with True Tone on in the store I can only assume theres probably some need for offsetting this which I'm sure can be done in software if everyones getting a similar tint.
As for the yellow display. As above I think mines fine but in certain lighting the effect is hugely pronounced. I'd love for the True Tone effect to be a bit more subtle to be honest.
For the time being I'm going to look at tweaking my lighting in this room. I have coloured hue bulbs and the lighting in this room is far warmer than other rooms in the house. Curious to see if I make the lighting a tad warmer whether the phone will follow.
Winding right back I found the thread when on day two or three of owning the phone I noticed that it did seem rather yellow at the time, although I hadn't immediately noticed that on day one. A google lead me here and I've been reading other peoples experiences. I didn't change any settings for a few days and noticed that the hue certainly shifted dramatically over the course of the day, I believe likely coinciding with where I was at the time. I believe thats just True Tone doing its thing. In particular I've had a very yellow display when using the phone in my living room however the lighting in the room is very warm to begin with, so I'll assume thats the display matching the lighting. In other rooms I got a good white.
None the less I turned on the filters a few days ago and found that'd give a more consistent display of white (True Tone left on). Today I visited an Apple Store and looked at three display units which as many noted looked great in the stores lighting. I compared to my own phone and noted mine was slightly duller. I proceeded to turn off my phones filters and the display ended up being basically identical to the display units which I think verifies my hunch that my displays fine but the true tone setting can send the display a bit too yellow for my liking in warm lighting. Certainly I was seeing a good white at the time.
I've also noted that turning true tone off gives a very cold/bluish display. The Apple Store units also experienced this. Given they had a much better white with True Tone on in the store I can only assume theres probably some need for offsetting this which I'm sure can be done in software if everyones getting a similar tint.
As for the yellow display. As above I think mines fine but in certain lighting the effect is hugely pronounced. I'd love for the True Tone effect to be a bit more subtle to be honest.
For the time being I'm going to look at tweaking my lighting in this room. I have coloured hue bulbs and the lighting in this room is far warmer than other rooms in the house. Curious to see if I make the lighting a tad warmer whether the phone will follow.
If Tru Tone is "doing its thing", then the display shouldn't look like it has a hue to it. If you pick up a piece of white paper and walk around in different lighting, your eyes continue to see it as white. Your eyes do that correction.
I like the colors in mine. Does shift to blue at about 30 degrees off axis.
Definitely some slight unevenness on mine that I see on dark greys. The more interesting thing is the noise pattern that shows up just in thosegreys and only in a dark room. So strange...
Definitely some slight unevenness on mine that I see on dark greys. The more interesting thing is the noise pattern that shows up just in thosegreys and only in a dark room. So strange...
Agreed, but my displays white in other rooms of my house while yellowish in others that have different lighting. Unlike some others here I don’t seem to permanently be stuck on yellow. Outside I get a nice white too. Personally I’m finding the True Tone too pronounced under warm conditions however so when I say it’s doing it’s thing I’d say the yellow is a result of lighting however it’s applied too heavily and generally isn’t an overly appealing effect under those conditions.
That said as per my post our living room has very warm (yellow) lighting to begin with. Not so much by choice but I gave up finding a colour in the hue app that I truely loved, and it didn’t bother me with the TV on anyway. I might try tone it back and see how the phone responds.
The other issue is I can’t really turn TT off as the off state is far too cool for my eye which as far as I can tell is an across the board thing.
I decided to switch from the space gray to silver yesterday. My new phone has a noticeably better screen than my space gray. My old one was like many of the others in this thread. True Tone looked way too yellow, but turning it off made the screen blue. It also had noticeable color shifting with even the slightest tilt off axis and looked generally washed out. In all honesty, I preferred the screen on my iPhone 8, even though the X had deeper blacks in a dark room. I tried messing with the color filters and nothing helped. I was changing screen settings multiple times a day trying to find a good white point and was slowly driving myself insane!
On my new silver version, the screen is a crisp white with True Tone off. Colors also pop a bit more and contrast is noticeably better. I also have to tilt it father to see color shifting and the shifting isn't nearly as extreme until I get to 30-45 degrees off axis (but that is to be expected). This is what I had envisioned an OLED iPhone being! True Tone is still a little too yellow for my taste, so I am still deciding if I am going to turn it off. The screen also has a very slight blue shift at the very bottom, but it's not noticeable unless I'm looking for it. Given the experience with my first phone and also the other posts in this thread, I'm definitely keeping this one. I haven't even been tempted to mess with the color filters.
Bottom line, there are good screens out there. I'm wondering if the units sold in the next week or two will be better since we've now gotten beyond the batches that were rushed for the product launch. Anyway, good luck to everyone!
On my new silver version, the screen is a crisp white with True Tone off. Colors also pop a bit more and contrast is noticeably better. I also have to tilt it father to see color shifting and the shifting isn't nearly as extreme until I get to 30-45 degrees off axis (but that is to be expected). This is what I had envisioned an OLED iPhone being! True Tone is still a little too yellow for my taste, so I am still deciding if I am going to turn it off. The screen also has a very slight blue shift at the very bottom, but it's not noticeable unless I'm looking for it. Given the experience with my first phone and also the other posts in this thread, I'm definitely keeping this one. I haven't even been tempted to mess with the color filters.
Bottom line, there are good screens out there. I'm wondering if the units sold in the next week or two will be better since we've now gotten beyond the batches that were rushed for the product launch. Anyway, good luck to everyone!
Firstly, it is really important when you turn true tone off that you switch off the display and go and look at something else for a minute. Otherwise the brain gets confused and thinks it has gone far too blue. I thought that True Tone was too yellow, and off was too blue. But if I let my brain reset first so it is not influenced by the yellow, then it doesn't look too blue and in fact white is really very close to my Eizo calibrated monitor when I held it up infront of it!
True tone is supposed to look how a piece of paper would look under the current lighting. In fact a white piece of paper does NOT look white under incandescent lighting. Yes the brain knows it is a white piece of paper, but your brain also sees the way light reflects off the paper and it does not look a pristine white. So neither should True Tone. BUT, under incandescent lighting I find True Tone to be more yellow than my piece of paper. So I think they need to adjust True Tone profiles in a firmware update. Anyone tried the latest Beta?
Also, as the display shifts to blue off axis, this is less noticeable with True Tone off because you are shifting from a less yellow starting point. Consider moving from yellow to blue, vs ever so slightly blue to more blue. One is a change of colour and the other is an emphasis of an existing colour. Of course D65 or 6500K is not blue...but I was just giving the concept as an illustration of how it might appear to be shifting more depending on your starting point.
My display is very uniform at normal brightness levels with no funny tints head-on. It gradually gets more blue off axis (no pink transition). At very dim grey with brightness set to zero, it is uneven. There is no banding, but parts of the screen are brighter than other parts. It seems to be changing as the display gets used more as well. I suspect it will continue to change based on OLED ageing (a subtle form of burn-in?!). The unevenness is ONLY visible with a completely dim grey (e.g. just just above black). If there is anything else being displayed like the Apple Watch app or Clock app, I can't see the unevenness anymore.
True tone is supposed to look how a piece of paper would look under the current lighting. In fact a white piece of paper does NOT look white under incandescent lighting. Yes the brain knows it is a white piece of paper, but your brain also sees the way light reflects off the paper and it does not look a pristine white. So neither should True Tone. BUT, under incandescent lighting I find True Tone to be more yellow than my piece of paper. So I think they need to adjust True Tone profiles in a firmware update. Anyone tried the latest Beta?
Also, as the display shifts to blue off axis, this is less noticeable with True Tone off because you are shifting from a less yellow starting point. Consider moving from yellow to blue, vs ever so slightly blue to more blue. One is a change of colour and the other is an emphasis of an existing colour. Of course D65 or 6500K is not blue...but I was just giving the concept as an illustration of how it might appear to be shifting more depending on your starting point.
My display is very uniform at normal brightness levels with no funny tints head-on. It gradually gets more blue off axis (no pink transition). At very dim grey with brightness set to zero, it is uneven. There is no banding, but parts of the screen are brighter than other parts. It seems to be changing as the display gets used more as well. I suspect it will continue to change based on OLED ageing (a subtle form of burn-in?!). The unevenness is ONLY visible with a completely dim grey (e.g. just just above black). If there is anything else being displayed like the Apple Watch app or Clock app, I can't see the unevenness anymore.
This morning i’ve Been to an Apple Store to make an accurate assessment of my display compared to the floor models.
I’ve checked 10 models, 5 silver + 5 space.
My conclusion:
- all the floor models have nearly the same calibration. No huge differences.
M
- all the white models looks slightly dull compared to the black ones.
- my unit is a bit more yellow than the other floor model but definitely brighter. Just one was brighter as mine.
- the frame of the black is great and more scratch proof, but once the damage is done it’s clearly noticeable. On the other hand, the silver one is more prone to visible scratches.
So, i won’t try the lottery, i think my unit is pretty good and won’t proceed with return.
Please let me know your thoughts.
I’ve checked 10 models, 5 silver + 5 space.
My conclusion:
- all the floor models have nearly the same calibration. No huge differences.
M
- all the white models looks slightly dull compared to the black ones.
- my unit is a bit more yellow than the other floor model but definitely brighter. Just one was brighter as mine.
- the frame of the black is great and more scratch proof, but once the damage is done it’s clearly noticeable. On the other hand, the silver one is more prone to visible scratches.
So, i won’t try the lottery, i think my unit is pretty good and won’t proceed with return.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Attachments
My new (third) unit is on the right. In the photo it looks yellowish but in person it looks much better to my eye (so far!) because it fades gently into a blue tint VS the left which went pink and then blue it was pretty distracting. This is with both having True Tone turned off. Also the one on the left also has a noticeable brightness difference top to bottom. We’ll see once I get this one fully setup but don’t settle as there are better screens out there!
Here’s some examples:
This image really sums it up for me.
My replacement phone arrived today and again, it looks like the one in the middle - shifts very noticeably to pink slightly off axis (then further off axis, it shifts to blue). I wouldn’t mind just the blue like the one on the right but the pink phase drives me crazy.
I don’t suppose you know what the serial number of the phone on the left starts with? I’d be interested to know if there’s one factory in the supply chain turning out handsets without the pink shift or if a good one could come from anywhere.
My new one is slightly better at the edges when viewed straight on - less pink bleed - so I guess I’ll keep it over the original. But I really wish I knew how to get hold of one that looks like the one on the left does ...
I guess this is where subjectivity comes in
The one on the left to me looks like the colour has barely shifted from the neutral towards blue, even at that angle ... whereas the one on the right has shifted a long way towards blue.
But fully acknowledge that could be my taste - I gravitate towards a warmer white usually so the one on the left doesn’t bother me too much.
But the pink ... man oh man.
Well I got my X today, and turned it on to a yellow screen
Turned True Tone off and was a bit better but still not what I liked. I like a cold look.
Changed to hue and its fixed but should not have to do that on a new phone
Hoping my phone isn’t faulty but it’s jist so yellow. It seems ok in a well lit room but in a dark room it’s yellow
Turned True Tone off and was a bit better but still not what I liked. I like a cold look.
Changed to hue and its fixed but should not have to do that on a new phone
Hoping my phone isn’t faulty but it’s jist so yellow. It seems ok in a well lit room but in a dark room it’s yellow
General question: if you a ask for a replacement, they send you a brand new X? In the case the new unit is worst than the original one, are you still forced to return the original?
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I'm sorry but i can't understand your point.
First: why assess a display quality by off axis comparison and not a straight view?
Second: why base the decision on the online pictures? i think it's not correct to compare own display with a picture taken on the internet.
In other terms: if i base my decision on a picture like this i'm wrong. The only thing that the picture show is that there's a diplay better than another, but who knows wich one my diplay resemble more'
[doublepost=1510567769][/doublepost]
I'm sorry but i can't understand your point.
First: why assess a display quality by off axis comparison and not a straight view?
Second: why base the decision on the online pictures? i think it's not correct to compare own display with a picture taken on the internet.
In other terms: if i base my decision on a picture like this i'm wrong. The only thing that the picture show is that there's a diplay better than another, but who knows wich one my diplay resemble more'
For the last time True Tone does not make your display yellow. It best matches the light source your under.
If your under crappy artificial light which is warm, your screen is warm. If youre under more white light or sunlight your display will be cooler.
By leaving True Tone on youre actually getting the better white balance which results in better clarity and legibility under a wider range of light sources.
True Tone is not baby night shift mode.
If your under crappy artificial light which is warm, your screen is warm. If youre under more white light or sunlight your display will be cooler.
By leaving True Tone on youre actually getting the better white balance which results in better clarity and legibility under a wider range of light sources.
True Tone is not baby night shift mode.
Correction: that is the GOAL of True Tone. However, as I and many others have noticed, the feature is much more aggressive on the yellow end compared to the iPad pros or the iPhone 8. With True Tone on my iPad, a white background is slightly bluer than a white piece of paper under ambient lighting, but still close. With my iPhone 8, a white background was pretty much spot on compared to a white piece of paper. But with the X, the display is noticeably more yellow than a piece of paper under ambient lighting, which is distracting. Even in blue daylight the display can have a slight yellow hue to it.
Guys. Here’s the deal. All OLED screens will shift color when viewed from a different angle. So that’s normal. Looking straight on they all look about the same.
*Most iPhone X will shift into a slight pink color then at extreme angle, blue, that’s normal. You should feel good.
*However, few screens will shift more pink, that’s pretty annoying.
*Very few screens shifts directly into blue, some people like it, think it’s a “white” screen, some don’t. I personally think the blue screens look like Pixel 2 XL screens, so I don’t like it.
Here’s some examples:
Mine is closest to the one on the left but colour shift off axis is more pronounced that I was expecting
I believe there is a forth type -crisp white with minimal shift off axis these are the one that the main tech reviewers received
Cant take a photo because no other devices but in natural ligting my ipad mini 4 looks pink and my X with true tone ON is crisp white. When I switched off True Tone, my X suddenly appeared the same pinkish color as my mini.
I really like True Tone. The only time it ever looks a bit yellow is under warmer lighting. It took me a few days to get used to it and now I wish all my devices had it.
I really like True Tone. The only time it ever looks a bit yellow is under warmer lighting. It took me a few days to get used to it and now I wish all my devices had it.
After trying another store and compare my phone with the ones they have there as well, my conclusion is that all the displays are different... But mine is still a little bit more yellow to my taste. I have an appointment today and will try to get it replaced. If it doesn't work, I have until Friday to decide whether I keep it... Or return it and try to get a new one.
I disagree...I think it looks absolutely horrid on this phone. Even in areas that do not have a warm feeling it's still a fairly piss color yellow!
To me it's just a real ugly looking feature, you want something easy on your eyes lower the brightness, instead of making your screen look basically a warm yellow.
I've tried it on mine, my fathers, and the ones in the Apple store and all look to be that aggressive yellow. Even if they lowered the aggression of the feature I'd never use it.
I like my brightness to be somewhere in the range of 60-70% and for my screen to exhibit deep blacks with a cool white look coming from whites. Essentially I have that with my 2nd X after returning the first model. All in all there's a huge inconsistency with the X at the moment if you have super sensitive eyes as I do, I notice stuff like that with phones as soon as I view the screen for a few minutes, sometimes as soon as the splash screen.
There's no work around, your screen is either...
A-really warm with yellow tones
B-less warm with pale yellow tones
C-or classic oled with a cooler color temp and a whiter tone...can actually vary between pinkish white, bluish white, or stark white.
My first x was B, while me second is C with whites looking fairly white with a very slight hint of blue when tilted back and fourth.
Mine shifts a little pink and then to blue. The girlfriend's shifts straight to blue. I prefer her display but she prefers my display. We notice the difference mostly in the keyboard, where her keys are discernibly more "white" and mine appear a little more warm. But she actually thinks my display is truer to real life and looks as if the UI was painted on. She thinks her display looks more like a "computer screen" because of the cooler color temperature and blue shift.
