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iPhone 3GS Screen Weirdness (involving polarization)

j-a-x

j-a-x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 15, 2005
1,567
285
Houston, Texas
I got an iPhone 3GS last week from the Apple screen and the next day I looked at my screen and it had a big scratch through it. I thought this was impossible since I only carried it in a pocket (no keys) and although I didn't have a screen protector I didn't think it was a big deal (my old phone didn't scratch and I had it for a year and carried it the same way).

So I took the phone back today and the manager of the Apple store was nice enough to exchange it for a brand new 3GS. Now here's the weird part:

When I looked at my first 3GS screen through polarized sunglass lenses, the image on the screen would disappear when viewed at certain angles. This isn't unexpected, I've noticed that behavior with many laptop screens - it has to do with the way laptop screens work (google LCDs and polarization). However, my new iPhone screen is viewable at ALL ANGLES through a polarized sunglass lens. There's a small amount of color distortion due to the lens but the image on the screen never disappears.

This tells me that there is something fundamentally different about my new iPhone 3GS screen compared to the first 3GS that I bought last week.

Does anybody have any ideas what this could signify?
 
This won't really help, but BMW A/V info screens do that. It completely disappears with polarized lenses and car reviewers always complain about it. They're the only manufacturer who still hasn't fixed the issue.
 
vinay427 said:
This won't really help, but BMW A/V info screens do that. It completely disappears with polarized lenses and car reviewers always complain about it. They're the only manufacturer who still hasn't fixed the issue.
Click to expand...
You must read car and driver. I remember laughing at that comment. They also liked to make fun of the "leatherette" cause they cheaped out on leather on one of the BMW models.
 
j-a-x said:
When I looked at my first 3GS screen through polarized sunglass lenses, the image on the screen would disappear when viewed at certain angles. This isn't unexpected, I've noticed that behavior with many laptop screens - it has to do with the way laptop screens work (google LCDs and polarization). However, my new iPhone screen is viewable at ALL ANGLES through a polarized sunglass lens. There's a small amount of color distortion due to the lens but the image on the screen never disappears.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Mine does show polarization; the brightness drops by, oh, 50% when I rotate it, but it doesn't disappear completely. I have a date code of 923 (23rd week of 2009). What's yours?
 
Interesting. Mine does show polarization; the brightness drops by, oh, 50% when I rotate it, but it doesn't disappear completely. I have a date code of 923 (23rd week of 2009). What's yours?
Click to expand...

My old one didn't completely disappear but it got dark enough that it was not usable, maybe 75% or more. The new one doesn't really change brightness when I rotate it.

Where do I find the date code?
 
I thought the polarization on my 3G was a little odd. It blanks at 45 degrees so it's neither vertical nor horizontal when it happens.
 
avaloncourt said:
I thought the polarization on my 3G was a little odd. It blanks at 45 degrees so it's neither vertical nor horizontal when it happens.
Click to expand...

That's not odd. That's good design so that you can still use the iPhone with polarized sunglasses in either orientation.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS (White, 32GB): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7C97d Safari/528.16)

Mine's a 924, it dims about 50% at 45 degrees. I'll check my wife's tomorrow.

My old 3G blacked out completely at 45 degrees, which is still better than my iMac - mid-2007 24" iMac, blacks out 100% at 0 degrees, which means if I happen to put on my glasses on the way out the door and need to check something on the computer real quick, I either have to do a granny peek (over the glasses) or take them off. Or tilt my head about 45 degrees left/right. :rolleyes:
 
My manufacturing code is 926 which means it was made in 2009 on the 26th week. Your week is 24 which is a bit older. I wonder if all of the newer ones have the different screen.

Also mine was made in factory #87 (first two digits of serial).
 
cdesigns said:
I had in hand my old 3G and the new 3GS also one polarized lens from my old SLR camera.

Here is a video I recorded testing them, the 3GS looks brighter with polarized lens, but it also produces a rainbow effect on the screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnH7TGClYU
Click to expand...


That's what my phone looks like. As you rotate the polarized lens, the brightness doesn't change but you see some minor distortion. But with the older 3GS that I returned with I am guessing an earlier manufacturing date, the screen became really dark with a certain polarization angle.
 
serialtoon said:
You must read car and driver. I remember laughing at that comment. They also liked to make fun of the "leatherette" cause they cheaped out on leather on one of the BMW models.
Click to expand...

You're good! They said something like "BMW calls it leatherette." I remember reading that part because I looked it up later and leatherette is a common term, not something BMW made up. I'm pretty sure it was the 328i against the G37, A4, and something else that I can't remember right now.
 
Thanks for the 2nd video.

Yeah some 3GSs will stay visible and some will go completely dark like your 3G did. That's why it seems that Apple is manufacturing phones with two different screens.
 
Of course, a screen that doesn't dim is certainly a plus, since we all do rotate the iPhone at times ...
 
I got mine at release and it works with polarized glasses.

But overall the screen quality ain't as good as the iPod Touch, in terms of clarity.

And tbh, the Palm Pre's screen beats the pants off of both of them. That thing has an AWESOME screen. It looks awesome, even in direct sunlight.

If only Apple would make a webOS phone with a Pre-type screen but the size of the iPhone's screen...

I hate the iPhone OS compared to webOS. It's so clunky and backwards, after using the Pre awhile. Can't even merge contacts in-phone! QQQQ
 
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