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Why can't Samsung match the iPhone's screen quality?

blackhand1001

blackhand1001

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2009
2,600
37
blairh said:
I have used the Note II display. Amoled is amoled. Poor whites. Can't stomach it.
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Well many people hate the poor blacks that IPS displays provide. Also there are tons of IPS screens with poor color balance. Even on iphone. Just look through these forums. You'll find plenty of yellowish whites threads.

My galaxy nexus has perfectly fine whites BTW.
 
blairh

blairh

macrumors 603
Dec 11, 2007
5,972
4,472
blackhand1001 said:
Well many people hate the poor blacks that IPS displays provide. Also there are tons of IPS screens with poor color balance. Even on iphone. Just look through these forums. You'll find plenty of yellowish whites threads.

My galaxy nexus has perfectly fine whites BTW.
Click to expand...

Really have no desire to argue it. That's great if you don't mind amoled. The Nexus has a terrible white reproduction in my experience. Also this knock on blacks regarding IPS is comical. I have no problems reading text on any IPS I have used. Plus the whites on my iPhone 5 are even better than the Droid DNA. Sadly the iPhone needs a larger screen IMO.

Point is, people can argue about it all day. Amoled to my eyes is a vastly inferior experience for my needs. End of story.
 
F123D

F123D

macrumors 68040
Sep 16, 2008
3,776
16
Del Mar, CA
blairh said:
I have used the Note II display. Amoled is amoled. Poor whites. Can't stomach it.
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Poor whites? Are you sure you were looking at a Note II?

tumblr_mf8zoxVOxw1rkl57oo1_500.jpg
 
Stuntman06

Stuntman06

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
961
5
Metro Vancouver, B.C, Canada
unobtainium said:
It is simply not as bright as the iphone 5's screen. I was just playing with one today, the difference is super obvious.
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I compared my SGS3 to an iPhone last year at a store. Maximum brightness on the SGS3 is about as bright as 50% on the iPhone.

unobtainium said:
Perhaps it's insecurity that causes Android fans to bash the iPhone?

This thread was created because I was legitimately curious about why the Samsung screens appear (to me) to be a step down from the iPhone's screen. I say that because everyone is constantly emphasizing how Samsung is moving ahead with newer, better technology at a faster pace than Apple, and therefore I found the screen issue genuinely confusing.

As for whether brightness matters...it does to me. I use the phone outdoors or in bright rooms a lot, and I kind of like having the option to go full brightness. I also happen to think that the iPhone screen looks crazy vibrant and really pops when it's at full brightness, though obviously that's gonna effect battery life. If I'm trying to conserve the battery I just turn it down.
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If you are used to setting the brightness on your iPhone to be higher than 50% brightness, then you will likely find the SGS3 not bright enough for you. The SGS3 screen is going to be more difficult see outdoors in sunshine due to its lower maximum brightness.

I also find that the colours on each screen looks different when doing a side-by-side comparison. When using just one phone, this difference isn't noticeable most of the time. At least to me, I have never looked at an image and thought the colours were off on either screen if I didn't have a colour comparison chart beside it. The mind has a way of adjusting for small variations of colour due to things like poor lighting (in the real world) so you recognise objects better in varying lighting conditions. Because of this, you generally will not notice a problem with colour on different screens. A side-by-side comparison will highlight those differences because you will be comparing colours relative to different screens instead of relative to other objects on the same screen. If you are used to one screen and then switch to a different one, you will probably notice the differences because it will not be what you are used to.
 
blairh

blairh

macrumors 603
Dec 11, 2007
5,972
4,472
F123D said:
Poor whites? Are you sure you were looking at a Note II?

Image
Click to expand...

That photo means nothing. Put a white image from a Note II and iPhone 5 side by side with max brightness and the difference is night and day.

The amoled lovers are out to get me in this thread. ;) Don't feel like defending my stance moving on. IPS is far superior IMO. That's all I got.
 
F123D

F123D

macrumors 68040
Sep 16, 2008
3,776
16
Del Mar, CA
blairh said:
Put a white image from a Note II and iPhone 5 side by side with max brightness and the difference is night and day.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. You use your phone on max brightness on a daily basis. Guess that's why I can't see that night and day difference.
 
U

unobtainium

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Mar 27, 2011
2,650
4,086
F123D said:
Wow.. alright, guess I can't really say anything since I've never used any phone on max brightness.
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Yeah I prefer to use my phone on max brightness too, particularly during the day or when I'm out. I turn the brightness down in the evening and when I'm lying in bed I have it set low...other than that, it just looks best when bright. That's why I wouldn't be able to stand the 50% max brightness of an AMOLED screen.
 
L

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Jun 1, 2006
1,572
624
unobtainium said:
Yeah I prefer to use my phone on max brightness too, particularly during the day or when I'm out. I turn the brightness down in the evening and when I'm lying in bed I have it set low...other than that, it just looks best when bright. That's why I wouldn't be able to stand the 50% max brightness of an AMOLED screen.
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I am the same way. My iPhone stays on max brightness unless I'm in bed with no other lights on in the room. Then I turn it down low. I guess everyone has different eyes and preferences. I couldn't stand using a beautiful screen on low brightness all the time, and the GS3 looks too dim on max brightness because I've been using an iPhone at max brightness for years.
 
Stuntman06

Stuntman06

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
961
5
Metro Vancouver, B.C, Canada
unobtainium said:
Yeah I prefer to use my phone on max brightness too, particularly during the day or when I'm out. I turn the brightness down in the evening and when I'm lying in bed I have it set low...other than that, it just looks best when bright. That's why I wouldn't be able to stand the 50% max brightness of an AMOLED screen.
Click to expand...

I just use the auto-brightness on my SGS3. Unlike my old phone (HTC Desire Z), the auto-brightness as it is calibrated on the SGS3 sets the brightness to pretty much what I like in almost all lighting conditions. I would have liked the brightness to be a bit dimmer in total darkness, but it is good enough.

In contrast, the auto-brightness setting on my old DZ is just too bright. I usually set my brightness to 30% for indoors, 10% for darkness and only outdoors do I use 100%. I mostly use my phone indoors, so my DZ is mostly at 30% brightness. The DZ uses a Super-LCD display which is different than the SGS3's AMOLED.
 
adder7712

adder7712

macrumors 68000
Mar 9, 2009
1,923
1
Canada
blairh said:
That photo means nothing. Put a white image from a Note II and iPhone 5 side by side with max brightness and the difference is night and day.

The amoled lovers are out to get me in this thread. ;) Don't feel like defending my stance moving on. IPS is far superior IMO. That's all I got.
Click to expand...

I don't my phone on maximum brightness.
 
D

dojoman

macrumors 68000
Apr 8, 2010
1,936
1,094
Whether you use Max brightness or not but if you have auto brightness on iPhone it goes to Max if you're in sunlight. So technically most of you are on Max setting without even knowing, unless you guys never step out of your man caves. :D
 
Vegastouch

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,185
992
Las Vegas, NV
QuarterSwede said:
Personally I don't like the SGIII simply because the screen uses a Pentile Matrix (think old CRTs). Just awful for text reading, better for video though. It's funny that you say it looks washed out as most think it's display is more vibrant (the iPhone 5's screen is the closest to color accuracy of any mobile device out).

Can't speak about the Droid II. Never liked Motorola's phones, even their Android ones. Crap hardware design in my opinion.
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:confused: Say What? Awful for Text reading? I dont have any trouble reading my texts at all so i dont know what your talking about. How exactly is it hard to read texts?
The only problem i have with the screen is that it is nearly unreadable in sunlight. Other than that, its pretty nice and i keep the brightness a little more than halfway up.
 
T

taedouni

macrumors 65816
Jun 7, 2011
1,117
29
California
I had an iPhone 5 but I dumped it for a Galaxy Note 2. I don't think that there is anything wrong with this screen. Also keep in mind. The larger a screen, the more expensive it is to make it "high" quality.
 
M

matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
Vegastouch said:
:confused: Say What? Awful for Text reading? I dont have any trouble reading my texts at all so i dont know what your talking about. How exactly is it hard to read texts?
The only problem i have with the screen is that it is nearly unreadable in sunlight. Other than that, its pretty nice and i keep the brightness a little more than halfway up.
Click to expand...

Is that on full brightness? I found the S3 screen to cope quite well in sunlight.
 
A

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
There are differences with brightness on the sg3. Side by side I proved it to the clerk at an AT&T story flipping around. This was the same setting on both that were side by side. He was dumbfounded.
 
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