Why no love for Amoled screen?

[dan.dar]

Less than 11 months ago Engadget wrote this about the Galaxy Nexus screen:

Galaxy Nexus doesn't exactly stand out in a crowd (except, perhaps, for its size), but this all changes the instant you see the screen. The 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280 x 720 pixels) is simply beyond par. Gorgeous doesn't even begin to describe this screen -- try amazing, jaw-dropping, mind-boggling.

Now they wrote this about the Razr HD screen: It can't quite compete with the stunning LCDs found on the Optimus G or the One X, but it's at least on par with the Galaxy Nexus.

In less than a year, everyone went from "amazing, jaw-dropping, mind-boggling" to ...meh? Are you kidding me?

Since when is LCD even on par with Amoled? The blacks on LCDs still look like greys. Fine, some of the fine edges don't show pixelation like on Amoled, but that suddenly makes them better? Try reading some kindle at night with white letters on black background. On amoled the black background actually looks black, on LCD you have white letters on grey background. I'll take additional pixelation any day over back-lit blacks on LCD.

 

[tjk629]

It's just the rate that technology changes. What's popular one day (or year) isn't the next.

 

[dan.dar]

So now I guess it's OK to ignore LCDs' pathetic black levels? Sure they are amazing screens so long as you don't look at them in a dark room.

 

[WestOkid]

Very good point. looks like an extreme flip flop to say the least. That said, the problem is not with AMOLED. The problem is with pentile. Everyone including Engadget has always been in agreement that this tech is simply cheaper and easier to make;not better. When the Nexus was released, it was the the second screen to have a 720p resolution; a huge technological achievement. Engadget was acknowledging that more than anything. Here is what Engadget said when they realized Nexus was pen-tile, The Galaxy Nexus' Super AMOLED display is a minus, not a Plus -- Engadget. A year later, 720p resolution is no longer special. Even Samsung admits it based the Note2 (The Galaxy Note 2 uses a non-pentile OLED display at 267 PPI) . The problem is they have been unable to get the pixels small enough to fit an HD display in a normal size phone when they make an AMOLED-RGB display like the GSII Super AMOLED Plus. I love the blacks on AMOLED. Anyone that follows display technology knows for a time it was all about achieving good blacks levels. That said, now that IPS LCDs are able to produce very good blacks, it is no longer a huge problem. AMOLEDs superiority in black levels do not outweigh the color inaccuracy created by pen-tile. Simply put, LCDs have gotten better and Super AMOLED on sub 5" screens has not kept up.

 

[jroc]

I have been a fan of Amloed ever since gettin my RAZR in 2011. It has cons, LCD does too. They both have pros. I just prefer the pros of Amoled over LCD now. And I can live with the cons of Amoled vs LCD. I barely use my Rezound and it might be getting sold soon.

What I do know is some things arent as bad as some ppl make it, and some things arent as great as some ppl make it. Its all preference. The reviewers just prefer the newer LCD screens now. You might find some reviewers that like the Amoled screen more. I agree, based on blacks and contrast.....I just like Amoled better. I actually like the saturated, over saturated colors too. And Pentile seriously isnt as bad as some make it.

 

[hotice]

The only advantage OLED really has is contrast ratio. LCD can't touch it. I'll take an LCD display any day on a mobile device just because of brightness and battery life. Typcially LCD's are brighter though OLED's have gotten pretty good.

When OLED technology was first announced people thought it would save lots power because it only takes power for lit pixels and darker colors take less power than brighter ones. The trouble is that for most practical use OLED needs to light all or most of the display and for most things, like web pages and documents, most of the screen is white which takes the most power for OLED to display. So really, it turns out that most LCD display probably use less power than OLED most of the time. OLED has improved a lot and PenTile improves battery life of OLED but who wants PenTile. At least with crazy high resolution on a small phone, like 720x1280, you're still going to get a great picture even with pentile and current Super AM(all that means is active matrix but all LCD's have been active matrix for years so it isn't that big a deal) OLED displays have gotten really good. I'm sure I'll be happy with the display on my Maxx HD when it finally arrives in the next few days. Hopefully I can see it in the sunlight as well as my Droid X.

 

[maxxhd]

I'm sure I'll be happy with the display on my Maxx HD when it finally arrives in the next few days. Hopefully I can see it in the sunlight as well as my Droid X.

It's nowhere near as bright as the DroidX - no AMOLED is. You can see it in the sun but not as well as you can see the DX.

 

[hotice]

It's nowhere near as bright as the DroidX - no AMOLED is. You can see it in the sun but not as well as you can see the DX.

Uggg, so, as I was saying OLED generally isn't as bright as LCD and that's one reason I'd take LCD any day. It's too bad Moto didn't get a clue when HTC tried it for a while and all it did was eat batteries. They switched to LCD and now they've got some of the best display's out there and better battery life. Oh well, I'm not in bright sunlight very often. I'll just keep telling myself that I really needed a 40,000:1 contrast ratio on my phone

 

[maxxhd]

Uggg, so, as I was saying OLED generally isn't as bright as LCD and that's one reason I'd take LCD any day. It's too bad Moto didn't get a clue when HTC tried it for a while and all it did was eat batteries. They switched to LCD and now they've got some of the best display's out there and better battery life. Oh well, I'm not in bright sunlight very often. I'll just keep telling myself that I really needed a 40,000:1 contrast ratio on my phone

Believe me if you're coming from a DX you're going to spaz over this phone. Aside from the absolute brightness it's vastly superior in every way and like I said, you can see it, just not as well as the DX. That works for me

 

[hotice]

Believe me if you're coming from a DX you're going to spaz over this phone. Aside from the absolute brightness it's vastly superior in every way and like I said, you can see it, just not as well as the DX. That works for me

Good to hear! Oh man, I can't wait!

 

[jroc]

About outdoor viewing, it depends. The Rezound is LCD, brighter than my RAZR, and yet my RAZR is better for outdoor viewing. Viewing angles is better on my RAZR, and that helps with outdoor viewing when trying to avoid sunlight. The Rezound screen is also too reflective, like a mirror. That kills it for outdoor viewing. I cant remember if I liked my DX1 better vs my RAZR for outdoor viewing. And yea my DX1 was also brighter than my RAZR. And I dont think my DX1 was reflective like my Rezound. My Rezound is literally like a mirror.

Some extra things goes into what makes these screens good/bad for outdoor viewing, power saving, etc. Like black backgrounds are supposed to save power for Amoled screens.