Engadget: Super AMOLED vs Retina Display

[KMA]

iPhone 4 Retina Display vs. Galaxy S Super AMOLED... fight! -- Engadget

 

[yatimameiji]

Looks like a draw but I still like the Super AMOLED for its colors. Apple's display looks bland.

 

[anonymous2]

Ever since the original Touch Diamond, I've always wanted a larger, laser sharp screen. Apple's screen is certainly laser sharp, but I want that resolution in at least a 4" display.

 

[Ahmed Alzayani]

You can't differentiate using camera , unfortunately camera can't capture a lot of things, you need your eye to compare. i don't have an iPhone 4 but my brother do own the 3GS, comparing side by side and that Super AMOLED is much better in my opinion (brightness, contrast ratio, Black is Black)

 

[waspbr]

plus the two recent iphone issues seem to be a tad too much:

it will drop calls if you touch/hold it on the left bezel and there have been reports of yellow spots and tint apparently from the adhesive that was supposed to keep the screen in place.

 

[elchingon666]

Damn you guys are fast, lol..I was just about to post this.

It definitely does make a difference with the higher resolution on the new iphone but I think it's only really noticeable if you are zooming in really close on the text.

I still most definitely prefer the Super Amoled but you gotta admit Apple has done a good job there.

 

[pablo.station]

I saw this earlier on engadgets site. The iphone display is defiantly more sharp, if your eyes are microscopes. if you're just a normal person who doesn't put the phone an inch from their face, there really is not much of a difference. Galaxy S display uses less power and is bigger, thats the real advantage. The iphone display IS better but not by much at all..

 

[elchingon666]

Well said, Bro!

 

[Evil Peter]

I saw this earlier on engadgets site. The iphone display is defiantly more sharp, if your eyes are microscopes. if you're just a normal person who doesn't put the phone an inch from their face, there really is not much of a difference. Galaxy S display uses less power and is bigger, thats the real advantage. The iphone display IS better but not by much at all..

I would say that not having a backlight must be a notable advantage as well as a 800:1 contrast ratio isn't hugely impressive in my book. It will be interesting comparing colors when I can make a direct comparison in the future.

The choice of aspect ratio on the iPhone 4 isn't that great either imo. If you have a great display you, or at least I, will want to watch movies on it and widescreen movies will get bigger black lines, in addition to that it's smaller to begin with.

 

[Ferdimage]

well from th news im hearing the iphone4 has some display discolouration issues (Win for Amoled already) and funny reception signal issues too,
Apple said "reception issues.. too bad hold the phone is a different position" LOL!

 

[JustinL]

Firstly this is comparing the actual screens not the size. As for the discolouration issues, I don't think there are many out there and what the Antenna issue has to do with the screen, who knows because I certainly don't!

IMO unless you are watching films the Iphone 4 display is superior. Where the SAmoled screen has richer colours and deeper blacks, the colours aren't necessarily true and have an overbearing quality on the screen (btw I am using the Wave rather than Galaxy, same screen though). My biggest issue with the SAmoled screens are they are still PenTile Submatrix screens, the resolution is interloped and far less than the claimed. Read this thread about it, also on XDA forums. For reading any type of text including E-mails, books, web pages etc etc there is a noticeable difference. Don't just be fooled by the colours, there is alot more to a screen!

 

[Evil Peter]

Firstly this is comparing the actual screens not the size. As for the discolouration issues, I don't think there are many out there and what the Antenna issue has to do with the screen, who knows because I certainly don't!

IMO unless you are watching films the Iphone 4 display is superior. Where the SAmoled screen has richer colours and deeper blacks, the colours aren't necessarily true and have an overbearing quality on the screen (btw I am using the Wave rather than Galaxy, same screen though). My biggest issue with the SAmoled screens are they are still PenTile Submatrix screens, the resolution is interloped and far less than the claimed. Read this thread about it, also on XDA forums. For reading any type of text including E-mails, books, web pages etc etc there is a noticeable difference. Don't just be fooled by the colours, there is alot more to a screen!

The biggest problem with phone screens the last years has not been the resolution, it's been that they look washed out due to bad contrast ratios. The Super AMOLED displays have higher resolution than 3GS but that's not what you notice when you compare them, you first notice that the lack of backlight makes the screen much more dynamic.

The video I posted above shows that the iPhone 4 looks washed out and has bad contrast, even when it's viewed on a computer screen that is also much worse in contrast than the SGS screen. How big will the difference then be in real life?

But I agree that text will be sharper on the iPhone 4. Reading is completely effortless on the SGS though so improvement on that is more a small luxury than a necessity.

 

[JustinL]

The biggest problem with phone screens the last years has not been the resolution, it's been that they look washed out due to bad contrast ratios. The Super AMOLED displays have higher resolution than 3GS but that's not what you notice when you compare them, you first notice that the lack of backlight makes the screen much more dynamic.

The video I posted above shows that the iPhone 4 looks washed out and has bad contrast, even when it's viewed on a computer screen that is also much worse in contrast than the SGS screen. How big will the difference then be in real life?

But I agree that text will be sharper on the iPhone 4. Reading is completely effortless on the SGS though so improvement on that is more a small luxury than a necessity.

I beg to differ, have you actually seen the 2 screens next to each other in real life? The Iphone 4 has a far better contract ratio than the 3gs, it is a IPS screen rather than TN. As I said the Wave screen has deeper blacks and richer colours, though not true colours, the 4GS when you see the screen in RL might make you think again. Both screens are excellent, however in the end I think until Samsung use true RGB for the SAmoled rather than Interloped Pentile they are open to criticism.

 

[Phawx]

I wrote an article on my group blog about this visual *comparison*. However, I compare it with something that actually *shows* the difference.

Disclaimer: I own/operate the blog I am about to link to.

BrainLazy.com - smartphone - iPhone 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Evil Peter]

I beg to differ, have you actually seen the 2 screens next to each other in real life? The Iphone 4 has a far better contract ratio than the 3gs, it is a IPS screen rather than TN. As I said the Wave screen has deeper blacks and richer colours, though not true colours, the 4GS when you see the screen in RL might make you think again. Both screens are excellent, however in the end I think until Samsung use true RGB for the SAmoled rather than Interloped Pentile they are open to criticism.

No, as I said I have only seen comparisons on the web but that would rather benefit the display with bad contrast ratio as the one with good contrast wouldn't be getting it's capacity across properly. And if the colors look more dull on a video I expect them to do the same in real life. I know the iPhone 4 has better contrast ratio than 3GS but 800:1 is not particularly impressive so I fully expect to see a big difference between that and the Super AMOLED.

Yes, both screens have their disadvantages and as long as Apple use a backlit display they are open to criticism. And it still didn't seem as bright as it's competitor as the video showed quite shoddy white when directly compared.

We'll see when I've seen both in real life but from my experience with displays (other IPS panels are amongst that) the Super AMOLED addresses the biggest problems in my view. Add that the iPhone 4 has a dumb aspect ratio and I find it unlikely that I will prefer that one.

 

[galaxyS]

i go for the samoled, look at the colors. LOL

 

[JustinL]

No, as I said I have only seen comparisons on the web but that would rather benefit the display with bad contrast ratio as the one with good contrast wouldn't be getting it's capacity across properly. And if the colors look more dull on a video I expect them to do the same in real life. I know the iPhone 4 has better contrast ratio than 3GS but 800:1 is not particularly impressive so I fully expect to see a big difference between that and the Super AMOLED.

Yes, both screens have their disadvantages and as long as Apple use a backlit display they are open to criticism. And it still didn't seem as bright as it's competitor as the video showed quite shoddy white when directly compared.

We'll see when I've seen both in real life but from my experience with displays (other IPS panels are amongst that) the Super AMOLED addresses the biggest problems in my view. Add that the iPhone 4 has a dumb aspect ratio and I find it unlikely that I will prefer that one.

As I said I have the Wave and the Iphone 4, both screens are stunning. As for your comments on the IPS panel being poor and washed out that is not the case at all, infact the Iphone 4 screen colour rendition and levels of black are excellent, I am afraid until you have actually seen the screen live you can't tell, especially off other websites.

 

[Evil Peter]

As I said I have the Wave and the Iphone 4, both screens are stunning. As for your comments on the IPS panel being poor and washed out that is not the case at all, infact the Iphone 4 screen colour rendition and levels of black are excellent, I am afraid until you have actually seen the screen live you can't tell, especially off other websites.

We'll see. It could also be that we have different preferences since I've never seen a display with a 800:1 contrast ratio that I found excellent in that regard. And how do you reckon that I see too large differences between the displays when I watch the comparisons on a display that can't show the full capacity of one? Logic says that the difference should be larger in real life, not smaller.

I'm sure the Retina display is very good though, although it's not for me in any case with it's dumb choice of aspect ratio.