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Other I'm dying for an outrageously good screen

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puma1552

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Nov 20, 2008
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I had a 6. The screen was gorgeous. Nice cool tone, great color pop and saturation without being cartoonish. Great screen in 2014.

Then I had an SE and the screen was expectedly worse being that it was a 2012 screen. Didn't bother me because I knew it would be the case, and it gave me real reason to get excited for whatever I bought next because anything would HAVE to have a substantial screen upgrade compared to that, right?

Then I got my 8, hoped to be blown away like my 6 and I wasn't. It was actually more similar to the SE than the 6. Don't get me wrong, it is better than the SE in colors and blacks, just not by nearly as much as I was expecting. I blame the P3 gamut. Not much brighter either, but I don't use auto brightness so the extra brightness the 8 is capable of is never unlocked for me. The 8 screen has a nice white tone (albeit warmer than my 6) and is far and away the most evenly lit screen I've ever had, so that's good.

326 ppi is so old, had that since my 4S in October of 2011. Really?

I've been thinking about an 8+ for the better screen.

But I just went to Best Buy, compared my 8 to the other 8s on display (pretty similar) and the 8+ display models and those screens really just weren't any better than my 8. Same brightness (expected), higher ppi but not really noticeable (yet the ultra high ppi of the X was immediately obvious, go figure), but the color tones were really meh. One was really pink, another yellowish. Same old washed out but accurate P3 gamut.

Looked at the X. Much sharper and smoother, no question. But dimmer than the 8/8+ models? All phones were max brightness, true tone and night shift off (please don't reply saying this is the problem). Same old P3 gamut.

I want to be wowed by a screen again.

I want to be in complete love with a screen again. 500 ppi. 800-1000 nits brightness without being artificially limited by software and requiring auto brightness (won't happen). White whites, black blacks. A little more color saturation and pop than P3 gamut provides without being Samsung cartoonish (P3 is here to stay). No burn in. 120Hz ProMotion.

Will we ever get this? I have to think no. Apple already limits max brightness unless you use auto brightness, and P3 gamut isn't going anywhere. I refuse to buy another phone with a screen that for all intents and purposes is much the same overall, so I guess I'm sticking with my 8 for now. I do love my 8, it just seems that the screens haven't really gotten any better in day to day use over the past five years and several products. The X is a step in the right direction but the improvement delta just isn't quite there yet - needs more brightness and saturation IMO.

/rant
 
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Oled screens are variable in quality, even more so than LCDs. My first X had a reddish tint with muddy appearance. My second X however, is gorgeous after adjusting color settings, with great cool tone. X has infinite blacks and contrast thanks to OLED and I will never going back to an LCD phone. My screen is so good that I plan to keep it for 3-4 years. Try to calibrate an X and see if that will get you close. The colors probably will not pop as on a Samsung OLED phone or an OLED tv.
 
I am of the opinion Apple store display models are mostly but not all cherry picked

And Best Buy/other retailers are pure luck of the draw like a consumer’s chances are

Oled has more variation I think as well, but if I were hunkering down on a 8/8+ I’d want an “outrageously good” panel as well. I might even buy two at a time and if the first is a winner return the other unsealed or go through both and go from there what to do to save on trips and transactions
 
I tend to agree with you - the X is a big step up from the 7 Plus that I had.

I think more PPi and higher nit count are actually just more for the sake of more.
If you can't see the individual pixels at a normal viewing distance (you can't) and you don;t have to have your screen up at max brightness (you don't), I fail to see the point in this wishlist of things that are largely irrelevant.

OP - you're not wowed because you're jaded. Technology has reached a natural plateau and until the next major breakthrough comes along, you're going to be sorely disappointed for a while yet.
 
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I just feel like the screens haven't got appreciably better since adding retina in 2010 with the iPhone 4. Sure they've added various technological upgrades over the years (true tone etc) but you could put an iPhone 4 next to an iPhone 8 and depending on the panel lottery they would actually look basically the same...7 years apart, which is insane IMO.

Again the X is an exception, but only really in black levels and PPI given the artificial limits on brightness and the P3 gamut saturation limit. Give me the current X screen with:

-30% more brightness (I do use my phone on max brightness a lot and hate the wonkiness of auto brightness)
-20% more color saturation
-30% cooler
-Make it with a burn-in free technology
-Throw in ProMotion

Do all that and I'll drop a grand tomorrow. Seems every year the iPhones somehow manage to get warmer and warmer and warmer over the prior year, eventually they will be piss yellow but it will have been so gradual nobody will have realized just how warm they've got - eventually it HAS to go back the other way a few shades? Color Filters in Display Accomodations is useless and not a substitute as even the lowest intensity and tiniest color shift is way too strong and washes all the rest of the colors out no matter how subtle you tweak it.

I just feel like too many products in a row have had screens that have basically been the same. Again not looking for a Samsung cartoon but looking for a genuine blow-me-away change from what we've stared at for years.

Again I LOVE my 8 and won the Apple QC build quality lottery, I just need substantially more from the next phone.
 
puma1552 said:
I just feel like the screens haven't got appreciably better since adding retina in 2010 with the iPhone 4. Sure they've added various technological upgrades over the years (true tone etc) but you could put an iPhone 4 next to an iPhone 8 and depending on the panel lottery they would actually look basically the same...7 years apart, which is insane IMO.

Again the X is an exception, but only really in black levels and PPI given the artificial limits on brightness and the P3 gamut saturation limit. Give me the current X screen with:

-30% more brightness (I do use my phone on max brightness a lot and hate the wonkiness of auto brightness)
-20% more color saturation
-30% cooler
-Make it with a burn-in free technology
-Throw in ProMotion

Do all that and I'll drop a grand tomorrow. Seems every year the iPhones somehow manage to get warmer and warmer and warmer over the prior year, eventually they will be piss yellow but it will have been so gradual nobody will have realized just how warm they've got - eventually it HAS to go back the other way a few shades? Color Filters in Display Accomodations is useless and not a substitute as even the lowest intensity and tiniest color shift is way too strong and washes all the rest of the colors out no matter how subtle you tweak it.

I just feel like too many products in a row have had screens that have basically been the same. Again not looking for a Samsung cartoon but looking for a genuine blow-me-away change from what we've stared at for years.

Again I LOVE my 8 and won the Apple QC build quality lottery, I just need substantially more from the next phone.
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First off, on the X auto brightness is enabled by default and buried in Accessibility settings. On the X it consists of very aggressive screen care automations to look after the OLED display so that the the power draw and heat generation are managed under high-load situations, burn in protection, etc. If you want to see the screen at its brightest, make sure the phone isn't extremely warm (it'll throttle the brightness even though it's at max on the slider), and turn off Auto Brightness in settings/accessibility/display accommodations. Or just be outside during the day with AB enabled. It'll light up brighter than you can set it.

That being said, I hate hate hate auto brightness on the LCD iPhones, but leaving it enabled on the X is a different experience. It doesn't get in your way nearly as much, I can basically adjust it to whatever and it stays.

In real world use, the display is stunning and when the situation calls for it, it can get a lot brighter than what an artificial side-by-side can show. I don't know why you would want "20% more color saturation" - it's going to look unrealistic because it simply isn't. I think you're asking too much at the current point in time - it's almost like asking for an 18-1000mm f/1.8 lens for your camera. Burn in is a thing, DCI-P3 is as accurate as it gets at this level, battery technology is stagnant, and 120hz is a minor improvement that's probably coming soon.
 
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Its So difficult to use a metric of what is considered to be a ‘good display’. Apple has variable changed the tone for their displays every year since the iPhone 6 and of course now the shift with OLED. I think the iPhone 6s had the most Stark and bluish tone, where as now they have shifted to a warmer color spectrum since the iPhone 7. But regardless of what type of display modifications they make on an annual basis, I think they have the best displays of any smart phone on the market.
 
I hate my iPhone screen in bright sunlight. I can see it perfectly but the shiny surface shows a refection of my face that puts me about 10 years older! I hate it!

Is there any screens out there that dont reflect so badly? Would a Matt screen help?

Whats the refelction like on the iPhone X OLED screen?
 
The reason the X has a higher ppi is because it’s needed to disguise the pentile sub pixel layout (effectively you only have half RG and half BG pixels, not all RBG like on the LCD models). I’m hoping micro LED will be the end of pentile, and also the pulse width modulation dimming that has been giving some people headaches with the X.
 
Some points you bring up like brightness or PPI probably have to do with the balance between screen quality and performance. A 4K screen would require more processing power and more brightness would require a bigger battery.

iPhone screens just like the rest of the phone are more about overall user experience than sheer numbers. Some Android manufactures might feel the need to play the numbers game because they don't have much else going for them, but Apple historically never cared for that.

That being said, I'm on iPhone 7 Plus and have not tried OLED phones. The X didn't seems that much better in the store, but I haven't studied it closely. Screens on iPhones have never been a concern to me.
 
Looks like OP wants to justify not upgrading from 8 to X. Playing screen lottery is indeed frustrating given variance in OLED quality but good X screen will easily beat best LCD screens out there. Can't wait to upgrade my great retina MB screen to an emissive display, be it OLED or microled. Apple, are you listening?
 
radiologyman said:
Looks like OP wants to justify not upgrading from 8 to X. Playing screen lottery is indeed frustrating given variance in OLED quality but good X screen will easily beat best LCD screens out there. Can't wait to upgrade my great retina MB screen to an emissive display, be it OLED or microled. Apple, are you listening?
Click to expand...

Not really, but I might be on board for an XS or XS+ depending on how it goes, particularly if FaceID is significantly improved (which we all know is coming either this year or next year and we are close to this year's release).
 
If you are platform agnostic, you really should consider the Samsung Galaxy/Note; their Super AMOLED screens are hard to beat unless Apple or their product partner Foxconn (after buying Sharp) can up their OLED display tech.

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S8 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro; all three have OLED displays, the Samsung is really good, but I am quite satisfied with my iPhone X and it is my main phone.
 
radiologyman said:
Looks like OP wants to justify not upgrading from 8 to X. Playing screen lottery is indeed frustrating given variance in OLED quality but good X screen will easily beat best LCD screens out there. Can't wait to upgrade my great retina MB screen to an emissive display, be it OLED or microled. Apple, are you listening?
Click to expand...

If you look at the variations of the displays with the iPhone over the years, it’s never been consistent in terms of color temperature, brightness and overall uniformity. Although Apples displays have been very good with the LCD technology, but they change calibration all the time, given if you look at the iPhone 6 and 6S in comparison to the iPhone 8, significant differences. The OP’s main post does not have any relativity to the OLED display compared to LED.
 
DisplayMate rated the iPhone X as the best smartphone display ever. I’m. It sure what more you want. If you want to be “wowed”, as you put it, YouTube just updated itself to support HDR on the X. That blew me away
 
The Game 161 said:
Each to their own I think the iphone x screen is stunning and very noticeable coming from the 7 plus for example.
Click to expand...

Definitely agree here. My X screen is gorgeous compared to that of my 7. Sure I could go back and use my 7, but the OLED screen on the X really makes it hard to do so. Don't get me wrong, LCD is still good, but OLED is the way to go.
 
I don't care about ppi or oled that much. As long as the screen is even and cool. Really don't like uneven or yellow screens. Won't pay extra for oled. Will pay extra for flexible/foldable oled that doesn't break easily.
 
801 ppi, 700+ nits, 4k hdr, most important lcd, and 120Hz
... and they call ipx display the best ever
Comparing mine with my wife's samsung s8 display every day and mine has also deeper blacks!!! (which is better than ipx display imo) really don't understand this amoled mania...
 
Coffee_Time said:
Yea, yea and you beleive it. A friend of mine with an ipx also was saying that to me. Until we both opened the same youtube movie and when i switched to 4k 60fps it was game over.
Dude, seriously, go to a Sony center and try the hardware.
Click to expand...

Clearly it’s apparent the iPad Pro and iPhone X are preferred displays, not just because it’s an Apple product, it’s because Apple has the best LCD displays in the industry. And you have to factor in the calibration is to their specifications as well.
 
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