Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 4S: Screen not as white

I bought my first 4S at the launch day, the same day returned it, because of uneven backlight- as was mentioned here already plus one stuck pixel in blue and way darker screen in overall than my iPhone 4.
Second one definately has a whiter screen which is not yellow at all ( on my iPhone 4 was yellow), doesn't have dead pixels or uneven white, but has two very thin like hair scratches out of the box on the screen, which are very even and appear only in very strong direct sunlight plus it has one very small piece of dust on bottom of the screen. Now I am wondering- do I have to live these small cosmetic issues with or to fight again for the new unit, which may contains more of the previous bugs, which are disturbing the real comfort during the daily use.
It seems that Apple has somehow made poor quality control this time over the previous phones...
Very big quality lag this time.
 
miragebg said:
I bought my first 4S at the launch day, the same day returned it, because of uneven backlight- as was mentioned here already plus one stuck pixel in blue and way darker screen in overall than my iPhone 4.
Second one definately has a whiter screen which is not yellow at all ( on my iPhone 4 was yellow), doesn't have dead pixels or uneven white, but has two very thin like hair scratches out of the box on the screen, which are very even and appear only in very strong direct sunlight plus it has one very small piece of dust on bottom of the screen. Now I am wondering- do I have to live these small cosmetic issues with or to fight again for the new unit, which may contains more of the previous bugs, which are disturbing the real comfort during the daily use.
It seems that Apple has somehow made poor quality control this time over the previous phones...
Very big quality lag this time.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem. My iPhone 4 came with 2 very thin hair like scratches and dust under the front facing camera. Going to Apple store to have my iPhone 4s exchange.
 
For anyone that has two different iPhone's with different Screen colors (cooler/blueish vs warmer/yellowish)

Bring up this picture on both iPhones, and you will notice the difference in black levels (contrast ratio) between the two screens.

http://oi51.tinypic.com/adm8b7.jpg

You will notice that the one with the warmer whites, actually shows the shadows of the pumpkin in more detail that the cooler whites version. Also if you look at the shadows eyes, they are more pronounced on the warmer than on the cooler screen. This means that the warmer colored screen is actually calibrated better.
 
Last edited:
Merkie said:
I see different screens, but come on, they're both perfectly fine. Stop comparing and stop worrying. There's nothing wrong with your screen.
Click to expand...

It's true that there is nothing wrong with it but I really prefer the look of my iPhone 4 screen. Apple should include colour settings in the OS then we could calibrate it how we like :)

savior1974 said:
You will notice that the one with the warmer whites, actually shows the shadows of the pumpkin in more detail that the cooler whites version. Also if you look at the shadows eyes, they are more pronounced on the warmer than on the cooler screen. This means that the warmer colored screen is actually calibrated better.
Click to expand...

This may be true, but I still prefer my whites to be white and not this creamy colour that they are now.
 
4s1.png

4s2.png


Went to apple store second day I got the iphone4s on Oct.15, apple rep was very nice, agreed to swap the phone right the way, but try 3, all yellow or even yellower. He suggest to come back in a month to try the new batch.
 
FWIW, I find the screen on mine to be just about perfect. If anything, it tends more towards the blue.

I don't have an iPhone 4 to compare it to, but if it is warmer than the iPhone 4, then it would imply that the iPhone 4 was too blue rather than that the 4S is too yellow.
 
I have three iPhone 4s's at home to compare. One screen has a turquoise/greenish tint to it, one has a frosty white/bluish tint to it, and one has a more yellowish and darker tint to it. Of note, the one that's the most blue is a white one while the other two are black. I can post pictures tonight if anybody is interested, but it seems that this is just normal panel variance. My phone is the slightly yellow one, but I have noticed it also has deeper blacks and more contrast.

If I had to guess, I would say that this is the same issue you see with MacBooks and other Apple devices. Apples two primary screen suppliers are Samsung and LG. Samsung screens are known to be yellow tinted while LG strays more for the bluish.

I don't know what is up with a slightly green one though, haha.
 
My 4S is a bit warmer than my 4 but white looks white on it rather than slightly blueish
 
wuruoyu said:
Image
Image

Went to apple store second day I got the iphone4s on Oct.15, apple rep was very nice, agreed to swap the phone right the way, but try 3, all yellow or even yellower. He suggest to come back in a month to try the new batch.
Click to expand...

To be quite honest, the 4s screen looks more to be 'correct'. It looks much better than the 4 to me.
 
I went to two apple stores . Checked out 3 different 4S on display. They ALL had different tints! I can't believe this. Mine had the most yellow tint of all of them. I then went to a different store and compared to 3 others. They were a little more consistent, but still all whiter than mine. I was able to get it exchanged at the genius bar as they agreed mine was fairly extreme case. We only tried one other phone before I found a satisfactory white point.

Anyway this seems to be becoming yet another widespread problem. Not sure what the percentage of yellow tints are out there, but I would venture to guess it's a small amount.

I wish Apple would provide a way to adjust white balance on these displays as it seems almost impossible to have consistent white point given multiple manufactures are involved.
 
Guys we go through this every time. It's the IPS display, starts off yellow but the more the screen is on and used it will shift to blue. This also happened on the iMac and iPad, if you recall.
 
Baggy Spandex said:
To be quite honest, the 4s screen looks more to be 'correct'. It looks much better than the 4 to me.
Click to expand...
That's hard to establish judging from a photo. The white balance determines which display looks "right".

----------
cwwilson said:
Guys we go through this every time. It's the IPS display, starts off yellow but the more the screen is on and used it will shift to blue. This also happened on the iMac and iPad, if you recall.
Click to expand...

Lol. No.
 
I measured the Color Temp ("the color of white") of the iPhone 4S 64GB AT&T model. <br />
<br />
The results are: The iPhone 4S has a color temp of 7953k, which is a blue-ish white. D65 (6500k) is the standard white point for film, Broadcast ect.<br />
<br />
I used SpectraCal's CalMan software and a xrite eye-one pro meter to take the measurements.<br />
<br />
Tyler Pruitt<br />
THX Certified Video Calibrator<br />
<br />
attachment.php
 
wuruoyu said:
Image
Image

Went to apple store second day I got the iphone4s on Oct.15, apple rep was very nice, agreed to swap the phone right the way, but try 3, all yellow or even yellower. He suggest to come back in a month to try the new batch.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 4S isn't yellow, - it's actually a much more neutral color. Your iPhone 4 whites are so pink it's insane!

Apple may have changed their white point on the 4S. I've actually seen several 4Ss and they all look VERY similar to the point where I'd say Apple has. I'd be quite happy with the phone on the right (in fact, I am!) That 4S looks great.

----------
cwwilson said:
Guys we go through this every time. It's the IPS display, starts off yellow but the more the screen is on and used it will shift to blue. This also happened on the iMac and iPad, if you recall.
Click to expand...

I've never heard that before, and none of my IPS displays have ever done that....
 
Interesting thing I notice , if you look at your phone downwards . Lets say someone has the phone facing them and you looking over the phone but in front of the person you can see the screen show off the blueish tint, even looking at the phone sideways as well... Basically the screen looks to the actual eye different depending what angle you look at it .

Hopefully I didn't confuse and someone understands what am trying to say :rolleyes:

Ps. I love my screen and notice no yellow tint, less blueish then my 3GS , but I rather have it the way my 4s displays. Overall love the screen
 
Are you guys serious about the display going whiter over time? Because its really bugging me, and i was thinking about getting a replacement. I'm not looking for a blue tint, i just want it whiter.
 
designaholic said:
Just bagged a new 4S!

When sat side-by-side with an 18 month old iPhone 4 with the brightness on full, the 4S screen is slightly yellow (all over) and not as crisp white as the iPhone 4.

Anyone else noticing this?
Click to expand...

If it ain't white, it ain't right!
 
Many people have a skewed sense of what white is displayed at on an LCD screen due to using uncalibrated computer monitors. If you've ever calibrated a monitor, you'd know how "wrong" your eyes perceive it when it's right.

Some of these images show iP4 screens as way too cool.
 
This is not a "black vs white" iPhone screen issue, nor is it an "iPhone 4 vs iPhone 4S" screen issue.

This is a screen color temperature and gamma issue. I'm guessing that the screen of the iPhone 4S, (as well as many other consumer devices), are manufactured by more than one company. Company "A" probably has the calibration of their screens set at a different gamma and color temp than company "B".

My launch iPhone 4 (June 2010) had the more warm (more green to me) looking screen. I exchanged it with my dad's iPhone 4 that looked cooler and more blue due to my preferring that look.

This year when our family got the iPhone 4S, mine was the cool bluer looking one and my dad and brother's had the warmer, yellow-green, higher gamma look.

I personally prefer the cooler tint and contrast, even though I agree that some detail is lost in the shadows, I believe it is easier to read in every day situations due to the blacks popping out more. The warmer screens look too washed out for every day viewing for me.

Ideally, Apple will create a "Color Calibration" tool for iOS, just like they have for OSX. This would solve everyone's problem as it would allow for color temp and gamma customization.

What do you all think?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back