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This is not a "black vs white" iPhone screen issue not is it a "iPhone 4 vs iPhone 4S" screen issue.

This is 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 their 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.

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?

I agree 100% with what you say.
 
The This is my Next review said the screen actually looked a little bit greener. I don't know about that but it definitely looks more washed out.

Pic for comparison (top = ip4S)

iPhone_4s7.jpg

On these screenshots, the 4S looks a lot better to me.
 
^
Ditto. Probably because the eyes are adapting/have adapted to the change.
 
No. Small yellow blotches is something COMPLETELY different. There's no way you're screen's color temperature will change by itself over time.

are you even reading what I'm posting ?

the small yellow blotches = glue in a small batch of iphones that was not dry

the screen temperature change = Led's
 
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.

ITS NOT THE DISPLAY ITS THE LED'S

Can't you guys read. This happened last year, same exact comments, same exact OCD complaints, etc.


"The most common commercially available White/Warmwhite LED is made by mixing the blue light from a GaN chip and the yellow light from the emission of a yttrium aluminum garnet cerium (YAG:Ce) yellow phosphor coating. "


"White LED's" are actually blue LED's that have yellow sulfur/gel/etc on top of them. when they are first used they will be warmer "lower kelvin".. As they are used they will eventually reach whatever kelvin score the bin number they came from.

My LED Vaio laptop was slightly yellow now its pure white/yellow
My LED 23" display same thing

Here is a post from an electronics forum

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/...es-heat-turn-white-led-into-dim-blue-led.html

if you overpower a white LED this will essentially do what a normal white LED does but in a small time frame. white LED + overload it = Blue LED
 
back in the spring i was comparing my 3GS to the 4 at the Fifth Avenue store and I noticed the 4 was drastically yellow to the 3GS. However, after standing in line for 6 hours on Monday my 4s is a perfect white screen.
 
I only noticed mine looked slightly yellow compared to my Mum's iPhone 4, haven't actually compared to my old iP4. Doesn't bother me in the slightest as the display is perfectly fine and i'm happy with mine how it is.

Really wouldn't have noticed without the side by side comparision
 
Update

I called Apple yesterday to discuss this problem with one of their iPhone support representatives

The highlights are as follows:

-Apple does not do screen calibration in house.

-The screen manufacturer sets the color and gamma.

-There is no known way to change color or gamma from the end user perspective.

*Note: The above highlights are not fact but merely what the representative assumed to be true.

I also recommended that a ColorSync screen calibration ala OSX be implemented into a future iOS update. The rep seemed genuinely impressed with the suggestion so maybe this will actually go somewhere.

I also emailed Apple via their iPhone feedback page detailing all that has been discussed in this thread. Maybe this will be addressed! We can all hope anyway.

Also I really love the idea of having color calibration profiles ala OSX. Having a night time/low light screen profile vs a direct sunlight/daytime screen profile, as someone earlier suggested, would be awesome.
 
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It's just panel variance. My iPhone 4 is quite a bit whiter (bluer) than my wife's iPhone 4. Same thing with the iPad, my couple of MacBook Airs, etc. The problem is the original thread starter hasn't compared his new iPhone 4S to OTHER people's iPhone 4s (not S).

This happens every time there's a new phone/device!

I hate that I'm this person this time around, but the 4Ss do vary in color. A server spilled a tray of drinks on my phone a day after I got it. I am on my second 4S and this display is much warmer (yellow) than the original. It's a matter of preference, but I'm a little bummed. Que sera.
 
I hate that I'm this person this time around, but the 4Ss do vary in color. A server spilled a tray of drinks on my phone a day after I got it. I am on my second 4S and this display is much warmer (yellow) than the original. It's a matter of preference, but I'm a little bummed. Que sera.

I agree it is pretty random which color temp and gamma the phone you get will have, but shouldn't Apple offer to replace your iPhone with one that has a color temp and gamma that you prefer? Or at least have a way of tracking which units have which color/gamma settings? This seems like a basic customer service issue at the very least. Customers aren't happy with your product, so, remedy it.
 
My screen has definitely changed after using the phone for a week. The washed out, overexposed look is no more, replaced by a very nice image.

I honestly think these things need to be "burned in" for a bit before judgement is passed. During that time, your eyes also forget the screen from your old phone.
 
I can confirm this isnt about 4S being more yellow than 4.
I received a 32gb 4S on last friday which is more yellow than the 16gb 4S i received today.
I can definately see the difference.
I will try to take a picture and upload when I go home.
 
My preordered 4S (black 32 GB) came with the washed-out screen and it was bad enough that the greys in the status bar had a greenish yellow tinge to them (whites were almost ok though). Compared to 3 other 4Ss of coworkers the difference was obvious. It actually seemed to be drifting to a more greenish hue over time.

I exchanged it this afternoon for a "new" refurb and the new unit has a much cooler tone to it -- it's actually a little bluer than my coworkers' phones -- but at least the washed-out haze is gone.

Given how much variance there seems to be in the displays, I really wish Apple would allow calibration in software.
 
Not sure why people think their screen is 'getting better.' That's all in your head.

My phone is almost a week old (like everyone else's), and it's still the same old yellow tint. I'm probably going to wait another week or two for new shipments and swap out then and hope for the best. I cannot stand the washed out yellow look. I can see it without comparing it to another screen. It's really distracting.
 
I just got a replacement 4S. My first one had a nice, cool screen. This one is definitely yellower. It has nothing to do with 4 vs 4S, it's just Apple using different suppliers.

I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I don't really like the new screen. How hard would it be to swap them out before I return my old one? Would it void the warranty?
 
My screen has definitely changed after using the phone for a week. The washed out, overexposed look is no more, replaced by a very nice image.

I honestly think these things need to be "burned in" for a bit before judgement is passed. During that time, your eyes also forget the screen from your old phone.

It's all in your mind. Really.
 
My screen has definitely changed after using the phone for a week. The washed out, overexposed look is no more, replaced by a very nice image.

I honestly think these things need to be "burned in" for a bit before judgement is passed. During that time, your eyes also forget the screen from your old phone.

My 4S screen was also yellowed and more washed out appearing when compared to my 4 when I first got it on Saturday. But last night, I decided to compare them again as my i4 is still active. Sure enough, my 4S screen now looks better than the 4! Whites are more white, colors bolder, not washed out....in fact my 4 screen looked slightly yellowish when compared now. I have always thought my 4 screen was perfect and it does still look great, but the 4S screen has definitely changed since Saturday. It must be something that resolves on its own over enough time.
 
Just compared the displays of my two new iPhone 4S devices with my iPhone 4:

http://i51.tinypic.com/im166g.jpg

You can see the difference very clearly if you go back a few steps from your computer screen.

(I posted this on the Apple Discussion Forums too.)

My first 4S was like the phone on the far right with the greenish tint and the new swapped out one is like the one in the middle except with maybe a slight tinge of yellow. Although, that disappears at full brightness. Its slightly annoying but i'm already acclimatizing and its definitely not as egregious as Fanta colour that was prevalent on the 3GS models.

The one on the left is what Apple originally intended everyone to see. Its the one that was on the very first iPhone (2G) and the iPhone 4.
 
My 4S screen was also yellowed and more washed out appearing when compared to my 4 when I first got it on Saturday. But last night, I decided to compare them again as my i4 is still active. Sure enough, my 4S screen now looks better than the 4! Whites are more white, colors bolder, not washed out....in fact my 4 screen looked slightly yellowish when compared now. I have always thought my 4 screen was perfect and it does still look great, but the 4S screen has definitely changed since Saturday. It must be something that resolves on its own over enough time.

Denial.

Screens change a little bit, not this much. There is a huge difference between my two 4Ss. Thing is, the cooler one isn't necessarily better, it looks a bit reddish to me.
 
I couldn't take it anymore. My screen was seriously pissing me off. Everything that's white looked yellow.

Finally I made an appointment and swapped it today.
The replacement was perfect! Whites are white and not yellow. They're also not blue.

Now I feel like I can enjoy my phone fully.

Some call it anal retentive, but we're not crazy.
 
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.

My phone is just like that picture.

After reading all the yellowscreen related threads, I decided to wait several weeks. Numerous people got replacements for the yellow or warmer screen I should say, but they were all the same as the original one. So even if I swap the device chances are I would get the same yellow screen or even with dead pixels! (no dead pixel with mine atm)

I hope as some person said on this forum, it is the LED that requires some time to get the original color. It takes time to settle and eventually bring more blue and cooler colors to the screen.

Cool screens from iPhone4s's displayed in detail Apple Store are the proof I guess. Phones there are at maximum brightness with auto brightness turned off, and their screens stay turned on almost whole time during the store's operation hours. Since there is no way employees open up all the phones and selectively choose cool colored iphone4s to the displays (confirmed with a friend who works at Genius bar)

Also, color differences from different angles. All 4's I've checked (friends', family's, and displayed ones) all had more yellow screen when seen from left and more blue from right.
 
I just got a replacement 4S. My first one had a nice, cool screen. This one is definitely yellower. It has nothing to do with 4 vs 4S, it's just Apple using different suppliers.

I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I don't really like the new screen. How hard would it be to swap them out before I return my old one? Would it void the warranty?

Go back and tell them the screen is worse and they should give you a replacement. You can even compare it with a floor model to show that it is inferior and they should do another swap for you.

Your mileage at your Apple store may vary but I was able to get the genius to take out 2 replacement units so that I could see the screen comparison and pick the one that didn't have the yellow tint.
 
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