Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I went to the apple store and noticed this on NUMEROUS floor model iPhone Xs. It makes the display look pretty...sloshy...
 
  • Like
Reactions: redno421
I’m not sure. If it’s not happening to all devices, then it’s likely hardware. OLED is a new technology to Apple so support couldn’t confidently say whether this was an actual issue or expected with OLED.

Update on this is
I’ve also had this blue glitch issue when scrolling with low brightness and nightshift. Raised it with support as I couldn’t replicate the issue on a friends X. They’ve taken a capture data and passed to engineering - hopefully will hear back tomorrow, but have a feeling it’s going to be a replacement device :/

Had the device swapped out for a new one - exact same issue occurs. Looks like this is an issue with the OLED screen.
 
Update on this is


Had the device swapped out for a new one - exact same issue occurs. Looks like this is an issue with the OLED screen.

I'm going to another Apple Store this Saturday to check more floor models.
 
I found this test to show the blur \ trail that occurs on my iPhone X display. This tests with a single pixel line but it demonstrates what essentially happens with text:

https://www.testufo.com/blurtrail

On my iPhone 6S and my 2016 MacBook Pro I only see a single line going across the screen with a minimal amount of blur, but on my iPhone X I see 3 lines when they only should be one. Does anyone else see the same? At the end of the day it just proves that the screen isn't refreshing properly or at least it appears that way because of the PWM with these OLED displays.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zigourney
I found this test to show the blur \ trail that occurs on my iPhone X display. This tests with a single pixel line but it demonstrates what essentially happens with text:

https://www.testufo.com/blurtrail

On my iPhone 6S and my 2016 MacBook Pro I only see a single line going across the screen with a minimal amount of blur, but on my iPhone X I see 3 lines when they only should be one. Does anyone else see the same? At the end of the day it just proves that the screen isn't refreshing properly or at least it appears that way because of the PWM with these OLED displays.

Did you try it with black pixel bar on white background, or vice versa? I noticed the image drag in store with black text on a white background...But maybe color doesn't matter, just the pixel response time.
 
I noticed this issue today. I didn’t notice it the first few days and now it’s really become noticeable. Hoping it’s something software can fix.
 
Does anyone have any distortions when using the red/blue wave live wallpaper?
When I have it set and I‘m in an app doing the reachability gesture I can see a darkish patch of distortion in the upper left corner (like a wave). It only happens with the red/blue (the space gray box cover) wallpaper.

The distortion effect also shows up when you swipe up on the lock screen and get a full screen FaceID spinner. Will see if I can manage to snag a picture later.
 
Yes, this is normal on OLED screens. It is one of the reasons why I never bought a Samsung and why LCD is still better than OLED, like Steve Jobs said in the iPhone 4 keynote. The only advantage of OLED are the deeper and clearer colors. Everything else (brightness, viewing angle, pink hue/pink screen edges, ghosting etc.) is way worse than on a LCD. I have always been disgusted how bad and cheap the Samsung screens look. And now Apple uses the same horrible OLED screens and wants us to pay 1.200 Euro for it. I can´t believe it! The screen of iPhone SE/8/8plus looks way better, although it is not so sharp and has not so great colors as the X.
 
Last edited:
Does anyone else notice a slight ghosting effect / lag while scrolling on the iPhone X? I’m not sure if I have a bad panel but when I scroll through text (e.g. the settings window or in Safari) even at a moderate speed the text is blurred. Compared to my iPhone 6S it’s pretty bad.

Has anyone else noticed this? Does it work well on some and not others?

I also noticed this. I returned my X yesterday. The issue was confirmed by an apple employee. He said that’s something related to OLED and iOS 11. The lag is extremely noticable when comparing the X to the 8. I tried to capture this on video:
 
I noticed this also. It is weird. Has this weird ghosting issue. Not sure what is causing the issue when scrolling up and down. Almost like you are tripping on some good stuff lol.

Edit: This is from playing with my niece and her mom’s new X models. They both do the same thing. And if you use it like this. It gives you a headache after a few minutes of use.
 
I also see about 3 lines scrolling across the screen instead of one.

I also see the ghosting issue at night when laying in bed with the screen brightness turned down. It is more apparent when I have darker images or objects displayed on the screen, and when scrolling fast it looks like the dark colours ghost and lag before it catches up with the rest of the screen...

I know the affect is annoying but I believe this is inherent in the particular OLED panel used in the iPhone X and I believe it happens on all iPhone X to some extent and swapping out the phone for a new one will not help for this particular issue.

Just have to put up with it I’m afraid until OLED technology improves and apple uses better more improved panels on future iterations of iPhone.
 
All this highlights is that different people respond differently to differing screen technologies.

I always liked the Apple LCD screens, and I also like their OLED version. I hated the original Samsung Galaxy S and wasn’t keen on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

We simply experience different compromises in different ways.

My 7+ was very good, I think my X is slightly better but it is hard to say for definite why as the reduced edges and trutone technologies can play mind tricks.

I found this test to show the blur \ trail that occurs on my iPhone X display. This tests with a single pixel line but it demonstrates what essentially happens with text:

https://www.testufo.com/blurtrail

On my iPhone 6S and my 2016 MacBook Pro I only see a single line going across the screen with a minimal amount of blur, but on my iPhone X I see 3 lines when they only should be one. Does anyone else see the same? At the end of the day it just proves that the screen isn't refreshing properly or at least it appears that way because of the PWM with these OLED displays.

I’m lucky as I only see one line. That is not to say that your screen is defective or mine is better, it simply indicates that I am not as sensitive to the phenomenon.

Then again my main viewing screen at home consists of plasma and OLED as well. As for that type of viewing I really really don’t like LCD.
 
The scrolling is kind of odd at times. It seems as if it struggles in a way. And stutters at other times like its not optimized. Kind of reminds me of some of the old android phones back in the day. Where you would see it have issues scrolling.
 
I’m lucky as I only see one line. That is not to say that your screen is defective or mine is better, it simply indicates that I am not as sensitive to the phenomenon.

If you only see one line then a lot of people on this thread must have defective panels. The ghosting issue is not a “phenomenon” as you describe it. It is happening for a fact and ghosting is a known issue in panels, whether that be in LCD or OLED technology in televisions or phones. It has nothing to do with people being sensitive to it or not.

When ghosting occurs you will see it regardless of whether you are sensitive to it or not.
 
If you only see one line then a lot of people on this thread must have defective panels. The ghosting issue is not a “phenomenon” as you describe it. It is happening for a fact and ghosting is a known issue in panels, whether that be in LCD or OLED technology in televisions or phones. It has nothing to do with people being sensitive to it or not.

When ghosting occurs you will see it regardless of whether you are sensitive to it or not.
I respectfully disagree with that statement. As you say if it is happening for a fact and a known issue, yet only some see it and others don't then it is all about sensitivity to it or not. Very normal with these kinds of display technologies.
 
I respectfully disagree with that statement. As you say if it is happening for a fact and a known issue, yet only some see it and others don't then it is all about sensitivity to it or not. Very normal with these kinds of display technologies.

Let me put it another way, my eyesight is fine, but I see multiple lines on my phone but you only see one line.

We both have the same phone. That means the panel in my phone isn’t of the same quality as the panel in your phone, because mine is displaying 3 lines whereas yours is displaying one line.

Other people have said their phones are displaying up to 8 lines, that’s heavy ghosting, whereas your phone is displaying 1 line.

Therefore how can you say that is down to a persons sensitivity to ghosting, when clearly the panel should be only displaying a single line like it does on your phone, but it isn’t on other people’s phone.

Google the term ghosting, it is a known issue, you don’t just see ghosting because you are sensitive to it or not, you see it because the refresh rate on a display is not high enough to display fast moving objects.
 
Let me put it another way, my eyesight is fine, but I see multiple lines on my phone but you only see one line.

We both have the same phone. That means the panel in my phone isn’t of the same quality as the panel in your phone, because mine is displaying 3 lines whereas yours is displaying one line.

Other people have said their phones are displaying up to 8 lines, that’s heavy ghosting, whereas your phone is displaying 1 line.

Therefore how can you say that is down to a persons sensitivity to ghosting, when clearly the panel should be only displaying a single line like it does on your phone, but it isn’t on other people’s phone.

Google the term ghosting, it is a known issue, you don’t just see ghosting because you are sensitive to it or not, you see it because the refresh rate on a display is not high enough to display fast moving objects.
It is not your eyesight, it's your brain and how it interprets it. Yours might be better at mine that it can identify multiple lines at that refresh rate. Or perhaps mine is better at processing it to turn it to one line. Who knows - one thing I'm confident about is that the displays are the same. It is highly unlikely to have such variation for such small panels.

I'm sorry but your refresh rate of your panel is likely not going to be any less than mine. So what does that leave as potential causes that you see it and I don't? And someone else even sees 8 lines, and others also see it on the LCD...

You say defective panels, I say defective brains :) Let us agree to disagree...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zigourney
I know ghosting is a known issue in both lcd and oled technology, that’s why I haven’t returned my phone for a new one. It’s just inherent in the current 60hz panels. A 120hz refresh rate should sort that out in future iPhones, if that ever happens.

I don’t like the idea of panel lottery, and the current iPhone X I’ve got now is a new one (previous handset had popping/ crackle sounds as well as some sharp edges, which I returned and repurchased) so I’ll just have to live with a little ghosting, it’s not a major issue nevertheless it is still an issue.
 
Does anyone else notice a slight ghosting effect / lag while scrolling on the iPhone X? I’m not sure if I have a bad panel but when I scroll through text (e.g. the settings window or in Safari) even at a moderate speed the text is blurred. Compared to my iPhone 6S it’s pretty bad.

Has anyone else noticed this? Does it work well on some and not others?

I am experiencing the same problem. Even if my phone is just sitting on the desk while I browse a page or app, the screen just automatically scrolls back on top! It's so annoying!
 
I've yet to commit to an iPhone X, this issue being the only thing that is holding me back. I've been to several stores looking at the iPhone X displays to evaluate the screen. I read a lot on my phone, and the effect on black text scrolling on while background is really rather nasty on the X. I compared it against a Galaxy S9 and a 1Plus and it was clearly worse on the X, and the X was much worse than my iPhone 6. It seems to be an OLED issue for sure, but surprisingly some of the Samsung models are faring better than the X.

I tried it with various brightness settings, without much improvement.

I find that unacceptable, considering the cost of the thing.

Is there any way to mitigate that in the display settings?
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.