Purple/green fringing on new S4

[jollino]

Hi all, I got a new 44mm Series 4 on Monday and I immediately noticed something odd: the screen exhibits what looks like chromatic aberration, especially around white text/icons.
I saw it as soon as the Apple logo showed up on boot and obviously notice it every single time I glance at it, but not everyone seems to see it.

This is what it looks like (posted on imgur as I get a 'security error' when trying to upload images here):

Has anyone had a similar experience? I've read reports of purple trails when scrolling but mine is full-fledged chromatic aberration, or some kind of anti-aliasing gone a little wrong.
Screenshots do show a white edge so it's likely the rendering; the more I look at it, the less it looks like it's a display problem or something that replacing the watch would really fix (it likely needs some software tweaking, if Apple decides to address it.)

What say you, o Macrumors people? (Aside from "shut up, you're just splitting hairs" — which I'm fully aware of, but then again I dropped €469 / US$530 on this, so... )

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bazooka-joe]

I haven't seen anything like that on my Series 4 SSSB 44mm and I think I would have noticed it right away

 

[Mr$tone]

Hi all, I got a new 44mm Series 4 on Monday and I immediately noticed something odd: the screen exhibits what looks like chromatic aberration, especially around white text/icons.
I saw it as soon as the Apple logo showed up on boot and obviously notice it every single time I glance at it, but not everyone seems to see it.

This is what it looks like (posted on imgur as I get a 'security error' when trying to upload images here):

Has anyone had a similar experience? I've read reports of purple trails when scrolling but mine is full-fledged chromatic aberration, or some kind of anti-aliasing gone a little wrong.
Screenshots do show a white edge so it's likely the rendering; the more I look at it, the less it looks like it's a display problem or something that replacing the watch would really fix (it likely needs some software tweaking, if Apple decides to address it.)

What say you, o Macrumors people? (Aside from "shut up, you're just splitting hairs" — which I'm fully aware of, but then again I dropped €469 / US$530 on this, so... )

Thanks in advance!

I think there’s absolutely cause to have it exchanged. My 44 mm looks perfect and I wouldn’t accept how your watch look. I hade a similar problem with an iPhone and had it exchanged.

 

[jollino]

My doubt is that it may just be returned back to me because they see nothing of the sort; I actually spoke to Apple and they sent me to go back to the shop where I bought (there is no actual Apple Store where I live, the nearest being 200 km away) and the person I spoke with said he couldn't see the issue at all. I actually looked at the two watches on display and the other 44mm also showed the same issue (though to what seemed a slightly lesser extent, but I didn't spend much time with it and I may have been biased), while the 40mm seemed immune (it does have smaller pixel though).

It's sort of a borderline thing and some people genuinely can't see the problem, and it's actually not *that* bad; the photos I posted earlier are crazy magnifications. In everyday use I sometimes notice it, sometimes I don't; but given that I enjoy photography I'm also sort of "trained" to look for chromatic aberrations (which I notice very easily in tv shows too!)

Here, for instance, you can sort of see it a bit under the clouds for the weather, but you actually have to look for it:

I actually spent some time earlier (didn't feel like working... ) trying to figure out if it's an actual flaw or not, because my own macro photos do show a very specific pattern; a friend pointed out it looks like sub-pixel antialiasing and he has a point (http://alienryderflex.com/sub_pixel/). You can see it on the curved edges of text especially, such as the very bottom of the U in THU, or the slightly slanted vertical bar of the big 5: some RGB sub-pixels are partially on and some are partially off, according to their position and the shape they're drawing.

I looked up other non-stock photos of the watch and it does look like it's just the way it is, e.g.:
https://cdn.mobilesyrup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/apple-watch-series-4-header-3.jpg
https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/-p...dc-9a61-8a192c447565/apple-watch-series-3.jpg
https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/apple-watch-series-4-hands-on-11.jpg
https://cdn.mobilesyrup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/apple-watch-series-4-UI.jpg
https://akket.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Apple-Watch-Series-4-52.jpg
https://i1.wp.com/www.ablogtowatch....8/09/Apple-Watch-Series-4-aBlogtoWatch-19.jpg
https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/w5...8b4ad/27-apple-watch-series-4-larger-44mm.jpg
And it's always purple-ish top, green-ish bottom; probably that's just the way the anti-aliasing is implemented given the hardware pixel layout, and it's certainly more visible in the 44mm version than it is in the older 42mm or the current 40mm (both of which have smaller pixels).

I thnk I might have overreacted a bit; I wonder if others are reporting this and the antialias algorithm may be addressed in a future watchOS version. I plan to buy AppleCare+ in early November anyway, and I'll keep an eye on how it fares. At that point, once I have AC+, I can get an Express replacement if it's still an issue. Meanwhile this post may come in handy to others who are also, um, overly anal·ytical... I'd be curious to know how many are bothered.

 

[techno-Zen]

What am I looking for here?

 

[jollino]

What am I looking for here?

LOL that's actually very helpful to me, techno-Zen! You just confirmed I was probably just overreacting.
I just immediately noticed the antialiasing on my S4 and it looked like chromatic aberration to me, so I thought something was wrong with it (e.g. a faulty screen).

 

[bruinsrme]

My recommendation.
Reset the watch set it up as new and compare.
You can always revert back to a back up