iPhone XR The case for the Xr LCD being superior to OLED

[kre62]

So far, the sentiment I've seen is that OLED is king and LCD is older, less cool tech. However, I think there is a case to be made that the LCD screen in the Xr is actually superior to any other X phone. Heres why:

-First: No PWM flickering. Check this thread if you've never heard of it. https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7uv6m3/iphone_x_uses_pulse_width_modulation_which_is_a/
This flickering was definitely annoying to me, and causes eye strain

-Next: Better viewing angles. LCDs have way better viewing angles with no blue shift like the X suffers from

-No chance of burn in. OLEDs can suffer from burn in.

-Generally cooler color temps. Some, like me, love that

-Longer lifespan. OLEDs have shorter usable life

-No PenTile. The XR has ALL the sub pixels

The only advantage to OLED i've seen is slightly better black levels. Who cares.

To me, the Xr is definitely the phone to get, and I think once people see it and experience the uniformity, great viewing angles, and killer battery life, it'll be the obvious choice.

 

[Zaft]

Sorry but overall moderm OLED trumps LCD.

 

[ann713]

Some valid points here, however, 720p screen is atrocious. I'm upgrading to the XS Max... but between the Xr or X, I'd choose the latter.

 

[Technarchy]

The main appeal of the XR is price and awesome battery life. Both of which are big priorities for many people. I can see a lot of appeal, but it’s not for me

 

[kre62]

Some valid points here, but the 720p screen is atrocious. I'm upgrading to the XS Max... but between the Xr or X, I'd choose the latter.

Its not 720p, its 828p. Way more pixels. I agree it could have been higher, but its more than enough for a device this small.
[doublepost=1536812875][/doublepost]

Sorry but overall modem OLED trumps LCD.

In what way exactly? If you put hype aside and view it objectively, what actual advantages, besides 5% blacker blacks, does it have? The tradeoffs are huge with no payoff.

 

[jabingla2810]

Its not 720p, its 828p. Way more pixels. I agree it could have been higher, but its more than enough for a device this small.
[doublepost=1536812875][/doublepost]

In what way exactly? If you put hype aside and view it objectively, what actual advantages, besides 5% blacker blacks, does it have? The tradeoffs are huge with no payoff.

Small?

Its a 6.1" screen.

 

[kre62]

Small?

Its a 6.1" screen.

The macbook pro I'm using right now has a PPI of 227 and it looks great. 15" screen. The PPI wars got everyone obsessed with a number, but functionally 326 is already overkill.

 

[Zaft]

Its not 720p, its 828p. Way more pixels. I agree it could have been higher, but its more than enough for a device this small.
[doublepost=1536812875][/doublepost]

In what way exactly? If you put hype aside and view it objectively, what actual advantages, besides 5% blacker blacks, does it have? The tradeoffs are huge with no payoff.

For me true black levels make it much better already. Overall it just produces a punchier image.

 

[stanman64]

That all sounds great in theory, but it almost sounds as if you haven’t seen the OLED on the X next to the typical LCDs of the 8/Plus and older iPhones.

Night and day difference. I will never go back to LCD.

 

[kre62]

That all sounds great in theory, but it almost sounds as if you haven’t seen the OLED on the X next to the typical LCDs of the 8/Plus and older iPhones.

Night and day difference. I will never go back to LCD.

I actually had an X, hated the screen, returned it for an 8+ and never looked back. The color shifting and unevenness was garbage to me. Some like it.

 

[bpeeps]

I actually had an X, hated the screen, returned it for an 8+ and never looked back. The color shifting and unevenness was garbage to me. Some like it.

Color shifting? You mean True Tone which is a setting that can be switched off or are you referring to something else?

 

[ann713]

That all sounds great in theory, but it almost sounds as if you haven’t seen the OLED on the X next to the typical LCDs of the 8/Plus and older iPhones.

Night and day difference. I will never go back to LCD.

Same here. Viewing photos and videos is just more pleasant; vivid colors along with better clarity. Overall a better iOS experience. I was always "meh" about the display on my previous 6S, especially when using it alongside a S7 (work phone).

 

[kre62]

Color shifting? You mean True Tone which is a setting that can be switched off or are you referring to something else?

Meaning viewing angle. Turn the phone left to right and you'll get a blue cast almost immediately off center. LCDs have better viewing angles.

 

[AppleHaterLover]

it’s 326ppi, same as iPhone 8, so it’s Retina. You’ll live.

the iPhone Plus is 401 PPA and I honestly can’t tell the difference.

 

[Yogosans14]

Agreed I cannot wait for the XR to be released!!! I’m so pissed I have to wait to the end of October to get it!!!

 

[MEJHarrison]

It's all very subjective.

-First: No PWM flickering.

I've never had that problem thankfully.

-Next: Better viewing angles. LCDs have way better viewing angles with no blue shift like the X suffers from

I've not had any issues with viewing angle or blue shift. I don't notice it.

-No chance of burn in. OLEDs can suffer from burn in.

1 year in almost and it's doing fine. I'm not worried.

-Generally cooler color temps. Some, like me, love that

I'm quite happy with my screen. Don't want that cooler look.

-Longer lifespan. OLEDs have shorter usable life

Hopefully I'll move on before this becomes an issue. Haven't heard of any widespread issues, so I'm not worried.

-No PenTile. The XR has ALL the sub pixels

Again, I love the look. Don't care how it was achieved as long as it looks great.

The only advantage to OLED i've seen is slightly better black levels. Who cares.

Funny you should say that. That's the first thing you mentioned that I actually do care about.

 

[user1234]

No PWM is reason enough for me to go with the Xr. It's the only of the new phones I can use without getting horrible migraine symptoms. The prices are painful though. I expected worst case that the Xr would match the 8 in price, but I guess that was wrong.

Sorry but overall modem OLED trumps LCD.

It's a bit ironic that you made a typo/autocorrect replacing modern with modem, just saying

 

[x-evil-x]

No PWM is reason enough for me to go with the Xr. It's the only of the new phones I can use without getting horrible migraine symptoms. The prices are painful though. I expected worst case that the Xr would match the 8 in price, but I guess that was wrong.


It's a bit ironic that you made a typo/autocorrect replacing modern with modem, just saying

do you have this same problem with oled tv's?

 

[sunapple]

The XR (capital R, people) does have bigger bezels. I'd just wait to see one in person before comparing the quality of the screen. There's also something with the rounded corners, some sort of trick they did that may be visible from up close (not sure).

 

[user1234]

do you have this same problem with oled tv's?

Yes. Can't watch them at all. I also have this problem with LCD TV's that use PWM in the lower range to control the backlight. I had an LCD computer monitor that caused me a lot of issues, and it turned out that the LED backlight was PWM controlled at a fairly low frequency. I replaced it with a monitor marketed as flicker free, and no issues with my computer monitor anymore.

OLED tends to be worse than LCD with PWM controlled backlight for me.

 

[x-evil-x]

Yes. Can't watch them at all. I also have this problem with LCD TV's that use PWM in the lower range to control the backlight. I had an LCD computer monitor that caused me a lot of issues, and it turned out that the LED backlight was PWM controlled at a fairly low frequency. I replaced it with a monitor marketed as flicker free, and no issues with my computer monitor anymore.

OLED tends to be worse than LCD with PWM controlled backlight for me.

I thought olds dont have backlights at all? Dont individual pixels light up? I wonder how well youd do with a full array led tv or plasma

 

[user1234]

I thought olds dont have backlights at all? Dont individual pixels light up? I wonder how well youd do with a full array led tv or plasma

That's exactly the problem with OLED. Since the brightness of each subpixel is individually controlled, it's very difficult to make OLED panels with analog dimming. PWM is used because current limiting is hard to do with a scanning matrix.

Full array all depends on what technology is used to control the brightness of the backlight. If it's current limiting or PWM at very high refresh rates (say, 10-15 kHz to be sure) it's absolutely fine.

I have had issues with both CRT and Plasma, but I can tolerate plasma for relatively long periods of time. It also depends on the specific panel and it's brightness and contrast. I have to turn off a lot of the processing modern TV's like black frame insertion for example.

It also depends a lot on the flicker percentage. If it's 100% (goes completely back on each cycle) it's the worst scenario. Analog dimming on LCD backlights completely eliminates these problems, which is why I am very happy that Apple did release the Xr with LCD, even though it lacks 3D Touch, telephoto camera and is more expensive than the 8 Plus here.

 

[StellarVixen]

Is the Apple still using pulse width modulation to control the brightness on those OLED phones?

If so, then my brain says "OLED, no question", but my eyes say "please, think of us, please, enough if this torture".

I mean really, from time to time, I can literally SEE the flicker. I am supposed not to be able to see, but I do, and I am not lying at all.

 

[user1234]

Is the Apple still using pulse width modulation to control the brightness on those OLED phones?

If so, then my brain says "OLED, no question", but my eyes say "please, think of us, please, enough if this torture".

I mean really, from time to time, I can literally SEE the flicker. I am supposed not to be able to see, but I do, and I am not lying at all.

We don't know the specifics yet, but I would say yes. I think they would have mentioned if they were the first to eliminate PWM with OLED given how they like to brag about their engineering efforts.

 

[44267547]

OLED has direct advantages over LCD. Especially with blacks and color saturation, side-by-side comparisons between LCD versus OLED have major disparity, where OLED is _much_ more notable.