Wondering if I'm just not used to the iPhone 7 screen

[Forjamesalec]

Most of my phones have been iPhones but for awhile now I've had a S5 Galaxy. I finally came back to Apple for the iPhone 7 plus.

First I'd like to say that I'm the kind of person who is very sensitive to visual niggles and framerates etc.

Is it possible for my old Samsung S5 to have a better refresh rate or sample and hold setup than this new iPhone 7?

I'm noticing that in scrolling in safari, Facebook and even motion in YouTube videos I notice that vertical and horizontal scrolling of any kind produces a noticeable blurring of detail. It's very distracting.

I have 14 days to replace the phone but I am pretty sure that I am probably just not used to being back on an LCD screen. I just want some friendly reassurance that the phone is most likely normal.

And no it's not like a line of text is leaving an image all the way at the bottom of the screen but it's noticeable all the same.

 

[Forjamesalec]

Nobody?

 

[decafjava]

I honestly can't help you as I haven't noticed the same thing at all.

 

[Radon87000]

I can help. The scrolling in iOS and Amdroid is different. On Android when you scroll down the text the text kinda seems to leave a trail as it goes down while on iOS when you scroll this isn't there and it gives the impression of blur. Nothing unusual. Android and iOS handle scrolling differently

 

[maxjohnson2]

It's probably more to do with the scrolling and animation behavior on iOS, one thing I prefer on Android is that you can scroll very fast.

It's not easy for a regular person to 'feel' the difference when a screen have a refresh rate of 60hz or above, although some individual do. Which is why there are monitors that goes up to 144hz now which gamers prefer for smoother response. AMOLED display have very high refresh rate, this is one of the many benefits with the technology, I feel the main benefit is not the immediate reaction but the help to reduce eye strain for prolonged use like if you read a lot from the screen.

If you like OLED display you're in luck because one of the next iPhone is rumored to use it, but you probably want to save up a lot.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

First I'd like to say that I'm the kind of person who is very sensitive to visual niggles and framerates etc.

That's like saying you're a phone geek. Almost everyone here claims to be OCD about their phones.

 

[Forjamesalec]

That's like saying you're a phone geek. Almost everyone here claims to be OCD about their phones.

Haha add to the fact I actually do have OCD. Ugh it's not nearly as "fun" as there stereotyped version.

Anyway I watched a video on my phone and my moms Iphone SE. I feel like the ghosting or response times are similar but I think maybe it's amplified because of the screen size. Like if someone is waving their arms on screen you can kinda see split second ghost images.

 

[Howyalikdemapls]

My brother-in-law has been a long time Android user and now has a company issued iPhone. He pointed this out to me a few weeks ago, and it really is much nicer on his Samsung. You can actually see things as you scroll on his Galaxy, and while the iPhone appears to have a smooth scrolling motion, you can't actually see individual things while you scroll quickly. I never noticed it until he showed me how nice it is on his old phone. Hopefully it will be better on the iPhone 8.

I don't know the reason behind this though. Others have suggested its because of iPhone's LCD vs Samsung's OLED screen. I assumed it was because iPhones typically have lackluster processors and RAM, so they modify how things behave to better utilize the power they do have. I hope it is just the screen though.

 

[maxjohnson2]

I assumed it was because iPhones typically have lackluster processors and RAM, so they modify how things behave to better utilize the power they do have.

It probably have more to do with making the experience smoother, but with latest Android 7 on good hardware the scrolling is also extremely smooth.

The iPhone right now has the defacto fastest mass marketed mobile chipset, as of writing. The A10 SoC on the iPhone 7 is faster than the Snapdragon 835 on the new Galaxy S8. Huawei is also making fast processor called Kirin. Some of these chips sometimes achieves better score for multicore, but the one that really matter is the single core score which what translate most to real world smoothness in my opinion, and the iPhone still wins there. In any case, when the A11 comes out it'll be the fastest of the lot again, or to put it more succinctly, it will destroy the competition.

 

[Atomic Walrus]

It's the PWM dimming on the OLED panel which is acting sort of like an impulse-driven display (think plasma TV) and reducing sample and hold blurring.

The trade off is that those PWM-dimmed OLED panels are constantly flickering, which (for me) is way more irritating than the sample and hold blur. It also produces a different kind of motion distortion, in which the images on screen break up when they are static, but the screen is moving relative to your eyes.

But which thing is more irritating is a personal preference, there are definitely disadvantages to both display types.

AMOLED display have very high refresh rate

None of the OLED implementations we've seen in smartphones have had refresh rates higher than 60hz. You may be thinking of pixel response time, but even that's questionable with these panels -- you can clearly see significant GTG lag on Samsung's OLED panels when scrolling.

Samsung's panels are capable of 90hz, as seen when implemented in the Occulus Rift, but there aren't any current phones using this capability.

Haha add to the fact I actually do have OCD. Ugh it's not nearly as "fun" as there stereotyped version.

Anyway I watched a video on my phone and my moms Iphone SE. I feel like the ghosting or response times are similar but I think maybe it's amplified because of the screen size. Like if someone is waving their arms on screen you can kinda see split second ghost images.

The sample and hold blur effect is caused by your eye failing to track motion properly (that blur you see does not actually exist in the image rendered on the screen), so the effect is more pronounced as the movement becomes larger in your field of view. This is why people rarely notice sample and hold blur on extremely small screens, but find it extremely obvious on desktop monitors, etc.

 

[Forjamesalec]

It's the PWM dimming on the OLED panel which is acting sort of like an impulse-driven display (think plasma TV) and reducing sample and hold blurring.

The trade off is that those PWM-dimmed OLED panels are constantly flickering, which (for me) is way more irritating than the sample and hold blur. It also produces a different kind of motion distortion, in which the images on screen break up when they are static, but the screen is moving relative to your eyes.

But which thing is more irritating is a personal preference, there are definitely disadvantages to both display types.



None of the OLED implementations we've seen in smartphones have had refresh rates higher than 60hz. You may be thinking of pixel response time, but even that's questionable with these panels -- you can clearly see significant GTG lag on Samsung's OLED panels when scrolling.

Samsung's panels are capable of 90hz, as seen when implemented in the Occulus Rift, but there aren't any current phones using this capability.



The sample and hold blur effect is caused by your eye failing to track motion properly (that blur you see does not actually exist in the image rendered on the screen), so the effect is more pronounced as the movement becomes larger in your field of view. This is why people rarely notice sample and hold blur on extremely small screens, but find it extremely obvious on desktop monitors, etc.

On this website https://www.testufo.com/#test=ghosting

On my Samsung Galaxy S5 I am able to clearly see the white dots on the center of the UFO and even the space between them.

On my iPhone 7 plus the dots are more like one white line. I can tell it's dotted but barely. In motion those UFOs just look like a blurry haze where on my Samsung it's easier to ascertain the detail.

I've read everyone's reponses. I guess I'm just shocked that a years old S5 is able to put out a clearer picture in motion than my i7.

Should I chalk this up to the panel types?

I've noticed that in cold weather and when my phone has been turned on it seems to be more pronounced.

I'm going to be hitting the 14 day mark soon. And Best Buy mobile will only exchange it if I pay a restocking fee. It feels like it's a bit worse on my phone that the display models I've checked out (but only for a few mins).

I'm really hoping it's me getting used to switching back to an iPhone.

 

[Fravin]

Have you tried to disable motion effects in Accessibility menu?

 

[Forjamesalec]

Yes it doesn't make a difference. This really seems to be a difference in the pixel response time. It's amazing that there's literally nothing online to look at that compares these kinds of differences between the screens

 

[ZEEN0j]

This will be fixed with iPhone 8 as it moves to oled. And yes everything you say I've noticed as well. Including cold weather making it worse. Oled has a better refresh rate than lcd.