[Q] does the S III display suck like Note and S II - Galaxy S III Q&A, (US Carriers)

Hi all,
I am not trying to flame here. I know people have different views and opinions of screen "quality". I'm just going to express my sincere opinions...thank you for any input...
I was just at a Verizon and AT&T Store. My main concern is brightness, though, secondarily, the jaggedness of PenTile.
I looked at the S II Sky Rocket and Note. And the Nexus at Verizon. All these AMOLED displays were incredibly dim, at least to my eye. Of course they had ghosting/burn in, too but I presume (I hope!) that's just because the display models are left on. But compared to even my Droid 2 the AMOLED displays were literally HALF the brightness (approximately, to my eye), of my Droid 2. The One X and Rezound of course blow it out of the water. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the "brilliant" color of OLED too. No point if it's as dim as an LCD on lowest brightness. Plus there were was the terrible tint on them all. Even straight on, but especially from even a tiny angle. And I saw the Pentile blurriness with the "color" around edges. And my vision is bad. Although I guess it wasn't that bad from at least two feet away, like normal distance for most tasks, but it was bad close which I sometimes do when using my phone.
Is the Galaxy S III screen as dim as the S II or Note or Nexus?
I am just wondering if this is a universal thing, where OLED is just dim, due to inherent qualities of OLED? I searched a bit and apparently the "nits" are much lower according to this xda thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-1679964.html. Oddly enough I found reviews and users saying they found it too bright which surprised me. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised and have S III be brighter than previous SAMOLED handsets!

---

macdroid01 said:
Hi all,
I am not trying to flame here. I know people have different views and opinions of screen "quality". I'm just going to express my sincere opinions...thank you for any input...
I was just at a Verizon and AT&T Store. My main concern is brightness, though, secondarily, the jaggedness of PenTile.
I looked at the S II Sky Rocket and Note. And the Nexus at Verizon. All these AMOLED displays were incredibly dim, at least to my eye. Of course they had ghosting/burn in, too but I presume (I hope!) that's just because the display models are left on. But compared to even my Droid 2 the AMOLED displays were literally HALF the brightness (approximately, to my eye), of my Droid 2. The One X and Rezound of course blow it out of the water. I was thoroughly unimpressed with the "brilliant" color of OLED too. No point if it's as dim as an LCD on lowest brightness. Plus there were was the terrible tint on them all. Even straight on, but especially from even a tiny angle. And I saw the Pentile blurriness with the "color" around edges. And my vision is bad. Although I guess it wasn't that bad from at least two feet away, like normal distance for most tasks, but it was bad close which I sometimes do when using my phone.
Is the Galaxy S III screen as dim as the S II or Note or Nexus?
I am just wondering if this is a universal thing, where OLED is just dim, due to inherent qualities of OLED? I searched a bit and apparently the "nits" are much lower according to this xda thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-1679964.html. Oddly enough I found reviews and users saying they found it too bright which surprised me. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised and have S III be brighter than previous SAMOLED handsets!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own a GS2(I777), a GNexus, and and now a GS3. I'm running AOKP on the GS2 and GNexus. I can't comment on the Note as I've never used one. I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Were you looking at them through a welder's mask?
Compared to a Droid 2? I was showing my S3 to my buddy who has a RAZR MAXX today. My screen is better and it ain't even close. He agreed completely.
And BTW, if you are asking a question, don't you think the Q & A section would be a better place to ask it?

---

I had an SGS2 and the brightness was more than bright enough for being in direct sunlight. Sure, it could have been a LITTLE brighter but I never had problems reading anything on the screen. It was also very crisp due to the true RGB stripe.
The Note has a PenTile pixel arrangement but due to the high resolution it's a non-issue. The same is true with the SGS3. Of course OLED displays aren't going to match LCD in sharpness or brightness, but the true blacks and vibrant colors look beautiful to me.
Wait for it to be in the store and then go take a look. But please don't say the displays on the SGS2 or the Note suck, because they really don't. Compare them side-by-side with a One X and you'll see a difference, but you will never be using it side-by-side in real world use. If you like super bright screens with white so white it'll burn your retinas, go for an LCD screen. If you like true blacks and punchy colors (that you can adjust the punchiness of) then go with an AMOLED. But saying AMOLED screens suck is just stupid.

---

{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I have the S1,S2 and S2 HD LTE and the screens are bright as a greasy bald head under direct sunlight. I have my brightness settings to about 15%-20%. My friends with iPhone 4s' even say its too bright. I put my S2 HD LTE next to my friends GS3 and my screen is actually better. I'll post some pics up later.
Sent from my SHV-E120S using xda premium

---

yokken said:
The Note has a PenTile pixel arrangement but due to the high resolution it's a non-issue. The same is true with the SGS3. Of course OLED displays aren't going to match LCD in sharpness or brightness, but the true blacks and vibrant colors look beautiful to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Note having a high resolution did not make it a non-issue.
I went from:
iPhone 4S - Galaxy Note - HTC One X
Screen Clarity went:
Amazing - Noticeable jagged edges but not horrible - AMAZING
I'm hoping I don't notice the jaggys as much when my S3 arrives due to the smaller screen size yet still high resolution. Just holding a Galaxy Note on it's own though I can definitely tell a difference, there doesn't have to be a side to side comparison. It was just "Well this looks pretty good, but it is not perfectly sharp like my iphone or htc one X look" It just kind've has an overall lower resolution look to it due to the pentile arrangement, but I didn't find it a deal breaker.
I didn't find the brightness an issue though, it IS too bright at 100% brightness. I liked my Note at around 50-70% brightness.

---

My friend has a Note and I haven't noticed jaggies using it, and I have 20/15 vision. It's a pretty beautiful screen in my opinion.

---

youngpic48 said:
I have the S1,S2 and S2 HD LTE and the screens are bright as a greasy bald head under direct sunlight. I have my brightness settings to about 15%-20%. My friends with iPhone 4s' even say its too bright. I put my S2 HD LTE next to my friends GS3 and my screen is actually better. I'll post some pics up later.
Sent from my SHV-E120S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I probably should have put this in Q & A like mentioned, my bad.
But I'm puzzled by responses like above. I guess my eyes are very sensitive. I will agree different people have different perceptions. But I found the S II very dim even in a dimly lit store. I have a feeling I'd not be able to see it at max. brightness outside. And I love the brightness on iPhone and Droid LCD screens. It's wonderful. Even those are a bit dim outside but they are okay. Inside they are wonderful.
Hmm I'm worried if your S II is better than an S III that does not bode well. I hope perhaps the store model was messed up somehow. I know those get abused. Thank you also for your time everyone. I should have not said suck in the title but I wanted to emphasize I found the Nexus, S II and Note VERY dim, to my eyes at least. I figured the AT&T S III forum would be good since they're already shipping...Thanks again all.

---

macdroid01 said:
But I found the S II very dim even in a dimly lit store. I have a feeling I'd not be able to see it at max. brightness outside. And I love the brightness on iPhone and Droid LCD screens. It's wonderful. Even those are a bit dim outside but they are okay. Inside they are wonderful.
Hmm I'm worried if your S II is better than an S III that does not bode well. I hope perhaps the store model was messed up somehow. I know those get abused. Thank you also for your time everyone. I should have not said suck in the title but I wanted to emphasize I found the Nexus, S II and Note VERY dim, to my eyes at least. I figured the AT&T S III forum would be good since they're already shipping...Thanks again all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something is/was wrong with all of those phones, then, because they are plenty bright, even in direct sunlight. That, or you were wearing sunglasses the entire time. The iPhone is extremely bright, and I have actually hurt my eyes looking at it on full brightness if the room is not bright. Maybe you have less sensitive eyes than you thought. Not insulting you, just saying that my SGS2 was plenty bright and the iPhone 4 I'm using now is even brighter. I don't know how bright it really needs to be.

---

I don't know what dimness you see.. But you could always turn up the brightness. The gs3 display is beautiful. Way better than the s2. It looks brighter and just has better color. I love it. The viewing angles are amazing.
sent from my GALAXY SIII

---

My S3 is set at about 45% and is a great level. If you set it at 100% it is really bright and I cannot see how anyone would complain that 100% is not bright enough.
The screen is also very sharp and looks fantastic.

---

play2lose said:
The Note having a high resolution did not make it a non-issue.
I went from:
iPhone 4S - Galaxy Note - HTC One X
Screen Clarity went:
Amazing - Noticeable jagged edges but not horrible - AMAZING
I'm hoping I don't notice the jaggys as much when my S3 arrives due to the smaller screen size yet still high resolution. Just holding a Galaxy Note on it's own though I can definitely tell a difference, there doesn't have to be a side to side comparison. It was just "Well this looks pretty good, but it is not perfectly sharp like my iphone or htc one X look" It just kind've has an overall lower resolution look to it due to the pentile arrangement, but I didn't find it a deal breaker.
I didn't find the brightness an issue though, it IS too bright at 100% brightness. I liked my Note at around 50-70% brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you find the note to have visible pentile pixelation then it will be worse on the gs3 due to heavy sharpening applied. I know because I compared the 2 side by side.
btw the HTC one x display is pretty poor even by gs3 standard. The gamma is washed out and yellows and oranges are overblown to the point that skintones looks horrible. Text while sharper than on amoled displays suffer from poor contrast making it even harder to read.

---

nativestranger said:
btw the HTC one x display is pretty poor even by gs3 standard. The gamma is washed out and yellows and oranges are overblown to the point that skintones looks horrible. Text while sharper than on amoled displays suffer from poor contrast making it even harder to read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you're thinking of the right phone. Every review states the HTC One X is the best display on any phone they have ever seen... And most Galaxy S3 reviews make a comparison saying it's good but not near as good as the One X display.
For example here is the Techie-Buzz.com review
"The display on the one X is too good to be true and the color and temperature reproductions are the most accurate I have ever seen on a phone."

---

play2lose said:
I don't think you're thinking of the right phone. Every review states the HTC One X is the best display on any phone they have ever seen... And most GS3 reviews make a comparison saying it's not as good as the One X display.
For example here is the Techie-Buzz.com review
"The display on the one X is too good to be true and the color and temperature reproductions are the most accurate I have ever seen on a phone."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I do graphics sometimes. By nature of what I do, I deal with image processing at times.
All these OLED phones were dim to my eye. And it was in a moderately lit store so it's a charitable scenario. LCDs blew the AMOLEDS out of the water in birghtness, sharpness, and yes, color accuracy, in my eye at least.
I like my screens bright, though. I use my MacBook Pro at 100%, nice and bright. I use my Droid at 100% always also. All OLED displays I've seen are very dim. What blows me away is everyone saying they are TOO bright. I'm really surprised by that!!!!
I guess I shall see when my S III arrives... Honestly, if I even have tint or ink marks I'll swap it for some other 4G phone. I wish one phone could have it all but it seems there's always a tradeoff. Unfortunately, I value screen quality more than specs and dev support, even though I was reeeally looking forward to all the other awesomeness of the S III. But with a dim screen all of that is useless to me...if I can't see it! I'll post my impressions when it's in...
Also I know this is kind of a negative thread but I'm really impressed by the XDA community. I found my way here after pre-ordering my S III and seeking more info. Everyone here is so quick to reply, knowledgeable, willing to intensely and intelligently discuss everything about phones and tech. Cheers to the XDA community.

---

That's dim to you? The picture was taken by my daughters Exeria Mini with flash on.
Sent from my SHV-E120S using xda premium

---

youngpic48 said:
View attachment 1157231
That's dim to you? The picture was taken by my daughters Exeria Mini with flash on.
Sent from my SHV-E120S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I just used S III in store again. And compared to my Droid 2 it looks like crap. And my Droid 2 looks like crap compared to HTC One X.
I just used an Incredible 4G LTE. Well, it was nice and bright and sharp. It's LCD. It's small and low-res though. I'm very sad about this but I think I'll have to pick the Incredible 4G.
S III has everything else about it perfect. But the screen is so dim and crappy, to my eyes. Also HTC Inc 4G boot loader is unlocked. Although with the firestorm brewing here maybe VZW will eventually unlock your boot loaders. My S III still isn't in yet but I think I'm 90% of the way to deciding to get the Inc 4G. Really wish S III had LCD. :/
Also I have to note: the colors on AMOLED are truly bizarre and over-saturated. Look at Google Maps on an LCD phone compared to an AMOLED phone. On the SIII the orange highways are the color of a traffic cone and the red "A" dot over my city is the color red of a red laser pointer. Nuts. Way over-saturated. It's just annoying. AMOLED, speaking as a graphics pro, to me it just does not look like it's ready for use yet. I think Samsung jumped the gun. It's got almost no advantages and a ton of drawbacks. SLCD simply destroys it in every way. It's making me rather sad I'm getting a puny little Droid Incredible 4 because the SAMOLED screen is so crappy.

---

The notes display doesn't suck at all....wth are u talking about??? Check ur eyes
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

---

armyboy11b said:
The notes display doesn't suck at all....wth are u talking about??? Check ur eyes
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you looked at it then looked at an LCD?
Sorry it is WAY DIMMER. this is a FACT. Open up Google News in an LCD and AMOLED phone. Compare. What do you think? Specifically, how white does white look on AMOLED?
And: ink marks, tint, black crush, over saturation, burn in, etc. on AMOLED.
I'm trying to be objective here. I really just wish Samsung would use LCD. Photos of comparisons do not accurately portray the differences between these two displays at least based on my experiences...you have to see them in person. Although even without seeing an LCD once, as soon as I fired up S III for the first time I was disappointed. I was like oh crap, that's seriously full brightness? Uh oh.

---

Mine looks great ..definitely not dim...colors look amazing..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

---

armyboy11b said:
Mine looks great ..definitely not dim...colors look amazing..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess my eyes are just super sensitive.. I never would have thought that. I wear pretty serious glasses even. Ah well. Although I have good night vision. It's not like I need things bright to see them. I just feel like S III is annoying because it's dim. Constantly annoying. Can't deal with that for 2 years, no way.
Perhaps sometime next year there will be a phone with all the awesomeness of SIII but with IPS LCD display or a nice AMOLED..

---

armyboy11b said:
Mine looks great ..definitely not dim...colors look amazing..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. My SGS3 is fantastic, I actually prefer it over the HTC One X that I had for nearly a month.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium