HTC running low on AMOLED stock, will add SLCD to the mix for some models
By Chris Ziegler 
posted June 25th 2010 7:52PM
posted June 25th 2010 7:52PM
Specifically, Samsung's had a devil of a time keeping up with deliveries of its 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, which means that the Desire, Droid Incredible, and Nexus One could all theoretically be impacted -- but because this is a problem of the demand for displays outstripping supply (or at least the supply that Samsung is letting HTC buy), at least some of the affected phones will likely be offered both in AMOLED and SLCD varieties. How those products will be differentiated in the market is unclear, but it may not matter much -- we're told that the displays are virtually indistinguishable. We're working to get our hands on an SLCD phone just as soon as we can, and when we do, we'll put our eyeballs on the case.
Given that the AMOLED display (on the Nexus One at least) is PenTile, the switch to LCD may be an improvement.
@nak
I'll take the SLCD. Daytime viewing FTW.
@nak - I agree. I'm not crazy impressed with the N1's display, especially the purple tint.
@nak
I like my n1 display but really the daytime viewing is bad if it isn't set at the brightest level. Wish I had the iphone4 display on my n1.
@nak the droid incredible, htc desire, and legend all use the same technology. I wouldn't doubt that the galaxy s series will as well. Samsung makes the AMOLED displays. They all use the Pentile matrix displays I'm willing to bet that the reason behind that has to do with cost.
@nak I agree. Coming from the original droid and switching to the incredible, I was actually disappointed in the appearance of the screen. I can't wait to get a droid x and go back to LCD.
@nak OMG Gimme a fuggin break. Does anyone else notice that AMOLED was the world anywhere you read on the internet (minus sunlight viewing) until today....after the iPhone launch. Now all of a sudden its so called not living up to hype. If its the best on TV's its the best on phones. If it was beautiful yesterday its beautiful today. If it used 30% less power yesterday it uses 30% less today.
Anyone claiming AMOLED isn't beautiful has not looked at one. They are just repeating what they've read about pentile displays. I have seen pretty much no other display that has looked as bright and nice as my Incredible. Nothing has had no where near the blacks or whites or the rich colors. I can understand HTC dropping AMOLED because of shortages. They have lost out on a tremendous number of Incredible sales and I believe the Droid X came out earlier because Verizon was tired of waiting. But this subtle attempt to now discredit AMOLED simply because a particular overhyped display that is supposed to be better than AMOLED isn't.
@Blaque14K
I have no real opinion on SLCD vs. AMOLED. My comment was purely about the sub-pixel arrangement of PenTile displays. It makes text (especially) appear less sharp. There are also PenTile LCDs (OLPC comes to mind) and I wouldn't want one of those either. If these phones were using a normal RGB arrangement in their AMOLED displays I would absolutely say the move to LCD is a downgrade.
@nak Sorry...actually aimed more at Engadget more than you. Ended up ranting on them pretty much.
@blindguymcsqueezy
Your'e just holding it wrong.
@Blaque14K
EXACTLY!
AMOLED's are gorgeous, and represent will the LCD TV market will go when the prices drop. two words: True Blacks.
But what does it for me is the low power consumption. (especially using a black wallpaper)
I have both the droid incredible and moto droid.
the moto droid with the tft lcd display uses aproximately 30-50% of battery use everyday. while the droid incredible (now rooted) display uses 5-15% of the overall battery use day in an out.
enough said!
@Twitchy Thats what she said..
@daveyw Well get ready for the new Apple fanboy rant. HTC's new SLCD or Super LCD from Sony apparently has a nickname that you may have heard of. IPS.
@nak " I would absolutely say the move to LCD is a downgrade"
Actually, it's SLCD and not LCD.
@Blaque14K From your first paragraph I can see you know little about the application of displays.
Since when do you sit outside in direct sunlight watching TV? What was that? Never? Nice.
AMOLED has some serious problems with Grayscale and has reared it's ugly head repeatedly in articles on many websites. I have had quite a lot of exposure to these displays, and while they were impressive about a year ago, technology has moved ahead at a rapid pace with regard to LCD displays. To sit there and say "AMOLED is the best" is to ignore that the application dictates the usefulness of a technology.
I know that I would prefer correct replication of all colours rather than just making black really black and bright colours very vivid. The amount of colour bleed when you start to get into darker tones is quite significant on most AMOLED displays on phones. This is not even touching on other serious problems with OLED displays (burn in, blue degredations, etc).
If you're going to sit there and type out an essay on AMOLED, at least get your facts right. You have obviously never had to work in a position where you have to support these displays. You're coming across as a fanboy who won't face up to the facts - OLED displays have their place, but they really aren't the be all and end all of display technology.
I can't say I've heard of an Eizo display being AMOLED, and I doubt they will ever move to this technology. Why? Bad colour replication.
@daveyw Yet evo seems to run outta juice after every couple of hours!!!Maybe it's not displays fault but the primitive way android handles multi-tasking!!
@nak http://phandroid.com/2010/06/25/has-htc-been-pulling-a-switcheroo-on-screens-with-recent-units-due-to-component-shortages/
Phandroid reports that there are already two different versions of the HTC Evo - first with an LCD screen from Novatek and the second and LCD screen from Epson.
They have a photo comparison. New Epson looks to be better IMO cause it has no purple tint like the Novatek.
@hell hound I've had a Nexus One since the second week of January and my battery lasts a solid 10 hours with heavy use.. I'm willing too bet if someones Incredible isn't lasting more than a couple hours, it's a poorly written program and not Androids handling of multitasking.
@hell hound
Your Evo?
Oh that's right. You don't have one.
@BigJayDogg3
just give something i can see outside while working
@sortius You say that phones with LCD have perfect replication of colours? Like the other guy all you've written is opinion, not fact. So your rant towards him is so ironic.
I'll give you one FACT: AMOLED has just started whereas LCD has been around for quite a long time now. Considering this fact, which one is most likely to improve the most over the next 5years? That's right.
LCD and AMOLED are both great, none needs bashing.
@daveyw i understnd u not when you yoda like speak
Hmmmm...
I shouldn't that drive the price of the phones down because of the cheaper display?
@PathogenX
Doubt it. Mid life cycle changes aren't cheap.
Feels like a downgrade to me :(
I'm happy that I have the Desire version AMOLED
I never really liked regular amoled screens :\
This makes me glad that I picked up my Nexus One already. The display is beautiful. Of course, if I had gotten something else I probably wouldn't know any better.
@Dafrety
The display on the Nexus One is poor. It has the PenTile arrangement which makes its effective resolution something around 640x360. I went from a Touch Pro 2 (800x480 LCD) to the Nexus One and my first impression upon bootup was "This Screen sucks." This isn't to say AMOLED is bad, it is the AMOLEDs with PenTile pixel arrangements that suck.
@Peter F That depends how you measure it. If you measure the green subpixels, it's 800x480. The red and blue ones are twice the size but the resolution of them is lower. The eye sees mostly the green pixels though so the effective resolution to the eye is a bit less than 800 x 480. I can't see the pixels from a normal viewing distance on my N1.
@Peter F
Peter you can just stop repeting your self over and over again. We know your opinion now.
@Peter F
You call the N1's screen POOR?! Give me a break!! Arrrgh I quit the internet.
@blindguymcsqueezy
OMG the Colors the Colors! Will someone think of the colors!
Who gives a shit about the colors? It is a phone that is used for COMMUNICATION. I would rather have my text more readable than have the colors on a picture "pop out."
@ohnoitsaspider
I measure it by the effective resolution. I want 800x480 red, green, and blue pixels. I don't want 800x480 green pixels and way less red and blue pixels. Seriously put an LCD side by side with the crap AMOLED in the HTC phones. They look like garbage.
I love HTC phones and have had HTC phones for years, but I won't lie and say the AMOLED screens are good when they just suck.
@Peter F
"The display on the Nexus One is poor. It has the PenTile arrangement which makes its effective resolution something around 640x360. I went from a Touch Pro 2 (800x480 LCD) to the Nexus One and my first impression upon bootup was "This Screen sucks." This isn't to say AMOLED is bad, it is the AMOLEDs with PenTile pixel arrangements that suck."
People who say that the SLCD is an improvement haven't seen an AMOLED in action. Yes, they are harder to see in the sun (but not invisible), but are gorgeous otherwise
I wonder if this would explain why recent incredibles have been seeming to have different screen characteristics (not nearly as vibrant)...
@Madcat
And obviously YOU haven't compared a PenTile AMOLED with a LCD of the same resolution side by side. The LCD is far clearer. A normal pixel arrangement AMOLED would probably be better, but not the PenTile ones HTC is currently using.
@Madcat
So something that's supposed to keep me in contact with others is virtually useless when...I'm away from people.
@BigJayDogg3
Not following ya... It is harder to see my Inc's screen in the sun, but not impossible, and certainly usable. Everywhere else it is gorgeous beyond words, I think people make too much of this without actually seeing them in person...
@Madcat
I must be missing something because I really am not impressed by the colors on my Nexus' screen. Sure they're better, but it's not worth sacrificing sharpness for.
@Peter F POST A PIC OF YOU HOLDING YOU NEXUS WITH YOUR SCREEN-NAME ATTACHED WITH PAPER THEN WE WILL BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY HAVE ONE
@Madcat sun's fault!!!
@Madcat
I agree. I think that Chris is being a bit previous when he says that the latest LCD screens are as good. I mean they're better than they were (although good LCD screens have always been acceptable) and if you take the iPhone 4's it's really quite good from a sharpness point of view but it is in no way as good as representing colour as a decent OLED.
Sorry, it just isn't.
dang, I get my Nexus One or HTC Desire after the 12th July.
Good thing I ordered my desire this week! I know AMOLED has its disadvantages but I just cant go back to LCD. Since getting my Zune HD and comparing it to my iPhone screen it was just like night and day in image quality for me personally.
@Kleptomaniac
Prepare for disappointment. The AMOLEDs HTC is currently using are the poor PenTile arrangement variety.
@Peter F
I know I've read up on it. The main thing being colour accuracy, but I stare at a TN monitor all day and I'm pretty sure its not 100% accurate either so its not a big deal. Tech will progress and AMOLED will only get better.
@Peter F your a moron what is your deal?
@Peter F there isn't less pixels in pentile they just don't each carry the blue green and red that lcd does. That doesn't mean there is less pixels though that was debunked a long time ago. The human eye can't see much of a difference in pixels. Sure if you look at the moto droid next to the nexus one them text looks a little clearer but the colors on the nexus makes it much better in my eyes. From what your saying is that the pixel density may not be as high but if your saying that then look at the evo that screen in gorgeous but set it next to the nexus or incredible and you can tell a huge difference. They are quite a but more clear just because if the pixel density and they both have the same amount if pixels just on a smaller screen.
@Kleptomaniac
Don't worry about colors. The colors are great. Sharpness on the other hand, is not so good.
@angermeans
Read all you want, but put the two side by side and you'll see how much sharper an RGB LCD is over a PenTile AMOLED. I believe that in a communication device, text, which is used to communicate more than colors, is more important.
I wonder if HTC will hit Samsung with a lawsuit over AMOLED because I'm pretty positive that HTC will lose significant sales to the Motorola Droid X due to the unavailability of the Droid Incredible. Heck, I'm skipping the Incredible and looking forward to getting a Droid X.