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The Galaxy Nexus' Super AMOLED display is a minus, not a Plus
For all the buzz around Samsung's latest hi-def smartphone, the absence of one little word has largely been glossed over. That word is "Plus" -- the wizened Galaxy S II has a "Super AMOLED Plus" display, for example, whereas the sparkly Galaxy Nexus is merely "Super AMOLED." Did the marketeers simply forget those extra hyperbolic keystrokes, or does the difference actually mean something?Well, regrettably, it does. Samsung uses "Plus" to refer to full RGB displays, in which each pixel possesses its own trio of red, green and blue sub-pixels. Meanwhile, a non-Plus display uses a cheaper PenTile system -- which forces pixels to share each other's sub-pixels. Aside from potential hygiene issues, this results in a lower overall sub-pixel density, reduced sharpness and worse color rendition. We saw the difference clearly enough when Engadget Spanish microscopically compared the original non-Plus Galaxy S against the GS II, and now the folks at FlatPanelsHD have undertaken a more up-to-date comparison at the source link. The upshot? They calculated that, despite its 4.65-inch screen size, the Galaxy Nexus has the same number of sub-pixels as the 3.5-inch iPhone 4/4S. Think of a word with no r, g or b in it, and you eventually arrive at "disappointed."Update: We just added AnandTech's analysis at the More Coverage link. They point out that if you like the pixel density on the GS II, you should be happy with that on the Galaxy Nexus -- although they don't address color rendition.[Thanks, Mauro]
Galaxy S II and Galaxy S screens compared at the subpixel level (video)
One Galaxy S II review not enough for you? Hey, we understand, a dual-core phone deserves at least two goes through the Engadget test chambers. Today marks the publication of our Engadget Spanish analysis, which, among other things, compares the GSII against its forebear, the Galaxy S, at the subpixel level. Yes, we've got video capturing the improvement Samsung has made in its new Real-Stripe (RGB) pixel arrangement on the Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED Plus display over the older, less awesome PenTile RGBG layout of the Plus-deprived Super AMOLED panel. You can see it after the break or dive into the source link for a more comprehensive comparison. Non-Spanish speakers will want to jump to the 1:40 mark in the vid for all the microscopic action. %Gallery-124010%
Spot the difference: HTC Desire's SLCD versus AMOLED
(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg If you'll recall, a little while back HTC waved its white flag amid AMOLED shortages and made the jump to the readily-available SLCD for its Desire and Nexus One handsets. As a quick recap, here's what CEO Peter Chou said about the swap: "The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC's current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance." So, just how "comparable" is the SLCD? To find out, we picked up both flavors of the Desire to perform some comparison tests. Let's start off with the picture quality: what caught our attention straight away was how much sharper SLCD is, but alas, AMOLED is still in the lead for vibrancy and brightness. We dug a little deeper and learned that this has to do with the different pixel arrangements on the two types of panels -- unlike traditional TFT LCD panels, AMOLED's PenTile RGBG (red, green, blue, green, etc.) filter matrix utilizes just two subpixels per pixel instead of three in the same amount of space, thus allowing greater transmittance due to the larger red and blue subpixels. But obviously, the downside is that the pictures aren't as sharp as the denser-packed SLCD. Read on for more! %Gallery-101997%
