So far, many (yours truly included) analysts have considered OLED displays to be the answer to all display woes known to mankind. Death to noisy CCFLs, power-hungry LEDs and other problems. Incredible brightness and infinite contrast ratios…the zen of displays is here. But is this true?
An anonymous tipster recently called me on my mobile phone and asked me to meet him in a remote McDonalds. I arrived there to find a Nokia N82…
My first test consisted of an old archive photo…I set my Treo 680, ipaq rx4240 and the N82 to maximal brightness and put them next to one another:
As one can clearly see, the differences are minimal. The ipaqs image appears a bit warmer, dark areas have slightly more contrast on the N82. So far, so good. But what can be found out in a detailed chromatography?
First of all: here is why OLED displays have an infinite contrast ratio. The N82 is displaying a black image along with an ipaq rx4240 and a Treo 680…one can clearly see that the OLED screen emits no light whatsoever:
When it comes to white balances, one sees that the three screens are more-less on par. The ipaq is warmer, the Treo and the N82 are rather cold:
Analyzing the primary colors shows advantages for the N82. Its colors appear much more saturated:
But what does this mean in practice? Unfortunately, I was not impressed at all. Samsung’s OLED phone was much more impressive…and this is not only due to its IMHO better screen:
Nokia’s design team foolishly sacrifices most of the color gamut of the already inferior screen by using an extremely dark color theme which creates the impression of a dim display. Humans generally consider colorful images contrast-rich…which is why Samsung chose the extremely color-rich default theme they chose…
P.S. The devices used in this comparison have extremely good screens. Thus, the practical implications of this review are minimal…the screen is more than adequate for every-day use!
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The black screen shows the real difference. I really like when black colour is really black and not grey or “black” with a backlight.
Dark colour theme can be easily changed
I think Nokia used its dark theme to save battery, because when the screen is dark/black it consumes much less power than normal screens with backlight on.
You can see the whole beauty of the screen in preinstalled “Flash sparkle” movie. OLED screen is really great.
I kinda like the dark-colored theme of the N85. It fits perfectly with the black phone face.
Hi Folks,
yes, ok – but PLEASE handle a Samsung OLED device once…and then you’ll see the difference!
All the best
Tam Hanna
By technical specs N85 should be better. Because its 256K colours in i7110 vs. 16M colours in N85 – and no – I’m not going to count if it’s true
I like Nokia for great phones, and I like Samsung for great screens (not phones), so I’m not going to start this argument
I’ll go to a store and check the Samsung i7110 screen just so I know.
Hi Stan,
it’s not a question of the number of colors per pixel (the screen has just 78600px).
It is a question of contrast and color saturation…
All the best
Tam Hanna
I really would like to compare the OLED screen to the Clié VZ90. Hope I can find it in a store
Hi clieler,
please keep us posted!
All the best
Tam Hanna