DisplayMate is one of the leading display evaluation sites and they conduct a variety of tests to objectively determine which mobile device has the best display. Recently Dr Raymond Soneria put the brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 against its predecessor the Galaxy S3 as well as the iPhone 5, which is widely regarded to house one of finest displays on a mobile device to see which device would come out on top.
Needless to say the brand new AMOLED display on the Galaxy S4 was empirically better than the Galaxy S3 in every aspect save one, power consumption, where the S3 performed marginally better. The vast improvements in virtually all other areas shows the level of innovation that Samsung is striving for in AMOLED display technology, it was only a few years prior when the Nexus One; the first phone equipped with an AMOLED display was subjected to these test and came stoned dead last compared to the competition. Needless to say display technology has changed and improved vastly over the past three years, however now AMOLED displays prove to be the equal of even the best LCD displays on the market.
The most notable area of improvement for the Galaxy S4 is the calibration of the device. Historically Apple has been the king of display calibration, while Samsung had been lagging behind in this area with Soneria noting that the Galaxy S3 required major improvement in this area and fortunately Samsung has listened. The Galaxy S4 has five selected screen modes, these are factory presets that optimise the display for different usage scenarios. The movie mode preset earned praises from Soneria for its high levels of colour accuracy and calibration showing that Samsung is more than capable of achieving the same levels of quality control as Apple.
Another notable area of improvement was the color gamut of the device. The color gamut of a display is directly tied to the color accuracy and reproduction of a display according to display standards. Previous AMOLED displays have featured a gamut that is significantly larger than standard, leading to oversaturated colors, however some people prefer these brighter more vivid colors with the display modes users can now choose which settings they refer, whether it’s the vivid colors that have become synonymous with AMOLED displays, or the more tamed and accurate colors that is normally reserved for only the best LCD panels.
Overall the ability for Samsung to go toe to toe with the iPhone 5 in every category as well as outperforming the previous generations is an excellent sign of things to come. Hopefully Samsung will be able to maintain this level of innovation and develop a full RGB 1080p display for the Galaxy Note III to cement its place as a market and industry leader.
Source: DisplayMate