Galaxy Note8 OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out
Dr. Raymond M. Soneira
President, DisplayMate Technologies
Corporation
Copyright © 1990-2017 by DisplayMate
Technologies Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
This article, or any part
thereof, may not be copied, reproduced, mirrored, distributed or incorporated
into any other work without
the prior written permission of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation
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Galaxy S8
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Galaxy Note8
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Introduction
The key element for a great
Smartphone has always been a truly innovative and top performing display, and
the best leading edge Smartphones have always flaunted their super high tech
displays. It is the display performance that determines how good and how
beautiful everything on the Smartphone looks, including the camera photos and
all of your Apps, and also how readable and how usable the screen is in high
ambient lighting. The Display is the crown jewel of the Smartphone!
The Galaxy Note8 is Samsung’s newest flagship Smartphone
with the latest most advanced state-of-the-art Flexible
OLED Display together with a radical new Full
Display Screen design that fills almost the entire front face of the
phone, providing a significantly larger display without increasing the size of
the phone. The Galaxy
Note series and Galaxy S series are how Samsung shows
off their latest and greatest OLED displays and display technology. Samsung has
been alternately releasing one of these models every six months, so there are
two OLED generations every year.
Every new OLED generation has provided significant enhancements and
improvements, so they have improved rapidly and regularly leapfrog each other
in display performance. The Galaxy Note8 display extends and improves on the very innovative Galaxy S8 that we tested
and reviewed in March 2017. With mobile OLED display technology now
advancing faster than ever, there are many important new display performance
enhancements.
· The display on the Galaxy
Note8 has not only major improvements in the OLED display hardware, but also
many new and enhanced display features and display functions that we will cover
in detail.
· The 6.3 inch display is
20% larger in screen area than the Galaxy S8 and 14% larger than previous
Galaxy Note displays, without increasing the size of the phone, which is
accomplished by reducing the borders around the display.
· Another very noticeable
and major improvement for the Galaxy Note8 is the display is 22% Brighter than
the Galaxy S8, with a Peak Display Brightness of over 1,200 nits, a new Record
for Smartphones, which provides significantly improved display performance and
screen readability in challenging indoor and outdoor high ambient light viewing
conditions.
The Galaxy Note8 has the latest dual-edge curved screen
Flexible OLEDs, which continue to be developed and manufactured by Samsung Display. They were
first introduced on the Galaxy Note4 Edge
in 2014 by Samsung Electronics, which makes the
Galaxy Smartphones.
While the OLED display itself is flexible, the screen remains rigid
under an outer hard cover glass that is hot formed into a rigid curved screen.
The curved screen provides two additional user configurable Edge Screen areas that can
be viewed from both the front or the sides, and even when the phone is placed
face down. With the Always On Display mode the Edge Screen can even be used as a Night Clock for
your bedside table.
In this article we lab test, measure, analyze, and evaluate in depth the
display on the Galaxy Note8. This is an
independent scientific objective lab test and analysis of OLED displays written
for consumers and journalists. It is the latest edition in our seven year
article series that has lab tested, tracked and analyzed the development of
mobile OLED displays and display technology, from its early beginnings in 2010,
when OLED displays started out in last place, into a rapidly improving and
evolving display technology that now has a commanding first place lead and
continues pushing ahead aggressively.
The Galaxy Note8 is the latest model in a new generation of OLED
Smartphones that have a Full Screen Display design. It is the most innovative
and high performance Smartphone display that we have ever lab tested, earning
DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.
Some Galaxy Note8 Display Highlights
These are just some of the Galaxy
Note8 Display Highlights that we will be covering in detail throughout
the article:
· A new 3K Higher Resolution 2960 x 1440 display that fills almost the entire front face of the
phone from edge-to-edge, resulting in a larger
6.3 inch display with a 15% taller height to
width Aspect Ratio of 18.5 : 9 = 2.05 than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most Smartphones.
· A new and
accurate full 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is
also used for 4K TVs. Plus it is certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium, which allows it to play all of
the latest content produced for 4K UHD Premium
TVs.
· The Native Color Gamut of
the Galaxy Note8 is even larger, the result of its new high saturation “Deep Red” OLED, resulting in a very impressive 112% of DCI-P3 and 141% of
sRGB / Rec.709 Gamuts that also produces better on-screen Colors in High
Ambient Light.
· The Galaxy Note8 provides up to 22% Higher
Screen Brightness than the Galaxy S8, with a
record Peak Display Brightness of over 1,200 nits.
The full set of Galaxy Note8 Display Highlights are listed below
under What’s New and What’s Improved.
Comparing the Galaxy Note8 and the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ Displays
The
Galaxy Note8 has a 6.3 inch (5.7” x
2.8”) curved screen OLED display. For comparison, the Galaxy S8 has a 5.8 inch (5.2” x
2.5”) curved screen OLED display, and the Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2 inch (5.6” x 2.7”) curved screen
display. The Galaxy
Note8
display is 14% larger in screen area than previous Galaxy Note displays and 20% larger
in screen area than the Galaxy S8.
Both
the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ models have the same display performance
specifications (other than screen size) and the same 3K 2960x1440 resolution. For the detailed test results see
our article on the Galaxy S8 Display
Technology Shoot-Out. In this article we will
regularly compare the Galaxy Note8 to the Galaxy S8 displays.
Article Overview
This article has the following major sections:
· What’s New
· What’s Improved
· Highlights and
Performance Results
· Galaxy Note8
Conclusions
· The Future of
OLED Smartphones
· Improving
the Next Generation of Mobile Displays
· Lab Measurements
and Comparison Table
What’s New
The Galaxy Note8 has the following major new display performance features
and display functions, many which it shares with the Galaxy S8, and which we
cover in detail throughout the article:
· A new larger 6.3 inch Full Screen Display
that fills almost the entire front face of the Galaxy Note8 from edge-to-edge.
Its display is 20% larger in screen area than the Galaxy S8 and 14% larger
than previous Galaxy Note displays. The Home button and Navigations buttons are now
incorporated within the touchscreen display.
· A new display form factor with a taller height to width Aspect Ratio of 18.5 : 9 = 2.05,
which is 15% larger than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most Smartphones (and
widescreen TVs) because the display now has the same overall shape as the
entire phone. It is taller in Portrait mode and wider in Landscape mode. This
provides extra space for Notifications and for displaying multiple Apps and
content simultaneously on-screen side-by-side.
· A new 3K Higher Resolution 2960 x 1440 Quad HD+ display
with 521 pixels per inch.
· Support for 4 Screen Modes and 3 Standard Color Gamuts with High Absolute Color
Accuracy based on our extensive lab
measurements.
· A new full 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut and Digital Cinema mode that
is also used for 4K Ultra HD TVs, so the Galaxy Note8 can display the
latest high-end 4K video content. The DCI-P3 Gamut is 26 percent larger than
the Rec.709 Gamut that is used in 2K Full HD TVs.
· The Galaxy Note8 is certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium, which allows it to play all of
the same 4K High Dynamic Range content produced for 4K
UHD Premium TVs.
· A new Video Enhancer
that provides HDR-like Expanded Dynamic Range for photos and videos that don’t
have HDR coding.
· A new
record high Peak Brightness of over 1,200 nits, which improves screen visibility in
very high Ambient Light, and provides the high screen Brightness needed for HDR.
· A new user adjustable White Point with
Color Balance slider controls that can change the Color of White for the
Adaptive Display screen mode.
· New front
and back Dual Ambient Light Sensors for
significantly improved Automatic Brightness settings.
· A new Night Mode with a Blue Light Filter
that allows the user to adjust and reduce the amount of blue light from the
display for better night viewing and improved sleep.
What’s Improved
The Galaxy Note8 also has the following improved display performance
features and display functions, many which it shares with the Galaxy S8, which
we cover in detail throughout the article:
· Higher Screen Brightness that is up to 22% Brighter than the Galaxy S8.
· Larger Native Color Gamut with 112% DCI-P3 for better displayed Colors in High Ambient Light.
· Improved Absolute Color
Accuracy.
· Improved Viewing Angle performance.
· Enhanced configurable Edge
Display for the curved side screens.
· Enhanced Always On Display mode operated with IC hardware
rather than App software.
· Enhanced Personalized Auto Brightness Control.
· Enhanced Image Processor for Adaptive Dynamic Brightness and Contrast Range
Expansion.
· Enhanced Performance Modes and Power Saving Modes.
· Stronger
curved Gorilla Glass 5 protecting the display.
We’ll cover all of the these display performance topics and
much more, with in-depth comprehensive display tests, measurements and analysis
that you will find nowhere else.
The Display Shoot-Out
To examine the
performance of the new Galaxy Note8 OLED Display
we ran our in-depth series of Mobile
Display Technology Shoot-Out Lab tests and measurements in order to
determine how the latest OLED displays have improved. We take display quality
very seriously and provide in-depth objective analysis based on detailed
laboratory tests and measurements and extensive viewing tests with both test
patterns, test images and test photos. To see how far OLED and LCD mobile
displays have progressed in just six years see our 2010 Smartphone
Display Shoot-Out, and for a real history lesson see our original 2006 Smartphone Display
Shoot-Out.
Samsung provided DisplayMate Technologies with pre-release production
units of the Galaxy Note8 so that we could perform our well known objective and
comprehensive DisplayMate Lab tests, measurements, and analysis, explaining
in-depth the new display performance results for consumers, reviewers, and
journalists as early as possible.
Highlights and Performance Results
In this section we review and explain the principal
results from the extensive DisplayMate Lab Tests and Measurements covered in
the Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table under the following
categories: Display Specifications, Overall Assessments, Screen
Reflections, Brightness and Contrast, Colors and Intensities, Viewing Angles, OLED Spectra,
Display Power.
Main Topics Covered
This Highlights and Performance
Results section has detailed information and analysis on the Galaxy Note8 display for the main topics listed
below. You can skip this section and go directly to the Galaxy
Note8 Conclusions.
· Larger Full Screen Display
· 3K Higher Resolution Display
· Multiple Screen Modes
· High Absolute Color Accuracy
· Adaptive Display Screen Mode with User Adjustable White
Point
· Adaptive Display Screen Mode in Ambient Light
· Screen Brightness and Higher Automatic Brightness
· High
Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Premium Display
· Front and Back Dual Ambient Light Sensors
· Interactive Personalized Automatic Brightness
· Night Mode Blue Light Filter for Better Night Viewing
· Always On Display Mode
· Diamond Pixels
· Display Power Efficiency
· Viewing Angle Performance and Viewing Tests
· Display Related Enhancements
New Larger Full Screen Display with a New Aspect Ratio of 18.5 :
9
The Galaxy Note8 has a new larger 6.3 inch full screen display that fills almost
the entire front face of the phone from edge-to-edge. Its display is 20% larger
in screen area than the Galaxy S8 and 14% larger in screen area than previous
Galaxy Note displays. The Home button and Navigations buttons are now
incorporated within the touchscreen display.
The display also has a new form factor with a taller height to width Aspect Ratio of 18.5 : 9 = 2.05,
which is 15% larger than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most Smartphones (and
widescreen TVs) because the display now has the same overall shape as the
entire phone. It is taller in Portrait mode and wider in Landscape mode. This
provides extra space for Notifications and for displaying multiple Apps and
content simultaneously on-screen side-by-side.
The main screen has rounded corners and is curved along both the left
and right edges, which provides two additional user configurable Edge Screen areas that can
be viewed from both the front or the sides, and even when the phone is placed
face down. This is particularly helpful for status messages, notifications,
memos, an Edge Clock, and a Night Clock in the Always
On Display mode, which we cover below.
New 3K Higher Resolution Quad HD+ 2960x1440 Display with 521
pixels per inch
As a result of its larger display size and larger Aspect
Ratio, the Galaxy Note8 has a new 3K Higher Resolution
Quad HD+ display with 2960x1440 pixels
and 521 pixels per inch, with 4.3 Mega Pixels,
more than double the number on your HDTV. It can display more than four
complete HD 1280x720 images at once. The display has Diamond
Pixels (see below) and Sub-Pixel Rendering
with 521 pixels per inch (ppi), providing significantly higher image sharpness
than can be resolved with normal 20/20 Vision at the typical viewing distances
of 10 inches or more for Smartphones, so the display appears perfectly sharp.
The Galaxy Note8 uses Sub-Pixel Rendering, which further
improves image sharpness because the individual Red, Green and Blue Sub-Pixels
are treated as independent addressable image elements and are not bound
together into fixed Pixels, so the closest sub-pixel is used when rendering the
image. In some cases Sub-Pixel Rendering can make the screen appear to have up
to 3 times the resolution of traditional Pixel Rendering. As a result, for Smartphones it is absolutely pointless to
further increase the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) up to 4K
(3940x2160 pixels) for a silly marketing wild goose chase into the
stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!
· Multiple Screen Modes and Color Management
One very important capability of
the Galaxy Smartphones that is often overlooked by many consumers and
reviewers, is the set of user selectable Screen Modes that are available under
Display Settings, which we cover and measure each one in detail below.
Most Smartphones and Tablets only provide a single fixed factory display Color
Gamut and color calibration, with no way for the user to alter it based on
content, personal preferences, running applications, or Ambient Light levels. A
very important capability provided by the OLED Galaxy Smartphones is the
implementation of Color Management that provides a number of user selectable
Screen Modes, each with different Color Gamuts and levels of Color Saturation
and display calibration based on user and application preferences. Color Management with multiple and varying Color Gamuts are a
very useful and important state-of-the-art capability that all manufacturers
will need to provide in the future.
· High Absolute Color Accuracy for Each of the Screen Modes
All of the recent Galaxy OLED Smartphones have supported
multiple Color Gamut Standards, including DCI-P3,
Adobe RGB, and sRGB /
Rec.709. For each of the Screen Modes we carefully measure the Absolute Color Accuracy using an advanced series of
spectroradiometer measurements with 41 Reference
Colors that provide a detailed map of the Color Accuracy throughout the
entire Color Gamut for each Screen Mode. Absolute Color Accuracy is measured in
terms of Just Noticeable Color Differences, JNCD.
See this Figure for an
explanation and visual definition of JNCD and
the detailed Color Accuracy
Plots showing the measured Color Errors for the 41
Reference Colors for each Color Gamut.
In order to see the high Color Accuracy, the Display Setting for the
Screen Mode needs to match the Color Gamut for the content that is being
viewed. All of the reviewers that continue to
rant about the poor Color Accuracy of the Galaxy OLED displays have failed to
set the proper Screen Mode for their content,
which is very accurate as shown in our extensive Lab Measurements and Viewing
Tests.
For all of the calibrated Screen Modes, the Galaxy Note8
has uniformly Very Good to Excellent Absolute Color
Accuracy, which are covered and measured individually below. See our
detailed Absolute Color
Accuracy Plots with 41 Reference Colors for
the 3 calibrated Screen Modes and also this regarding Bogus Color Accuracy
Measurements.
New Four Selectable Screen Modes and Color Gamuts
The Galaxy Note8 has four user selectable Screen Modes: Adaptive Display, AMOLED
Cinema, AMOLED Photo, and the Basic Screen Mode, which matches the Standard sRGB /
Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used for producing most current consumer content.
See this Figure for the
Color Gamuts of all the tested Screen Modes and the Colors and Intensities section for the
measurements and details. Note that the Adaptive
Display screen mode is the standard and factory default Screen Mode. Use
Display Settings to switch between the other available Screen Modes. We discuss each of the four tested Screen Modes next…
New AMOLED Cinema Screen Mode with a Very Accurate Standard
DCI-P3 Color Gamut
The Galaxy Note8 has the newest Standard Wide Color Gamut called DCI-P3
for Digital Cinema
Initiative, which is being used for 4K
Ultra HD TVs and in Digital Cinema for the movie industry. So the Galaxy Note8
can display the latest high-end 4K video content. The DCI-P3 Gamut is 26
percent larger than the Rec.709 Gamut used in 2K Full HD TVs, both are compared
in this accurately colorized Figure.
The larger DCI-P3 Color Gamut and wider range of more saturated colors are also
useful in many advanced imaging applications, including HDR High Dynamic Range (below).
The measured Color Gamut of the AMOLED
Cinema screen mode is a very accurate 104 percent
of the Standard DCI-P3 Color Gamut, and the measured Absolute Color Accuracy is
a very accurate 3.4 JNCD, which is very likely considerably better than your living
room 4K Ultra HD TV. The Galaxy Note8 is one of the first displays to
reach full 100% of the DCI-P3 as the result of using a new high saturation “Deep Red” OLED. See the Color
Accuracy section and the detailed Color Accuracy Plots for
the measurements and details. Select the AMOLED Cinema
screen mode using Display Settings – it is not the default screen mode for the
Galaxy Note8.
· AMOLED Photo Screen Mode with a Very Accurate Standard Adobe
RGB Color Gamut
Most high-end digital cameras have an option to use the Adobe RGB Color Gamut, which is 17 percent larger
than the Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut used in consumer cameras. The AMOLED Photo screen mode on the Galaxy Note8 provides
a very accurate Color and White Point calibration to the Adobe RGB standard,
which is rarely available in consumers displays, and is very useful for
high-end digital photography and other advanced imaging applications.
The measured Color Gamut of the AMOLED
Photo screen mode is a very accurate 100
percent of the Standard Adobe RGB Color Gamut, and the measured Absolute
Color Accuracy is a very accurate 3.3 JNCD. See
the Color Accuracy section and the detailed Color Accuracy Plots for
the measurements and details. Select the AMOLED Photo
screen mode using Display Settings – it is not the default screen mode for the
Galaxy Note8.
· Basic Screen Mode with a
Very Accurate Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut
The Basic screen mode
provides a very accurate Color and White Point calibration for the Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used to
produce most current consumer content for digital cameras, TVs, the internet,
and computers, including photos, videos, and movies. The measured Color Gamut
of the Basic screen mode is a very accurate 106
percent of the Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut, and the measured
Absolute Color Accuracy is a very accurate 3.1 JNCD,
which is very likely considerably better than your
living room HDTV and also your laptop and computer monitor.
Use the Basic screen mode for the best color and image
accuracy for most current consumer content, which is especially important when
viewing photos from family and friends (because you often know exactly what
they actually should look like), for some TV shows, movies, and sporting events
with image content and colors that you are familiar with, and also for viewing
online merchandise, so you have a very good idea of exactly what colors you are
buying and are less likely to return them. See the Color
Accuracy section and the detailed Color Accuracy Plots for
the measurements and details. Select the Basic screen
mode using Display Settings – it is not the default screen mode for the Galaxy
Note8.
· Adaptive Display Screen Mode with the Largest Color Gamut
The Adaptive Display screen mode
provides real-time Adaptive processing that can dynamically adjust images and
videos. For some applications it will vary the White Point, Color Gamut, and
Color Saturation based on the image content and the color of the surrounding
ambient lighting measured by the Ambient Light Sensor (which measures color in
addition to brightness).
The Adaptive Display screen mode also provides
significantly higher Color Saturation, with a large 141
percent of the Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut and 112 percent of the Standard DCI-P3 Color Gamut, the
highest that we have ever measured for Smartphones and Tablets (tied with the
Galaxy S8), and the result of a new high saturation “Deep
Red” OLED in the Galaxy Note8. Some people like the more saturated and
Vivid Colors, plus it is useful for special applications, and especially when
using the Galaxy Note8 in medium to high levels of Ambient Light, because it
offsets some of the reflected light glare that washes out the on-screen image
colors. We examine the change in the Color Gamut with Ambient Light below. See
the Color Accuracy section for the measurements
and details. Select the Adaptive Display screen mode
using Display Settings – it is the factory default screen mode for the Galaxy
Note8.
New Adaptive Display Screen Mode with a User Adjustable White
Point
The default White Point for
the Adaptive Display screen mode has an intentionally bluish 7,582 K Color
Temperature. A new feature on the Galaxy Note8 is a user adjustable White Point
with Color Balance slider controls that allow
users to change color of White for the Adaptive Display screen mode. The slider
controls allow the White Point Color Temperature to range from 6,800 K, which is close to the Standard D65
White, up to 8,800 K, which has a strong bluish
tint that some people like. So with the Galaxy Note8 you can set the Color of
White that you prefer.
· Adaptive Display Screen Mode Offsets the Loss of Color
Saturation and Color Gamut in Ambient Light
The Adaptive Display screen mode is particularly useful
in moderate to high levels of Ambient Light because its larger Native Color Gamut offsets some of the loss of Color
Saturation and Color Gamut that occurs when using the other calibrated Standard
Screen Modes. This Figure
shows the measured decrease in two Color Gamuts with increasing Ambient Light,
from 0 lux, which is perfectly dark, up through 2,000 lux, which corresponds to
typical outdoor daylight in shade.
At 500 lux, which
corresponds to typical office lighting, the measured on-screen Color Gamut for
the Basic screen mode falls to 91%. At 1,000 lux, which corresponds to very bright indoor
lighting or outdoor daylight with an overcast sky, the measured on-screen Color
Gamut falls to 78%, and at 2,000 lux the measured on-screen Color Gamut falls to
61%. This loss of color saturation and wash out
in Ambient Light is well known to all display users.
The way to improve the display color accuracy and
performance in Ambient Light is to start with a larger Color Gamut, like the
Adaptive Display screen mode, which is shown on the right in this Figure compared
to the Basic screen mode on the left. At 1,000 lux the Adaptive Display screen
mode provides a much better match to the sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut than the
Basic screen mode. The Adaptive Display screen mode also provides a good match
to the DCI-P3 Color Gamut at 500 lux. So the Adaptive
Display screen mode provides more accurate on-screen colors in moderate to high
Ambient Lighting than the other calibrated Screen Modes, which are designed and
calibrated for Low Ambient Light. Applying Dynamic Color Management
based on the current Ambient Light lux level in the future will able to further
improve color accuracy over a wide range of Ambient Light levels, which we discuss
further in the Conclusion.
· Screen Brightness and Performance in High Ambient Lighting
Mobile displays are often used under relatively bright
ambient lighting, which washes out the image color saturation and contrast,
reducing picture quality and making it harder to view or read the screen. To be
usable in high ambient light a display needs a dual combination of high Screen Brightness and low Screen
Reflectance – the Galaxy Note8 has both. This is extremely important for
screen readability, picture quality, and color accuracy in ambient light.
The Galaxy Note8 is up to 22
percent Brighter than the Galaxy S8. For most image content the Galaxy
Note8 provides over 490 cd/m2
(Luminance, which is a measure of Brightness sometimes called nits), comparable or higher than most LCD displays in
this size class. The measured Brightness on the Home screen is even higher at
over 540 nits. When the display Brightness is
set Manually with the slider, it can be adjusted to reach a maximum screen Brightness of up to 728 nits, which is impressive.
See the Screen Brightness section for the
measurements and details.
The measured Galaxy Note8 Screen
Reflectance is 4.6 percent, close to the lowest that we have ever
measured for a Smartphone. Our Contrast Rating for
High Ambient Light quantitatively measures screen visibility and image
contrast under bright Ambient Lighting – the higher the better. As a result of
its high Brightness and low Reflectance, the Galaxy Note8 has a Contrast Rating
for High Ambient Light that ranges from 88 to 158, the
highest that we have ever measured for a Smartphone. See the Screen Reflectance section for the measurements and
details.
· Even Higher Automatic Peak Brightness
On the Galaxy Note8 the
Maximum Screen Brightness can go much higher when Automatic
Brightness is turned On, so that users can’t permanently park the Manual
Brightness slider to very high values, which would run down the battery
quickly. High Screen Brightness is only needed for
High Ambient Light, so turning Automatic Brightness On will provide
better high ambient light screen visibility and also longer battery running
time.
When Automatic Brightness
is turned On, the Galaxy Note8 produces up to a very impressive 1,240 cd/m2 (nits) in High Ambient Light,
where high Brightness is really needed – which is the
brightest Smartphone display that we have ever measured, and 22%
Brighter than the Galaxy S8. As a result of its
very high Automatic Brightness and low Reflectance, the Galaxy Note8 has a
Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light that ranges from 122 to 270, also the highest that we have
ever measured for a Smartphone display. See the Brightness and Contrast, the High Ambient Light and the Screen
Reflections sections for the measurements and details. The much higher Peak
Brightness of over 1,200 nits is also used to provide High Dynamic Range HDR,
which we discuss next...
New HDR High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Premium Display
The Galaxy Note8 is certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR
Premium, which allows the Galaxy Note8 to play the same 4K High Dynamic
Range content for 4K UHD Premium TVs. High
Dynamic Range
(HDR) is the newest performance enhancement feature developed for the latest 4K
Ultra HD TVs. HDR provides expanded the Color, Contrast, and Brightness of
video content. In order to provide HDR, the Galaxy Note8 has the required
Digital Cinema DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut, plus perfect Blacks and an Infinite
Contrast Ratio from its OLED display, and a peak Brightness of over 1,000 nits
that is needed for High Dynamic Range. The Galaxy Note8 can play the latest
streamed mobile HDR videos, and its built-in video processor also allows it to
provide an Expanded Dynamic Range for standard
video content that produces an HDR-like effect.
New Front and Back Dual
Ambient Light Sensors for Improved Automatic Brightness Settings
Other Smartphones and
Tablets have just a single Ambient Light Sensor on the front of the screen that
measures the amount of light falling on the front of the screen. When Automatic
Brightness is turned On, the display Brightness is adjusted based on this
single measured value. But that is only part of the story because the phone is
often in the shadow of your head, so the front ambient light level is often
reduced there. However, your eyes are generally more adapted to the surrounding
ambient light level that is behind and around the phone, which needs to be
taken into account in setting the proper screen Brightness, particularly with
the most common back lighting situations that exist when holding the phone.
I proposed dual Ambient
Light Sensors back in 2010, with an article
that described “How Automatic Brightness Should Work.”
The Galaxy Note8 is the first Smartphone (together with the Galaxy S8) to have
a second Ambient Light Sensor on the back that also measures the surrounding
ambient light behind the phone and then uses both measured values to adjust the
display Brightness based on the front and back lighting. The Galaxy Note8
Automatic Brightness Control has also been enhanced to provide improved
response and transition times with changing ambient light levels to give your
eyes the proper amount of time to adjust to the new levels.
· Interactive Personalized Automatic Brightness Control that
Works Well
The Galaxy Note8 has a
Interactive Personalized Automatic Brightness Control
that learns and stores the display brightness settings that you make for
varying ambient light levels, so from then on you get your own customized
personal visual brightness preferences instead of some pre-programmed
manufacturer settings found in other Smartphones, Tablets, and TVs. I proposed
this back in 2010, with an article
that described “How Automatic Brightness Should Work.”
The Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S8 are the first Smartphones, Tablets, or TVs to do
Automatic Brightness correctly.
When Automatic
Brightness is turned On (under Display Settings), if you adjust the Brightness
Slider, the Galaxy Note8 will remember your setting along with the current
Ambient Light level that is measured by its Ambient Light Sensors (ALS). From
then on the Galaxy Note8 will automatically adjust the screen Brightness by
measuring the current ambient light level and then adjusting the display
Brightness based on the settings that you have previously made, so you’ll get a
customized screen Brightness setting that you’ve previously trained it to
produce for the current level of ambient light – and you can continue to tweak
and adjust it as needed. Other smartphones operate using the antiquated
opposite approach based on factory defaults that works backwards and poorly,
which often results in users disabling Automatic Brightness.
New Night Mode Blue Light Filter for Better Night Viewing
The Night Mode Blue Light Filter on the Galaxy Note8 is
designed to change the color balance of the display in order to reduce the
amount of Blue light produced by the display, which some recent research
indicates can affect how well users sleep afterwards. In a separate article we
explain and analyze the Blue Light issue for displays. The Galaxy Note8 includes
a user adjustable slider (called Filter Opacity) to vary the amount of Blue
light produced by the display and a timer that allows the Blue Light Filter to
be turned on and off automatically every day. The measured variation in the
display light spectrum with the adjustable Blue Light Filter is shown in this Figure and
below.
As the Blue Light
Filter Opacity setting is increased, the amount of Blue light emitted by the
display decreases. When that happens, White and all screen colors take on an
increasing yellowish tint and color cast. At the Middle
setting the measured White Color Temperature decreases to 4,500K, and at the Maximum
setting it decreases to 2,500K, the
Color Temperature of traditional incandescent lighting, which is yellowish.
With the Blue Light Filter turned On and the Opacity at its Maximum setting,
the measured Blue Light component from the Galaxy Note8 is reduced by 80
percent. Turning down the screen Brightness will further decrease the amount of
Blue Light. The measured display spectra for several
of the Blue Light Filter settings are included in this Figure and
below.
· Super Dimming Mode
The Galaxy Note8 also has a Super
Dimming Mode that allows the Maximum Screen Brightness to be set all the
way down to just 2 cd/m2 (nits)
using the Brightness Slider. This is perfect for night use on a beside table,
and useful for working comfortably without eye strain or bothering others in
very dark environments, or affecting the eye’s dark adaptation, such as when
using a telescope. The display still provides full 24-bit color and the picture
quality remains excellent.
· Always On Display Mode
The Galaxy Note8 has an Always
On Display mode that takes advantage of the very low power capability of
an OLED display when most of the image pixels are black, because every
sub-pixel is independently powered, and therefore doesn’t use any power when
black. The AOD mode is super power efficient and typically requires only 3 to 5
percent of the maximum display power. So when the phone is off (in standby) it
is possible to always display some text and graphics on a black background all
day and all night without a significant power drain that would reduce the
battery running time. The Always On Display mode uses only 50 to 100 mW
(milli-Watts) in normal daytime ambient light, and much less in the dark mode
at night. For moving AOD content, such as in an Analog Clock with a second
hand, the display is updated via Integrated Circuit hardware rather than App
software, resulting in lower power consumption. A new feature on the Galaxy
Note8 allows you to a add personal photo to the Always On Display.
The Always On Display produces an illuminated main screen image 24 hours
a day so you can always discreetly check it with just a glance. It shows various personalized clock and calendar screens,
plus status messages, memos, notifications, and images on the main screen when
the phone is off (in standby). It measures the ambient light level and has both
day and night modes, and it will stay off when the phone display is face down,
or if it senses a dark confined space like a pocket or handbag. The day mode
has a measured Luminance of 50 cd/m2 (nits) on a black background, which is very readable but not
distracting for normal indoor ambient lighting, and is visible outdoors if you
shade the screen with your hand. The night mode is entered for very low Ambient
Light lux levels and runs like the Super
Dimming Mode down to as low as 1 nit, so it
makes a great Night Clock that won’t disturb you if it’s on your bedside table.
· Diamond Pixels
A
high resolution screen shot (provided by Samsung) shows an interesting
design and sub-pixel arrangement for the Galaxy Note8, which Samsung calls Diamond
Pixels. First of all, the Red, Green, and Blue sub-pixels have very
different sizes – Blue is by far the largest because it has the lowest light
emission efficiency, and Green is by far the smallest because it has the
highest efficiency. The alternating Red and Blue sub-pixel arrangement leads to
a 45 degree diagonal symmetry in the sub-pixel layout. This allows vertical,
horizontal, and particularly diagonal line segments and vectors to be drawn
with reduced aliasing and artifacts. In order to maximize the sub-pixel packing
and achieve the highest possible pixels per inch (ppi), that leads to diamond
rather than square or stripe shaped Red and Blue sub-pixels. But not for the
Green sub-pixels, which are oval shaped because they are squeezed between two
much larger and different sized Red and Blue sub-pixels. It’s a form of
high-tech display art…
· Display Power Efficiency
Since 2013 the Display Power Efficiency of the Galaxy
series of Smartphones has improved by a very impressive 60%. This year the new
OLED materials on the Galaxy Note8 have improved optical and power efficiency
with its larger Native Color Gamut.
While LCDs remain more power efficient for images with
mostly full screen white content (like all text screens on a white background,
for example), OLEDs are more power efficient for typical mixed image content
because they are emissive displays so their power varies with the Average
Picture Level (average Brightness) of the image content over the entire screen.
For OLEDs, Black pixels and sub-pixels don’t use any power so screens with
Black or dark backgrounds are very power efficient for OLEDs. For LCDs the
display power is fixed and independent of image content. Currently, OLED
displays are more power efficient than LCDs for Average Pictures Levels of 65
percent or less, and LCDs are more power efficient for Average Picture Levels
above 65 percent. Since both technologies are continuing to improve their power
efficiencies, the crossover will continue to change with time.
The Galaxy Note8 also has 4 user adjustable Performance Modes and 3 adjustable Power Saving Modes that reduce the Display Power by
lowering the screen Brightness and setting the background to Black, which can
significantly reduce display power and more than double the running time on
battery. All of our tests and measurements were performed in the High Performance Mode with the Power Saving Mode Off. See the Display Power section for the measurements and
details.
· Viewing Angle Performance
While Smartphones are
primarily single viewer devices, the variation in display performance with
viewing angle is still very important because single viewers frequently hold
the display at a variety of viewing angles. The angle is often up to 30
degrees, more if it is resting on a table or desk. While LCDs typically
experience a 55 percent or greater decrease in Brightness at a 30 degree
Viewing Angle, the OLED Galaxy Note8 display shows a much smaller 29 percent
decrease in Brightness at 30 degrees. This also applies to multiple
side-by-side viewers as well, and is a significant advantage of OLED displays.
The Color Shifts with Viewing Angle are also relatively small and similar to
the Galaxy S8. See the Viewing Angles section for
the measurements and details.
· Viewing Tests
The three calibrated Standard Screen Modes on the Galaxy
Note8 provide very nice, pleasing and very accurate colors and picture quality.
Although the Image Contrast is slightly too high (due to a slightly too steep
Intensity Scale), the very challenging set of DisplayMate Test and Calibration
Photos that we use to evaluate picture quality looked absolutely
stunning and Beautiful, even to my experienced hyper-critical eyes.
In order to see the high Color Accuracy, the Display Setting for the
Screen Mode needs to match the Color Gamut for the content that is being
viewed. All of the reviewers that continue to
rant about the poor Color Accuracy of the Galaxy OLED displays have failed to
set the proper Screen Mode for their content,
which is very accurate as shown in our extensive Lab Measurements.
For indoor and low ambient light viewing use the Basic screen mode for most standard consumer content
including digital camera, TV, internet, and computer content, including photos,
videos, and movies, and also for your online purchases in order to see accurate
product colors. Use the AMOLED Cinema screen mode
for viewing the newest DCI 4K Ultra HD TV and Digital Cinema content and
videos, including HDR Premium content, and the AMOLED Photo screen mode to view high-end digital
camera photos that are based on the Adobe RGB Gamut. The Adaptive Display screen mode provides significantly
more Vivid and Saturated Colors. Some people like that.
The Adaptive Display screen mode is also recommended for
viewing in medium to high levels of ambient light because it offsets some of
the reflected light glare that washes out the image colors, which is
demonstrated in this Figure for
ambient light levels up through 2,000 lux.
· Display Related Enhancements
· The
Galaxy Note8 is IP68 water resistant in up to 5 feet of water for up to half an
hour, which means you can comfortably view the display in typical wet indoor
and outdoor conditions – even carefully use it in a tub or shower, and it
should be fine if you accidentally drop it in a sink or toilet.
· The
Galaxy Note8 can be used with Polarized Sunglasses in both the Portrait and
Landscape orientations unlike LCDs, which generally work in only one of the two
orientations.
· The
Galaxy Note8 has the new Gorilla Glass 5, which provides much higher resistance
to breakage.
· The
Galaxy Note8 accepts a microSD card, which makes it easier to add large photo
and video files.
Galaxy Note8 Conclusions: A Very
Impressive Smartphone Display…
The primary goal of this Display Technology Shoot-Out
article series has always been to publicize and promote display excellence
so that consumers, journalists and even manufacturers are aware of and appreciate
the very best in displays and display technology. We point out which
manufactures and display technologies are leading and advancing the
state-of-the-art for displays by performing comprehensive and objective
scientific Lab tests and measurements together with in-depth analysis. We point
out who is leading, who is behind, who is improving, and sometimes
(unfortunately) who is back pedaling… all based solely on the extensive
objective careful Lab measurements that we also publish, so that everyone can
judge the data for themselves as well…
OLED Display Evolution
What is particularly significant and impressive is that
Samsung has been systematically improving OLED display performance with every
Galaxy generation since 2010, when we started tracking OLED
displays. The first notable OLED Smartphone, the Google
Nexus One, came in decidedly last place in our 2010 Smartphone
Display Shoot-Out. As a result of the improvements with each new
generation, in a span of just seven years mobile OLED display technology now
has a commanding first place lead and continues pushing ahead aggressively. The
Galaxy Note8 continues the impressive
improvements in mobile OLED displays and technology. As a result, OLEDs have
developed into excellent Smartphone displays that now outperform the best LCD
Smartphones.
The Best Smartphone Display
The Galaxy Note8 is the latest
in a new generation of OLED Smartphones that have a Full Screen Display design
like the Galaxy S8. It has many major and important state-of-the-art display
performance enhancements, features and functions, with mobile OLED display
technology now advancing faster than ever. The Galaxy Note8 is the most
innovative and high performance Smartphone display that we have ever lab
tested. So the Galaxy Note8 becomes the Best
Performing Smartphone Display, earning DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.
See the Display Shoot-Out Comparison
Table section below for the complete DisplayMate Lab measurements and test
details.
See the Highlights and Performance
Results section above for a detailed overview with expanded discussions and
explanations.
See the Display Assessments
section for the evaluation details.
The Galaxy Note8 has the following enhanced state-of-the-art
display performance functions and features:
· A
radical new Full Display Screen design that
fills almost the entire front face of the phone providing a significantly
larger display for the same phone size.
· A curved screen OLED
display that is manufactured on a flexible
plastic substrate so that it can bend around corners on both sides of the phone
to provide two curved Edge Display areas that can be viewed and controlled from both the
front or the sides.
· A new larger 6.3 inch Full
Screen Display that fills almost the entire
front face of the Galaxy Note8 from edge-to-edge. Its display is 20% larger in
screen area than the Galaxy S8 and 14% larger than previous Galaxy Note
displays, without increasing the size of the phone, which is accomplished by
shrinking the borders around the display. The Home button and Navigations
buttons are now incorporated within the touchscreen display.
· A new display form factor with a taller height to width Aspect Ratio of 18.5 : 9 = 2.05, which is 15% larger than the 16 : 9 = 1.78 on most
Smartphones (and widescreen TVs) because the display now has the same overall
shape as the entire phone. It is taller in Portrait mode and wider in Landscape
mode. This provides extra space for Notifications and for displaying multiple
Apps and content simultaneously on-screen side-by-side.
· 4 Color
Gamuts and 3
Calibrated Screen Modes with High
Absolute Color Accuracy based on our
extensive Lab Measurements.
· A new
larger full 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut and Digital Cinema mode that is also used for 4K Ultra HD TVs, so the Galaxy Note8
can display the latest high-end 4K video content. The DCI-P3 Gamut is 26
percent larger than the Rec.709 Gamut that is used in 2K Full HD TVs.
· The Galaxy Note8 is certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium, which allows
the Galaxy Note8 to play the same 4K High Dynamic Range content produced for 4K UHD Premium TVs.
· A larger Native Color Gamut with
a new high saturation “Deep Red” OLED,
resulting in a very impressive 112% of DCI-P3
and 141% of sRGB / Rec.709 Gamuts that also
provides much better on-screen Colors in High Ambient Light.
· A 3K Higher Resolution 2960 x 1440 Quad HD+ display
with 521 pixels per inch, and Diamond Pixels with
Sub-Pixel Rendering.
· A Video Enhancer
that provides HDR-like Expanded Dynamic Range for all videos that don’t have
HDR coding.
· A record
high Peak Display Brightness
of over 1,200 nits, which improves screen
visibility in very high Ambient Light, and provides the high screen Brightness
needed for HDR.
· Front and
back Dual Ambient Light
Sensors for significantly improved Automatic Brightness settings.
· A Night Mode with
a Blue Light Filter
that allows the user to adjust and reduce the amount of blue light from the
display for better night viewing and improved sleep.
· A user Adjustable White Point
with Color Balance slider controls that can change
the color of White for the Adaptive Display screen mode.
· An Always On Display
mode and Personalized
Auto Brightness Control.
· Small Color Shifts and Brightness
Shifts with Viewing Angle.
· The Galaxy Note8
can be used with Polarized Sunglasses in both
the Portrait and Landscape orientations unlike LCDs, which generally work in
only one of the two orientations.
· A new and
even stronger curved Gorilla Glass 5 protecting
the display.
The Galaxy Note8 matches or
sets new Smartphone display performance records for:
· Largest Native Color
Gamut (112% DCI-P3 and 141% sRGB / Rec.709).
· Highest Peak Display
Brightness (1,240 nits).
· Highest Contrast
Rating in Ambient Light (270).
· Highest Screen
Resolution 3K (2960x1440).
· Highest Contrast Ratio
(Infinite).
· Lowest Screen Reflectance
(4.6 percent).
· Smallest Brightness Variation with Viewing Angle (29 percent).
The Best
Smartphone Display
The Galaxy Note8 delivers
uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance and receives All Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all of
the DisplayMate Lab test and measurement Categories (except for a single Yellow
in Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level that applies to all OLED
displays). See the Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table
below for all of the measurements and details, and the Highlights
and Performance Results section above for expanded discussions and
explanations, and the Display Assessments section
for the evaluation details.
Based on our extensive lab tests
and measurments the Galaxy Note8 becomes the Best Performing Smartphone
Display, earning DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.
The Future of OLED Smartphones
The Galaxy Note8 is the latest in a new generation of OLED Smartphones.
OLEDs have now evolved and emerged as the premium mobile Smartphone display
technology. More than two dozen manufacturers
already make OLED Smartphones, and the new Full Screen Display design using a
flexible OLED will be the new Flagship for all the upcoming future Top Tier
Smartphones.
LCDs are a great cutting edge high performance display technology for
Tablets to TVs, but for small handheld Smartphones, OLED displays provide a
number of significant advantages over LCDs including: being much thinner, much
lighter, without needing a bezel providing a rimless edge-to-edge design. They
can be made flexible and into curved screens, plus they have a very fast
response time, better viewing angles, and an always-on display mode. Many of
the OLED performance advantages result from the fact that every single
sub-pixel in an OLED display is independently directly electrically powered to
emit light, so only the active image sub-pixels draw power based on their
individual brightness levels. OLEDs can also provide better color accuracy,
image contrast accuracy, and screen uniformity because of variations in the
Backlights of LCDs.
As the result of their very versatile power management capabilities,
OLEDs are not only more power efficient than LCDs for most image content, but
they now deliver much higher peak Brightness than LCDs because the maximum
power can be delivered to just the sub-pixels that are needed for producing the
current image. However, for mostly all white screen content LCDs are likely to
remain brighter and more power efficient for a while.
OLED displays are also manufactured on flexible substrates that can
bend, which allows the screens to be curved and rounded and provides a number
of innovative new screen geometries. The most popular one is expanding the
front main screen so that it extends around to both the right and left sides of
the phone by bending around the corners like on the Galaxy Note8, and on
earlier Galaxy Edge and Galaxy Round
models.
The main production and availability issue for the next several years
will be that the demand for OLED displays will significantly exceed the
manufacturing capacity as we discuss in Flagship 2017
OLED Smartphones.
Improving the
Next Generation of Mobile Displays
The Galaxy Note8 has a
very high resolution 3K 2960x1440 pixel display with 521 pixels per inch (ppi)
producing images that look perfectly sharp with normal 20/20 Vision under all
normal viewing conditions, which always includes some ambient light that always
lowers the visible image contrast and perceived image sharpness (Modulation
Transfer MTF). Note that displays are almost never
viewed in absolute darkness under perfect viewing conditions with ideal image
content. Some clueless reviewers have been pining for 4K 3840x2160
Smartphones, which would require almost double the pixels, memory, and
processing power of the 2960x1440 display on the Galaxy Note8, but there would
be no visual benefit for humans! As a result, it is absolutely pointless to further increase
the display resolution and pixels per inch (ppi) for a marketing wild goose
chase into the stratosphere, with no visual benefit for humans!
With screen size and resolution
already functionally maxed out, manufacturers should instead dedicate their
efforts and resources into improving real world display performance in ambient
light by using advanced technology to restore and compensate for the loss of
color gamut, color saturation, and image contrast due to ambient light,
something that every consumer will benefit from, and will also immediately
notice and appreciate – providing a true sales and marketing advantage…
The most important improvements for OLED and LCD mobile
displays will come from improving their image and picture quality and screen
readability in real world ambient light, which washes out the screen images,
resulting in reduced image contrast, color saturation, and color accuracy. The
key will be in lowering the Screen Reflectance
and implementing Dynamic Color Management with
automatic real-time modification of the display’s native Color Gamut and Dynamic Intensity Scales based on the measured
Ambient Light level in order to have them compensate for the reflected light
glare and image wash out that causes a loss of color saturation and image
contrast from ambient light as discussed in our Innovative
Displays and Display Technology and SID
Display Technology Shoot-Out articles.
The displays, technologies, and
manufacturers that succeed in implementing this new real world high ambient
light performance strategy will take the lead in the next generations of mobile
displays… Follow DisplayMate
on Twitter to learn about these developments and our upcoming display
technology coverage.
DisplayMate Display Optimization Technology
All
Smartphone, Tablet, Monitor and TV displays can be significantly improved using
DisplayMate’s proprietary very advanced scientific analysis and mathematical
display modeling and optimization of the display hardware, factory calibration,
and driver parameters. We help manufacturers with expert display procurement,
prototype development, display performance improvement and optimization,
testing displays to meet contract specifications, and production quality
control so that they don’t make mistakes similar to those that are exposed in
our public Display Technology Shoot-Out series for consumers. This article is a
lite version of our advanced scientific analysis – before the benefits of our DisplayMate Display Optimization
Technology, which can correct or improve all of these issues. If you are a
display or product manufacturer and want to significantly improve display
performance for a competitive advantage then Contact DisplayMate Technologies.
|
Galaxy Note8
|
Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table
Below we
examine in-depth the OLED display on the Samsung
Galaxy Note8 based on objective Lab
measurement data and criteria
in the
following sections: Display Specifications, Overall Assessments, Screen
Reflections, Brightness and Contrast,
Colors and Intensities, Viewing Angles, OLED Spectra,
Display Power.
For
additional background and comparison information see this earlier article
covering the Galaxy
S8 Display Technology Shoot-Out.
Detailed Test and Measurement Comparisons between
the Galaxy Note8 and Galaxy S8
You can directly compare the data and measurement results
for the Galaxy Note8 with the Galaxy S8 display in detail
by using a Tabbed web browser with our comprehensive Lab
measurements and analysis for each of the displays.
For each Tab click on a Link below. The entries are
mostly identical with only minor formatting differences,
so it is easy to make detailed side-by-side comparisons
by simply clicking through the Tabs.
Samsung Galaxy Note8 Lab Measurements Comparison Table
Samsung
Galaxy S8 Lab Measurements Comparison Table
For
comparisons with the other leading Smartphone, Tablet, and Smart Watch displays
see our Mobile Display
Technology Shoot-Out series.
Categories
|
Samsung
Galaxy Note8
|
Comments
|
Display Technology
|
6.3 inch
Diagonal
OLED with Diamond Pixels
|
Organic Light Emitting Diode
Diamond Pixels with Diagonal
Sub-Pixel Symmetry
|
Screen Shape
|
18.5 : 9 =
2.05
New Higher
Aspect Ratio
Most
Smartphones and Widescreen TVs have 16 : 9 = 1.78
|
Height to Width Aspect Ratio
Galaxy Note8 display screen is 15%
longer than
most Smartphones and widescreen 16:9 TV
content.
|
Screen Size
|
2.76 x
5.68 inches
|
Display Width and Height in inches.
|
Screen Area
|
15.7
Square Inches
|
A better measure of size than the
diagonal length.
|
Supported Color Gamuts
|
Adaptive
Display – Wide Native Color Gamut
Cinema
mode – DCI-P3 Standard Color Gamut
Photo mode
– Adobe RGB Standard Color Gamut
Basic mode
– sRGB / Rec.709 Standard Color Gamut
|
The Galaxy Note8 supports 4 Color Gamuts
including
the new wider DCI-P3 Color Gamut that is
used
in the 4K TV content.
|
Display Resolution
|
2960 x 1440
pixels
New 3K
Quad HD+
|
Screen Pixel Resolution.
Quad HD can display four 1280x720 HD
images.
|
Total Number of Pixels
|
4.3 Mega
Pixels
|
Total Number of Pixels.
|
Pixels Per Inch
|
521 PPI
with Diamond Pixels
Excellent
|
Sharpness depends on the viewing distance
and PPI.
See this on
the visual acuity for a true Retina Display
|
Sub-Pixels Per Inch
|
Red
368 SPPI
Green
521 SPPI
Blue
368 SPPI
|
Diamond Pixel displays have only half the
number of
Red and Blue Sub-Pixels as RGB Stripe
displays.
|
Total Number of Sub-Pixels
|
Red
2.1 Million Sub-Pixels
Green 4.3
Million Sub-Pixels
Blue
2.1 Million Sub-Pixels
|
Number of Mega Sub-Pixels for Red,
Green, Blue.
Diamond Pixel displays have only half the
number of
Red and Blue Sub-Pixels as RGB Stripe
displays.
At High PPI this is generally not visible
due to the
use of Sub-Pixel Rendering.
|
20/20 Vision Distance
where Pixels or Sub-Pixels
are Not Resolved
|
6.6
inches for White and Green Sub-Pixels with 20/20 Vision
9.3
inches for Red and Blue Sub-Pixels with 20/20 Vision
|
For 20/20 Vision the minimum Viewing
Distance
where the screen appears perfectly sharp
to the eye.
At 10 inches from the screen 20/20 Vision
is 344 PPI.
|
Display Sharpness
at Typical Viewing Distances
|
Galaxy Note8 Display
appears Perfectly Sharp
Pixels are
not Resolved with 20/20 Vision
at Typical
Viewing Distances of
10 to 18
inches
|
The Typical Viewing Distances for this
screen size
are in the range of 10 to 18 inches.
Also note that eye’s resolution is much
lower for
Red and Blue color content than White
and Green.
|
Appears Perfectly Sharp
at Typical Viewing Distances
|
Yes
|
Typical Viewing Distances are 10 to 18
inches
for this screen size.
|
Photo Viewer Color Depth
|
Full
24-bit Color
No
Dithering Visible
256
Intensity Levels
|
Some Smartphones and Tablets still have
some
form of 16-bit color depth in the
Gallery Viewer.
The Samsung Galaxy Note8 does not have
this issue.
|
Overall Assessments
This section summarizes
the results for all of the extensive Lab Measurements and Viewing Tests
performed on the display.
See Screen Reflections, Brightness
and Contrast, Colors and Intensities,
Viewing Angles, OLED
Spectra, Display Power.
The
Galaxy Note8 has four user selectable Screen Modes that are calibrated for different content, applications
and user preferences.
Here
we provide results for the Adaptive Display screen mode, which is a dynamic Wide Color Gamut mode,
the AMOLED Cinema mode,
which
is calibrated for the new DCI-P3 Gamut that is also used in Ultra HD TVs, the
AMOLED Photo
mode, which is calibrated for
the
Adobe RGB Gamut used in high-end digital photography and other advanced
imaging applications, and the Basic screen
mode,
which
is calibrated for the sRGB / Rec.709 Standard that is used for most current
consumer photo, video, web, and computer content.
The Basic and Photo modes are listed on
the same column because their measurements are all essentially identical
except for
the Color Gamut measurements, which are
listed separately below.
|
Categories
|
Adaptive
Display
Widest
Color Gamut
|
Cinema mode
DCI-P3
Gamut
for Digital
Cinema
|
Basic mode
sRGB/Rec.709
Gamut
Photo mode
Adobe RGB
Gamut
|
Comments
|
Viewing Tests
in Subdued Ambient Lighting
|
Very Good
Images
Photos and
Videos
have Vivid
Color
and
Accurate Contrast
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
|
Very Good
Images
Photos and
Videos
have
Excellent Color
and
Accurate Contrast
Accurate
Cinema mode
|
Very Good
Images
Photos and
Videos
have
Excellent Color
and
Accurate Contrast
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
|
The Viewing Tests examine the accuracy
of
photographic images by comparing the
displays
to an calibrated studio monitor and TV.
|
Variation with Viewing Angle
Colors and Brightness
See Viewing Angles
|
Small Color
Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
Small
Brightness Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
|
Small Color
Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
Small
Brightness Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
|
Small Color
Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
Small
Brightness Shifts
with
Viewing Angle
|
The Galaxy Note8 display has a
relatively small
decrease in Brightness with Viewing
Angle and
relatively small Color Shifts with
Viewing Angle.
See the Viewing Angles section for details.
|
Overall Display Assessment
Lab Tests and Measurements
|
Excellent
OLED Display
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
|
Excellent
OLED Display
Accurate
Cinema mode
|
Excellent
OLED Display
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
|
The Galaxy Note8 OLED Display performed
very well in the Lab Tests and
Measurements.
|
|
Absolute Color Accuracy
Measured over Entire Gamut
See Figure 2 and Colors
|
Good
Color Accuracy
Colors
More Saturated
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
|
Very Good
Color Accuracy
Color
Errors are Small
Accurate
Cinema mode
|
Very Good
Color Accuracy
Color
Errors are Small
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
|
Absolute
Color Accuracy is measured with a
Spectroradiometer
for 41
Reference Colors
uniformly
distributed within the entire Color Gamut.
See
Figure 2 and Colors for details.
|
Image Contrast Accuracy
See Figure 3 and Contrast
|
Very Good
Accuracy
Image
Contrast
Slightly
Too High
|
Very Good
Accuracy
Image
Contrast
Slightly
Too High
|
Very Good
Accuracy
Image
Contrast
Slightly
Too High
|
The
Image Contrast Accuracy is determined by
measuring
the Log Intensity Scale and Gamma.
See
Figure 3 and Contrast for details.
|
Performance in Ambient Light
Display Brightness
Screen Reflectance
Contrast Rating
See Brightness and Contrast
See Screen Reflections
|
High
Display Brightness
Very Low
Reflectance
High
Contrast Rating
for
Ambient Light
Higher
Brightness with
Auto
Brightness On
|
High
Display Brightness
Very Low
Reflectance
High
Contrast Rating
for
Ambient Light
Higher
Brightness with
Auto
Brightness On
|
High
Display Brightness
Very Low
Reflectance
High
Contrast Rating
for
Ambient Light
Higher
Brightness with
Auto
Brightness On
|
Smartphones
are seldom used in the dark.
Screen
Brightness and Reflectance determine
the
Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light.
See
the Brightness and Contrast section for details.
See
the Screen Reflections section for details.
|
Overall Display Calibration
Image and Picture Quality
Lab Tests and Viewing Tests
|
Intentionally Vivid Colors
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
|
Excellent Calibration
Accurate
Cinema mode
|
Excellent Calibration
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
|
Galaxy Note8 display has multiple Screen
Modes
that delivers accurately calibrated
colors and images
and a Wide Color Gamut Mode that is
preferred by
some users and for some applications.
|
|
Overall Display Grade
Overall
Assessment
|
Overall Galaxy Note8 Display
Grade is Excellent A+
The Best Performing
Smartphone Display that we have ever tested.
Samsung continues their systemic
enhancements of OLED Displays
|
The Galaxy Note8 display delivers
excellent
image quality, has both Color Accurate
and
Wide Color Gamut Vivid Color modes, has
high Screen Brightness and low
Reflectance,
has good Viewing Angles, and is an all
around
top performing Smartphone display.
|
Wide Color Gamut Mode
Also Best
for Viewing in
High
Ambient Light
|
Accurate
Cinema mode
For Viewing
4K UHD TV
DCI-P3
Cinema Content
|
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
For Viewing
Most Content
Photo Video
Movie Web
|
Categories
|
Adaptive Display
Widest
Color Gamut
|
Cinema mode
DCI-P3
Gamut
for Digital
Cinema
|
Basic mode
sRGB/Rec.709
Gamut
Photo mode
Adobe RGB
Gamut
|
Comments
|
Screen Reflections
All display screens are mirrors good enough to use
for personal grooming – but that is actually a very bad feature…
We measured the light reflected from all directions
and also direct mirror (specular) reflections, which are much more
distracting and cause more eye strain. Many
Smartphones still have greater than 10 percent reflections that make the
screen much harder to read even in moderate ambient
light levels, requiring ever higher brightness settings that waste
precious battery power. Hopefully manufacturers
will reduce the mirror reflections with anti-reflection coatings and
matte or haze surface finishes.
Our Lab Measurements include Average
Reflectance for Ambient Light from All Directions and for Mirror Reflections.
We use an Integrating Hemisphere and a
highly collimated pencil light beam together with a Spectroradiometer.
Note the Screen
Reflectance is exactly the same for all of the Galaxy Note8 Screen Modes.
The Galaxy Note8 has one of the lowest
Screen Reflectance levels that we have ever measured for a Smartphone.
These results are extremely important
for screen readability, picture quality, and color accuracy in ambient light.
|
Categories
|
Galaxy
Note8
|
Comments
|
Average Screen Reflection
Light From All Directions
|
4.6
percent
for
Ambient Light Reflections
Excellent
|
Measured using an Integrating Hemisphere
and
a Spectroradiometer.
The lowest value we have ever measured
for a Smartphone is 4.4 percent.
|
Mirror Reflections
Percentage of Light Reflected
|
5.7 percent
for Mirror Reflections
Very Good
|
These are the most annoying types of
Reflections.
Measured using a Spectroradiometer and a
narrow
collimated pencil beam of light
reflected off the screen.
The lowest value we have ever measured
for a Smartphone is 5.6 percent.
|
Brightness and Contrast
The Contrast Ratio
is the specification that gets the most attention, but it only applies for
low ambient light, which is seldom
the case for mobile displays. Much more important
is the Contrast Rating, which indicates how
easy it is to read the screen
under high ambient lighting and depends on both
the Maximum Brightness and the Screen Reflectance. The larger the better.
The display’s actual on-screen Contrast Ratio changes with the Ambient Light lux
level and is proportional to the Contrast Rating.
The Galaxy Note8 is up to 22 percent
Brighter than the Galaxy S8.
With Automatic Brightness On the Galaxy
Note8 Peak Luminance reaches 1,240 nits, a new Record for Smartphones.
|
Categories
|
Adaptive
Display
Widest
Color Gamut
|
Cinema mode
DCI-P3
Gamut
for Digital
Cinema
|
Basic mode
sRGB/Rec.709
Gamut
Photo mode
Adobe RGB
Gamut
|
Comments
|
Home Screen Peak Brightness
Measured for White
|
Brightness
601 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Brightness
547 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Brightness
546 cd/m2
Excellent
|
The Peak Brightness for White on the
Home Screen.
|
Measured Average Brightness
50% Average Picture Level
|
Brightness
525 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Brightness
491 cd/m2
Very Good
|
Brightness
490 cd/m2
Very Good
|
This is the Brightness for typical screen
content
that has a 50% Average Picture Level.
|
Measured Full Brightness
100% Full Screen White
|
Brightness
423 cd/m2
Very Good
|
Brightness
406 cd/m2
Very Good
|
Brightness
405 cd/m2
Very Good
|
This is the Brightness for a screen that
is entirely
all white with 100% Average Picture
Level.
|
Measured Peak Brightness
1% Full Screen White
|
Brightness
728 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Brightness
658 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Brightness
657 cd/m2
Excellent
|
This is the Peak Brightness for a screen
that
has only a tiny 1% Average Picture Level.
|
Measured Auto Brightness
in High Ambient Light
with Automatic Brightness On
|
High Auto
Brightness
560 –
1,240 cd/m2
Excellent
|
High Auto
Brightness
560 –
1,240 cd/m2
Excellent
|
High Auto
Brightness
560 –
1,240 cd/m2
Excellent
|
Some displays including the Galaxy Note8
have
higher Brightness in Automatic
Brightness Mode.
|
Low Ambient Light
|
Lowest Peak Brightness
Super Dimming Mode
Brightness Slider to Minimum
|
2 cd/m2
For Very
Low Light
|
2 cd/m2
For Very
Low Light
|
2 cd/m2
For Very
Low Light
|
This is the Lowest Brightness with the
Slider set to
Minimum. This is useful for working in
very dark
environments. Picture Quality remains
Excellent.
|
Black Brightness at 0 lux
at Maximum Brightness Setting
|
0 cd/m2
Outstanding
|
0 cd/m2
Outstanding
|
0 cd/m2
Outstanding
|
Black Brightness is important for Low
Ambient Light,
which is seldom the case for mobile
devices.
|
Contrast Ratio at 0 lux
Relevant for Low Ambient Light
|
Infinite
Outstanding
|
Infinite
Outstanding
|
Infinite
Outstanding
|
Only relevant for Low Ambient Light,
which is seldom the case for mobile
devices.
|
High Ambient Light
|
Contrast Rating
for High Ambient Light
The Higher the Better
for Screen Readability
in High Ambient Light
|
92 – 158
Very Good
122 – 270
With Auto
Brightness
Excellent
|
88 – 143
Very Good
122 – 270
With Auto
Brightness
Excellent
|
88 – 143
Very Good
122 – 270
With Auto
Brightness
Excellent
|
Depends on the Screen Reflectance and
Brightness.
Defined as Maximum Brightness / Average Reflectance.
The display’s actual on-screen Contrast
Ratio
changes with the Ambient Light lux level
and
is proportional to the Contrast Rating.
|
Screen Readability
in High Ambient Light
|
Very Good A
Excellent
A+
With Auto Brightness
|
Very Good A
Excellent A+
With Auto Brightness
|
Very Good A
Excellent A+
With Auto Brightness
|
Indicates how easy it is to read the
screen
under High Ambient Lighting. Depends on
both the Screen Reflectance and
Brightness.
See High
Ambient Light Screen Shots
|
Colors and Intensities
The Color Gamut, Intensity Scale, and White Point
determine the quality and accuracy of all displayed images and all
the image colors. Bigger is definitely Not Better
because the display needs to match all the standards that were used
when the content was produced. For LCDs a wider
Color Gamut reduces the power efficiency and the Intensity Scale
affects both image brightness and color mixture
accuracy.
The Galaxy Note8 Screen Modes are
calibrated for different content, applications and user preferences.
The Galaxy Note8 has the new wider
DCI-P3 Color Gamut and improved Color and Contrast Accuracy.
|
Categories
|
Adaptive
Display
Widest
Color Gamut
|
Cinema mode
DCI-P3
Gamut
for Digital
Cinema
|
Basic mode
sRGB/Rec.709
Gamut
Photo mode
Adobe RGB
Gamut
|
Comments
|
Color of White
Color Temperature in degrees
Measured in the dark at 0 lux
See Figure 1
|
7,582 K
2.8 JNCD
from D65 White
User
Adjustable
from 6,800
K to 8,800 K
White is
Somewhat Bluish
Intentionally
Bluish Mode
For Some
Applications
the White
Point Will Vary
with the
Ambient Lighting
|
6,471 K
0.8 JNCD
from D65 White
Very Close
to Standard
Accurate
Cinema mode
See Figure 1
|
6,465 K
0.8 JNCD
from D65 White
Very Close
to Standard
Accurate
Basic mode
Accurate
Photo mode
See Figure 1
|
D65 with 6,500 K is the standard color
of White
for most Consumer Content and needed for
accurate color reproduction of all
images.
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
White Point accuracy is more critical than
other colors.
See Figure 1
for the plotted White Points.
See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD.
|
Color Gamut
Measured in the dark at 0 lux
See Figure 1
|
112
percent
DCI-P3
Cinema Gamut
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
141
percent
sRGB /
Rec.709 Gamut
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
See Figure 1
|
104
percent
DCI-P3
Cinema Gamut
Very Close
to Standard
Accurate
Cinema mode
See Figure 1
|
Basic mode 106 percent
sRGB /
Rec.709 Gamut
Very Close
to Standard
Accurate
Basic mode
Photo mode 100 percent
Adobe RGB Gamut
Very Close
to Standard
Accurate
Photo mode
See Figure 1
|
Most current consumer content uses sRGB /
Rec.709.
Many advanced digital cameras use Adobe
RGB.
The new 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema use
DCI-P3.
A Wide Color Gamut is useful in High
Ambient Light
and for some applications. It can be used
with Color
Management to dynamically change the
Gamut.
See Figure 1
|
Color Accuracy
|
Absolute Color Accuracy
Average Color Error at 0 lux
For 41 Reference Colors
Just Noticeable Color Difference
See Figure 2
|
Adaptive
Display mode
Average Color Shift
From sRGB
/ Rec.709
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0428
10.7 JNCD
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
See Figure 2
|
Cinema mode
Average Color Error
From
DCI-P3
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0137
3.4 JNCD
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Cinema mode
See Figure 2
|
Basic mode
Average Color Error
From sRGB
/ Rec.709
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0123
3.1 JNCD
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Basic mode
Photo mode
Average Color Error
From Adobe
RGB
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0134
3.3 JNCD
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Photo mode
See Figure 2
|
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD and for
Accuracy Plots showing
the measured Color Errors.
Average Errors below 3.5 JNCD are Very
Good.
Average Errors 3.5 to 7.0 JNCD are
Good.
Average Errors above 7.0 JNCD are
Poor.
|
Absolute Color Accuracy
Largest Color Error at 0 lux
For 41 Reference Colors
Just Noticeable Color Difference
See Figure 2
|
Adaptive
Display mode
Largest Color Shift
From sRGB
/ Rec.709
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0702
17.6 JNCD
for Cyan-Blue
Intentionally
Vivid Colors
Wide Color
Gamut Mode
See Figure 2
|
Cinema mode
Largest Color Error
From
DCI-P3
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0265
6.6 JNCD
for Cyan-Blue
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Cinema mode
See Figure 2
|
Basic mode
Largest Color Error
From sRGB
/ Rec.709
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0243
6.1 JNCD
for Cyan-Blue
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Basic mode
Photo mode
Largest Color Error
From Adobe
RGB
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0232
5.8 JNCD
for Cyan-Blue
Very Good
Accuracy
Accurate
Photo mode
See Figure 2
|
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD and for
Accuracy Plots showing
the measured Color Errors.
Largest Errors below 7.0 JNCD are
Very Good.
Largest Errors 7.0 to 14.0 JNCD are
Good.
Largest Errors above 14.0 JNCD are
Poor.
This is twice the limit for the Average
Error.
|
Intensity Scale and Image Contrast Accuracy
|
Dynamic Brightness
Luminance Decrease with
Average Picture Level APL
|
42 percent
Decrease
Good
|
38 percent
Decrease
Good
|
38 percent
Decrease
Good
|
This is the percent Brightness decrease
with APL
Average Picture Level. Ideally should be
0 percent.
|
Intensity Scale and
Image Contrast
See Figure 3
|
Smooth and
Straight
Very Good
Somewhat
Too Steep
See Figure 3
|
Smooth and
Straight
Very Good
Somewhat
Too Steep
See Figure 3
|
Smooth and
Straight
Very Good
Somewhat
Too Steep
See Figure 3
|
The Intensity Scale controls image
contrast needed
for accurate Image Contrast and Color
reproduction.
See Figure 3
|
Gamma for the Intensity Scale
Larger has more Image Contrast
See Figure 3
|
2.48
Very Good
Gamma
Slightly Too High
|
2.46
Very Good
Gamma
Slightly Too High
|
2.46
Very Good
Gamma
Slightly Too High
|
Gamma is the log slope of the Intensity
Scale.
Gamma of 2.20 is the standard and needed
for
accurate Image Contrast and Color
reproduction.
See Figure 3
|
Image Contrast Accuracy
|
Very Good
|
Very Good
|
Very Good
|
See Figure 3
|
Viewing Angles
The variation of
Brightness, Contrast, and Color with Viewing Angle is especially important
for Smartphones because
of their larger screen
and multiple viewers. The typical manufacturer 176+ degree specification for
LCD Viewing Angle
is nonsense because that
is where the Contrast Ratio falls to a miniscule 10. For most LCDs there are
substantial
degradations at less
than ±30 degrees, which is not an atypical Viewing Angle for Smartphones and
Tablets.
Note that the Viewing
Angle performance is also very important for a single viewer because the
Viewing Angle can vary
significantly based on
how the Smartphone is held. The Viewing Angle can be very large if resting on
a table or desk.
The
Viewing Angle variations are essentially identical for all of the Galaxy
Note8 Screen Modes.
The Galaxy Note8 has very similar
Viewing Angle Performance to the Galaxy S8.
|
Categories
|
Adaptive
Display
Widest
Color Gamut
|
Cinema mode
DCI-P3
Gamut
for Digital
Cinema
|
Basic mode
sRGB/Rec.709
Gamut
Photo mode
Adobe RGB
Gamut
|
Comments
|
Brightness Decrease
at a 30 degree Viewing Angle
|
29 percent
Decrease
Small
Decrease
Very Good
|
Most screens become less bright when
tilted.
OLED decrease is due to optical
absorption.
LCD decrease is generally greater than 50
percent.
|
Contrast Ratio at 0 lux
at a 30 degree Viewing Angle
|
Infinite
Contrast Ratio
Outstanding
|
A measure of screen readability when the
screen
is tilted under low ambient lighting.
|
White Point Color Shift
at a 30 degree Viewing Angle
|
Small Color
Shift
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0092
2.3 JNCD Very Good
|
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD.
|
Primary Color Shifts
Largest Color Shift for R,G,B
at a 30 degree Viewing Angle
|
Largest Color Shift
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0200 for Pure Blue
5.0 JNCD Very Good
|
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD.
Same Rating Scale as Absolute Color Accuracy.
|
Color Shifts for Color Mixtures
at a 30 degree Viewing Angle
Reference Brown (255, 128, 0)
|
Small
Color Shift
Δ(u’v’)
= 0.0028
0.7 JNCD Excellent
|
JNCD is a Just Noticeable Color Difference.
Color Shifts for non-IPS LCDs are about 10
JNCD.
Reference Brown is a good indicator of
color shifts
with angle because of unequal drive
levels and
roughly equal luminance contributions
from Red
and Green. See Figure 2 for the
definition of JNCD.
|
Display Spectra
The Display Spectra for the Screen Modes and for the Night Mode Blue Light
Filter
are measured in Figure 4 below.
The Blue Light Filter is designed to
change the color balance of the display in order to reduce the amount of Blue
Light
produced by the display,
which some recent research indicates can affect how well users sleep
afterwards.
Display Power Consumption
The display power was measured using a Linear
Regression between Luminance and AC Power with a fully charged battery.
All of our measurements were performed in the
Galaxy Note8 High Performance Mode with the Power Saving Mode Off.
Since the displays will have different screen sizes
and maximum brightness, the display power values below were also scaled
to the same screen Brightness (Luminance) and same
screen area in order to compare their Relative Power Efficiencies.
Comparison with LCDs
While LCDs remain more power efficient for images with
mostly full screen white content (like all text screens on a
white background, for example), OLEDs are more power
efficient for typical mixed image content because they are
emissive displays so their power varies with the
Average Picture Level (average Brightness) of the image content over
the entire screen. For OLEDs, Black pixels and
sub-pixels don’t use any power so screens with Black backgrounds are
very power efficient for OLEDs. For LCDs the display
power is fixed and independent of image content. Currently,
OLED displays are more power
efficient than LCDs for Average Pictures Levels of 65 percent or less, and
LCDs are
more power efficient for
Average Picture Levels above 65 percent. Since both technologies are
continuing to improve
their power efficiencies, the crossover will continue
to change with time.
Comparison with the Galaxy S8
Below we compare the Relative Display
Power Efficiencies of the Galaxy Note8 with the Galaxy S8.
The results are scaled for the same
Luminance and Screen Area.
The Galaxy Note8 has slightly higher
Power Efficiency and slightly lower Relative Power Consumption than the
Galaxy S8.
|
Categories
|
Galaxy
S8
|
Galaxy
Note8
|
Comments
|
Average Display Power
Maximum Brightness at
50% Average Picture Level
|
50% Average
Picture Level
1.00 watts
with 485
cd/m2
13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
50% Average
Picture Level
1.20 watts
with 525
cd/m2
15.7 inch2
Screen Area
|
This measures the Average Display Power
for
a wide range of image content.
|
Relative Power Efficiency
50% Average Picture Level
Compared to Galaxy S8
For the same S8 485 cd/m2
For the same S8 Screen Area
|
Relative Average Power 100%
1.00 watts
with the same 485 cd/m2
with the same 13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
Relative Average Power 92%
0.92 watts
with the same 485 cd/m2
with the same 13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
This
compares the Relative Power Efficiency
by
scaling the measured Display Power to the
same
Screen Brightness and same Screen Area
as
the Galaxy S8.
|
|
Maximum Display Power
Full White Screen
at Maximum Brightness
|
Maximum
Power
Full Screen
White
1.75 watts
with 420
cd/m2
13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
Maximum
Power
Full Screen
White
2.05 watts
with 423
cd/m2
15.7 inch2
Screen Area
|
This measures the Maximum Display power
for
a screen that is entirely Peak White.
|
Relative Power Efficiency
Maximum Display Power
Compared to Galaxy S8
For the same S8 420 cd/m2
For the same S8 Screen Area
|
Relative Maximum Power 100%
1.75 watts
with the same 420 cd/m2
with the same 13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
Relative Maximum Power 97%
1.70 watts
with the same 420 cd/m2
with the same 13.1 inch2
Screen Area
|
This
compares the Relative Power Efficiency
by
scaling the measured Display Power to the
same
Screen Brightness and same Screen Area
as
the Galaxy S8.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Dr. Raymond Soneira is
President of DisplayMate Technologies Corporation of Amherst, New Hampshire,
which produces display calibration, evaluation, and diagnostic products for
consumers, technicians, and manufacturers. See www.displaymate.com. He is a research
scientist with a career that spans physics, computer science, and television
system design. Dr. Soneira obtained his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from
Princeton University, spent 5 years as a Long-Term Member of the world famous
Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, another 5 years as a Principal
Investigator in the Computer Systems Research Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories,
and has also designed, tested, and installed color television broadcast
equipment for the CBS Television Network Engineering and Development
Department. He has authored over 35 research articles in scientific journals in
physics and computer science, including Scientific American. If you have any
comments or questions about the article, you can contact him at dtso.info@displaymate.com.
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Article Links: Galaxy S8
OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out
Article Links: Display
Color Gamuts Shoot-Out NTSC to Rec.2020
Article Links: Absolute
Color Accuracy Display Technology Shoot-Out
Article Links: Watching
Displays at Night
Article Links: Display Technology Shoot-Out
Article Series Overview and Home Page
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