can't see screen with polarized lenses on

[Sdheller106]

Something weird that I noticed...I only wear polarized sunglasses. When y the phone is in portrait position, I can see the screen without ANY problem, however, turn the phone 90 degrees and like magic the screen it's gone...thought I was losing my mind but I tried this with non- polarized sunglasses and I can see the screen with no problem in portrait and in landscape...any one else have this happen to them and an explanation as to why?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[RedOctobyr]

Take a look here for an earlier discussion of this:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg-g4/538480-rotate-landscape-mode.html

It's because it's an LCD screen, not an OLED like on a Galaxy. LCDs polarize the light. And with polarized glasses, in one orientation, you can see the screen. But turn the screen or glasses 90 degrees left or right, and the screen will look dark/black.

 

[BBSeattle]

No explanation but I too have had that issue with a few phones now.

Something weird that I noticed...I only wear polarized sunglasses. When y the phone is in portrait position, I can see the screen without ANY problem, however, turn the phone 90 degrees and like magic the screen it's gone...thought I was losing my mind but I tried this with non- polarized sunglasses and I can see the screen with no problem in portrait and in landscape...any one else have this happen to them and an explanation as to why?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Rukbat]

Due to the nature of how LCD screens work, the light they show is polarized just by the way it's created. (Wanting an LCD screen to produced non-polarized light is like wanting liquid water to be dry.) It's a problem if you want to use the screen in landscape and still wear polarized glasses. (Maybe someone [Foster Grant would be a possibility - their parent company is about the only frame manufacturer in the world that doesn't run out of someone's garage] will come out with adjustable polarized sunglasses - move a lever and the polarization turns 90 degrees. If won't be as good as the current polarization for driving, but better than none, and you'd be able to see the screen in landscape mode. [Massimo, if you do it I want royalties.])

 

[Sdheller106]

Thanks for all the information...never experienced this...I'm coming from a note 2 and never had this problem

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[a22matic]

Yep, first time for me also. Now I ride with the phone in portrait while using gps in the car. A slight adjustment but I quickly got used to it.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

[Sdheller106]

same thing here...not going to let that little thing bother me...or maybe ill use the wifes phone when i need the Maps (she has a GS5)

 

[JmpnJeronimo]

I'm coming from a Lumia 920 and it freaked me out when I saw it as well! Really strange to say the least

 

[Javier P]

This is an oversimplified explanation, but I think it could give you an idea of what's going on.

Think of light as a wave. Unpolarized* light (sun, light bulb, etc) vibrates in all directions but for now let's say that it "waves" just in the vertical and horizontal planes. Imagine a wave "standing up" along a vertical plane and the other one "lying down" and travelling on a horizontal plane.

Your polarised glasses work like a picket fence. The vertical waves will go through the gaps in that fence and the horizontal ones will stop at the slats.

There are different ways to polarise light. One is through reflection on water or non metallic surfaces (that's the main reason that polarised glasses are great for driving or fishing). Another way is using a filter (your LCD display). And those waves are mostly horizontal so the slats in your fence/glasses will stop most of that light. Rotate your phone and you'll manage to see the light coming from it (now vertical).

Do this. Watch a blue sky or the surface of a pond with your glasses on. Now tilt your head right or left. Cool, huh?

 

[RedOctobyr]

Excellent explanation.

If you don't have a pond handy for the experiment, try looking at the reflection of the sun off a car hood, etc, and tilt your head left/right. The amount of glare off the hood should increase as your tilt your head to the side. And you'll also observe the screen dark/black change on your LCD monitor for your laptop or PC.

 

[guest2015]

My previous and current devices Nokia 5800, Optimus One, Samsung Exhibit2, LG L9, L90, Galaxy S3, Tab3 are perfectly viewable in landscape mode with polarized sunglasses. I always use screen protectors. Earlier this year bought LG Stylo. Before i even bought screen protector i tried it outdoors in sunlight. WTF the screen is dark. Returned Stylo, just bought Moto G3. Same story but i really like G so i put a brand new spare screen protector from my tab3 over the G screen and landscape mode is good enough. I ordered a protector on ebay as usual, put it over the screen while it still had the protecting layers on both sides. Good in portrait and landscape. I cleaned the screen, peeled protective layers, applied the protector. Perfect in portrait, better but still dim in landscape. I put the thin protecting layer over the screen and that made landscape viewing perfect. Problem is its not acceptable to keep both the protector and the protecting layer. Not sure what to do. I'm not getting rid of my polarized Rx sunglasses, i wear polarized Rx sunglasses most of the year, i use the phone 90% of the time in landscape mode for dashcam, gps, photo/video, overpriced locked sumsung crap doesn't offer anything good this year that's not galaxy s5 but has 5" display, unlocked, and usable.

I'm looking online if there's a protector that cancels vertical and horizontal polarization, or at least makes phone usable in landscape.

 

[gemgarden]

Thank you Red Octobyr.

 

[RedOctobyr]

I ordered a protector on ebay as usual, put it over the screen while it still had the protecting layers on both sides. Good in portrait and landscape. I cleaned the screen, peeled protective layers, applied the protector. Perfect in portrait, better but still dim in landscape. I put the thin protecting layer over the screen and that made landscape viewing perfect. Problem is its not acceptable to keep both the protector and the protecting layer.
....
I'm looking online if there's a protector that cancels vertical and horizontal polarization, or at least makes phone usable in landscape.

Very interesting discovery!

I just tried this myself. I used a common polyethylene ziplock bag, laid over the screen. Then put on polarized glasses to see what it did. If I rotate the bag so it faces in a certain direction, I can once again see the screen in Landscape mode. It happens to look brightest near the ziplock strip. The bag film may be thicker there, the surface is also textured in that area.

If I then look at the screen in Portrait mode, however, the screen looks dimmer near the ziplock strip. So in this particular example, there seems to be a trade-off in how the screen looks in Portrait vs Landscape.

There may be other materials that do a better job of reducing the polarization of the light from the screen. I tried having just 1, or both layers of film in the front of the screen, the results seemed about the same to me.

See the attached pictures. I put a polarizing filter on my camera, to simulate wearing polarized glasses. I oriented the filter so it worked like glasses (bright in Portrait, dark in Landscape). Then oriented the bag to maximize the brightness of the screen in Landscape mode, with another picture taken in Portrait, for comparison.

 

[guest2015]

Try two screen protectors. Works for me with my moto g3. I haven't applied yet, was testing in car in bright sunlight, wanted to get a regular sunglass lens instead of polarized. Won't quit using polarized lenses, will try two protectors. When i apply a second protector i saved from my old phone, it makes viewing much better in landscape. Portrait is good either way. I haven't applied another protector yet because i'm concerned about screen responsiveness. Whoever makes protectors that cancel both vertical and horizontal polarization in these new craptastic displays is going to make good money. I don't know if tempered glass protectors are better than cheap plastic film and neutralize polarization. I always buy the cheapest.

 

[dookie.]

They are hard to find, but there are circular polarized lenses (think concentric circles, not picket fence). They generally eliminate problems viewing LCD (gas pumps, POS terminals, phones, auto nav screens...as a polarized sunglass wearer, I know...they're everywhere)

 

[guest2015]

I get my rx lenses at walmart, if they can make a good cut, and they only have one kind of g15 lens, the cheapest. No option for circular. Will keep looking for a screen protectors.

 

[Funky Diver]

Also happens with some car rear view mirrors... just look at them and tilt your head sideways

 

[SpecialK3511]

Sorry to say, the new Nexus 5X also has the "cannot view in horizontal mode with polarized lens" issue. Otherwise I really like the phone but can't live with that limitation. I'm planning to return the phone and buy the bigger 6P instead.

 

[RedOctobyr]

The 5X screen is an LCD, so that is not a surprise. The 6P uses an AMOLED screen, which should be viewable sideways with polarized glasses.

 

[guest2015]

Sorry to say, the new Nexus 5X also has the "cannot view in horizontal mode with polarized lens" issue. Otherwise I really like the phone but can't live with that limitation. I'm planning to return the phone and buy the bigger 6P instead.

I bought a cheap $2 tempered glass protector on ebay and it cancels horizontal polarization in moto g3, about 80-90% improvement. It's my first temp glass protector and it gets hazy after a while but it works. Try a cheap glass protector first if you really like your phone.