Galaxy S9+ Black Crush and Gradient Banding Issues

[anon(10418614)]

Is the happening just to S9+ devices and not the regular S9??

 

[akira ambient]

Yes, all reports so far are plus. Mine have all been plus models.

 

[MrDoh]

Makes me happy that I don't stream media on my phone. That's what my tablet, TV, and computer are for *smile*. The screen on my S9 looks great for ordinary every day use.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

This is the issue on my S9+ compared to my old S7 edge, and I must say it looks pretty pretty pretty bad:

Galaxy S7 edge
View attachment 281383

Galaxy S9+
View attachment 281385

I don't think I can unsee Clarkson looking like that again.

Yikes

 

[Chris_c81]

Is the happening just to S9+ devices and not the regular S9??

Just plus. My wifes S9 is fine

 

[Kristian Nikolov]

The photos were taken from The Grand Tour (Season 1, Episode 1). I was streaming from the Amazon Prime Video app. You can check it out at about 01:15 min:sec.

 

[Tibial]

Since this is affecting only S9+ so far, it looks more likely to be a hardware fault. Video codecs and resolution has nothing to do with it since the problem can be reproduced using simple screenshots that appear normal in other devices.
It is also visible on Samsung's default infinity wallpapers.

I'm also in direct daily communication with Samsung Support on Twitter and they reassure me they're actively investigating the issue.

 

[Jesus Delgadillo]

Since this is affecting only S9+ so far, it looks more likely to be a hardware fault. Video codecs and resolution has nothing to do with it since the problem can be reproduced using simple screenshots that appear normal in other devices.
It is also visible on Samsung's default infinity wallpapers.

I'm also in direct daily communication with Samsung Support on Twitter and they reassure me they're actively investigating the issue.

Can you tell me if my phone has that issue? Top is my Note 8 and bottom s9+.

And what issues exactly do you find on the infinity wallapapers? So that I can look at mine as well...

This is what I find on my infinity wallpapers but only the gray one. Right, middle side has a dark spot and top left corner too... Idk if that's part of the problem or just the design on the wallpaper

 

[Tibial]

This is what I find on my infinity wallpapers but only the gray one. Right, middle side has a dark spot and top left corner too... Idk if that's part of the problem or just the design on the wallpaper

From the photo of Jeremy you provided, no, I can't see the issue.

As for the wallpapers, mine displays significant colour banding in low light. It is more apparent with blue and purple wallpapers. The dark parts of the wallpapers appear grainy and the colours don't smooth evenly. There is also a greenish tint in the dark areas.

If you want to try out another experiment, go in a dark room and try the following screenshot:




Pay attention to the eggs in the left of the scene.

If your screen looks like the photo below, then you have the problem:



If it looks more like this then it's probably fine:

 

[misku]

Hi all! I created an account here just to bring you the reference image (1080p) based on Kristians photos I liked this one as it clearly depicts the difference and you can spot it easily. My S9+ is arriving next week and I'm curious whether it's affected. Thank you for all the useful info in this topic.

 

[Jesus Delgadillo]

From the photo of Jeremy you provided, no, I can't see the issue.

As for the wallpapers, mine displays significant colour banding in low light. It is more apparent with blue and purple wallpapers. The dark parts of the wallpapers appear grainy and the colours don't smooth evenly. There is also a greenish tint in the dark areas.

If you want to try out another experiment, go in a dark room and try the following screenshot:

View attachment 281408


Pay attention to the eggs in the left of the scene.

If your screen looks like the photo below, then you have the problem:

View attachment 281409

If it looks more like this then it's probably fine:

View attachment 281410

This is how mine looks, and I also attached the banding

 

[Jesus Delgadillo]

From the photo of Jeremy you provided, no, I can't see the issue.

As for the wallpapers, mine displays significant colour banding in low light. It is more apparent with blue and purple wallpapers. The dark parts of the wallpapers appear grainy and the colours don't smooth evenly. There is also a greenish tint in the dark areas.

If you want to try out another experiment, go in a dark room and try the following screenshot:

View attachment 281408


Pay attention to the eggs in the left of the scene.

If your screen looks like the photo below, then you have the problem:

View attachment 281409

If it looks more like this then it's probably fine:

View attachment 281410

And at what brightness level do you see the issue with the eggs

 

[Tibial]

And at what brightness level do you see the issue with the eggs

On mine the eggs issue is visible in all brightness levels. It does get progressively worse though as I go lower but still can't match the S8 picture even at maximum level. Leave your screen on Auto brightness in a dark room if you're unsure. If there is an issue, it should be clearly visible there.

You did a screenshot from your phone for the eggs test but that doesn't help us see if you have the problem. Only a photo of your phone would show it to us.

But you should be the ultimate judge of whether your display has the issue. Does your screen look more like the S9+ photo I uploaded in the previous post or more like the S8?

 

[Kristian Nikolov]

Hi all! I created an account here just to bring you the reference image (1080p) based on Kristians photos I liked this one as it clearly depicts the difference and you can spot it easily. My S9+ is arriving next week and I'm curious whether it's affected. Thank you for all the useful info in this topic.

View attachment 281412

Strangely when I open the photo now it doesn't show any issues, it's perfectly normal. I hope it's just a software issue that's fixable.

 

[Tibial]

There is a reason why the screenshot of Jeremy appears normal when viewed from the photo app.

The original video on Amazon is displayed with HDR On by default and that is what's causing the colour banding. But when you take a screenshot of any HDR video, the HDR effect is immediately stripped out and the picture is left with the "standard" non-HDR colours.

If a user wants to reproduce this issue, he/she must launch the Amazon Video app natively and play the video on the device.

I've also noticed colour banding under HDR video playback in some cases but that's really a different issue from the black crush. It also has to do with the various different standards of HDR out there so the experience varies.

YouTube HDR for example is displayed better and with less colour banding than on Netflix or Amazon Video.

 

[misku]

Strangely when I open the photo now it doesn't show any issues, it's perfectly normal. I hope it's just a software issue that's fixable.

Great news. That would exclude the panel itself as a suspect.

 

[Tibial]

Great news. That would exclude the panel itself as a suspect.

That's a misconception. Read my post above.

 

[misku]

That's a misconception. Read my post above.

If someone can take and view an HDR photo and confirm that it looks ok, then it's definitely not the panel. HDR photos are made out of multiple images made at different exposure. This is not the case for HDR videos, but the end result is going to include the same brightness of pixels as in a video. The problem seems to be related only to video HDR processing. So it indeed may be fixed by a software update.

 

[Tibial]

If someone can take and view an HDR photo and confirm that it looks ok, then it's definitely not the panel. HDR photos are made out of multiple images made at different exposure. This is not the case for HDR videos, but the end result is going to include the same brightness of pixels as in a video. The problem seems to be related only to video HDR processing. So it indeed may be fixed by a software update.

HDR photo capture is something completely different from HDR video playback. Your screen displays HDR photos with the same brightness as normal photos.

Try it yourself by taking an HDR photo with your device. Mine surely doesn't look anywhere near like an HDR video in terms of brightness and colours.

You can do some further research on this if you want but as I said, the screenshot above doesn't mean anything. It's completely unrelated to the issue discussed here.

 

[misku]

HDR photo capture is something completely different from HDR video playback.

This is what I wrote above.

Your screen displays HDR photos with the same brightness as normal photos.

Try it yourself by taking an HDR photo with your device. Mine surely doesn't look anywhere near like an HDR video in terms of brightness and colours.

I'll be able to do that once I get my S9+, but I bet you are right.

You can do some further research on this if you want but as I said, the screenshot above doesn't mean anything. It's completely unrelated to the issue discussed here.

Are you suggesting that the issue is related to the panel hardware which is unable to display the dynamic range of video HDR?