MT4G Screen Quality Issues - see inside

[fredmr85]

I only investigated this recently when I read the AC review on our phone that mentioned problems with some LCD screens - so I thought I would share this with others who may be unaware of this issue as well because it hasn't been talked about specifically in this forum from what I can see.

There appear to be two different LCDs being made with the MT4G (or at least with the earlier devices). One has superior viewing angles, contrast, and color accuracy....the other washes out at angles and has inaccurate colors, and poor black levels.

There are two easy ways to tell which screen you have (if you're rooted, all you need to do is check panel type as described in links below). At angles, the HTC clock washes out badly with the bad LCD screens (see following links for comparison shots - this is the easiest way to tell if you are in a store looking at the phone). The other way is to compare colors as described in post #34 of this link: What "rich colors"? Colors are fairly average on MT4G display. - Page 4 - xda-developers

Here are other resources:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=863679

[Q] MT4G: superior screen , made in China? - Page 4 - xda-developers

(check panel type per this link to verify your screen)
myTouch 4G - good screen vs. bad screen (Taiwan vs. China) - T-Mobile MyTouch 4G - Android Forums - HTC Community

"Inferior" display vs "superior" pictures! - T-Mobile Community


Just thought I'd share this because it's recently new to me...so it must be new to some of you as well. T-Mobile seems to be replacing a lot of the devices with new ones if you call it in. I unfortunately have a bad screen, and will be making sure T-Mobile replaces it.

This one might be worth throwing a sticky on.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I'll stick it for a week or two.

 

[fredmr85]

I'll stick it for a week or two.

Thanks. I know some won't care, but with auto brightness on all comparisons I've done in person, I really feel like I'm missing out on what should be a much better phone. The viewing angle doesn't bother me much, but the color accuracy definitely does.

Plus the more awareness there is of this issue, the more likely T-Mobile its to acknowledge it. So far they are replacing phones in some cases, but won't officially comment.

 

[fredmr85]

I called T-Mobile today for a billing issue and about exchanging my phone, thought I'd try my luck with "normal" customer care...big mistake. They couldn't correct my billing issue (which is fine), but it took the man 20 minutes to figure out what was going on and tell me he couldn't correct it and that I would need to talk to Loyalty. Then again, he was apparently needing to look at two different billing systems..so I'm not sure what he was seeing. Of course when he tried transferring me to Loyalty, he dropped my call so I had to wait another 20 minutes in line.

Anyways, I did get him to send me a warranty exchange for my washed out screen - though he claims to never have heard anything about this. Hoping I get a good one!

EDIT: Loyalty called me back, saw the problem with my bill in 3 seconds, put me on hold for 1 minute...came back on and offered me a custom plan/resolution to my problem. Loyalty Dept is the reason I will never leave T-Mobile.

 

[fredmr85]

FYI - I added this link to the original post: MT4G Bad Display vs Good Display, Which do you have? Don't wait get a good one today! - xda-developers

Seems to be the "master" thread on this over @ XDA. 71 page thread with over 700 posts.

EDIT: Two days later, the above thread is over 80 pages. The issue seems to be getting more recognition.

 

[fredmr85]

UPDATES! Well...nothing "new" really if you've been reading up over @ XDA or the T-Mo forums about this issue -- but I'll post photos of the differences in the screens. I was fortunate enough to get my replacement less than 2 days after I requested it - guess UPS ground has a pretty direct route from TX to the Chicago area. Besides that, I was even more fortunate to get the "superior" display. I was at first concerned because it was made in Taiwan where people have had a lower success rate of receiving a good display....but then I noticed the FFC was dead center, and that gave me hope even though there is no proven correlation between the slightly off center FFCs and centered ones.

Noticed in the construction, nothing major....but just what I observed, and I'll post those too with photos. I only wished they shipped replacements with new battery covers because mine is scratched up from the "4.5 ft drop onto concrete" thread, but it's not bad...and I'm sure I'll be able to get a replacement battery cover eventually.

Anyways - I'll edit this post a little later tonight with some photos!

 

[fredmr85]

Replying instead so that people know pics are now loaded. All "good" screen photos will be on top, "bad" screen photos immediately below. Brightness set to auto - did the best I could to keep the same angles for the most part. Lighting in the room was darker so some of these photos aren't the best -- but the difference in the screens is obvious. They ship replacements without batteries/batt covers if you were wondering why I didn't just power them up next to one another.

same background and settings... just no weather on the "good" screen. Looks like my background lighting is a little off on this first one...shouldn't matter much... neither had direct lighting in the same room that was bouncing off the screen or anything.

P1010980 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010952 by Fredmr85, on Flickr


P1010941 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010947 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

These photos show how different the screens really are viewing straight on..

P1010985 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010948 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

Notice I didn't use extreme angle viewing on these pics...but as you angle even more, the "better" screen will not wash out where as the "worse" screen gets exponentially worse until it's nearly entirely washed out.

P1010943 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010949 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

These show the "settings" bar and black levels. The settings bar should be grey, and have no perrywinkle as described in post #34 of the XDA thread I posted above. The screen was actually so bad at this angle that after many attempts at this photo, I gave up on the bad screen. Blacks are especially reflective and annoying, and I wanted to preserve the same lighting so I didn't try to get a better photo. I also did not shake the camera...the reflectivity washes/blurs the image.

P1010945 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010959 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

Notice the "good" screen on top also has a perfectly centered FFC. The "bad" screen has an FFC slightly to the left. There is no correlation between centered FFCs and good screens based on XDA and T-Mobile forum observations.

P1010976 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010975 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

Sorry for the many photos -- I tried to keep them small and only make them larger when I felt it mattered more. Follow links to Flickr for full sizes if needed for any.

Hope some of you find this informative if you didn't travel to XDA and hunt around there for photos. When I turned on the "good" screen, it was not entirely obvious that it was better at first glance. Obviously I could tell immediately from an angle, but to the casual viewer - unless they're side by side, you may not feel like you're missing out on a better screen besides the viewing angles. If you're rooted, custom ROM, many paid apps you don't feel like emailing devs on to replace, etc.... it may not be worth the hassle. Though you definitely should call for a replacement and get what you paid for -- unless you're a freak about graphics like me and can't stand using DVDs in your BluRay player even though it upscales, blew $1800 on a Panasonic V10 plasma, and hate anything less than HD and calibrated colors...I don't believe the inferior screen takes away from the experience too much.

EDIT: Forgot to post this one...there is one advantage to the bad screen - viewing angles in desk mode with display DIM...if anyone actually uses that ("superior" screen on top, bad screen on bottom):

P1010982 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

P1010986 by Fredmr85, on Flickr

 

[Droid800]

Checked using the Terminal emulator, and I got one of the good screens. (install terminal emulator --> restart phone --> Run terminal emulator --> type in 'dmesg' --> Look on line 14 or 15 or thereabouts for something that says panel 1 or Panel 2

Panel 2 is the good one.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Just did this and I have Panel 2

Bought mine Dec. 22, 2010 if that matters.

 

[pantlesspenguin]

Here's my experience w/ the different screens & exhange process:

YouTube - mytouch4g screen problem demo

Sorry for the crappy video, all I had was my laptop camera!