Screen brightness uneven -- anyone else?

[thoots]

Folks,

Got a question for you -- as per the title. To give you a little background, I bought an S2 8.0, loved it, and then decided that I really ought to replace my existing "data plan" tablet from the S 8.4 to the S2 9.7. So, good-bye to the S2 8.0, and I've got a new S2 9.7 LTE.

All is well, EXCEPT for some screen oddness. I'll have to post some pictures, but I think I can describe it well enough. To begin with, I don't really like "busy" wallpaper -- I just use a solid-color, medium-to-dark blue wallpaper as my background. What I really notice, both in portrait and landscape orientation, is a darker band at the top of the screen -- again, it happens in both portrait and landscape orientation. It seems to be a "viewing angle" thing, as the dark "top" in landscape orientation doesn't turn into a dark "side" in portrait orientation. Instead, when I move to portrait orientation, then the top of the screen has this dark band, and the sides are just fine.

But I don't notice quite the same thing happening when I get into some apps -- for instance, the yellow/orange top band in the "Memo" application doesn't turn noticeably darker. But the green top band in the "Evernote" application shows it IN SPADES, though it's a really thin band at the very edge of the screen. And, again, it's always at the top, no matter which orientation I'm in, that I see the dark band.

Anyway, that's the most obvious stuff. However, when you back up and take the whole screen in view, what I'm really seeing is A LOT OF COLOR CHANGE as I angle the tablet towards me (more vertical) and away from me (more horizontal). Again, just go into the Memo application, and lay your tablet flat on a table, then grab it and tilt it up towards you -- do you get a big change in color, or does it stay the same? I guess I would say that the "white" color "turns bluish" as I raise the tablet towards me (making it more vertical), and it goes more to a normal white when I lay it flat.

I can understand changes in screen quality due to viewing angles, but that's not something that I associate with OLED screens. I sure didn't see anything like this at all with the S2 8.0 that I had. And I've started looking at S2 9.7 tablets in stores, and I really haven't seen anything like it in the stores. Thus, I'm definitely thinking about returning the thing -- unless it's really a case of "they all do it."

So, if you guys could check out your tablets and let me know if you see anything like this, I would appreciate it. It's not worth taking the thing back and asking for an exchange if what I'm seeing is common, but I'm definitely a bit disappointed in the screen quality that I've got with this tablet.

Thanks in advance for checking this out for me, and for any thoughts you'd like to send my way!

thoots

 

[mikeytg1024]

I have not noticed this on mine, the screen looks great. Nova desktop has an option to turn the top & bottom edges of the screen darker to enhance the visibility of icons there. Perhaps some other apps do this also? I would try creating a plain color jpeg with the right aspect ratio and display it full screen, that should show you any screen defects without interference from an app. Or there should be apps in the play store for testing the screen...

 

[thoots]

Yep, I'm already heading down those roads. I installed a couple of screen testing apps last night, and it went like this:

The apps produce a screen-filling single color, and a blue color similar to my background looked flawless. A green color similar to the top of Evernote also looked flawless. So, it seems to be something like the combination of screen elements that's causing the problem. I could certainly still see the color shade differences in a full-screen white as I moved the tablet from the vertical to the horizontal, so at least that was consistent. I agree with making a new JPEG background -- though, I just checked the wallpapers that I've created, and they are all 2048 x 2048. So, at the least, there is no "stretching" involved, with the S2's screen being 2048 x 1536. So, something is just weird here, that's for sure.

 

[thoots]

Well.... I went to my local AT&T store, and checked out the S2 9.7 they had on display. While they didn't have a solid-color background on it, what they had was even enough to see the kind of dark band at the top of the home screens. And the sales guy even set up an Evernote account so we could check that out, and sure enough: It had the same exact dark band that I've got on my tablet.

But, before I headed out, I checked my old S 8.4 (another LTE model from AT&T), which I thought I would bring along to compare, but gosh golly.....

Yep, it had a dark band at the top of the screen that I had never noticed before. Quite a bit thinner than the one on the S2 9.7, but it shows how observant I have been. In the end, it winds up being a big old, "nevermind....." It does seem to be that "they're all that way." Or perhaps it might have something to do with the tablets Samsung supplies for AT&T, or whatever the customer base is for that model. I still want to post some photos, so I'll update when I get around to that.....

 

[toenail_flicker]

Well.... I went to my local AT&T store, and checked out the S2 9.7 they had on display. While they didn't have a solid-color background on it, what they had was even enough to see the kind of dark band at the top of the home screens. And the sales guy even set up an Evernote account so we could check that out, and sure enough: It had the same exact dark band that I've got on my tablet.

But, before I headed out, I checked my old S 8.4 (another LTE model from AT&T), which I thought I would bring along to compare, but gosh golly.....

Yep, it had a dark band at the top of the screen that I had never noticed before. Quite a bit thinner than the one on the S2 9.7, but it shows how observant I have been. In the end, it winds up being a big old, "nevermind....." It does seem to be that "they're all that way." Or perhaps it might have something to do with the tablets Samsung supplies for AT&T, or whatever the customer base is for that model. I still want to post some photos, so I'll update when I get around to that.....

It's the angle of the screen and the lighting conditions. Fluorescent is bad lighting.

 

[thoots]

Well, that's what I thought at first -- it's the viewing angle, mainly. But the full-screen color tests and such really disproved that. And here's another reality test -- here's the Evernote screen:



I'm talking about the dark band at the top of the screen. It can't be viewing angles or lighting if you can copy it and the dark band still shows.

And, for the record, that's just about exactly the kind of thing I've seen on my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet, now that I'm actually looking for such things. Whereas I've used that thing for maybe a year without noticing it before.

In the end, it's just too prevalent to think anything but "they all do that," or at least "some bunch of others do that."

thoots

 

[thoots]

For the record, here's a blank "home page" from my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 -- with the black band abundantly clear at the top of the screen:



And here's part of why I didn't notice it on apps like Evernote:



I don't know if the "color the notification bar the same as the app color" instead of rendering it black is a difference in Android versions, or perhaps just an option somewhere, but the black band certainly didn't let me see these kinds of things on the S 8.4....

thoots

 

[thoots]

Actually, let me restate this: After my experiences with this issue, I don't think there is a "hardware problem" here at all. I think this HAS GOT to be something to do with the software -- either the Andriod operating system, perhaps something to do with Samsung's TouchWiz, or whatever. There just seems to be some intent, or perhaps even mis-coding, that renders a dark band at the top of the screen in some situations, whereas it does not in others. Especially when you can get test apps that fill the screen with a solid color, and not see any differences in the screen brightness, at all. So, let me end this with a few more screen captures.

First up -- here's the Galaxy Tab S 9.7, with a new "main menu" page:



It's not the kind of slim, darker band in the other screen captures, but rather a broader, gradual darkening as it climbs up the top of the screen.

Now, here are a couple of full-screen color shots from one of those screen test apps. First up, a blue like my menu pages:



And finally a green like the Evernote header color:



Bottom line, there are no dark bands at all -- just solid, full-screen colors.

So, it's not the hardware, it's not the viewing angle, it's not the lighting -- it has to be something to do with the software. And given that I've seen these exact same things in other Galaxy Tab S 9.7 screens and my Galaxy Tab S 8.4, I sure don't think there's anything "defective" about my Galaxy Tab S2 9.7. But thanks to everyone who replied or looked into this -- by all means, go ahead and follow up if you see anything similar or different on your tablets.

thoots

 

[toenail_flicker]

Well, that's what I thought at first -- it's the viewing angle, mainly. But the full-screen color tests and such really disproved that. And here's another reality test -- here's the Evernote screen:

View attachment 201342

I'm talking about the dark band at the top of the screen. It can't be viewing angles or lighting if you can copy it and the dark band still shows.

And, for the record, that's just about exactly the kind of thing I've seen on my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 tablet, now that I'm actually looking for such things. Whereas I've used that thing for maybe a year without noticing it before.

In the end, it's just too prevalent to think anything but "they all do that," or at least "some bunch of others do that."

thoots

You are all 100% right about the dark bands. After a bit of testing, I realized which launcher you use will also affect the depth of the color of the top and bottom banding. With TouchWiz the top is dark, though not as dark as Apex, and the bottom is somewhat lighter. The same applies to Nova for the top and bottom banding. On Apex the banding is very dark and really bad.

The Kindles suffer from a similar issue and it has to do with the leds. Amazon got a lot of grief over their Voyage because the color differences and banding are so bad. Not everyone could see it though, which leads me to believe it also might have to do with vision differences. I always use very dark walls and so didn't notice it on my 8.0 until my 9.7 comparison tab arrived today. The banding was so bad it shocked me. I LOVE my 8.0, but I may return both and wait for a later iteration, and / or see if anything is fixed with an update. I intend to root ultimately, so I'm not liking the idea of taking any updates.

Has anyone tried using their tabs in natural light to see if the issue persists? I can't today or tomorrow. Will try it on Friday.

FWIW - this issue is visible on any plain color screen with vary degrees of visibility.

 

[toenail_flicker]

Have you noticed that the lock screen wallpaper - default from Samsung - doesn't have the issue?

 

[thoots]

I always use very dark walls and so didn't notice it on my 8.0 until my 9.7 comparison tab arrived today. The banding was so bad it shocked me. I LOVE my 8.0, but I may return both and wait for a later iteration, and / or see if anything is fixed with an update. I intend to root ultimately, so I'm not liking the idea of taking any updates.

Has anyone tried using their tabs in natural light to see if the issue persists? I can't today or tomorrow. Will try it on Friday.

FWIW - this issue is visible on any plain color screen with vary degrees of visibility.

I think the best thing I can say is in regards to my Galaxy Tab S 8.4 -- with its dark band that I never even noticed until now. I'm just going to relax about it and move on with my life.

But, in regards to different light conditions, it really shouldn't matter at all -- again, if you can do a screen capture and that capture shows the dark band, then it has nothing to do with lighting or viewing angle or anything like that, at all.

I'm kind of with you about the S2 8.0 -- what a neat, neat, neat little tablet. But it really just led me to getting an S2 9.7 LTE, to replace my old S 8.4 -- the S2 9.7 LTE will be my one and only tablet, and I'll sell every other tablet I've got. The S2 9.7 just has the screen size and the screen aspect ratio that's just about completely perfect, all with a weight that just isn't that much more than previous 8-inch tablets. I really do expect that I won't be buying my "next" tablet for quite some time.

 

[thoots]

Have you noticed that the lock screen wallpaper - default from Samsung - doesn't have the issue?

Personally, I haven't -- since I don't use a lock screen....

 

[toenail_flicker]

What I don't get is that some apps show the band and some don't. Do you think perhaps the images are low resolution? Do you have any clue what this might be? I've never seen this before on a tablet. I stopped setting up my 9.7 because the banding is so ugly. It's barely noticeable on the 8.0, but I don't want something with the kind of banding I see on the 9.7. Interesting, too, that the different launchers display it better / worse.

 

[thoots]

It's not really anything to do with the hardware -- it's all to do with the software. Or, at the least, the interaction of the software and the hardware. But the hardware is very easily able to render full screens of color with even brightness, so it's just not the hardware at all. But I sure don't know why some of the software has issues and others don't. It may have something to do with Touchwiz or perhaps Android itself. But that's all I can really say.

 

[toenail_flicker]

It's not really anything to do with the hardware -- it's all to do with the software. Or, at the least, the interaction of the software and the hardware. But the hardware is very easily able to render full screens of color with even brightness, so it's just not the hardware at all. But I sure don't know why some of the software has issues and others don't. It may have something to do with Touchwiz or perhaps Android itself. But that's all I can really say.

It has nothing to do with resolution. I tried a high-res wallpaper and it was still there.

 

[thoots]

And it doesn't have anything specifically to do with AMOLED, either -- my Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 looks exactly like the example from my Galaxy Tab S 8.4, above. Certainly as far as I can tell, I haven't noticed the dark band for YEARS. Again, it just has to be something to do with software somewhere -- I still suspect TouchWiz or perhaps even just Android itself. I just don't have any other tablets to check out now. ;-)

 

[toenail_flicker]

It was so pronounced on my 9.7 that I returned it and ordered a new one. I'm going to pay attention during setup because my old one was fine at first. It was only after apps were added (Samsung/Google) that it showed the banding. If it starts up with the banding then back it goes. I'm sending the 8.0 back, too. It's ridiculous to pay that amount of money and get a bad looking screen - for any reason. I'll wait until they resolve it next year.

 

[ericmazariegos]

Do you guys not know that this is 100% supposed to be like that? The 'banding' is not banding, but a gradient that apps apply to the top screen so that the white icons are able to show through even if you have a white background. In certain apps you're displayed with a gradient, and in others you get a solid bar of color that is distinct from the other UI. This essentially happens on Android because the color of the icons is always white, unlike IOS which changes the color of the icons depending on what's being displayed.
On the stock Samsung launcher, this gradient is less noticeable and it disappears if you're using a black colored background. In other launchers like Google Now Launcher it is very pronounced and quite ugly if you use a light, white background.
All in all, this is part of the UI, and there's nothing you can do to change it.
I've applied a screenshot so you can see the darker bar above in the notification panel. In the Android Central app, they don't apply a gradient but rather this darker shaded bar.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[thoots]

Yes, agreed 100%. This is not a "defect" by any means. It's just how things have been programmed.

 

[toenail_flicker]

Do you guys not know that this is 100% supposed to be like that?

What you're showing IS normal. What I had on the tab I returned and on the one I'm about to return is something different - a gradient at the top and bottom of the screen, at least two inches (top) and one inch (bottom), starting out very dark near the top and bottom edges and lightening as it gets further down the screen. Proven by the fact that the replacement 9.7 doesn't have it at all unless I use Apex Launcher. If I use Touchwiz or Nova, and stock walls, there is zero issue. Not the case with the 9.7 I returned and the 8.0 I'm returning.