Screen issues are seriously over hyped.

[strikeIII]

The blue tint is very minimal and I don't tilt my damn phone when I look at it. Seriously, who does that. I turned vibrant on and the screen looks fine to me. I'll admit my Note 8 screen is definitely better but my Pixel 2XL is no where near as bad as everyone is making it out to be. As far as burn in, I'll just have to wait and see on that and atty last Google is covering that for 2 years. I won't even have this device that long.

 

[Charles Collins]

Completely agree with your take and I also have a Note8 on hand for a comparison.

 

[Ry]

I think premature burn in or longer image retention issues are real issues.

LG's mobile displays can't stand up to Samsung's today.

We have existing threads on this topic.

 

[Jeremiah Bonds]

Completely agree. It's amazing what scare tactics will do to people.

 

[dsignori]

How do you come to that comparison when Google hasn't given people the ability to saturate their phones via software update?

Come on now. Samsung has the best displays for sure IMO. I'm not sure why folks would argue otherwise.
@Ry agreed. Another Display thread? Oy..

I do agree with the OP, overblown by a mile in the tech echo chamber, but certainly not a "great" display overall. For me it's fine, and it will get better when they make the colors punchier in a few weeks. It's a non-issue for me.

 

[dsignori]

Just because a company oversaturates their display, doesn't mean it's the best. Samsung does the same with their tvs and nobody thinks they are the best.

Their TVs are the best too IMO. It's a common opinion also, not just mine. If you are not of that opinion that's cool too. If you are arguing that this 2 XL display is better than Samsung's latest? Well, i will politely say I disagree.

 

[Dismaster]

The blue tint is very minimal and I don't tilt my damn phone when I look at it. Seriously, who does that. I turned vibrant on and the screen looks fine to me. I'll admit my Note 8 screen is definitely better but my Pixel 2XL is no where near as bad as everyone is making it out to be. As far as burn in, I'll just have to wait and see on that and atty last Google is covering that for 2 years. I won't even have this device that long.

Thank you! I also don't get why the blue tint is an issue. I don't need to tilt my phone at those angles for any reason.

 

[JHBThree]

Just because a company oversaturates their display, doesn't mean it's the best. Samsung does the same with their tvs and nobody thinks they are the best.

They're not just talking about saturation. Sharpness, viewing angles, brightness, and the lack of grain or moire pattern are what they're talking about. LG's mobile OLED displays lack all of that, simply because Samsung has been making them longer and they're better at it as a result.

 

[JHBThree]

Thank you! I also don't get why the blue tint is an issue. I don't need to tilt my phone at those angles for any reason.

You get used to it, but it's not just at 'those angles'. It was literally at any angle except head on.

 

[vzwuser76]

I think premature burn in or longer image retention issues are real issues.

LG's mobile displays can't stand up to Samsung's today.

We have existing threads on this topic.

I find it funny that whenever I've brought up the burn in issues I had with my Galaxy S3 years ago, everyone said it was BS, that burn in didn't exist. Now it's perfectly plausible, but apparently that's because it's on an LG panel. And the S3 wasn't the only phone I had that issue with, but it was actually burn in, it couldn't be brought out of it. But I've had phones from Motorola, my Nexus 6p, and 1st gen Pixel that had image retention issues. But flipping my landscape orientation 180 degrees brought it out of it. I don't know what manufacturer made the Moto panels, but both the 6p and OG Pixel used Samsung panels.

 

[Ry]

How do you come to that conclusion when Google hasn't given people the ability to saturate their phones via software update yet? They do some amazing things with software. A screen is only as good as who calibrated it and the software running on it.

I believe the burn in and/or image retention issues that Alex saw are real issues that people should be concerned about.

I believe that the OLED panels that LG put in the V30 and Pixel 2 XL aren't as good as Samsung's current panels.

If the quality of LG's displays don't bother you, that's fine. That doesn't mean other's shouldn't be concerned.

 

[Wiley_11]

You get used to it, but it's not just at 'those angles'. It was literally at any angle except head on.

I just put a protractor on my Pixel 2 XL. In landscape it's ~35˚ before it shifts, in portrait it's ~45˚ before it shifts.

 

[JHBThree]

I just put a protractor on my Pixel 2 XL. In landscape it's ~35˚ before it shifts, in portrait it's ~45˚ before it shifts.

Some phones are much less than that. My 2xl was anythig that wasn't head on.

 

[e30ernest]

Just because a company oversaturates their display, doesn't mean it's the best. Samsung does the same with their tvs and nobody thinks they are the best.

It's not even about how Samsung is over-saturating their displays... Based on what I've read so far, it seems like a result of Android not having any color-management built in.

OLED screens have a wider gamut to start with. Most app designers build their app's design/artwork with sRGB colors. These colors get stretched out to the screen's full gamut because Android does not have any color management.

A good post on that from an app developer here:

https://plus.google.com/+supercurioFrancoisSimond/posts/XEUqs7gAFM7

Basically, Android making sRGB as its standard color space is a good thing on the long term.

Now the problem with the Pixel 2 devices is that while they do follow sRGB on the OS, their screens aren't properly calibrated for it (lacking in reds for example). This is why their screens don't "pop" that well, and look "dull". Had they been calibrated properly, I think most people won't mind the colors. The iPhone screen comparison (running sRGB) is good here (most people are fine with those screens).

 

[vzwuser76]

I believe the burn in and/or image retention issues that Alex saw are real issues that people should be concerned about.

I believe that the OLED panels that LG put in the V30 and Pixel 2 XL aren't as good as Samsung's current panels.

If the quality of LG's displays don't bother you, that's fine. That doesn't mean other's shouldn't be concerned.

I've never had a phone with an LG display, OLED or otherwise. All I was saying is that Samsung panels aren't immune from this, but until the issue happened on an LG panel, it was treated like Bigfoot. I even provided images of the panel from my S3 showing the defect and was accused of doctoring them. Didn't help my solve my issue, and one of the reasons I haven't considered their smartphones going forward. If I can't get help with an issue without being accused of trying to smear them, why would I buy a follow-up product?

There's no doubting they are quality panels, but they aren't perfect either. It's just an unfortunate reality of OLED and AMOLED displays, nothing more. There are excellent LCD displays, but they can have light bleed and washed out blacks, that's just how they are. There are many products that are good, even excellent, but that have some drawbacks. It's not a knock against them, it is what it is.

 

[Ry]

I tell YouTubers who obviously only deal with phones they don't understand the technology they are discussing. POLED, AMOLED, OLED, LCD, LED are all types of panels for phones and tvs. They are ALL susceptible to burn in and image retention. But people don't know this, especially on YouTube.

The question is really, should Alex Dobie have seen what he saw after one week with the Pixel 2 XL?

 

[Almeuit]

You get used to it, but it's not just at 'those angles'. It was literally at any angle except head on.

Mine so far is about 45 degrees or more before you notice the tint.

 

[anon(10092459)]

The "Blue hue" thing was overblown, for sure. I mean panels look different. Just like televisions, some are "cooler". Color is personal preference, and if someone doesn't like the way it looks, they shouldn't buy it.

The burn in "thing".. While i agree that a week is too soon for that type of issue to even raise it's head at all, it is OLED and that's a common issue. Albeit not as soon as it would appear with some of the devices.

Either way, it's something for a consumer to consider and if their comfortable moving forward with their purchase, then godspeed

 

[vzwuser76]

I guess I'm not understanding why color shift is such an issue all of the sudden. Most smartphone reviews I've seen talked about viewing angles and discussed what it did to color when viewing off axis. I just looked at the PhoneArena review for the S8, and viewing at angles they say "...but colors quickly shift to colder ones even when viewed at slight angles." That review was dated 6 months ago. So why is the 2 XL taking all the flak when other phones do this as well?

I've looked at the phones I have right now, all AMOLED, and all have some degree of color shifting. I've only seen the 2 XL color shifting on YouTube, so it's not the same as viewing it in real life. But from that it doesn't look noticeably worse than what I'm seeing on the phones I have in my possession (Droid Turbo 1&2, Nexus 6p, Pixel 1&2).

 

[DoctorOctagon]

I guess I'm not understanding why color shift is such an issue all of the sudden. Most smartphone reviews I've seen talked about viewing angles and discussed what it did to color when viewing off axis. I just looked at the PhoneArena review for the S8, and viewing at angles they say "...but colors quickly shift to colder ones even when viewed at slight angles." That review was dated 6 months ago. So why is the 2 XL taking all the flak when other phones do this as well?

I've looked at the phones I have right now, all AMOLED, and all have some degree of color shifting. I've only seen the 2 XL color shifting on YouTube, so it's not the same as viewing it in real life. But from that it doesn't look noticeably worse than what I'm seeing on the phones I have in my possession (Droid Turbo 1&2, Nexus 6p, Pixel 1&2).

The OG Pixel XL and Pixel XL 2 are right next to each other at my Verizon store and the color shift is terrible on the XL 2 compared to the phone right next to it. I'm hoping not all phones are the same but the V30 they had looked like it also had a lot of blue shift. The small Pixel 2 had a small amount but was totally acceptable to my eye.

I am torn because I do hate the blue shift but also hate the small Pixel 2 form factor. I'll probably get an XL 2 but I'm holding off to see if the blue shift gets minimized at all in later production after all the complaints.