Viewing angle alters screen/display color (white balance).

[Larches]

Having just got my Tab S5e, I can see why people are full of praise for its AMOLED screen, which is bright, sharp and colourful. However, I have a couple of concerns.

My main concern relates to the screen hue & white balance. Having recently tried a Tab A 10.1 (2019), I noticed a major difference between that and the S5e. The Tab A has a faintly pink-hued white, and the angle the tablet is viewed from makes no difference to that. The S5e has colder whites overall which I'm not overly keen on, although I find it a bit better if I adjust the white balance right over to the warm side (good that this model has that option). But the thing I find most surprising is that the colour changes significantly on the S5e dependong on the angle the tablet is viewed from. If I look at it absolutely straight on, the white balance is reasonably natural, but when viewed from even just a slight angle (and especially if flat on a desk, for example), the whole display takes on a markedly green-blue hue. It's very noticeable on white and paler-coloured areas. There is no such phenomenon on the Tab A. Is this normal? I'm wondering if this is a feature of AMOLED displays such as this one (first time I've had one) or whether there is a fault with this particular device.

A secondary concern is whether Pulse Width Modulation is likely to be a problem. I first noticed it when taking a picture of the Tab A and S5e side-by-side - I could see distinct grey bands scrolling across the screen on the S5e and not on the Tab A, and I understand this is probably down to the use of PWM in the AMOLED display. This is something I wasn't aware of before purchasing and I read that some people find it a real problem (causing eye strain and headaches), but I've not had the tablet long enough to know if it's a problem for me or not. Have many people on here noticed problems with this?

Any help much appreciated.

 

[Mooncatt]

I just got my first AMOLED device (LG V60) and noticed the same color shift problem when viewing at an angle. I also just checked on a Samsung A50 that I have as a backup phone, and it does this too (betting a backup/emergency phone, I never used it much to notice yet). I don't know if this is considered normal based on my 2 observations, but I guess it could be a common issue. I'm certainly not a fan of it.

As for the grey banding issue, I think that is due to the refresh rates of the AMOLED phone. With LCD, the backlight is constant, and I think the pixels are as well unless they need to change. My guess is the AMOLED is cycling the pixels off and on even with a static image, which I notice on my V60 when waving it back and forth and see a strobing effect. That refreshing of the pixels is likely just a bit out of sync with the camera you were recording with. The recorded frame of the camera is catching a row/rows of pixels turned off for part of the exposure. As the display refreshes progressively downward, the next frame of the video exposure records the next rows of pixels in both an on and off state. This partial exposure is what causes the dimmed/grey bars rolling across the display. This was also somewhat common with old tube style tv's being recorded for similar reasons. The only way to stop this is to reduce the recording frame rate so the individual frames are exposed longer to catch the pixels in a fully lit state.

 

[Larches]

Thanks @Mooncatt, that does tend to suggest it might be an AMOLED quirk then. The other thing I noticed last night was that in night mode, the top half of the screen is brigher than the bottom half, on what should seemingly be uniformly-coloured dark panels (presumably dark grey rather than black, as I understand AMOLED is known for being able to produce true black). Example attached. Again, not sure if this is a common occurrence or a fault with this unit.

 

[Mooncatt]

Thanks @Mooncatt, that does tend to suggest it might be an AMOLED quirk then. The other thing I noticed last night was that in night mode, the top half of the screen is brigher than the bottom half, on what should seemingly be uniformly-coloured dark panels (presumably dark grey rather than black, as I understand AMOLED is known for being able to produce true black). Example attached. Again, not sure if this is a common occurrence or a fault with this unit.View attachment 321129

I have seen an occasional post about uneven brightness, but not something if experienced or know much about. One of the other members may chime in on that issue.

 

[thunderup]

Thanks @Mooncatt, that does tend to suggest it might be an AMOLED quirk then. The other thing I noticed last night was that in night mode, the top half of the screen is brigher than the bottom half, on what should seemingly be uniformly-coloured dark panels (presumably dark grey rather than black, as I understand AMOLED is known for being able to produce true black). Example attached. Again, not sure if this is a common occurrence or a fault with this unit.View attachment 321129

I have the same issue. On mine, when viewed in portrait mode, the right half of the screen is quite a bit darker than the left. It's annoying and makes dark mode look pretty bad.

 

[Larches]

I spoke to Samsung support about the colour / white balance issue, and they said it is just a feature of this type of screen (the guy had a similar phenomenon on his phone... I noticed a slight rainbow effect at one angle and he said he had it too, a bit like an oil slick effect). I mentioned the brightness gradient / inconsistency too, but he didn't have much to say on that. I get the impression that the benefits of OLED screens are perhaps a little bit hyped up and the drawbacks a little overlooked (assuming Samsung aren't just using sub-standard panels on this model).