SHARE THIS P AGE

FOLLOW US:

Site Search

ALL

Login

Register

HOME
Home

PHONES
News

TABLETS

NEWS

REVIEWS

PLANS

DISCUSSIONS

GADGETS

TOP 4G PHONES

TIP US

NOVADisplay vs Super AMOLED Plus vs Retina Display vs IPS LCD

NOVA Display vs Super AMOLED Plus vs Retina Display vs IPS LCD

Posted: 05 May 2011, 17:43, by Victor H. Categories: AT&T Verizon Samsung
Bookmark

LG

Apple

Articles

Android

Share:

Discuss

59

Like

110

Tweet

24

16

The LG Optimus Black has finally arrived in its final version and it brings an allnew display technology dubbed NOVA display for its brightness and deep blacks. First thing we did? We put it alongside three smartphone heavyweights for an ultimate screen showdown. The Optimus Black faced the Samsung Galaxy S II, the Apple iPhone 4 and the LG Optimus 2X. For our tests we used studio setup identical to the one we used when we first got the Samsung Galaxy S II: with diffused lighting on both sides with the same color temperature as daylight, for reference purposes, and then we turned the light off for shots in complete darkness. For the camera white balance adjustment, we used three matte patches on cardboard: 90% white, 18% grey, and 1% black (velvet).

Related News

U.S. unlocked Galaxy S IIs starting... 20 Apr 2012

Sony Xperia S or Samsung Galaxy... 20 Apr 2012

White iPhone 4 in short supply,... 17 Apr 2012

Apple iPhone 4 case can stop a... 14 Apr 2012

Girl tells her BF that his Samsung... 13 Apr 2012

ICS update finally makes its way... 13 Apr 2012

Recent Articles

And on the 7th day Oracle rested

The two sources have the same color temperature as daylight

Brightness The NOVA display boasts an incredible brightness. The luminosity measures at 700 nits (the equivalent of 700 candelas per square meter if you wish), far more than the 500 nits on the similar IPS-LCD on the

Just because Apple leads doesn't mean everyone is following

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

iPhone 4 and noticeably brighter than the Samsung Galaxy S II and its Super AMOLED Plus. Performance on paper aside, our real-world experience with the screens proved that the NOVA display on the Optimus Black is indeed shining brightest. Winner: NOVA Display
BlackBerry still beats the competition on security

Contrast Ever since AMOLED screens got introduced, our very understanding of what great contrast on a mobile display is has been totally redefined. No LCD display can boast the almost infinite contrast levels of AMOLED screens, and we're glad to see this great performance live on with Samsung's latest Super AMOLED Plus technology, found on the Galaxy S II. Undoubtedly, handsets which rely on the advanced IPS-LCD technology, like the iPhone 4, have come a long way to having a very juicy picture on the whole, but still, if we have to pick one screen that is best out there when it comes to high, punchy contrast, it will surely be the Super AMOLED Plus one on the Galaxy S II. Winner: Super AMOLED Plus

Outdoor Visibility Actually, LG goes on to claim that 700 nits is the exact threshold for perfect outdoor visibility, allowing the human eye to easily make out pictures even in direct sunlight. Overcast skies didn't allow us to test the screen under the sun, but we can confirm that we had no trouble whatsoever with it in cloudy weather. Comparatively, it measures a bit better than the iPhone 4, which in turn is a tad bit brighter than the Galaxy S II with its extremely low 4% screen reflectance that is as important outside as brightness. Winner: NOVA Display

Text readability In terms of text readability, the resolution of the screen makes a huge difference and the iPhone 4 easily won the first place here. The NOVA display does well, but there is still some noticeable pixelization, just as on the Super AMOLED Plus-wielding Samsung Galaxy S II, which is still a significant improvement from its predecessor in the Galaxy S. Winner: IPS-LCD Retina Display on iPhone 4
Nokia Asha 303 Review 9 hours ago Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) Review 11 hours ago Nokia Asha 302 Review yesterday

Latest Reviews

LG Viper 4G LTE Review yesterday

Logitech Tablet Keyboard for iPad Review 19 Apr 2012

Nokia Asha 200 Review 19 Apr 2012

View all

From left to right - LG Optimus Black, Samsung Galaxy S II, Apple iPhone 4, LG Optimus 2X

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

100% Crops

Color gamut You might have also wondered about the origin of the Black part of the LG Optimus Black name. And again it's the deep blacks, which consume zero watts that are the likely justification. But it's not only the blacks the whites are also clear and colors are soft. The difference is striking when put alongside a Super AMOLED Plus screen, where a cold blueish hue is noticeable, and despite being punchy, colors on a Super AMOLED Plus display look comparatively exaggerated, and covering way more than the standard color gamut. Ultimately, we'd go for the more balanced looking colors on the iPhone, despite it reproducing 64% of the standard color gamut, whereas the Optimus Black produces slightly warmer colors, with a perceptible yellowish tone to the white. Winner: IPS-LCD on iPhone 4

From left to right - LG Optimus Black, Samsung Galaxy S II, Apple iPhone 4, LG Optimus 2X

Wide-angle view Wide-angle visibility is top-notch on the Galaxy S II with almost no change in color and contrast. The LG Optimus Black, when viewed from extreme angles, has a slight purplish shade, also noticeable (in a lesser degree on the iPhone 4). Although the Galaxy S II with its Super AMOLED Plus display does not perform convincingly at the most extreme angles (at which you'll probably never look your phone), it's the best when it comes to angles up to 140 degrees. Winner: Samsung Galaxy S II

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

From left to right - LG Optimus Black, Samsung Galaxy S II, Apple iPhone 4, LG Optimus 2X

From left to right - LG Optimus Black, Samsung Galaxy S II, Apple iPhone 4, LG Optimus 2X

Finally, the NOVA screen technology is battery-savvy, working in concert with the energy effective TI OMAP chipset to deliver excellent battery life. But in a pure screen fight, it wins only in the brightness department. When it comes to screen legibility and resolution, it's the high-resolution IPS-LCD, dubbed Retina Display, that truly wins here a technology used in professional monitors, yielding the most accurate results. If you value balance and resolution first, you'd appreciate what the iPhone 4 has to offer; the LG Optimus Black being a runner-up with a slight yellowish hue. If you value great contrast and high saturation for extremely punchy images, Super AMOLED Plus on the Galaxy S II is the way to go. Like this story? Like us on Facebook to follow our posts:
Like 23696 likes. Sign Up to see what your friends like.

Share:

Discuss

59

Like

110

Tweet

24

16

PREV NEWS

NEXT NEWS

Samsung Infuse 4G Hands-on 05 May

82% of U.S. tablet owners are holding the Apple iPad 05 May

Related phones

Apple iPhone 4

Samsung Galaxy S II

LG Optimus 2X

LG Optimus Black

Apple iPhone 4 Verizon

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

59 Comments
Post Comment 1 2 3 Next View options

Follow

3. Foreign Guy Who Can't Get Amer (unregistered) posted on 05 May 2011, 11:02 2 *Foreign Guy Who Can't Get American Slang Right*

28. iPhone 4 (unregistered) posted on 06 May 2011, 08:19 4 I have an iPhone 4 & I can say that the testing done on this site favors my phone. From what I saw from the tests conducted the Super AMOLED + won in color gamut. I wish my iPhone 4 had the infinite grays of the Super AMOLED +. Yes my iPhone 4 has the best resolution, but I want to see better colors for my backgrounds & for my games with the sweet blacks the Super AMOLED + has. Plus I really want a bigger screen also. 4.3 inches is so much nicer to see a movie & to play games on. I think the Galaxy S II is going to be my phone when it comes out! 29. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 06 May 2011, 08:31 3 Well it looks like iPhone 4 sees the light. No but all kidding aside, the Super AMOLED + looks like a slick screen. I agree with you iPhone 4 that the color gamut should have gone to the Super AMOLED +, with it's insane contrast ratio & infinite grays it makes the color gamut only better. You are also right in screen size, playing games on a 4.3 inch screen makes a huge difference compared to the iPhone 4. The real-estate makes big difference in the movie watching & the game playing. I wonder how the qHD screen on the HTC Evo 3D with its higher resolution will fare against these big boys?
This comment is posted in response to #28 Show

4. ecml posted on 05 May 2011, 11:05 8 2 I am sure the Samsung Galaxy S II should have won for Color gamut....

5. Johnabis posted on 05 May 2011, 18:11 3 1 wait which phone has the super LCD in the comparison above? thats the technology the evo3d uses I think right? i guess super LCD comes in last place to the 3 other displays? 6. herbie19999 (unregistered) posted on 05 May 2011, 18:41 7 Samsung totally winss
1

7. NeXoS posted on 05 May 2011, 19:02 13 4 Wow, this site is run by total Apple fan boys! It is scientifically impossible for the IPS display to have a wider color gamut than the SAMOLED+ display. You said it yourselves, the SAMOLED+ has infinite shades of gray, which directly correlates to a display's color gamut. IPS was "slightly" brighter than the SAMOLED+? Looks like you guys are more than slightly biased towards the iPhone 4. The only valid category the iPhone 4 should win is the PPI category. Will you guys please put your iPhones down and try to write an unbiased, Apple Fan Boy laced article??? This is the reason why I stopped reading Engadget. 8. MalakiMills posted on 05 May 2011, 19:45 5 2 I agree, I mean look at the wins, each technology has 2 wins (except for the LG optimus 2x hehe) but the end it by saying "it's the IPS-LCD that truly wins here". Just doesn't make that much sense. 11. Lucas777 posted on 05 May 2011, 21:11 4 4 welll maybe some things have more weight then others... the ppi of the iphone is extremely important... without a high res the screen doesnt look nice no matter what... honestly if apple can make such a high ppi screen, why cant lg or samsung? samsung even makes the darn screens!

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

19. Sniggly posted on 06 May 2011, 03:09 2 2 My Droid X, which arguably doesn't have as high resolution, still looks very nice. I'll take it over the iPhone 4 any day.
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

21. Sic_lusifer (unregistered) posted on 06 May 2011, 04:34 2 2 sorry man but fyi Apple didnt "make such a high ppi screen" they just bought them !!
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

24. Iphonearena (unregistered) posted on 06 May 2011, 06:01 4 1 In case you haven't noticed yet the "retina" display was developed by LG and not by Apple...
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

33. jcoberg10 posted on 06 May 2011, 13:08 1 1 PPI is also, variable based on screen size. so the phone with the smallest screen would have the highest PPI.
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

64. dharkness posted on 13 Dec 2011, 00:00 You are wrong PPI = pixels per inch. that is the density of the pixels on the screen. The density of pixels does not go down if you make the screen larger.
This comment is posted in response to #33 Show

65. Yerdeniz posted on 13 Dec 2011, 00:45 No, PPI totally depends on the size of a screen. (E.g Galaxy S II 4.27'' 480x800 resolution, 220 ppi. Samsung Wave 3.3'' 480x800 resolution, 283 ppi.)
This comment is posted in response to #64 Show

39. remixfa posted on 06 May 2011, 14:48 1 resolution is important lucas, but your eye cant really tell the difference between super amoled+'s resolution and the iphone's resolution at normal viewing distances. If the iphone's screen were enlarged, its ppi count goes down and it becomes even more of a tie. so if your eye cant really tell the difference besides maybe some of the most minor artifacts ever... how is the "retina" display even relevant other than fanboys screaming about the highest PPI?? Ill take better color, higher brightness, thinner and lighter screens, gorilla glass, better battery use, better viewing angles, and everything else the SA+ offers over the IPS, and lose that marginally better resolution that i cant really notice anyways.
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

42. protozeloz posted on 06 May 2011, 17:33 retina is just a word for hight res screen on a certain size and no one is doing it maybe because apple may sue them, just saying...
This comment is posted in response to #11 Show

47. remixfa posted on 07 May 2011, 10:11 apple doesnt own the "retina" tech.. LG does. Apple cant sue anyone over it. If it was THAT important to be over 300ppi, other companies would be doing it already. as an article i read last week said, the difference between the SA+ resolution and the iphone4's resolution is about 5% extra clarity to the eye. Its not that big of a difference unless you stick your face on the screen.
converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

This comment is posted in response to #42

Show

49. protozeloz posted on 07 May 2011, 13:04 they are suing over the use of a green call icon and other stuff..... at this point nothings surprises me. people talk about retina as if it where some great discovery, but it is what it is, a hight res, there is nothing more than that unlike SAMOLED, and other tech that works hard on improving certain aspect (power saving and others)
This comment is posted in response to #47 Show

23. Iphonearena (unregistered) posted on 06 May 2011, 05:43 4 1 I totally agree with you Nexos and sadly its no secret that this site is run by biased Iphone fanatics. It has been proven several times by independent sources that the Super Amoled displays have a much wider range of color gamut than the Iphones IPS-LCD display. Here are the figures (google them if you dont believe me, youll find them on several websites): Color gamut Iphone 4: 64 % Color gamut Super Amoled Displays: ~140 % As you can see for yourself, the Super Amoled displays boast a much wider range of color gamut than the Iphone 4. Sure, some people might perceive the colors of the Super Amoled displayed as being over-saturated but you can easily adjust that by downloading software from the android market that allows you to fine-tune your display settings accordingly (if you wish to do so). Its easy to draw a conclusion from this comparison: If Iphonearena had done a fair review it would have awarded the color gamut category to the Galaxy S II and the SII would have been the overall winner but considering how biased Iphonarena is theres more chance of hell freezing over than Iphonearena admitting that the SII is actually a better device than the Iphone 4 Heck, this site doesn't even list its real street/office address on their website (just check their "about us", "contact us", terms or privacy site, you won't find their address anywhere!) because phonearena's office is probably located in Cupertino... 1

Next

Want to comment? Please login or register.

Top News

Samsung GT-I9300 Galaxy S III graphics... yesterday

Samsung launches Galaxy S III teaser... 2 days ago

Samsung's anagram puzzle reveals... yesterday

HTC One X teardown reveals quad-core internals yesterday Screen test iPhone, Android and Windows Phone flagships side-to-side: Lumia 900 wins yesterday

Interesting stories

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

Just because Apple leads doesn't mean everyone is following

AT&T Labs event showcased WATSON technology, haptics steering wheel, shadow puppets, and more

Samsung launches Galaxy S III teaser countdown timer ends tomorrow

Samsung to reveal "the next galaxy" May 3 in London, Galaxy S III launch?

Is "One Sony" really "One Sony + Android"?

Report: Why Jim Balsillie quit RIM

Processor on next Apple iPhone to be produced via Samsung's 32nm process?

Facebook's mobile plans (Part 2): Instagram's independence vs integration

Home Manufacturers Carriers News Reviews Discussions Plans Videos

Affiliates: Unlocked Cell Phones, Speed Guide, Cell Phone Accessories, Unlocked cell phones, Cell phone accessories, Mobile Burn PhoneArena network: Meet Gadget

Links About Us Advertise Contact Us Database Licensing Jobs

All content (phone reviews, news, specs, info), design and layouts are Copyright 2001-2012 phoneArena.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part or in any form or medium without written permission is prohibited! Privacy | Terms of use

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com