Why did they go with a amoled display?

[Skyway]

It looks like they tested brightness, sunlight contrast and DeltaE but not how well the screen matches the sRGB spec, which is what would show up colour saturation.

Ok then look here. Scroll down to Display Measurements and Quality and click on Color Charts.

Microsoft Lumia 950 Review

 

[astondg]

Ok then look here. Scroll down to Display Measurements and Quality and click on Color Charts.

Microsoft Lumia 950 Review

The 'problem' is evident in that test, see the colour gamut chart. The display produces colours far outside the sRGB spec, particularly greens. Compare that to the Surface Pro 4 LCD which is much closer to the spec (although do note that the Lumia 950 graph is CIE 1931 & the SP4 is 1976 so they aren't directly comparable): http://www.displaymate.com/Gamut_21.html

The OLED display produces some great colours, that's not the problem, but when you're trying to reproduce a source like a photo the colours are a bit too vibrant compared to the source. The colours may also be uneven, as that chat shows a bias towards green.

Now in saying all that, I've had a 950 for the last 2 days and the general colour accuracy is fine for me. In fact I'm very happy with the display except for 2 things, 1. it's about 1/2 an inch too big and 2. the (subjective) whites.

 

[astondg]

I've been using my 950 for about a week now and without the side by sides with other phones I'm accustomed to the whites. I'm running brightness at 75% with auto turned on & a custom color profile. The brighter the screen the whiter it seems.

I'll still miss the whites I prefer from an LCD, but mostly only if I put my 950 down next to an iPhone or Nexus 5X. But the 950 obviously has a really nice screen in terms of PPI and those colours really are vibrant. Glance it's also awesome finally and unexpected things like the black background and minimalist white contrast on the dialer look really good in a way only OLED could.

 

[Dewg]

If LCD is better and Apple is better for using LCD on the iPhone: Apple using OLED for future iPhones

 

[dashrendar]

If the only thing you're worried about with OLED is screen burn-in then there is nothing to worry about.

I only had slight screen burn-in on my Samsung Galaxy S2 when I used to listen to music leaving the screen on all the time with the brightness set to 100% and the only thing changing on the screen was the album art (all the controls and frames were static). The burn-in happened where the Play/Pause button is and I could only see it on all blue screens (e.g. Facebook splash screen).

If you tend to do something crazy like that, then yeah it's a concern. Otherwise, you're good to go.

Just remember that for burn-in to occur, you have to have maximum brightness, static screen (or certain pixels) and a number of hours duration. Otherwise, there is nothing to worry about.

The L950 screen is AWESOME.

 

[uselessrobot]

The 'problem' is evident in that test, see the colour gamut chart. The display produces colours far outside the sRGB spec, particularly greens. Compare that to the Surface Pro 4 LCD which is much closer to the spec (although do note that the Lumia 950 graph is CIE 1931 & the SP4 is 1976 so they aren't directly comparable): DisplayMate Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Color Gamut

That's not how color gamut works. That triangle depicts the extent of displayable colors. The goal isn't to match the standard, but that the display's gamut at a minimum includes the sRGB gamut. Any display that extends beyond the sRGB standard is actually better. Look up any high quality display with good color reproduction and you'll see that the gamut exceeds sRGB.

So, according to that chart the Surface Pro 3 is slightly weak in reproducing reds. It may still better than many displays on the market, but really all you can say about it is that it matches the sRGB standard.

Of course, other factors come in to play, like calibration. In stores displays are almost always bluish and have brightness cranked up. This is done because they tend to stand out for the typical, uninformed consumer. So people will routinely complain about a warmer display even though it's actually reproducing colors more accurately.

The fact that some AMOLEDs are over-saturated, like all Samsung displays, is strictly a decision by the manufacturer to make colors pop. It's not a deficiency of the display itself.

 

[areithropos]

I happened to stumble upon an article regarding AMOLED displays which seem to reflect perfectly my own experience with them. It is a bit old but still it seems to stay true.

Mobile Raptor: IPS versus OLED: Power consumption and power saving tips

 

[Robert Novak1]

I know that many are liking the AMOLED displays, but I just can't understand, why on a expensive phone like this (at least in Denmark), that Microsoft decided to use such a horrible display?

I mean, after so many years, AMOLED STILL does burn in. I want my 600 USD phone to last much longer than a year - and usually from 8-15 months, you can see horrendous burn in.

I really like my Lumia 640, and pre ordered Lumia 950 a while ago, KNOWING that it has AMOLED.

But now, that we are close to launch, I might cancel my pre order, for that reason alone, that I know the screen will be **** within 8-15 months.

Why on earth didn't they just go with a LCD screen so we could use this phone for years? I'm not the usual "pick up a flagship phone and then upgrade next year", so a AMOLED screen is a bad choice for me.

I also hear people saying "AMOLED has less burn in than before", yet I can google that 930 suffered from burn ins, and even the new Samsung Galaxy S6 has already pictures of burn ins.

I have a Lumia 810 with AMOLED and even after 3.5 years the display is still pristine.... no burn in

1. DON'T crank the brightness to 100%
2. Set your screen to time out in 1 minute...

 

[broar94]

I saw that A5cent(and probably others as well) is using 6000K display for office purpose mm really? why do you want to look at your monitor with such blue light? It's better for your eyes to see a warmer colour, probably reduce that white light and eye strain(esp when it's something youre going to see for 5hours+ everyday) as well . Use F.lux, it will automatically set as per time of the day, you'll get used to warmer cast after a while. It's definitely worth it in the long run.

I've been using L730 in the last 18 months, it has OLED display. I love the Blacks it shows, and i prefer to using darker wallpapers all the time. There's a burn-in only on the bottom of the screen(where the software keys are displayed), if your phone is like mine I'd recommend you to swipe up and down frequently to avoid this area burn-in. It doesnt affect me as I'd see the keys only on very close observation in a bright colour screen(with navigation keys swiped down).

 

[coolibop]

Lumia 1020 for 2.5 yrs and zero burn in here... I usually have phone shut off screen after 30s and charge with clock on glance.

 

[Dexter_Morgan9]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I've always preferred LCD displays. Not because of burn in, but because they are more accurate to me. I would rather have a picture look like it should in real life (some colors are dull, not everything has to have amoled POP), and the battery life savings have been tested and shown to be around 6% of a full charge while the phone was left on a black home screen. Actual usage between LCD and amoled displays ended up being around 3% battery savings for amoled. Not enough to matter.

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

I used to be afraid of burn in, but after owning a 930 for over a year my screen is still intact. Granted, I don't "abuse" it a lot, like using the phone for hours straight and setting max levels of brightness... The absolutely deep blacks and beautiful colors are worth it, but I'd still pick LCD over it just to be sure.

 

[areithropos]

... and the battery life savings have been tested and shown to be around 6% of a full charge while the phone was left on a black home screen. ...

Who says that? At least the test chart referred to here states that it does not matter much what an LCD display shows whereas it matters with an AMOLED one. Also Wikipedia states it and I am very sure a quick net search would reveal other sources stating similar things.
Or did I get your post wrong and you were speaking of AMOLED displays?

 

[hprvez]

It's simple, they're cheaper than a true high quality LCD, like the 60Hz IPS LCD with very low latency the 920 had, best display panel ever seen in Windows phones. Now if you reallty want a high quality panel you have to go with Apple phones (guess what? They use IPS LCD), and of course you pay for that quality

 

[Dexter_Morgan9]

Who says that? At least the test chart referred to here states that it does not matter much what an LCD display shows whereas it matters with an AMOLED one. Also Wikipedia states it and I am very sure a quick net search would reveal other sources stating similar things.
Or did I get your post wrong and you were speaking of AMOLED displays?

There is an article on an android site (have to google amoled vs LCD battery savings) that shows amoled saves about 6% battery over LCD when they are both left on the home screen until they die, background being black.

The thing is, we aren't really on our home screens that much, and most menus (unless we are talking about WP) aren't black.

 

[P1ng0fDeath]

I think that those who prefer amoled do it mostly because of the more vibrant colors and deeper blacks compared to lcd.