novox77
Leeeroy Jennnkinnns!
Thought I'd mention contrast ratio while we're tangentially on the subject of AMOLED, which is known for high contrast ratio.
I'll start by saying that the contrast ratio as it's advertised for OLED-based screens is a big gimmick. The ratio is always expressed as a large number to 1. 1000:1. 10,000:1, etc. They normalize the denominator to 1 so that there is a basis for comparison. Great. no problem.
Now, the ratio is normally determined by the max light output to the min light output (brightness of purest white and purest black that the screen is capable of).
OLEDs have the advantage of very black blacks because it is a light-emitting diode; therefore when it's off, it's not "emitting" any light. So you have a black whose quantified brightness is near zero. And what you you get when you divide any number that is approaching zero? A very very big number. That's why OLED-screens have insane contrast ratios compared to other types of display tech. And it's often thrown around that contrast plays a much bigger role in overall picture quality than other attributes.
Ok, here's where the gimmick is. Contrast affects picture quality positively by how much of the contrast range it produces that falls within the limits of the human eye. And the eye/brain can handle a huge dynamic range of light. The problem with OLED displays is it tends to be weak in brightness, which means there's a large part of human vision it can't accommodate.
Another way to think about this is: it doesn't matter that an OLED can do millions of divisions of medium-to-black colors. We see way more than that range.
Therefore, when you're looking at contrast specs, don't just look at contrast ratio. You need to know the absolutes on both ends to know the contrast range. It's the contrast range that will affect the picture quality, not the bright:dark ratio.
To be fair to Samsung's S-AMOLED technology, the "super" part basically focuses on minimizing the brightness problem of AMOLED. The capacitive touchscreen is part of the display rather than being a separate layer of glass, removing an extra layer that would be responsible for absorbing some of the light before it makes it to your eyes.
I'll start by saying that the contrast ratio as it's advertised for OLED-based screens is a big gimmick. The ratio is always expressed as a large number to 1. 1000:1. 10,000:1, etc. They normalize the denominator to 1 so that there is a basis for comparison. Great. no problem.
Now, the ratio is normally determined by the max light output to the min light output (brightness of purest white and purest black that the screen is capable of).
OLEDs have the advantage of very black blacks because it is a light-emitting diode; therefore when it's off, it's not "emitting" any light. So you have a black whose quantified brightness is near zero. And what you you get when you divide any number that is approaching zero? A very very big number. That's why OLED-screens have insane contrast ratios compared to other types of display tech. And it's often thrown around that contrast plays a much bigger role in overall picture quality than other attributes.
Ok, here's where the gimmick is. Contrast affects picture quality positively by how much of the contrast range it produces that falls within the limits of the human eye. And the eye/brain can handle a huge dynamic range of light. The problem with OLED displays is it tends to be weak in brightness, which means there's a large part of human vision it can't accommodate.
Another way to think about this is: it doesn't matter that an OLED can do millions of divisions of medium-to-black colors. We see way more than that range.
Therefore, when you're looking at contrast specs, don't just look at contrast ratio. You need to know the absolutes on both ends to know the contrast range. It's the contrast range that will affect the picture quality, not the bright:dark ratio.
To be fair to Samsung's S-AMOLED technology, the "super" part basically focuses on minimizing the brightness problem of AMOLED. The capacitive touchscreen is part of the display rather than being a separate layer of glass, removing an extra layer that would be responsible for absorbing some of the light before it makes it to your eyes.
