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Help Low light = gradient banding?

This is just a problem with super amoled displays, there's a much longer thread over at the XDA forums on it and every single person reporst some sort of pattern, almost like a quilt when at lower brightnesses. I find it only very noticeable on gray backgrounds and some white appear yellow. But other than that it's fantastic.
 
I'm really torn about whether to attempt an exchange on the phone.

Many have stated that the nature of SAMOLED is that it will have streaking on low light levels. But, it's simply impossible to know whether what I'm experiencing is acceptable levels, or too much.

The only way we can tell is to report findings to one another.

For those of you who this relates to, could we try some tests with constant variables? How about this: Turn your screen brightness to its lowest setting. Open Gmail, go to your inbox, and focus on the white background. As you scroll around, can you see a grid-like pattern in the background that does not move?

Mine is definitely there and it's much much more noticeable when I'm using the phone at night (e.g., prior to going to bed in a dark room). The grid is slightly off-kilter, so the lines are not parallel with the sides of the screen - which flares up my OCD even more.

I don't have terrible banding or color changes. Just a mostly-uniform grid that covers the entire screen.

Honestly, it's not a huge issue - especially during peak hours of use. But when I use the phone at night, it is very frustrating, as it is extremely noticeable.
 
Facebooks white background looks grey and unclear on mine with brightness under 50. At 100% the screen is perfect. I was thinking about exchanging it too, but decided not to yet. If there is an issue I will wait till batch 2 comes out.
 
Just got my GNex today. Seemed fine until this evening when auto brightness kicked the light down low. Then it was very obvious on both light and dark screens. The easiest place to see it is on the black "settings screen" while you adjust brightness. But I even noticed it while watching a youtube video.

I may take mine back to the store to see if they have another one to compare and possibly exchange.
 
No evidence of this on mine at high or low light settings as far as the banding goes. At lower brightness settings the white does get a bit 'dingy' though.
 
lennydude said:
hmmmmmmmmmm

Try this................go to your browser and type into the "google search" window the word white. Choose images. Open up one of the white images and look at it while it is in partial screen. Now zoom that white image to full screen and watch it TURN GRAY !! :(:(:(:(

WOW..................this handset has a problem with displaying full screen white? Does anyone know why? Is it the Super AMOLED screen? :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the OP or you are saying about the screen. I just did this and my display is as white as can be. I had it on autobrightness and then at max brightness and it looks just wonderful.

Perhaps there is some hardware issue with some units? IDK?

Hopefully it is software and there is a fix for it.
 
lennydude said:
hmmmmmmmmmm

Try this................go to your browser and type into the "google search" window the word white. Choose images. Open up one of the white images and look at it while it is in partial screen. Now zoom that white image to full screen and watch it TURN GRAY !! :(:(:(:(

WOW..................this handset has a problem with displaying full screen white? Does anyone know why? Is it the Super AMOLED screen? :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That isnt a problem, its called auto light limiter on most tvs. What it does is dim the backlight when there is too much white on the screen. Its supposed to save power and to stop it from blinding you. I don't know how to turn it off but it has nothing to do with not being able to display white full screen haha
 
Mormonstang said:
That isnt a problem, its called auto light limiter on most tvs. What it does is dim the backlight when there is too much white on the screen. Its supposed to save power and to stop it from blinding you. I don't know how to turn it off but it has nothing to do with not being able to display white full screen haha
Click to expand...

Yup I noticed this as well. For example, if you go to the google page you'll find the whites "washed out" and grey. The moment you start searching for something, the keyboard pops up, which makes only half the screen white while the bottom half is black. Instantly the backlight becomes brighter and the whites start to pop.

I'm sure you can change this with custom roms. I think I got spoiled by cm7/MIUI because on my DX, the whites are always backlit
 
Tim K said:
Just got my GNex today. Seemed fine until this evening when auto brightness kicked the light down low. Then it was very obvious on both light and dark screens. The easiest place to see it is on the black "settings screen" while you adjust brightness. But I even noticed it while watching a youtube video.

I may take mine back to the store to see if they have another one to compare and possibly exchange.
Click to expand...

Just got back from the verizon store. Compared mine to the demo unit and one of the salesman's nexus. Mine was definitely defective. They did an exchange on the spot. I'm just glad they weren't out of them again!

So if you are seeing thick vertical bands on your screen, especially on low light settings on white or black screens.... don' be afraid to return it.
 
Tim K said:
Just got back from the verizon store. Compared mine to the demo unit and one of the salesman's nexus. Mine was definitely defective. They did an exchange on the spot. I'm just glad they weren't out of them again!

So if you are seeing thick vertical bands on your screen, especially on low light settings on white or black screens.... don' be afraid to return it.
Click to expand...

Can you please further explain what types of problems you were having? How thick were the vertical bands? What distinguished them? Were they darker? Lighter? Were they grainy or smooth?
 
Looks like I have the same problem. Will have to take it into the store to see if a new one looks better. Others have described it very well. It's most noticeable at low brightness levels. The one who suggested Googling "white" and then clicking on the images tab and picking one of the images, showed it really bad for me. I didn't even think the images were white when they first showed up. They looked like a "snowy" (poor reception) screen on an old analog TV. There's definitely some sort of stripey pattern on there, but it is not perfectly regular like a mesh would look.

At max brightness the whites look better, but look too white to the point where the edges bloom.

Maybe this is why the phone was delayed?
 
I don't see the pattern on my phone. I would be really pissed if my screen was like that, because I was just starting to get bonded to this thing.
 
I noticed this on day one when i got the phone but didnt know if it was just my eyes or if it was the phone..guess ill be returning mine soon cause im pretty bada ocd bout that kind of stuff...ill go crosseyed looking at the lines on my screen lol
 
eyc said:
I'm really torn about whether to attempt an exchange on the phone.

Many have stated that the nature of SAMOLED is that it will have streaking on low light levels. But, it's simply impossible to know whether what I'm experiencing is acceptable levels, or too much.

The only way we can tell is to report findings to one another.

For those of you who this relates to, could we try some tests with constant variables? How about this: Turn your screen brightness to its lowest setting. Open Gmail, go to your inbox, and focus on the white background. As you scroll around, can you see a grid-like pattern in the background that does not move?

Mine is definitely there and it's much much more noticeable when I'm using the phone at night (e.g., prior to going to bed in a dark room). The grid is slightly off-kilter, so the lines are not parallel with the sides of the screen - which flares up my OCD even more.

I don't have terrible banding or color changes. Just a mostly-uniform grid that covers the entire screen.

Honestly, it's not a huge issue - especially during peak hours of use. But when I use the phone at night, it is very frustrating, as it is extremely noticeable.
Click to expand...

This is the best example of what mine looks like. I really don't care unless it's not normal. If I can go down to the store and pick up a new one I most certainly will.

Edit: Also, at lowest brightness some of the black areas turn slightly purple. At max brightness I have ZERO complaints; everything looks fine.
 
I noticed this now too :/ I thought it was just an effect from the matte screen protector. I've had the brightness setting down to conserve the battery, but I raised it now and the lines went away. Only vertical lines appear when I go to a white page. Do you guys suggest that I try to get it exchanged?
 
piggybacking on the "google white screen" idea... googling GREY and full screening the image in low brightness really brings it out as well..

With my phone the vertical and horizontal lines seem more visible with grey backgrounds (i.e. The market(esp when loading), any app with a grey background) its very annoying. Its not insanely bad but yes VERY annoying.. debating as well to return it back.
 
I have noticed this since day 1 as well....whites an greys show a kind of cross hatching pattern on low brightness....kind of sucks but its not that bad
 
Laxstar785 said:
I have noticed this since day 1 as well....whites an greys show a kind of cross hatching pattern on low brightness....kind of sucks but its not that bad
Click to expand...

Yup... exactly. Its not crazy bad but very annoying and thats where I am torn like @EYC.

I want to keep my screen brightness relatively low for a lot of the time to conserve battery but I don't want to see those patterns, especially when I spent $300 on a premium device. I think its a tad unacceptable.

Beating myself up over returning or not returning because of the mindset of "this is the nature of AMOLED technology" which in and of itself is really dumb, especially for the price($$$) we pay.

You thinking about returning @LaxStar785?
 
so I returned mine yesterday to Verizon and got a new Nexus. I looked at the store device and it showed the same thing... my new device still has it but it doesn't seem AS bad IMO... or its just my mind playing with me..

I am convinced this is just a side effect/defect of AMOLED. I can live with it.. it only happens with certain colors an low brightness. Still nerve racking but oh well
 
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