TFT or OLED | how to tell, comparison and review

[Guest theInquisitor]

Upon multiple request, I'm re-posting the following as a separate thread, which could perhaps be made sticky by the admins:

After having bought some TFT-equipped Swiss OSFs I received two British OLED ones today, so I could make the attached photos for comparison.

With a magnifying glass you can recognize an OLED display by the staggered arrangement of the pixel matrix (so called PenTile matrix) , while on TFT displays lines are aligned in a rectangular matrix.

With the naked eye you'll notice the margin around the TFT display and the backlight giving black areas a greyish hue, while the same black areas remain absolutely dark on OLED. In absolute darkness you can't see immediately where the display ends on an OLED display, while on TFT you'll clearly see the display's edge.

The TFT display is a bit brighter, but it's colour fidelity is inferior. While TFT has a strong bluish cast, colours appear much more natural and vivid on OLED. The OLED also seems to have a broader range of colours, which you can see on the photo of the lock screen, which is dominated by black colour on TFT, as it can't display all the nuances which the OLED is able to display. However the TFT is sharper - especially text loses sharpness due to the staggered pixel arrangement of the OLED. As an example of this effect have a look at the edges of the icons on the close-up photo: While the edges of the icons are straight on the TFT, edges on the OLED are in a zigzag-pattern causing blurry appearance. Anyway, the difference in sharpness is nearly indiscernible from a distance and negligible in everyday life. But on the other hand viewing angles are better on the OLED, as colours are only distorted less and only on bigger angles than on TFT.

APPENDIX: During intensive testing with MultiTouch Visualizer 2 (under Finnish Fillyjonk RLS2 [2010-12-09]) I could not notice the slightest difference in sensibility of the touchscreens.

All in all I would say pros and cons are quite balanced, but the TFTs on Blades seem to be quite fault-prone with many devices having (hardly visible) faulty pixels, as you can see in

The only things untested so far are readability under direct sunlight, where I expect the TFT to perform better and power consumption, where I expect OLED to be more economical.

Edited December 11, 2010 by theInquisitor

[Guest NexusX]

Can you make some sunlight photos?

[Guest insurgente]

good work

you are however making me sad that I think a TFT version is currently winging its way to me :)

[Guest daniel_owen_uk]

The shot with the orange logo is best way to see, if you can see edges of screen in pitch black, it's TFT.

[Guest theInquisitor]

Can you make some sunlight photos?

If you provide some sunlight to me, I will. It's just too cloudy and foggy these days in Southern Germany and what I need for a test is direct sunlight.

Btw, I just compared touchscreen sensibility with MultiTouch Visualizer 2 (under Finnish Fillyjonk RLS2 [2010-12-09]) and I could not see the slightest difference between TFT and OLED.

[Guest theInquisitor]

Just found a further difference between the OLED and TFT version, which is a small margin surrounding the TFT display (see added photo on the initial posting).

Edited December 10, 2010 by theInquisitor

[Guest MarcoUK]

My phone arrived earlier today, an according to the paperwork from Orange it is a TFT.

San Francisco TFT from Orange JT (Built)

I feel disappointed not the have got an OLED screen version, I am tempted to see if my local Orange shop will swap it for one (assuming they have one in stock?)

Or should I just relax and enjoy the phone.. :)

I am glad that the responsiveness is not affected, any tips on how I go about checking for dead/stuck pixels?

Thanks

UPDATE - Just checked, and YES it is a TFT (used the "Margin" check to confirm)

Edited December 10, 2010 by MarcoUK

[Guest 4TecH]

So TFT is also a bit smaller than the OLED? Thats not nice :)

[Guest theInquisitor]

So TFT is also a bit smaller than the OLED? Thats not nice :)

Yes, but we are talking about few millimeters. You would never notice that if you weren't told.

[Guest Sasimikun]

Thanks a lot for this insightful post. Are there any other differences you noticed..besides the screen?

The Swiss one's supposed to have a 5MP unit right? If so, how do the pictures taken compare to the 3MP one? Would be really nice to have some samples. :)

Furthermore, did you just happen to be an isolated case in regards to the pixel problems or is it affecting alot of units?[not sure if you'd know, but one can try:)]

[Guest Kazz_uk]

Thanks theInquisitor :).

[Guest Simon O]

I feel disappointed not the have got an OLED screen version, I am tempted to see if my local Orange shop will swap it for one (assuming they have one in stock?)

Very unlikely Orange will swap the phone if it works fine. But can I ask.. why do you feel disappointed? The phone is no better worse with a different screen type. If the TFT screen had a lower resolution then fair enough I can understand why people would be upset, but it's the same resolution and has a better pixel density. Because the OLED screen uses Pentile matrix it's not actually a true 800x480 pixel screen.. the TFT screen is.

So if you have an OLED screen enjoy it. If you have a new phone with TFT then enjoy it too. I promise that, unless you have dead pixels, you won't have any less enjoyment of the phone.

[Guest MarcoUK]

Very unlikely Orange will swap the phone if it works fine. But can I ask.. why do you feel disappointed?

You are right, they didn't...

I am not sure really, I guess it is because all the reviews I read mentioned how great the OLED screen was, so was looking forward to that.

As for enjoying it, I will have to wait until Xmas for that, I only tried the phone to check the Wi-Fi really, as some have had problems with Wi-Fi. Mine is fine!

I will now get a larger memory card, and research upgrading from Android 2.1, between now and then! :)

8GB should be enough I guess, though 16GB cards can be found quite cheaply... decisions, decisions...

Thanks for the reply.

[Guest sonicblue83]

I got the Swiss version and it has a 3.2 MP camera which is totally crap. But I don't know why everybody is complaining about the TFT. I got a TFT version but I first thought it's an OLED because it looks really nice and the black is just amazing. Also there are no dead pixels...

[Guest theInquisitor]

Thanks a lot for this insightful post. Are there any other differences you noticed..besides the screen?

No, I haven't found any other differences. The Swiss OSF has only 3MP like the UK version.

Furthermore, did you just happen to be an isolated case in regards to the pixel problems or is it affecting alot of units?[not sure if you'd know, but one can try:)]

Two of the three Swiss OSFs have pixel issues, however they are invisible without magnifying glass most of the time. But I remember having read about pixel issues of TFT-equipped Blades in other countries - so this is not just a Swiss phenomenon. Edited December 10, 2010 by theInquisitor

[Guest Simon O]

I am not sure really, I guess it is because all the reviews I read mentioned how great the OLED screen was, so was looking forward to that.

It doesn't help that there are no reviews of the TFT versions online yet. I know that one review will be online soon and it'll will compare the OLED version with the TFT version too, so it should certainly help a few people make their minds up. I know who is doing the review and I can say that it'll be well written.

[Guest Sasimikun]

No, I haven't found any other differences. The Swiss OSF has only 3MP like the UK version.

Two of the three Swiss OSFs have pixel issues, however they are invisible without magnifying glass most of the time. But I remember having read about pixel issues of TFT-equipped Blades in other countries - so this is not just a Swiss phenomenon.

Thanks for the quick response, 2/3 is alot. I'm one of those people with pretty good eyes[exchanged my tft panel..twice]. Guess I'll have to wait for some reviews before taking the plump.

[Guest MarcoUK]

It doesn't help that there are no reviews of the TFT versions online yet. I know that one review will be online soon and it'll will compare the OLED version with the TFT version too, so it should certainly help a few people make their minds up. I know who is doing the review and I can say that it'll be well written.

I look forward to the review, and thanks again...

/feels better! :)