Samsung's fix for red-tinted Galaxy S8 screens forces users to self-calibrate
With a growing number of complaints about a red-tinged screen in some owners with the Samsung Galaxy S8, the company is issuing a software patch allowing users expanded options for correcting the problem in software by placing the responsibility for color accuracy even more in user's hands.
A large portion of flagship Samsung Galaxy S8 phones have been demonstrating a visible red tint in screens straight from the factory. The issue is not universal, and was first spotted by early owners in South Korea around April 19.
"The reddish tint may be caused by a color balance problem," said an industry watcher to the Korea Herald. "Samsung used deep red AMOLED to strengthen the red."
Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah told Cnet that he suspects the shift in AMOLED screen construction specifically for the Galaxy S8 family is causing the problem, saying it can "make the usual whites look reddish" and calling it a "software calibration issue."
Samsung denies that there is a hardware problem with the phones, despite being presented with multiple examples of out-of-the-box phones demonstrating different tones. Initially it advised customers to manually make display changes. Samsung also advised customers who could not fix the color balance to and "change it at the service center."
Users took to social media shortly after the initial declaration to complain that the manual color calibration able to be done did not solve the problem.
"In the past, we have received feedback that consumers wanted the ability to customize the color setting of their Galaxy devices due to natural variations in displays, and we provided the option to do so in previous software updates," wrote Samsung in a release about the matter. "While the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have the ability for the user to modify the color of the display, Samsung has listened to feedback and has decided to release a software update as early as next week which will provide customers with a further enhanced ability to adjust the color setting to their preference."
The red screen problem appears to be little more than a public relations problem, unlike 2016's Galaxy Note 7 debacle. In late 2016, Samsung denied that there was a hardware problem with the Note 7 "phablet," until multiple cases started piling up, well out of proportion with expected battery failures.
Following a soft recall, and poor communications with the US Consumer Protection and Safety Commission, the revised model of the Galaxy Note 7 was similarly bursting into flames -- but for a different design flaw ultimately discovered later after deep analysis.
A large portion of flagship Samsung Galaxy S8 phones have been demonstrating a visible red tint in screens straight from the factory. The issue is not universal, and was first spotted by early owners in South Korea around April 19.
"The reddish tint may be caused by a color balance problem," said an industry watcher to the Korea Herald. "Samsung used deep red AMOLED to strengthen the red."
Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah told Cnet that he suspects the shift in AMOLED screen construction specifically for the Galaxy S8 family is causing the problem, saying it can "make the usual whites look reddish" and calling it a "software calibration issue."
Samsung denies that there is a hardware problem with the phones, despite being presented with multiple examples of out-of-the-box phones demonstrating different tones. Initially it advised customers to manually make display changes. Samsung also advised customers who could not fix the color balance to and "change it at the service center."
Users took to social media shortly after the initial declaration to complain that the manual color calibration able to be done did not solve the problem.
"In the past, we have received feedback that consumers wanted the ability to customize the color setting of their Galaxy devices due to natural variations in displays, and we provided the option to do so in previous software updates," wrote Samsung in a release about the matter. "While the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have the ability for the user to modify the color of the display, Samsung has listened to feedback and has decided to release a software update as early as next week which will provide customers with a further enhanced ability to adjust the color setting to their preference."
The red screen problem appears to be little more than a public relations problem, unlike 2016's Galaxy Note 7 debacle. In late 2016, Samsung denied that there was a hardware problem with the Note 7 "phablet," until multiple cases started piling up, well out of proportion with expected battery failures.
Following a soft recall, and poor communications with the US Consumer Protection and Safety Commission, the revised model of the Galaxy Note 7 was similarly bursting into flames -- but for a different design flaw ultimately discovered later after deep analysis.
Comments
The red screens are a technology failure, and Samsung is dismissing it as user preference. How we hold a phone is mostly a preference, and Apple did the right thing by modifying the design of the 4s to account for more user preference. Fixing colour issues is not simply satisfying user preference because it's a failure whether the user cares about it or not (unless Samsung isn't aiming for colour accuracy...).
Apple's response was silence while the internet went up in flames on the issue. I know because I have one of those machines and remember only too well the thought of plunking $2,000 down on a machine that could be affected. Users even went to the lengths of tracking the week the unit was built in an attempt to avoid the issue. Mine wasn't overly affected by the issue, although it did manage to fry its GPU to death because of the woefully inadequate thermal design.
Samsung has defined the issue and made a statement. Users can exchange units, adjust their screens or wait for an update that is already in the works. It's all in the article.
That seems like a pretty good response as things stand today.
And since when is the date of a problem an issue? And as if Apple hasn't had enough screen related issues already. The most recent being the special coating applied to some laptops.
As for pre-defending Samsung. No. Samsung seems to have defended itself. That is even detailed in the article.
I hear complaints about this all the time concerning the iPhone--they're just too consistent and too rigid and accurate.
Tangentially, I hope Apple has all avenues covered for how Samsung will try to screw up the OLEDs in the iPhone 8.
Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Jobs probably had a good point.. they accounted for many ways that a phone could be used... except that one. The fix was easy, either adjust your grip (if you had an issue) or use the freely provided bumper. The issue only effected very few people in very specific circumstances where the signal was attenuated slightly and dropped below a usable signal. I bet many more people had trouble with cellular reception just due to ATT poor network in urban centers back then.
Samsung got it all wrong, people doesn't wanted the ability to messed up with color settings, they want accurate color. If Galaxy devices have "natural variation" inherent to OLED technologies, It is up to Samsung to calibrate their display during manufacturing process to fix it.
Giving the user the burden of calibrating their phone display is only an acknowledged from Samsung there is no color conformity across their products.
Steve Jobs said that, not "Apple" (the company). And it's been blown *way* out of proportion by the interwebs. People that held the phone really firmly did affect the wireless signal. That' a fact. Call it a design flaw if you will, but it's simply physics. The human body blocks (absorbs) wireless signals, and most people do use cases, which solved the problem right away. So, you can drop this line now. It's old and irrelevant.
Perceived cost vs. value. The majority feel that Apple products are too expensive, without thinking about the cost-of-ownership and value of a well-designed cohesive platform. Samsung phones are "good enough".
What I won't understand are those that feel Samsung phones are *better* than iPhones in every way.
To be fair, Android phones are interchangeable to Linux nerds. They want whatever has the most bells and whistles even if those features don't work correctly, they're just going to jail break the device and futz with it anyway. Wireless carriers push Android phones because they are more profitable, like grossly more profitable. If the wholesale price was required to be listed (and you can get the wholesale price of any phone in California through some math, because the tax charged is based on the greater of wholesale price or retail price. So a $0 free phone will still be taxed at the wholesale cost of the phone) you'd find that carriers make maybe $50 on an iPhone, and $300 on an Android phone.
People who actually understand what the specs mean, would never buy an Android phone. If you're buying a smartphone phone for a family member, you certainly want to avoid giving Android phones to people who don't know how to use a web browser.
No monitor is ever calibrated from the factory. There are a few that are pre-calibrated to Adobe RGB for photoshop users, but everything else is supposed to "just work" at sRGB settings. Your lighting affects that calibration. The age of the backlight affects that calibration.
But there is no reason for Samsung to have released a product this much out of calibration. This sounds more like one batch of screens was released with the wrong driver (not software driver, but the actual screen hardware driver) and the work-around is to force the calibration to a level that makes it look more correct. You'll probably find that it has a reduced color gamut.
I'm thinking that Samsung and Android are so weak on a color workflow anyway, so what matter if the screen has to be "calibrated" to the user's taste, rather than an industry standard.
With Apple actually predicted to use OLED's, I personally would like to see machines/devices in Apple stores that could do an automated, and accurate, color calibration, either as a benefit of AppleCare, or for a small fee.
All iOS device and most Retina display Macs are pre-calibrated in factory. Some new products like the iPhone 7 and the iPad Pro 9.7 are even calibrated for DCI-P3 wide color gamut with an absolute color accuracy of 1.3 JNCD.
Here is some insightful informations about display color accuracy: http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_Pro9_ShootOut_1.htm