OLED vs LCD Screens – Does It Make A Difference?
One of the main selling points of the N85, besides it being the multimedia powerhouse with a decent battery, is its 2.6 inch OLED display. I’ve heard a lot about the advantages of these, especially in terms of contrast and power consumption, and although I didn’t have the N85 long enough during the Nseries launch to test its battery life , I was able to check the display advantages.
What I can say, in my non tech-savvy vocabulary, is that everything on the screen looks more “real”. The difference is like comparing viewing the world with your eyes or through white-tinted glass. Colors on the OLED look more popping, more realistic, and the one thing I noticed is that everything has more dimension to it. For example the perspective effect that we see on the border of highlight rectangles looks more 3D than I have ever seen it on LCD screens.
In order to give you a taste of the OLED, I decided to take a picture with the N85’s camera and display it on the N85 as well as the N81. The reason I chose the N81 is because it was the only handset around me with a 2.6″ screen, the same size of the N85, other handsets had either 2.4″ or 2.8″. I know that screen size doesn’t matter but I was trying to eliminate as much variables as possible, to improve the comparison’s quality. [Edit: as many commenters pointed out, the N81 has a 2.4" screen and not a 2.6" one, my bad, I always confuse this]. I only had time to take one picture and display it on the N85. I also sent it over bluetooth to the N81 and displayed it there as well.
Below you will find the image that the N85 took and which was used for the comparison, as well as how both the N85 and N81 displayed it on their screen. [Click on the images for the full versions. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any fainting, sweating, heart-attack, tachycardia or any other symptoms that might result of you viewing these images : it's a symbian fan's dream, ain't it? ]
Image taken with the N85
Image displayed on the N81 (LCD – top) and the N85 (OLED – bottom)
Close up of the image displayed on the N85
Now I would like to point the fact that you are seeing the N85’s screen through your own LCD computer (which distorts the quality), which means that the OLED is even better than what you see now. But to prove to you the power of OLED, compare how the image itself (first picture) looks on your computer and how you see it displayed on the N85 (2nd and 3rd picture). As you see the colors and quality are almost the same, which means that OLED showed the image just like it is, whereas on the N81 8GB the colors look “white-tinted”.
So does OLED make a difference? Yes, even if it doesn’t improve battery life, the display’s vividness is enough to make me scream “I want more OLED handsets, Nokia, please”. What do you say?
Omg Rita ! That looks really real ! ! ! Great !
any idea WHY nokia waited so long to introduce OLED??
marketing strategy or is it like a super-new technology or something?
can OLED screens have dead pixels too?
For more info on OLEDs, check out –
http://www.oled-info.com
Ron
I just got one thing to say.
It seems that the N85 is approved >_<
Wow Rita you’re quick with your posts.
It just gets more exciting
one important question was not answered do far: how does the OLED display behave in direct sunlight situations outside? as you know, phones like the N95 behaves excellently there, as they have a reflective screen technology, that also works without back-lighting. in could imagine that the big downside of the OLED could lye outside in the sun.. what do you think?
The N81 had a 2.4′ screen, no?
LCD > OLED in bright sunlight….and it still has a tiny bit of white tint too…
Nice .. The Difference is really notable. It just looks so much better, but in my opinion it’s just the only upgrade from the N95 ..
Great work Rita! :)
@n95 & Neo :
I too worry about the OLED screen on direct sunlight. I have an OLED screen on my MP3 player (an iRiver Clix²) and it is completely unreadable under bright sun (it appears almost fully black), whereas my n95-8GB is fully readable.
And from the little I understand about the OLED technology, it is not possible to have a reflective layer under the screen, since it has no backlight (but I may be wrong there).
OLED FTW! Screen looks amazing!
True telling point would be how it performs outside in bright sunshine.
Why would anyone still want an N96?
It’s official. N85 is my next new phone. And Rita, OLED uses less power than LCD does. More vibrant colors and longer battery life = instant win.
I had experienced OLED on the 8800 Arte (review on my site). The quality is amazing, although you couldn’t tell much as the display was tiny.
Looking forward to test the N85!
n 86 will be my next phone. (n 85 with xenon!)
if lcd was so much better than oled, wouldn’t have they kept it that way?.. lets move forward.
Interesting thoughts on the visibility under sunlight. I had the BH-903, a bluetooth headset from nokia with an OLED and it was invisible under direct sunlight. Ugh, I wish I still have the N85 to test these things out :(
i want better resolution, oled screen is good, but when they keep giving us this crappy resolution, it doesn’t make much of a difference.
hamza, imho the better resolution wouldn’t make that much of a difference on 2.4″ and 2.6″ screens.
[...] If that’s not enough proof for you, Rita Khoury a.k.a dotsisx from Symbian guru also managed to compare the N81 LCD screen with the N85’s, and the results were as if the N81 [...]
There was no other phone with a 2.6″ screen around you except for the N85. The N81 is 2.4″ and not 2.6″, so is the N82, E71, and N79. The N96 of course is 2.8″. Must have been the large number of mobiles around you that got dotsisx confused, say what?
ugh, why do I ALWAYS think the N81 has a 2.6″ screen? And Mr @nt1, don’t start picking on me, or i will give you a green backcover N79 :p
Thanks for the offer (green N79) but i think I’m starting to like the innov8 ;)
[...] from Symbian-guru on her Nokia N85 OLED vs LCD screen comparison wrote in a non tech-savvy vocabulary, that everything on the Nokia N85’s screen [...]
Now, if that is in non-tech savvy vocabulary, here’s one in tech savvy vocabulary.
http://www.mobileroyale.co.cc/nokia/what-is-an-oled
Unfortunately, I haven’t and won’t get to do a N85 hands on.
[...] feels more solid. Although the screen is larger on the N96, the quality wins it over, for me, and I really love the life-like excellence of the OLED on the N85. The N85 also has a camera lens cover, which should protect the lens from dirt and [...]
[...] Der deutlich bessere OLED-Bildschirm (Vergleich beim Symbian-Guru) [...]
[...] wanting one right now! And, If that’s not enough proof for you, Rita Khoury a.k.a dotsisx from Symbian guru also managed to compare the N81 LCD screen with the N85’s, and the results were as if the N81 [...]
[...] At the Symbian Smartphones Show today, Samsung unveiled the newest addition to its S60 line, the I7710. The I7110 is an extremely well-packed device which brags certainly about its 2.6″ AMOLED screen. I can go on for hours explaining how an OLED technically works or the wonders that it does to the colors you see on your handset, but I’ll just let you take a look at this comparison I did earlier between an OLED and a regular LCD screen. [...]
Hi guys,
Regarding the OLED quality under sunlight..
im not too sure about that but the N85 does come with an ambient light detector..
the option where it changes the brightness according to the light around the device
hope that helps..
what is really life of OLED (N*%)