Left is BOE, right is presumably Samsung

Samsung panel photo taken from here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/185biuu/no_one_is_talking_about_the_subpixel_arrangement/

My LE Deck OLED has BOE screen which I confirmed through that firmware dump command. I don’t have any dead pixels or any issue with the screen, but I think this difference in su-pixel structure is VERY interesting.

There’s been some complaint about red/green fringes on text, but not everyone seems to see it equally well. I looked at mine, Even looking very closely to the point Im seeing individual pixels and the small gaps between the pixels, I just don’t see it.

https://preview.redd.it/kaphnbcgo53c1.png?width=1794&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a1b743e31de9466b9b3a5613e3f7f11f5486042

If we zoom in and look at the text, this is in desktop mode in Chrome, we can see there is in fact no sub-pixel anti-aliasing, the font is made up of whole pixels.

BTW I think BOE layout is better than Samsung because every pixel is symmetrical and the gaps are evenly distributed. Where as the Samsung has alternating left/right leaning blue pixels, which creates a big gap every two pixels, and this can lead to a slightly more grainy look.

https://preview.redd.it/hbycma4tq53c1.png?width=478&format=png&auto=webp&s=6c45fc75c6852eba2f129ec9a887a5db6b72e183

You can also see the slight blurring effect from the anti-glare screen I have on mine. The blur radius is smaller than these sub-pixels, it cannot reduce the sharpness of displayed images, but it can soften the appearance of individual pixels.

  • smarterthanretards@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    You know, a lot of people are hating on this, but I think just being able to see this kind of data is fun. I don’t really have the equipment to analyze this sort of stuff, so being able to see it like this is interesting. I have an OLED, and I have no interest in checking, but I love that there’s people who want to look into this and just have fun doing it.

    Keep having fun, and always stay curious! Don’t let the hate here get to you.

    Have a good one!

    • zaque_wann@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Plus, yoh wouldn’t be holding the steam deck in your hand without people like OP just poking around hardware for fun.

    • elev8dity@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      This is a big deal on VR headsets. Subpixel arrangement makes a big difference on perceivable quality. With the Meta Quest 3, they tilted the display and how the aliasing works had to change on the displays. It’s pretty fascinating to me.

    • postvolta@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      It certainly beats “just got my deck” (picture of someone holding a deck) posts.

      • Annual-Pitch8687@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        “Heres the millionth example posted today alone that shows the difference between LCD and OLED in case you guys forgot from the last 10 posted within this minute alone”.

        For real though, this post is informative and interesting and I don’t even have an OLED deck.

    • tychii93@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      As someone who’s into retro gaming, I agree. I was recently messing with the shadow mask maker on my N64Digital and what you’re making is essentially the same thing. It’s fun trying out different phosphor layouts, which are basically the “subpixels” of a CRT. I don’t know if the new RetroTink will have shadow/aperture customization, I assume so, but I’m definitely messing with that on the Morph when I get mine

  • Maconi@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Thanks for this post. I bought an LE and 512 and thought I was going crazy when I couldn’t see much of a difference after all the drama over Etched vs Gloss. The LE looks just as clear, and definitely has a different color response (Reds and Yellows are clearly different on mine, favoring the LE I think).

  • GreaseCrow@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    And here I was thinking the BOE panel was worse, too bad I have a dead blue subpixel :(

  • invid_prime@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Call me crazy but the blue sub pixel on the BOE panel looks larger than the red and green sub pixels. This should be good for longevity since you won’t have to drive the blue as hard, and blue sub pixels seem to be the most likely to burn out or limit the useful life of a panel.

    Driving them less hard/bright = longer lifetimes

    • TheIndyCity@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      lol I sort of think enthusiasts in this particular hobby are bound to be neurotic…haha I spend as much time getting picture, sound, etc etc just perfect on my main rig as I do playing sometimes, but I love it :D

    • Jaryth000@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Eh, I don’t know if I’d go that far (uh, for me anyway, cant speak to others). The color fringing was the first thing I noticed when I got the “You got one of the first OLED” firmware update screen. But I’ll also admit notice and am bothered by those sorts of things than a lot of people (same with frame tearing, absolutely cant stand it).

      That being said, that firmware update screen was one of the only times I’ve seen pure white text on a pure black background. Almost any other situation in SteamOS, or in the majority of games I’ve tried out, its not straight white on black, so I legit have not noticed it since.

      But its definitely there.

    • Swallagoon@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Not really, I immediately saw these downside to the Samsung panel without even reading anything here. They are blatantly obvious, including the green tint and grain.

      The blacks look good though, I guess.

    • TheFcknVoid@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      I totally get the sentiment but I’ve just been enjoying all the info. I’m just interested in how stuff works.

    • JiveWookiee5@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Seriously. I have an OLED coming later this week. Should I cancel my order if I’m going to start obsessing over pixel structure and the type of panel in my Deck? It seems to be a side effect of getting one

      • victoro311@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        I just got my limited edition this week. This is my first deck and I have no idea what a pixel or a glossy or matte is. Can confirm I am having fun with my new toy.

      • TehGemur@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        Don’t fall into this. This is why posts like these are so annoying, lmao. You won’t notice nor care about any of these differences unless you end up with a BOE panel with a dead pixels and are examining the damn panels. Only the difference between LCD and OLED matters, and there’s a big one there.

        • DinosBiggestFan@alien.topB
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          10 months ago

          I think you might be barking up the wrong tree if you don’t understand why this is interesting information for people, also it reduces consistency which is also a surprising change from the other Steam Decks.

          Tech enthusiasts are all very curious about this stuff, and we like when this stuff comes around.

          Also, some people *do* notice these things with sensitive eyes, and are unable to formulate into words what they’re seeing.

      • erwan@alien.topB
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        10 months ago

        First thing to do is to check the manufacturer of your screen, and RMA if it’s not the one you want!

        • TheFcknVoid@alien.topB
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          10 months ago

          What if you’re not stressing about any of this but just enjoy knowing how tech stuff works?

    • 440_Hz@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      I have only been checking on this sub every once in a while since the OLED was first announced. I feel like I’m watching a descent into madness.

    • Ketchup_182@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      At this point this sub look like an endless paraonia… Do people even play with it… I bet not.

  • sw201444@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    gif

    Me, an LCD owner, watching this subreddit freak out over pixels the past few days.

    • myzz7@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      i mean, yeah im popcorn eating too but the comments and back and forth on this type of data and investigations is quite interesting. i like learning.

  • chowderbiscuit@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    This is really fascinating! Reminds me of camera sensors (traditional Bayer sensor pattern vs Fujifilm’s proprietary X-Trans sensor).

  • phormix@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    That’s pretty cool to look at. So size-wise Samsung has a higher blue bias an a low green bias, whereas BOE has a fairly similar red/geren with some bias towards blue.

    • DrKrFfXx@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      Human vision is more sensitive to green, so they probably calculated they needed a less bright/smaller area green subpixel to convey a similar performance to the other subpixels.

  • smellzlikeyeti@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Imagine actually playing the handheld you buy instead of picking it apart. This sub is becoming insufferable

    • Tombot3000@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      If you find this insufferable, I would kindly suggest you try to focus on the gaming posts in this sub. There are quite a few recommending games from the sale, games that look great on OLED, etc. some of us do also like to dive into the tech specs, but you don’t need to spend your time in threads that don’t bring you happiness.

  • SighOpMarmalade@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Bruh I get a steamdeck oled because oled and everyone’s going through the hoops in this sub like it’s fucking 2016 when oled and HDR effected gaming.