The Apple iPhone 8 has just launched, except it's not the iPhone 8, it's the iPhone X. "X" of course, being the Roman numeral for 10, as it's the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone. The iPhone 8 has also launched, as has the iPhone 8 Plus, but these are both iterative updates on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, essentially the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus but with better sounding names.
The iPhone X is the big kahuna though, it's the one that's seen a complete ground-up re-design and had all the cutting-edge technology crammed into it. Of all the new features though, the new OLED display is the one that has people talking the most.
What's so special about it? Well firstly it's just the switch to OLED itself - Apple has been using LCD Retina displays since the first iPhone; this is the first time it has adopted an alternative technology. We've been used to Samsung dominating the OLED game for a long time now, so seeing Apple get involved is certainly interesting.
But more than that, it is the actual technical implementation and capabilities of the OLED screen that have got people yammering with excitement.
Writing for Ars Technica following some hands-on time with the iPhone X, Samuel Axon said, "Apple’s iPhone X has the best phone display I have yet seen, and it strikes the perfect balance between phone size and display size—at least for me. When I handled the device at the Apple event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino today, I was convinced by that display alone."
"More than the design or the facial recognitions, it was this display that set the iPhone X apart for me," he added.
He goes on to note that, from a pure spec and numbers on the page perspective, the iPhone X's display isn't going to topple Samsung's offerings.
The iPhone X’s display resolution is 2436 x 1125 pixels at 458 ppi. Samsung’s Galaxy S8, meanwhile, is 2960 x 1440 pixels at 571 ppi.
But raw numbers aren't really what it's all about. Many industry insiders have been saying for years that OLED is a superior display tech when it comes to colour, contrast, and power efficiency, the issue for the longest time was one of production and cost. Samsung and LG, amongst a few others, have taken the time to invest in and refine OLED to a point where it's now a viable option. Apple has finally decided it's worth it and has stumped up the cash to buy into the OLED game.
Axon described the quality of the iPhone X display as "remarkable".
"As hard as it is to judge phone displays on a showroom floor, the color balance was lovely," he said, "And the blacks were completely black, even while the well-lit parts of photos and videos were bright enough to fight the overhead lighting in the room."
Clearly this isn't so much about exceeding Samsung and the like, but rather matching their admirable qualities of excellent colour, contrast, and other variables on top of high pixel densities and sharpness. It's also a case of offering something MUCH better than previous iPhones.
Another key point is that the new iPhone X display also natively supports HDR.
"HDR is, in a word, awesome," Axon said, "It’s the most significant display development since HD. And it’s notoriously difficult to explain or market. You just have to see it; it won’t come through in the livestreams or the photos (yet). 4K is easy to grasp; it’s more pixels, so it’s sharper. But what about HDR?"
"The shortest possible version of this explanation I can give here is that HDR increases the precision and range of steps between fully black and fully white pixels. Contrast is often measured in how big the gap is between black and white, but HDR improves the specificity with which light (and colors) can be displayed in between. The effect is powerful, whether you’re seeing it on a newer TV or the iPhone X. HDR is amazing, but it won't come through in these photos."
He goes on to point out, however, that as with 4K and other high fidelity technologies, content for HDR is a bottleneck. The tech is only any good if there is compatible content produced specifically for them, and being on the bleeding edge, as always, means this broadly isn't the case...yet
"Most of the best HDR content right now is select games on home gaming consoles, and Ultra HD Blu-rays," he said, "Obviously, neither is usable with the iPhone X."
Apple has said that 4K and HDR movies will come to iTunes "soon". Other options include Amazon Prime Originals available in 4K and HDR, as well as Netflix supporting some HDR content and the recent launch of YouTube HDR. Clearly the way is being paved for the content that is needed for the iPhone X's display to pay off big.
Again though, we're into "it's better than previous iPhone displays" territory, rather than it being a market leader. That still puts it in good stead, but this comment from Axon highlights the situation:
"The iPhone X I used was pre-loaded with a bunch of HDR pictures and videos. The HDR pictures looked just as good as they would on my LG HDR OLED TV at home. One photo in particular—a silhouette of a woman with her hair brightly lit by a back light, eclipse-style—looked like nothing you would see on the iPhone 7."
Apparently the bumped up resolution plays second fiddle to the "contrast ratio and precision that came with OLED and HDR"
"I was very impressed by the screen, and I am a serious image-quality enthusiast," he said, "The screen is probably going to make the iPhone X a must-buy for the most dedicated and affluent Apple users."
Again though, on the flip side of it, he added that this probably wasn't going to impress Android and Samsung users already familiar with the technology on offer.
by pbriden via Featured Articles
Posts
No comments: