Which screen has the best color accuracy? Which has the deepest blacks and highest contrast? How about brightness, what will utilize your Flashlight app the best? PC Magazine is running an article comparing various aspects of the screens on the Nexus One, Droid and iPhone as well as the ClIQ. They didn’t just do an un-calibrated eye test, they actually sought help from Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Labs and used the Konica Minolta CS-200 Chromameter for scientific results.
Moto Labs recently did an independent study of the accuracy of several smart-phone touch screens and the results were less than favorable for Android phones, especially for the Motorola Droid. This study tested how accurately the touch screen on each phone could track your finger running diagonally along the screen. Little stair steps are bad.
Moto Labs Touch Screen Accuracy Test
Well, PC Magazine started thinking, “What about the rest of the specs of a screen?”
Color Accuracy
The Motorola Droid provides the most accurate colors. It represented 98% of the standard color gamut, as opposed to the iPhone’s 63%. The Nexus One showed 141% of the standard gamut, which means colors end up looking punchy and over saturated rather than realistic. The CLIQ came very close to the Droid, at 103%.
From what I understand hitting 100% is the best, and higher does not mean better. The CLIQ and Droid come in close to the same results. While the iPhone and N1 are way off. I wonder if any of this can be fixed via a software update.
Black Levels and Contrast
The Google Nexus One has the deepest blacks and best contrast. Because of its AMOLED screen, blacks are very close to true black. On the Droid, “black” still emitted 0.26 candelas per square meter, and the CLIQ had a statistically similar 0.21 candelas per square meter of output; the iPhone’s washed-out blacks emit 2.5 candelas per square meter.
Wow, that’s a fairly large difference between the Android phones and the iPhone. I have read other reviews of the Nexus One stating it’s AMOLED screen just kills in the contrast department, but also the OLED technology is horrible in sunlight and almost unusable. But, I have found most screens to be that way for me. I have had several touch screen devices that become unreadable in sunlight and they weren’t OLED.
Screen Brightness
On the other hand, the iPhone‘s screen is really bright, which makes it easier to read outdoors. It emitted 444 candelas per square meter when displaying white, as opposed to the Droid’s 391, the Nexus One’s 229 and the Cliq’s 224.
What I read in this last one, is your Flashlight Apps work best on iPhone. Also, it helps with that outdoor readability as mentioned, and shows why the Nexus One performs so poorly.
Well, what does all this mean to you, the user? Use it to your advantage. Do you use your cell phone outdoors most the time? You might want to stay away from the N1 and CLIQ. Want a nice contrast for long term reading and less eye fatigue? Try the Nexus One.
