AMOLED or IPS, we understand the differences. Recipes for choosing the right smartphone: which screen is better

What's the most important thing about a smartphone?

Do not rush to answer, think. I suppose that the majority of readers will still answer: “ CPU».

This is a really significant component, but not the most important one in modern realities. Even 3-year-old processors do their job cheerfully.

At all times it was display was considered one of the most important components of mobile gadgets. We constantly look at the smartphone display, and no processor will save the gadget if the image quality is poor.

Since 2010, companies have started to pay really close attention to screens in devices. There is only one leader now.

1. Where did AMOLED come from and how it was created

It all started 6 years ago: it was then that Samsung began to actively promote the outlandish AMOLED technology. At that time, it lagged behind in picture quality from IPS-matrices and did not match, say, the screen in the iPhone 4.

At that time, the lion's share of Samsung's orders were IPS-matrices for the same Apple. Koreans used their own LCD design for their mass products Pls (Plane-to-Line Switching), adopted instead of PVA. Again, all this happened without spark and enthusiasm.

A very different effort has focused on AMOLED. The Korean company demonstrated the results of work in this direction on flagship mobile devices, starting with.

Samsung Galaxy S with first commercial Super AMOLED display

Why waste time and money on technology lagging behind alternatives? There were two main reasons:

1. Lack of competitors (more on this below).
2. Huge development potential.

Samsung has managed to deliver more and more impressive results from year to year. And today AMOLED is not only in their devices - you wear it every day on your wrist. Yes, hey, Apple Watch with AMOLED display from Korea.

Today Samsung is the king of the mobile display industry. What will happen tomorrow, three years, five years from now? To answer this question, let's first plunge into the history of one large, complex innovation.

2. What is AMOLED

It stands for this: Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or an active matrix OLED. And OLED is a semiconductor device made from organic compounds that emit light when an electric current is passed.

An active matrix of thin-film transistors (TFT) is used to drive OLEDs. That is, its own transistor is responsible for the operation of each pixel.

Hard? Imagine a crowd of workers (OLEDs) led by managers (TFT matrix). There are many managers, but there are even more employees. Together, they form an effective display management system. But managers should not be confused with ordinary workers - this is because OLED and TFT are different things.

This system is very similar to LCD technology. It also uses individual pixels controlled by the TFT. But AMOLED has a number of advantages:

• Each pixel in AMOLED glows independently, while the LCD uses a general backlight. This allows in the first case to create thinner displays (no separate backlight unit) with practically infinite black level (the pixel simply does not emit light if black is what you want). In addition, the average AMOLED matrix consumes less energythan LCD, since when displaying dark images, some of the pixels do not light up, and the backlight in the LCD matrix works constantly.
• AMOLED displays a wider color gamut... On average, 32% more. The picture is richer and richer.
• Two orders of magnitude faster response time (0.01 ms versus 2 ms for the fastest TN matrices). That is, no blurring of the picture with fast moving objects on the screen.
• Full 180 ° viewing angles without color distortion and brightness reduction.

There are also disadvantages. It is to eliminate them that Samsung has worked all these years:

• Fragility of matrices - the slightest crack will lead to partial failure of the display, as well as depressurization between the layers of the screen.
• Reduced service life when working in bright colors compared to LCD. Moreover, subpixels of different colors lose brightness at different rates (blue ones degrade the fastest).
• High production cost in comparison with LCD.
• Relatively low brightness compared to other display technologies.
• Increased power consumption in bright images.

A very serious list. But almost all of it is out of touch today. Problems solved by 95%. How did all this happen?

3. Six "LED" years before AMOLED appeared in smartphones

The Korean company has not out of the blue focused on organic LEDs:

• In 2004, Samsung became the largest OLED manufacturer in the world with a 40% market share.
• In 2006, she finally consolidated her leadership position by becoming the largest owner of intellectual property in the OLED field: more 600 US patents and more 2800 international.
• In 2010 98% of the global AMOLED market is already owned by Samsung.

To date, the company still has no competitors.

It is worth noting that the Korean manufacturer has actively experimented with the use of OLED in various fields and smartphones are just one of them. So, back in 2005 year Samsung showcased the largest OLED TV ever with a 21-inch display and the highest resolution of the time, 6.22 million pixels.

In 2008 it showed the largest and at the same time the thinnest OLED TV: 31 inches with a thickness of 4.3 mm. In the same year, in May, the company introduced a 12.1-inch matrix (1280x768 pixels) for laptops, planning to start mass production by 2010. But it didn't work out.

And at the end of 2008 Samsung unveils the thinnest (0.5mm) foldable OLED display and the world's largest TV (again). This time the diagonal has grown to 40 inches, the resolution - up to 1920 × 1080 pixels (plus a contrast level of 1,000,000: 1, 107% NTSC color gamut and peak brightness up to 600 nits). It was a breakthrough that everyone wrote about.

However, it wasn't until 2010 that Samsung's AMOLED displays reached the marketplace. They were smartphones Wave S8500 and Galaxy S i9000... Since then, a very active development of Samsung mobile displays began, which surprises to this day.

4. How AMOLED was forged for smartphones

The Galaxy S used a so-called display Super AMOLED... It differed from the usual AMOLED in that the sensor layer was integrated directly into the matrix.

The problem with the first AMOLED displays was the relatively low resolution and the use of a subpixel scheme like RGBG (red-green-blue-green, PenTile).

Compared to the classic pixel structure (RGB), the one mentioned above obtained about a third lower subpixel density, which was very noticeable on small text when directly comparing LCD and AMOLED matrices with the same resolution. The latter significantly lost in clarity.

The next step was the release of the matrix Super AMOLED Plus with 50% increased subpixel density by using the RGB scheme. In addition, it became even thinner, brighter and consumed 18% less energy.

Users were able to evaluate it live in the legendary smartphone Galaxy SII... In terms of picture quality, it tore everybody, but in terms of resolution (800x480 pixels with a diagonal of 4.22 inches) it lagged behind the latest LCD matrices.

So the time has come HD Super AMOLED... The resolution was increased to 1280x720 pixels, but the company again applied the RGBG subpixel scheme. Compared to LCD competitors, there was a slightly reduced clarity, plus a number of features in terms of color display. People got acquainted with such a matrix in devices like the Galaxy S3.

PenTile in Galaxy S3

Around the same time, the company introduced a unique tablet with a 7.7-inch HD Super AMOLED Plus matrix based on the classic RGB sub-pixel scheme. For four years, it remained the only tablet with an AMOLED display.

Subpixel structure of the HD Super AMOLED Plus matrix in the Galaxy Note 2

2013 became the starting point for the development of Full HD resolution in smartphones. Samsung did not stand aside, presenting with matrices Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080 pixels).

It would seem, how can we further increase the resolution, but further Quad HD Super AMOLED (2560x1440 pixels) fell into the theme. The incredible pixel density, the highest clarity and the active development of technology by Samsung specialists have finally replaced PenTile's flaws.

The peak of modern mobile display technologies is realized in. Let's see what this peak is.

Curved on both sides 5.5-inch AMOLED display with QHD resolution (2560x1440 pixels, 534 ppi), protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and recognized as the best in the world in terms of picture quality, color reproduction, brightness, contrast. In general, on all fronts. DisplayMate has a detailed study, and we will briefly look at the most interesting points.

Compared to the previous champion, Galaxy S6, 24% increased display brightness when used in a bright ambient light - daylight, intense artificial light, etc. This is a big, noticeable difference. So, the brightness level can reach 440 nits and above, which is a peak, or even surpasses most of the best representatives from the LCD. That is, Samsung has finally solved the problem of low brightness AMOLED in comparison with LCD.

Moreover, in the automatic brightness control mode under extreme conditions for the display (bright sunlight), it produces impressive 855 nits, which is an absolute record for a mobile screen. Wherein screen reflectivity is only 4,6% , which is also one of the best indicators in the industry. This means that the display remains fully legible even in bright sunlight.

And that's not all. Samsung has implemented technology personalized automatic brightness controlwhen the device monitors how the user adjusts the parameter and adapts to his preferences.

Judging by eyewitness reviews, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge automatically adjust the brightness even better than the previous record holder - the iPhone. With other representatives of the Android fraternity, it makes no sense to even compare, everything was always sad there with auto brightness control.

Another interesting feature is Always On Display... The screen can remain active almost always, while consuming a minimum of energy, in the region of 3-5% of the total battery capacity per day. We are talking about standby mode, when the necessary stream information can be displayed on the display, such as a clock, calendar, etc.

In terms of color reproduction, Samsung's AMOLED remains ahead of the rest. In adaptive mode, this 131% sRGB color space... If you don't like bright colors, then it's easy to adjust the gamut to your taste - the Korean flagships have the richest choice in this regard. There is even a “warm tube” version, which is very close to IPS in terms of color rendition.

Samsung has implemented a subpixel layout Diamond pixelsin which the blue and red subpixels are larger than the green. The latter shines the brightest, the first two have a lower brightness. Thus, the company equalized the brightness indicators of the subpixels, but this is a trifle.

The density of the active matrix here is three times higher than that of any other displays, including LCDs with a subpixel RGB scheme. This allows you to completely eliminate the effects of the "ladder" and achieve the highest possible quality in terms of smoothness and clarity of the image.

Don't believe me? Go to any Samsung brand store, there are test samples of the Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge, and compare the picture with your smartphone. Especially in a web browser on small text.

I compared it with my own and the difference was far from favoring the latter. At the same time, I also compared it with Nexus 6 (the same resolution), but here the picture is quite sad. The AMOLED matrix in the Nexus is several generations behind. The resolution is high, but the color rendition, clarity - this is not lying around with the latest achievements of Samsung.

To keep all of this from being a marketing obscurity, just read the DisplayMate report. The guys specialize in displays, do not deal with advertising and write as is.

What we have in the end. Current competitors

At the moment, only one technology opposes AMOLED in the mobile world is LCD. In particular, matrices based on IPS (in-plane switching). The technology was developed by Hitachi and NEC in 1996 year with a big backlog for the future. After 20 years, this reserve was exhausted.

At the moment, mobile LCDs are considered the best in terms of their characteristics in and according to the same experts from. This is precisely the first place among mobile LCD displays. AMOLED is the absolute leader now.

Apple has achieved good results thanks to the use of all technologies available for IPS:

• dual domain pixels (provide increased contrast and deeper blacks);
• integrated directly into the matrix sensory layer;
• lack of air gap between the screen and the matrix;
• application of the perfect production process;
• very thin color setting.

But Samsung has tackled all AMOLED childhood illnesses. Now alternative technologies simply have nothing to offer. They hit the ceiling and need to look for something completely new, or develop the most promising, which the Koreans are actually doing.

Nevertheless, there are interesting developments in other areas too. Let's talk at the end about future.

The future of mobile display technology

More AMOLED

The display described above in the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge is unique in that it surpasses LCD technology on all fronts. The Korean company solved all technical problems and began to ramp up production. Because there are no more compromises.

There are only advantages in comparison with LCD:

• AMOLED matrices lighter and thinner;
• may be curved thanks to the use of polymer substrates;
• very flexible in terms of power supply and in most cases more economical than LCD;
• allow you to create devices with minimal bezels around the display;
• indicators of minimum and maximum brightness are much superior to those in LCD;
• wider color gamut;
• significantly less response time matrices;
• individual control of each subpixel, which in principle is impossible for LCD.

Since everything is so worthy, why isn't Apple using OLED panels? Two reasons:

1. only became finally good in the last year;
2. top display technologies Samsung did not give to the side due to the high cost of components and wishing to maintain the advantage.

But now it is time to collect the cream and introduce the technology to the masses.

The first bell rang back when it became known that Samsung intends to greatly expand the production of AMOLED displays for a large customer. Everyone thought for Apple, and recently it was in the form of rumors about OLED in the iPhone 7s.

Going forward we will see roll-up OLEDs and foldable ones. Quite possibly, due to this, the form factor of future smartphones will completely change.

P.S .: what awaits us in the future. Quantum dots

Quantum dots are a cutting-edge technology that Samsung will one day appear in smartphones of the future. The points themselves are a fragment of a conductor (crystal) with electrons limited in space in three dimensions. These dots are so small that quantum effects are observed inside them.

When an electric current is applied to a quantum dot, radiation of a certain frequency occurs. It can be influenced by adjusting the size of the dot and experimenting with its chemical composition.

What this means in practice: you can very precisely adjust the color value of the emitted color and achieve a much higher image quality than in LCD.

In 2010 the first prototypes of displays on quantum dots were created, but they used very toxic cadmium selenide, and the stability of the matrix left much to be desired (burnout after 10 thousand hours).

In 2013 researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore have created quantum dots based on an alloy of zinc, cadmium and sulfur doped with manganese. They turned out to be practically non-toxic and much more stable, and even shone in the range from green to red, while the previous development produced only orange. Since then, the active development of technology began QD-LED.

Currently, the technology has found its way into premium TVs, including from Samsung, but in the future it will clearly pave the way in other areas.

Benefits of quantum dots:

• QD-LED has a potential peak brightness of 40,000 nits, which is two orders of magnitude higher than LCD.
• Reduced power consumption by 30-50% in comparison with LCD, since no separate backlight is needed (quantum dots glow by themselves).
• Can be used in flexible and foldable displays.
• The lifespan of displays is significantly longer than that of OLEDs, as the pixels are virtually non-fading.
• The small size of quantum dots allows for incredibly high resolution compared to modern designs (important for VR).

As you can see, classic LCD technologies have reached the ceiling, but they have been replaced by two at once: the hard-hitting market AMOLED and potentially even more sophisticated QD-LED... In the first case, Samsung is ahead of the rest. What will happen in the second - we will find out in a year;)

Thanks for reading.

website How AMOLED was “forged”, what will happen next and why it is important. What's the most important thing about a smartphone? Do not rush to answer, think. I suppose that the majority of readers will still answer: "Processor". This is a really significant component, but not the most important one in modern realities. Even 3-year-old processors are doing their job cheerfully. At all times, it was the display that was considered one of ...

AMOLED - active matrix based on organic light-emitting diodes ( Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode). The essence of the technology boils down to the use of organic light-emitting diodes as a source for building a picture on the surface of an active matrix, and thin-film TFT transistors that control these LEDs.If we simplify as much as possible, then aMOLED technology is a layer cake, the bottom layer of which is an active matrix, followed by a layer of organic light-emitting diodes and a layer of control transistors. Interestingly, for each LED there is a personal transistor that, by changing the electrical potential, causes the LED to change color gamut and saturation. This principle of operation allows you to achieve high definition and contrast of the picture.

Advantages of AMOLED Displays Over LCDs

• Relative power saving, power consumption depends on the brightness of the picture, the darker the picture, the less power the AMOLED display consumes.
• Wider color gamut (32%) than Super IPS LCD.
• The matrix response rate is 0.01 ms. For comparison, a matrix manufactured using TN technology has a response rate of 2 ms.
• The viewing angles horizontally and vertically are 180 degrees, while maintaining full brightness, clarity and contrast.
• Smaller display thickness
• Maximum contrast level.

Advantages of AMOLED displays over plasma panels

• Compact size
• Low power consumption
• High brightness

Disadvantages of AMOLED displays over LCDs

• The lifespan of OLEDs decreases with frequent viewing of bright pictures, due to the fragility of one of the phosphors, in particular blue. It should be noted that the developers are constantly looking for new sources of this product, and now the blue phosphor is able to work up to 17,000 hours without loss of signal quality.
• The high cost of manufacturing AMOLED displays.
• Inverse relationship of time-brightness indicators. The average lifespan of such displays is 7-8 years.

Disadvantages of AMOLED displays over plasma displays

• AMOLED technology does not allow you to create large displays for a reasonable price.
• Color imbalance, due to the fact that each LED has its own brightness, it is necessary to create matrices with an uneven arrangement of LED subpixels to achieve color balance.
• Ultraviolet sensitivity.
• Unreliability of connections inside the screen (the slightest break or crack is enough - and the screen does not show completely).
• The slightest depressurization between the layers of the display is enough - and the display begins to fade from this point. (one or two days is enough for the display to stop showing at all).

Comparison of AMOLED and Super AMOLED technology

Super AMOLED (Super Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) Is an improved technology for the production of touchscreens based on AMOLED technology. Unlike its predecessors, the touch layer is glued to the screen itself, which allows you to get rid of the air layer in the gap between them. This improves clarity, readability in the sun, saturation of colors, and allows you to get a smaller display thickness.

• - 20% brighter than its predecessor
• - 80% less reflects sunlight
• - power consumption reduced by 20%
• - dust cannot enter the gap between the screen and the touchscreen

Super AMOLED display construction

The upper layer is a touchscreen. It is glued to the second layer - a transparent protective layer, on which the wiring is also located (Wire network for transmission of low voltage current). The wiring goes to the layer with the LEDs - they form the image. Below the LEDs is a layer of thin film transistors (TFT). Under them is a substrate, which can be made of a variety of materials, including flexible ones.

Video plot showing the difference in picture quality of displays made using various technologies, includingAMOLED and Super AMOLED.

Cross-platform frameworks provide mobile developers with a complete set of tools designed to improve productivity by solving common problems. The question is which frameworks are best for you in mobile development. To help you answer this question, we have prepared a special list of cross-platform frameworks for developing high-quality mobile applications.

Developing a mobile application using a cross-platform framework is a shorter path to the successful completion of the task.

With nearly three million apps on Google Play, the Android operating system dominates the mobile landscape. Individuals, small businesses and large enterprises are working hard to establish a strong mobile presence and capture their market share. However, not everyone has the experience and resources required to build a good mobile app from scratch using native tools.

The goal of frameworks is to make mobile app development as easy as possible.

List of cross-platform application development frameworks:

- Corona SDK;

Is it easy to build apps and games with the Corona SDK? The creators of the Corona SDK framework promise ten times faster game and mobile app development. How is this even possible? This is likely due to the fact that the internal structure of the Corona application is completely based on Lua, a lightweight multi-paradigmatic programming language with an emphasis on speed, portability, extensibility and ease of use.

The official Corona SDK website contains tutorials, tutorials, and examples designed to turn novice mobile app developers into experienced professionals. The guides and tips cover all kinds of developer topics. From the basics of mobile development to more advanced topics. The Corona SDK framework is completely free. Remember cross-platform functionality. It works on both Windows and Mac OS X and supports real-time application testing.

- TheAppBuilder;

So, the description of TheAppBuilder, a framework used by some of the largest organizations in the world, is equipped with a user interface to speed up the development of application code. It has been reported that the version works best when used to create company presentations and other information applications. The framework comes with pre-built blocks for push notifications, feedback, polls, content updates, analytics, and more. Best of all, TheAppBuilder integrates directly with Google Play, allowing you to publish finished applications with a single click.

- Xamarin;

The Xamarin framework was developed by the same people who made Mono, ECMA compliant, and there is a set of .NET Framework compliant tools. Xamarin offers developers a single C # codebase that they can use to build native apps for all major mobile operating systems.

Unlike many other frameworks, Xamarin has already been used by over 1.4 million developers around the world. With Xamarin for Visual Studio, developers can take advantage of the power of Microsoft Visual Studio and all of its advanced features, including code completion, IntelliSense, and debugging apps on a simulator or mobile device. The Xamarin Test Cloud feature allows you to instantly test applications on 2,000 real devices in the cloud (remotely, over the Internet). This is by far the best way to deal with the severe fragmentation of the Android ecosystem and release error-free mobile apps that work without any major issues on most gadgets.

- Appcelerator Titanium;

The Appcelerator Titanium framework is part of the Appcelerator Platform, which includes all the tools a mobile app developer might need to build, test, and deploy highly optimized apps. The Titanium framework uses JavaScript to call an extensive collection of APIs. These APIs call the native functions of the operating systems, providing exceptional performance and a natural look and feel.

Titanium includes a visually-oriented mobile app development workflow that relies heavily on pre-built blocks of code that can be assembled using drag and drop. You can create data models programmatically or visually. Test and track off-the-shelf mobile apps in the cloud with the Mobile Lifecycle dashboard, which provides valuable insight into app performance.

- PhoneGap;

PhoneGap by Adobe is one of the world's most popular Android app development frameworks. It was created by the Apache Cordova development team. An open source mobile app development environment that uses CSS3 and HTML5, as well as JavaScript for cross-platform development. PhoneGap is also completely open source software.

It is based on an intuitive desktop application used to create applications and connect those applications to mobile devices (phones / smartphones, tablets). Finally, there are no more obscure text commands that are easy to mistake and difficult to remember. The fantastic desktop app is complemented by the PhoneGap mobile app. The application allows you to instantly see the changes on the connected mobile device. Other things that make PhoneGap so highly recommended are its large plugin library, third party tools, and thriving community.

- Ionic;

Ionic is a free open source framework licensed under the MIT license. It offers a whole library of components and tools. Ionic allows you to develop progressive web apps and native mobile apps for every major app store - all from a single codebase. The best native plugins make it extremely easy to use features like Bluetooth and Health Kit, and fingerprint authentication is also supported.

Ionic is also designed for performance tuning and optimization. All apps built using Ionic look like they're standardized and they work equally well. At the moment, about four million applications have been created by five million Ionic developers around the world. If you would like to join them, visit the official site and learn more about this framework.

- NativeScript;

JavaScript and Angular, as well as TypeScript, are arguably the most commonly used web development technologies. With the NativeScript framework, you can also use them to build apps. In simple terms, NativeScript creates platform user interfaces from a single code base. Unlike other frameworks, NativeScript is supported by Telerik, a Bulgarian company that offers various software tools.

Looking for tutorials on building mobile apps in a cross-platform NativeScript framework? To help mobile developers familiarize themselves with this framework, there are many examples and detailed tutorials posted on the official website. You can view real-world implementations of mobile applications, study the official documentation, and even dive into the source code.

- React Native;

React Native is developed by Facebook and used by Instagram, Tesla, Airbnb, Baidu, Walmart and many other Fortune 500 companies. Facebook's React JavaScript framework is open source. Since React Native uses the same UI building blocks as regular mobile apps for iOS and Android gadgets, it is impossible to distinguish a React Native app from an app built using Objective-C or Java. As soon as you update the source code, you will immediately see the changes in the application preview window. If you ever feel the need to manually optimize certain parts of your application, React Native will allow you to combine native code with components written in Swift or Objective-C and Java.

- Sencha Touch.

Sencha Touch what is it? Like TheAppBuilder, it is an enterprise framework for building universal mobile applications. It uses hardware acceleration techniques to achieve high performance. Sencha Touch comes with five dozen built-in UI components and decent looking themes, making it easy to create stunning user-engaging apps.

The framework includes a robust data package that can consume data from any internal data source. With this package, you can create collections of data using highly functional models that offer functionality such as sorting and filtering. Sencha Touch has received praise from many influential companies and organizations.

Conclusion of the review of cross-platform frameworks for mobile application development:

Regardless of which mobile app development framework you choose, don't be afraid to change your mind if you ever feel there are better IDE options out there. Cross-platform frameworks are extremely fluid and new ones are released on a regular basis. Their goal is to help you quickly turn a rough idea into a working app and a working mobile app into a finished product. In the end, it doesn't matter if you reach your goal using the latest modern framework that everyone is talking about, or a long-established framework that is starting to collect dust.

When Chinese IT company Huawei decided to unveil its new multimedia phone surrounded by the ornate National Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, \u200b\u200bit no doubt gave hints to the journalists present (covering technology news) of what they would see. After all, the recently unveiled Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone looks a bit like a rare Picasso painting.

First review on Huawei Mate X: The foldable screen smartphone is attractive, has powerful specifications and is incredibly expensive to buy.

So what is the Huawei Mate X smartphone? The impression from the first review of Huawei Mate X can be expressed by the phrase that this smartphone is great. Even the phrase that this is a beautiful smartphone softens the review a little. Rather, he is magnificent in his own way. It has arguably the most dignified industrial design of any mobile phone that tech giants have ever produced in the past few years. The new Huawei smartphone from contemplation and deep imagination clearly pushes the boundaries of what smartphones can be. Since the size of a smartphone screen easily turns into a tablet. Thus, mobile content can be viewed in a convenient way for the situation.

Those who know all about phones might think that when asked for a unique price, the Mate X is a bit like the Picasso story in that it is a very expensive smartphone. The Mate X has raised the bar on smartphone prices. But perhaps given the specs on offer, it can justify its high price tag for those deciding which phone to buy.

Display on Huawei Mate X.

Which display is better? The Huawei Mate X has a single display that can be transformed into three different configurations. The first mode is an 8-inch tablet. It's a near-perfect square with an aspect ratio of 8: 7.1 and a resolution of 2480 by 2200 pixels.

Since the screen is on the outside of the smartphone, when the mobile is folded down, you get two screens. The front screen offers 6.6 inches edge-to-edge, complemented by a 19.5: 9 aspect ratio and a 2480 by 1148 pixel resolution.

There is also a back that offers fewer inches for the screen as it contains the device's cameras and a grip. You will primarily use this part for taking selfie photos. This part delivers a decent (but thin) screen size of 6.38 inches at a slightly compressed 25: 9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2480 by 892 dots (pixels).

How thick is the Huawei Mate X?

When folded, the Huawei Mate X mobile phone is 11 millimeters thick and, unlike the rival Samsung Galaxy Fold phone, there is no bulky gap. It is completely flat and locks in place with one click. It would be interesting to test how well it fixes when thrown into a purse, for example, and see if it can accidentally open up or not.

When unfolded, the Mate X is 5.4mm thick, slightly less than the iPad Pro!

On Huawei Mate X, the camera, the pen - everything for the user!

A quick glance at the side of the Huawei Mate X is a pen (Huawei's rather descriptive term). The device contains three mobile cameras, including one using Leica hardware. For tech news, this was not a surprise. The same configuration has appeared on all Huawei phones starting with the P20 Pro model. It would be strange if the manufacturer Huawei abandoned such a feature in such a revolutionary device.

You may notice that the phone doesn't have a dedicated front-facing selfie camera. This is because the three main cameras are selfie cameras. To take a photo of yourself, you just need to fold your phone and flip it over.

This is all pretty exciting. Huawei's premium phones are regularly ranked as the best camera phones on the market. While the company did not share camera samples during the launch event, we can admit that some people love the ability to take selfies with a high-end mobile camera, augmented by Master AI software.

And since the back of the Mate X also contains a screen, you can use your smartphone when taking photos, for example, to show the subject of the photo a preview of how it will ultimately look in the shot.

Huawei officials say the Mate X has no camera issues. This is good news, both in terms of looks and overall durability. The latter is what the company focused on with the announcement of a specially designed protective phone case.

New 5G connectivity and performance on the Mate X.

When reviewing the Mate X, it's important to remember that Huawei isn't just a phone manufacturer. It targets a variety of IT areas including SoC design. So it comes as no surprise that the Mate X uses a Balong 5G modem as well as a Huawei Kirin 980 processor.

The modem is especially interesting, as Huawei promises performance will more than double that of competing brands such as Qualcomm Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos. It is assumed that users who can afford to buy Huawei Mate X in stores will be able to use the download speed of 4.6 Gbps, for example, to download a 1 Gigabyte movie in just three seconds. Of course, right now, we could not independently verify this, so for now it remains to take our word for it.

What operating system is installed in Huawei Mate X?

In terms of software, the Mate X runs Google's Android 9.0 Pie system.

A Huawei spokesperson also said that Desktop Mode software will be available for its latest foldable phone, allowing the Mate X to be used as a smartphone, tablet, and even desktop computer.

Memory Huawei Mate X.

The Mate X is a dual SIM mobile phone with one slot supporting 5G and the other limited to 4G. If you don't need the latter function, you can simply insert an NM card (clarification, NM is a nano memory card invented by Huawei, which offers the same type of memory as a microSD memory card, but in a smaller form factor) and add an additional storage space in the mobile device. The basic version of the smartphone comes with 512 GB of memory. Even the most enthusiastic filmmakers are unlikely to use all that storage space in a mobile phone.

Battery pack for Mate X.

With such a large screen to work with, you'll be glad to know that the Huawei Mate X comes with a rather gigantic battery. The device has two cells, which together measure up to a respectable figure of 4500 mAh. Unfortunately, there are currently no battery tests available, so it is difficult to say how this affects the actual use of the new smartphone.

The Chinese company shared that the Mate X comes with a 55W super charging feature that can recharge your phone's battery up to 85 percent in just thirty minutes.

Pricing Huawei Mate X.

The Huawei Mate X is arguably the most important phone ever introduced by an up-and-coming Chinese tech brand, and not just because it solidifies its reputation as an innovative premium phone maker. This phone brings more than three years of research and development to the company and brings together advances in materials technology and communication equipment.

With that in mind, don't be surprised that the smartphone is sold at really high prices, starting at 2,299 euros. When Huawei CEO Richard Yu (English spelling of the name "Richard Yu") broke the news, the silence of the crowd that he used to enjoy was replaced by a whisper with a question. How much, how much does it cost?

Speaking of prices, this is about 300 euros more than the flagship mobile device Samsung Galaxy Fold. And this is about 800 Euros more expensive than the most expensive Apple iPhone. For the price, the Mate X is in the same range as the company's previous luxury phones, which have carried the brand of luxury car brands, namely Porsche.

Huawei has not forgotten the high cost of the Mate X, and during the call, Richard Yu said that the price of the phone reflects the high cost of research and development of a mobile device. He explained that the patented hinge that separates the two displays is a three-year development process with over a hundred different parts. This kind of research and development is not cheap and it is inevitable that there will be costs.

However, two things are inevitable. First, there will be no shortage of pioneering enthusiasts willing to save a lot to raise money for a premium phone. For these shoppers, there is an undeniable charm to be among the first to have something special. Perhaps Huawei can take advantage of the news buzz and benefit from more than cheaper phones.

Secondly, market prices will inevitably fall. Maybe not for this smartphone, but certainly for foldable smartphones in general. Generally speaking, the price of 2300 Euro for the phone will be perceived as a deviation from the norm. This will be driven by several factors, ranging from inevitable savings to competition from other up-and-coming brands such as Xiaomi and OPPO, which are steadily invading the Western smartphone market.

Availability of purchase of Huawei Mate X.

For example, Huawei did not disclose how much the device will cost in the UK, but if you guess, it might cost around £ 2,300. This assumption takes into account previous price trends, high UK sales tax and continued decline in the pound.

Also, Huawei CEO Yu did not mention any plans to release the Mate X in the United States. Which is not surprising. The company rarely makes phones in the US. So the Mate 20 Pro smartphone, which until recently was the best Android phone that could be bought for a reasonable price, was completely absent from the American market, forcing American consumers to order a smartphone from abroad. Such a situation could push prices even higher for US users, who may have to pay high customs and taxes.

When will the Huawei Mate X be available?

Huawei has announced that the Mate X will go on sale in mid-year. Unfortunately, this post was not more specific. To clarify, you just need to wait and see what the official release date of Huawei Mate X will be on sale.

Planning to buy a new premium phone? There are reasons why it's better to wait before buying a premium phone right now. What kind? Here are some of the top reasons. From premium phones in 2019, the buyer can expect: a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile chip, a new super fast 5G connectivity, a foldable screen design and a 48MP mobile camera.

All about phones and buying them: If you are planning to buy a new premium phone, wait at least one month with the purchase. And that's why:

At Mobile World Congress 2019 (also referred to as MWC 2019) in just a couple of weeks (on the twenties of February), most of the leading smartphone companies are expected to showcase their latest flagship phones with enhanced features and updated specifications.

So, the new characteristics of cell phones for this year.

Samsung will launch the Galaxy S10 multimedia phone, while HMD Global will unveil the Nokia 9 PureView five-camera phone. Phone makers Huawei, Oppo and LG will also showcase their latest mobile devices at the upcoming mobile show.

But, in 2019, buyers should consider more than just another model refresh cycle when buying a new premium phone. And the reasons for this are the unique technical characteristics in the description of the phones.

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor.

A top-end Qualcomm processor powers most premium phones, from the Samsung Galaxy S9 to the OnePlus 6T. The Snapdragon 845 processor is now history. The latest Qualocmm Snapdragon 855 chipset, based on 7nm process technology, offers better performance, better battery efficiency and built-in artificial intelligence (aka AI) processing.

Combined with the Snapdragon X50 modem, the Snapdraon 855 processor will also bring 5G mobile connectivity to premium smartphones in 2019.

Other main features of the chipset include improved gaming performance (Adreno 640 GPU), AI and higher-resolution camera, and an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

- 48 megapixel camera.

The latest premium smartphones are expected to come with a higher resolution camera. The 48MP camera is the new rage and already several phones like the Honor View20 and Redmi Note 7 have a similar feature.

While resolution is definitely not the best measurement for evaluating a camera, the built-in sensors are also vastly improved. Most of these 48MP camera phones are likely to use the Sony IMX586 sensor, called the highest resolution camera sensor for mobile phones.

Aside from better camera and sensor resolution, 2019 premium mobile phones can also come with Samsung-like quad and penta camera settings (five). In most 2018 phones, dual cameras had a primary camera, while the secondary camera ranged from ultra-wide, deep to monochrome.

The new phones are expected to be equipped with most of these sensors with three, four or five cameras.

- Fifth generation mobile communications: 5G.

The evolution of mobile networks continues! The upcoming MWC 2019 will also be the launch pad for 5G phones. Xiaomi, OnePlus, Samsung and almost all the leading players in the mobile market are expected to present their new 5G phones. Most of these phones will also hit the European and US markets later this year. Some Apple fans already want to buy the iPhone 5G. For other countries, the rollout of 5G networks may be delayed by at least one year. But investing in a 5G phone right now won't be a bad idea.

- Foldable mobile phone.

Foldable phones are no longer a concept, screen folding is already part of the characteristics of mobile phones. Korean company Samsung unveiled its first foldable phone late last year. She is expected to unveil a commercial version of the phone at her event on February 20, ahead of the MWC 2019 mobile show.

It's likely that Samsung is betting heavily on the new form factor as it plans to launch at least one million foldable phones this year. Given that Russia is one of the priority markets, you can expect foldable phones to be released as well. Apart from Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have plans to release foldable phones this year.

- Artificial intelligence in phones, plus do not forget about machine learning.

Google last year introduced the Android 9 Pie operating system. Android Pie features such as responsive display and adaptive brightness are at the core of machine learning to help improve the user experience of Android phones. Going forward, artificial intelligence and machine learning will become an important part of updates for the Google Android platform. It might be worth making sure that your new phone is compatible not only with Android 9 Pie, but also with the Android Q receiver.

Beyond Google, phone companies like Xiaomi and Asus are embedding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) right into system apps. The camera on premium phones, for example, uses AI and ML to automatically recognize scenes and automatically optimize settings. Most mobile phones in 2019 will be equipped with cameras with advanced artificial intelligence features.

The only thing that remains a dream when buying is when the best mobile phones will have a full 3D phone feature.

News added:

1) Samsung has released the latest version of the Galaxy S10, and people believe the iPhone may give up its position as the king of smartphones.

The latest flagship smartphone Samsung Galaxy S10 was launched by the company on February 20. Samsung introduced a lot of new products on this day. The audience was really interested in the demonstrated new phone. So much so that they say the Apple iPhone has a serious alternative. With the latest Galaxy S10, Samsung surprised and shocked fans, in a good way.

2) The attractive, powerful and incredibly expensive 5G foldable phone Huawei Mate X.

Following the announcement of the first foldable smartphone Samsung Galaxy Fold, the Chinese company Huawei is betting on the foldable screen form factor and announces the release of the Huawei Mate X, which still works with 5G connectivity. The developer Huawei takes a completely different approach compared to Samsung, namely, placing the folding smartphone display on the outside, and not on the inside, and this solution has a number of pros and cons when describing the new generation phones. The Huawei Mate X starts at 2299 Euros.

3) Will the Apple iPhone be foldable?

Some analysts believe a foldable iPhone may be in development at the Cupertino-based company. Then, if Apple's new smartphone comes with a foldable screen, it has a chance to become the best among the already released foldable smartphones Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X.

Moom from the developers of Many Tricks has been bringing order to the chaos since 2011, making managing windows in the operating system as easy as clicking a mouse or using a keyboard shortcut. With Moom, you can easily move and scale windows to half-screen, quarter-screen, or fill the screen; set custom sizes and positions, and save layouts of open windows for one-click positioning. Once you've tried Moom, you'll be surprised how you've used your Mac before without it.

Software Review: Moom is a program for moving and resizing windows in the Mac OS system.

So, Moom lets you move and scale windows - using your mouse or keyboard - in predefined locations and sizes, or in full screen mode. When using the program with your mouse, all you have to do is hover over the green resize button and the Moom interface will appear. When you use the keyboard, click on the shortcut you defined and the Moom keyboard frame will appear, then you can move the windows with the arrow keys and modifier keys.

Moom can be run as a traditional app, as a menu bar app, or as a completely faceless background app.

Popup location.

Hover over the green button of any window and the Moom Palette pop-up appears.

Quickly fill the screen, or move and resize vertically, or horizontally at the edges of the screen. Want quarter-size windows instead? Option-hold down the palette presents four quarter-size corner options along with a "center-to-center" option.

Resizing is not a problem.

It's actually drag and drop using Moom's unique on-screen resizing grid.

Click in an empty box below the pop-up palette, move your mouse to where you want to position the window, then click and drag its new dimensions.

Let go of the mouse button and the window will fill in the path you drew on the screen, it's a snap.

Want to quickly move and scale windows in specific areas of the screen? Just turn on the Moom snap edge and corner feature.

Take a window, drag it to an edge or corner, and release the mouse button. You can set the resize action for each location in Moom settings.

Set the window set to the size and location you want, then save the layout. Rebuild the layout using the assigned hotkey or via the Moom menu.

This feature is especially useful if you are using a laptop with an external display, Moom can launch saved layouts when you add or remove displays.

No mouse required.

Don't worry, keyboard users. Moom isn't just for those who prefer to use a mouse. Turn on keyboard controls and you can move, resize, center, use the screen grid and more - all without touching your mouse.

Also, every custom Moom command, keep reading, can be assigned a global keyboard shortcut or one that only works when the keyboard controller is on screen.

Countless custom commands.

Create and save frequently used Moom actions in a custom command menu, with additional delimiters and labels.

Moving, scaling, resizing, centering, even moving to other displays can all be done with custom commands. You can even create a series of commands attached to a single shortcut, simplifying complex move and resize operations.

But wait, that's not all about moving and resizing windows on Mac OS using Moom.

Use Moom as a regular Dock-based app, as a menu bar icon, or as a completely invisible background app.

Custom commands are accessed through the Moom menu bar icon, the green button pop-up palette, or keyboard shortcuts.

Use a small hexagonal grid to resize the grid instead of the full screen virtual grid.

Move windows across displays, and use related commands to scale them to new sizes and locations as you move.

You can display a keyboard cheat sheet that shows which tasks you assigned to which keys in keyboard mode.

Resizing windows to precise sizes, ideal for testing how well windows fit into windows of different sizes.

The developers of Moom have made an effort to achieve these goals, where great software must do its job efficiently, have a clean interface, and be pleasant to use.

Summary:

Moom is a Mac OS application developed by Many Tricks that allows you to quickly arrange, resize, move, scale, and shape windows so that you spend as little time as possible placing windows and more time working with them.

System requirements for Moom:

The program requires macOS 10.8 "Mountain Lion" or later to be installed on your computer. You can try Moom for free.

Trying to download and choose the best file manager for Windows? There is good news, this is a portable program XYplorer, it is just a file manager for Windows and has such features as tabbed browsing, powerful file search (like explorer, alternative), universal preview, customizable interface, optional dual panel and large set unique ways to effectively automate repetitive tasks. This file manager for Windows computers is fast, innovative, lightweight and portable, according to the developer Cologne Code Company. Read on for an overview of the XYplorer program!

What is a file manager for Windows today.

Learn more about the functionality of the XYplorer file manager. So, there is an export of extended information about files of entire directories (or even directory trees) into files of text format CSV. Automatic column width adjustment. Customizable display formats for file size and date information. The used (real) disk space is immediately displayed for each file and folder. Remembers the last folder and sort order. Browser-like history functionality. Favorite folders can be assigned. A large set of useful commands added to the standard file context menu, including Copy to, Move to, Copy file name with path, Copy file properties, Rename multiple files. Extract icons, multi-file timestamp, and attributed. Instant display of complete file / version information for each selected file. Instant preview of images, audio and video files (display detailed media information). Instantly view file contents for all files (ASCII and binary), including extracting text from binaries (fast enough). Full support for Drag and Drop and mouse wheel.

XYplorer what is it for the user

XYplorer as a two-pane file manager for Windows was built for heavy work. The program is easy to install and easy to uninstall. Installing and running the program does not change your system or registry. Ease of use in that you can get started in no time (the interface is fully compliant with the file manager standards). The program is small, fast and convenient for the computer's RAM.

Portability:

XYplorer is a portable file manager. That is, it does not require any installation in the computer's operating system, it stores all configuration data in the program data folder, and its launch does not change your system or registry. Take it with you and you can run the program from a USB flash drive. Then file management is in your hands.

Working with tabs:

The tabs in the file manager make it easy to switch between folders. Drag them, hide them, lock them, name them, or put files on them. Tabs remember their configuration individually and by session. In addition, the user gets tabs and a double pane.

Functionality:

XYplorer was designed to make the user experience faster, according to the developer. Indeed, numerous usability improvements in an attractive interface help streamline your workflow and improve efficiency. Under these conditions, you can save a lot of time when working with files in Windows.

File manager scripts for many tasks:

Yes, you can program this program. Individual solutions for individual tasks. No plugins required, scripts run from the program folder. Even beginners can benefit from this feature, as many ready-to-use scripts are available on the official file manager forum.

The speed of the program:

Speed \u200b\u200bhas always been the main goal of XYplorer software development. Code is constantly optimized for performance, zero tolerance for slowness. In addition, the file manager uses very little RAM in Windows, the executable file is small (only 7 MB) and is loaded on the system almost instantly.

Reliability:

Can I trust the XYplorer file manager. One thing is clear that the program works as intended by the developer and is expected to work, it seems very difficult to put it into a state of failure. In addition, the developer states that any problems with the program are immediately resolved and usually resolved within a few hours. It is worth adding that a large community is closely following the development of the file manager and is constantly testing the frequently released beta versions.

Customizable software:

You can customize the file manager to look and behave the way you want it to. Customization ranges from fonts and colors to customizable toolbar buttons and even file icons and program associations. And every part of XYplorer file manager is completely portable. Even dark mode.

Responsiveness of the XYplorer developer:

System requirements for the program:

Since XYplorer is a portable file manager. File management does not require installing or modifying your operating system or registry. You can take the program with you and just run the file manager from the USB stick along with your personal configuration.

XYplorer program works under 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft operating systems:

Windows Server 2003;
- Windows XP;
- Windows Vista;
- Windows Server 2008;
- Windows 7;
- Windows Server 2012;
- Windows 8;
- Windows 8.1;
- Windows Server 2016;
- Windows 10.

You can try the file manager for free, but remember that the demo version of XYplorer is fully functional only for 30 days after installation on your computer!

Fast Internet Video Downloader for Mac: Downie will save video content one time or according to a list and a customizable alarm clock.

Internet Video Downloader - Downie is currently supported by over 1,000 different sites (including Facebook, Vimeo, Legendary YouTube, Lynda, Youku, Daily Haha, MTV, iView, South Park Studios, Bloomberg, Kickstarter, NBC News, CollegeHumor , MetaCafe, as well as Bilibili and other video sites). Plus, the list of sites from which the program can download videos is growing rapidly.

Downie features:

Support for downloading 4K YouTube videos - Unlike many other YouTube video downloader programs, Downie supports HD YouTube videos up to 4K.

Frequent updates - no need to wait long for new sites to be added from where you can download videos or fix bugs. Downie is updated about once a week with new features, supported sites, and more.

International approach - Downie downloader supports not only specific sites created for a specific country, the program is also localized into different languages. If your language is not in the list of supported languages, just contact the developer Charlie Monroe Software and discuss this issue.

New Features in Downie:

Program UI Redesign - The bootloader UI has been redesigned from scratch. According to the developer's statement, the interface has become faster, more convenient and visually pleasing.

Menu bar icon - you can manage downloads from the menu bar, without having to be distracted from the current work.

Improved HLS support - As the program developer claims, HLS streams load four times faster.

DASH support - DASH streams are now supported.

Major Post-Processing Improvements - Some uploads may only take a few seconds to post-process instead of minutes thanks to Downie, a shortcut to analyzing video before converting it.

Simple Mode - If you prefer to keep your user interface as simple as possible, there is a Simple Mode for you.

Grouping video files according to the site from which they downloaded and the playlist - all downloads can now be sorted by folders depending on where you downloaded them from or from which playlist they are.

Delayed queue start is a function of scheduling downloads for the required time (for example, you can schedule a video download for the middle of the night) so as not to overload the Internet channel for the whole family.

Support for user-controlled pop-ups - the program now additionally supports pop-ups, so you can enter sites that open the login in a separate window.

Simple tips for using Downie:

If you have a large list of links or a lot of links within some text, just drag and drop it all onto Downie - the downloader will scan the text for links with video content.

You can also use copy and paste - just press Command-O in Downie and you can paste a lot of links.

Fast user support:

The developer of the video downloader responds to emails usually within 24 hours and quite often adds support for the requested sites to the program in the next update.

A few words from the developer of the program:

Charlie Monroe, CEO, Developer & User Support:

"My goal is to deliver the best apps and provide the best possible support."

Downie Compatibility:

Anyone who has thought about what to download Downie program for Mac. Please be aware that a computer with macOS 10.11 or later is required to use the program.

Breaking software news: VideoSolo DVD Creator for converting and recording video, with wide functionality for the user.

So, with the help of VideoSolo DVD Creator, burn almost any video to DVD and even Blu-ray discs easily and quickly, with excellent flexibility of settings (you can burn video, edit video, add audio, edit DVD menu).

It is possible to download online videos to burn DVD or Blu-ray discs.

You need to solve the problem of how to download videos from sites online? For example, from sites like YouTube, Facebook, MTV, Vimeo, Yahoo, Dailymotion, TED, Vevo, Niconico, AOL, Worldstar Hip Hop, Youku, CBS, ESPN and others. With this program, home movies or videos, after downloading from an online site, can still be burned to DVD or Blu-ray.

The program allows you, in a few simple steps, to download 3D videos, high definition videos (4K, 1080p and 720p resolutions) and music for any player.

Styling your DVD with a suitable menu.

The flexible VideoSolo DVD Creator offers a variety of incredible templates to edit your DVD menu for you. Design themes already available such as holiday, family, wedding and more. After choosing a menu template you like, you can edit the DVD menu text and define its font, size, color. DVD menu creation is quite convenient.

What's more, you can separately set the background music, background picture and opening movie with your music, picture and video file.

Setting up DVD subtitles and audio tracks.

Need to modify or create subtitles or audio tracks on your DVD? DVD Creator allows user to customize subtitle and audio track. That is, you can add subtitles and audio tracks to your DVD manually. Supported subtitle file formats SSA, SRT, and ASS.

For audio files, this program supports almost all popular audio formats, so it is easy to import them into the program. With DVD Creator, you can edit audio volume and adjust subtitle position to get a personalized DVD file.

Video editing and live preview.

This DVD burning tool is designed with powerful video editing function that allows professionals and novices to create professional looking DVDs. Which allows you to adjust video effects such as brightness, saturation, hue, volume and contrast.

VideoSolo DVD Creator also supports the ability to crop video length, cut video, change aspect ratio, set position and transparency, and add watermark from text or image to video.

The user of the DVD Creator software can watch the DVD video at a convenient moment before burning to make sure everything is created as it should.

Video review of VideoSolo DVD Creator: User's Guide.

Two things prompted me to create this article: numerous speculations by marketers and specialized journalists on the topic of screens; and a bunch of absolutely identical comment threads under smartphone reviews with absolutely identical discussions about which matrices are better. Usually, the hottest is under the reviews of Chinese OLED phones. I'm tired of fighting windmills, communicating with each reader individually, in this article I decided to dot the i's and dispel numerous myths about modern screens, looking ahead to say that the emphasis will be on the opposition of IPS and AMOLED matrices. Most likely, most of you will not see anything new in what you have written, you will not receive sacred knowledge here, as well as tearing off the veils. I will tell you about the obvious things that neither bloggers nor journalists want to talk about. The guide is designed for adequate thinking people, convinced fanatics can go about their business.

Definition of the term "screen"

Before getting to the point, you need to define the term screen and clarify its functionality. Wikipedia tells us that a screen or display is an electronic device designed to display information visually. If we try to give a less concise and more modern definition of a screen in terms of functional purpose and with an emphasis on consumer properties, it will turn out something like this: a screen is a device whose task is to display all kinds of content and user interface of operating systems and applications as accurately and in detail as possible. as the authors intended. The physical resolution is responsible for the “maximum detail”, otherwise: the number of the smallest screen elements (picture's elements) or just pixels (pixels), the higher the resolution the better, ideally it should be infinitely large. For “as accurate as possible” such parameters as: color accuracy and contrast or the ratio of the lightest and darkest point on the screen are responsible. Secondary parameters that do not directly affect either the accuracy or the detail of the information display, but affect the consumer properties of the screen, include: maximum brightness, picture distortion when looking away from the perpendicular, reflection coefficient, picture refresh rate, response time, energy efficiency and some others ... Standing apart is such a parameter as color gamut - the most important parameter for professional monitors and practically meaningless for devices intended for content consumption. But it is the color gamut that has been the subject of much speculation on the part of mobile gadget manufacturers in recent years. Let's clear up this muddy topic before moving on.

What is color gamut and why is it the subject of much speculation

To begin with, any image is encoded when captured and saved to the memory of a photo or video camera. Artificially created pictures and clips, as well as parts of the graphical user interface of operating systems and applications, are encoded in a similar way initially. In both cases, color information is presented using a color model - a special mathematical tool for describing color using numbers or, to be precise, coordinates. The most common is a three-dimensional RGB model, in which each color is described by a set of three coordinates responsible for one of the colors: red, green and blue, the displayed hue depends on the brightness ratio of each component. Modern screens are capable of displaying only a part of the spectrum of colors and shades visible to humans, color gamut literally means how large this “part” is. Due to this limitation, a person is forced to create standards for representing the color spectrum, starting from the capabilities of existing screens. So in 1996, in order to unify the use of the RGB model in monitors and printing, HP and Microsoft developed the sRGB standard, which used the primary colors described by the BT.709 standard that was widespread on television and gamma correction designed for monitors with a cathode ray tube. It is important to understand that such unification allows, albeit with some caveats, to ensure that the creator and the consumer of content will see approximately the same thing on their screens. Subsequently, the sRGB standard became widespread in all areas of content production, including in the field of creating Internet sites. Of course, there are other standards for representing the color spectrum, for example Adobe RGB, the color gamut of which is much wider, but today the vast majority of content is encoded in accordance with sRGB.

What happens if sRGB content is viewed on a wider gamut screen without adaptation? The sRGB space coordinates will be transferred to the color space coordinate system of such a screen, as a result of which the colors will appear more saturated than they actually are, in some cases the shades will be distorted so much that orange turns red, lime green, and cyan blue. Conversely, if content with a wider color gamut is viewed on an sRGB screen, shifting the coordinates will cause colors to appear less saturated than they should be.

We all know that the screens of most modern flagship smartphones have an extended color gamut relative to sRGB, how does this affect their consumer properties? If this is an android smartphone or tablet, then there are three options. In the best case, the shell settings will have preset color profiles, among which there is one that brings the space to the sRGB standard, an example is MIUI or the shell from Samsung. But, even in this case, the application of profiles “on the fly” is not possible, and the user will have to choose between an extended color gamut and correct color reproduction. The second option is when the system does not have built-in profiles, but in the developer settings you can activate the sRGB mode, for example, this can be done on Google Pixel and OnePlus 3T smartphones. Unfortunately, the operating system's graphical interface becomes faded when sRGB mode is activated, as it is encoded according to the color gamut of their screens. In the third worst case, the user will not find any profiles in the system and will not receive any choice, respectively, he will only have to enjoy oversaturated colors. But in personal computers on Windows and MacOS there is no such problem, since both systems not only support color profiles, but can also “on the fly” convert colors from one space to another, that is, regardless of what content and on what screen will be displayed, the user with some reservations will see the colors as the author intended. IOS has a similar color profile management system. Manufacturers, whether for the sake of beautiful numbers on the specifications page, or just for the sake of it, continue to install screens with extended color gamut in the flagship models of IPS and OLED, despite the fact that there is no need for this, since 99% of the content complies with the sRGB standard and the situation is unlikely to change radically in the near future. There are simply no tasks that such screens can perform in devices created for the consumption of content. All of this would make some sense if Google added color profile management to Android, as Apple did, but at least in 2017 we won't see it. The irony is that the problem was created from scratch, and no one is in a hurry to solve it.

Liquid crystal screen: working principle; Advantages and disadvantages

Twenty years ago, screens based on a cathode-ray tube were installed in most monitors and televisions, soon they were replaced by liquid crystal screens or LCD (liquid crystal display), which over time received several branches of development and today there are three technologies for the production of liquid crystal matrices screens: TN, MVA and IPS, the latter, due to a successful combination of advantages and disadvantages, has become dominant in the segment of mobile technology. The principle of LCD operation is simple, depending on the production technology, some details may differ, but a typical matrix includes a backlight lamp and six other layers. First behind the lamp is a vertical filter that polarizes the light accordingly. It is followed by two layers of electrodes with a layer of liquid crystals located between them, the voltage applied to the electrodes orientates the crystals and they refract the light so that it passes or does not pass through the next layer - a horizontal polarizing filter. The last is the color filter - red, green or blue. Liquid crystal screens are lighter, more compact and more energy efficient than their predecessors, but they also have a number of serious drawbacks, in particular, low contrast and black depth, even limited color gamut potential, which depends on the imperfection of backlight lamps. In addition, brightness and contrast performance may deteriorate if the screen is not viewed at a right angle.

OLED screen: advantages, disadvantages, PWM, Pentile

Relatively recently, LCD has a serious competitor - these are active matrix OLED screens or AMOLEDs. Such screens are fundamentally different from LCDs in that the light source in them is not a backlight, but each subpixel separately, which gives AMOLED many advantages over liquid crystal screens, the main ones of which are: almost infinite contrast; less power consumption when displaying images with a predominance of dark tones; potentially wider color gamut; and smaller dimensions. The first AMOLED screens, apart from their advantages, had significant disadvantages, including: inaccurate color rendering; fast burning out of LEDs; high power consumption when displaying images with a predominance of light tones; flickering due to pulse width modulation; and most importantly the high cost of production. Over time, most of the shortcomings were overcome or minimized, except for PWM, which is still the Achilles heel of technology. Pulse Width Modulation or PWM is one way to adjust the brightness of LEDs, the side effect of which is that the screen flickers at some frequency. Most people are not susceptible to this kind of flickering, but for some users, PWM can cause rapid eye fatigue and even headaches. It is important to note that the flickering effect is completely absent at brightness values \u200b\u200bclose to maximum and begins to manifest itself at a brightness level of 80% and below.

It is impossible to ignore the topic with the organization of subpixels in OLED screens, the fact is that most AMOLED matrices have RGBG subpixels, when a pixel does not consist of three subpixels like a typical LCD screen, but of four: red, blue and two green, this scheme is also called Pentile. The manufacturer (Samsung) considers the physical resolution of such screens by the number of green subpixels, red and blue subpixels in the matrix to be exactly two times less. Obviously, you need at least three full subpixels to get a hue. Thus, the effective resolution of such screens is not equal to the nominal resolution specified in the official specification. For example, for a QHD screen, the nominal resolution is 2560 * 1440 pixels, the resolution based on the number of red and blue subpixels will be approximately 1811 * 1018:

The effective resolution of such a matrix, taking into account the clever interpolation algorithms embedded in the screen controller, is somewhere between 1811 * 1018 and 2560 * 1440, we can assume that it corresponds to the FullHD resolution in RGB matrices. It may very well be that it is for such a match that Samsung has chosen QHD resolution for its flagship smartphones for many years in a row.

Detailed comparison of IPS and AMOLED on the example of the screens of smartphones iPhone 7 and Galaxy S8

Now after we have learned all about the characteristics of screens and the features of different types of matrices, we can move on to the main question: which technology is better? I am sure that it is correct to try to answer this question by comparing the best AMOLED and IPS matrices available today, namely the screens of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple iPhone 7 smartphones. Since I have not yet acquired test equipment, I will analyze the test results taken from an authoritative resource. Let's start with the resolution, the Galaxy S8 screen has 2960 * 1440 pixels, the guaranteed effective resolution will be 2094 * 1018, and the guaranteed effective pixel density is 403 per inch. The iPhone 7 Plus has a nominal effective resolution of 1920 * 1080, and an effective pixel density of 401 per inch. There is an obvious preponderance in favor of the screen from the Korean vendor. The resolution of both screens is enough for everyday use and not enough for comfortable operation with virtual reality helmets. Moving on to accuracy, the Galaxy S8's contrast ratio is nearly infinite. The iPhone 7 has a declared contrast ratio of 1400: 1, the actual one is slightly higher - 1700: 1, this contrast is more than enough for comfortable viewing of content. It turns out that the screen of the Galaxy S8 is ahead in this parameter as well. In terms of color accuracy, both smartphones showed virtually the same results, color errors in the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 can be safely ignored. You can see the most important secondary characteristics in my opinion below:

Parameter	Samsung Galaxy S8	Apple iPhone 7
Effective resolution, more is better	2094*1018	1920 * 1080 (iPhone 7 Plus)
Effective pixel density per square inch, more is better	403	401 (iPhone 7 Plus)
Contrast, more is better	endless	1400:1
SRGB / Rec. 709 JNCD average color error, very good if less than 3.5	2,3	1,1
Maximum brightness, more is better	1020 nits	705 nits
Minimum brightness, less is better	2 nits	3 nits
Ambient light reflectance, less is better	4,5%	4,4%
White point D65 6500K standard	6520 K	6806 K (colder)
The drop in brightness with a deviation of the gaze at 30 °, better when less than 50%	29%	54% portrait mode; 55% landscape mode.
Contrast at 30 ° deflection, more is better	endless	980: 1 portrait mode; 956: 1 landscape mode.
Maximum power consumption, less is better	1.75 watts at 420 nits per 13.1 in² white fill	1.08 watts at 602 nits at 9.4 in²

As for the color gamut, then the iPhone 7 is ahead, since it can display the colors of the DCI-P3 space or 126% of the sRGB field, while the user does not need to sacrifice color reproduction, the content is displayed based on the color profile embedded in it. The Galaxy S8's screen has an even wider color gamut - about 142% of the sRGB field, but does not have a color profile management, driving the user into a corner, that is, in Basic mode, which corresponds to 100% of the sRGB field.

So what's the bottom line? If we consider screen technologies in isolation from the final product, then AMOLED today surpasses IPS in almost everything, although it still has problems with PWM and high power consumption. Without any doubt, OLEDs are the future. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Android, their potential has not yet been fully revealed. When comparing ready-made solutions in the face of Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7, it is obvious that the latter is slightly superior due to the honest DCI-P3 and other reference parameters. I want to warn you against projecting the results of the above comparison on absolutely all IPS and AMOLED screens. There are a lot of good, average and bad matrices on the market, and in each case you need to understand separately. In this we will be helped by Internet publications focused on technical detail and reliability, to such publications I would include the already mentioned anandtech.com and some other sites from Russian-language sites - ixbt.com.

Perhaps you shouldn't take the consumer properties of screens too seriously, because objective information is almost always superimposed on the factor of subjective perception. For example, in Southeast Asia there are a lot of people who like unnatural oversaturated colors, in our country there are also many such people. On the other hand, broadcasting information poured into the ears of marketers in numerous discussions under reviews on YouTube is at least strange. In the end, I'll be Cap and give you a couple of banal advice: don't stop thinking and be critical of any information you get from brand representatives and the media, be able to analyze data and check facts, or just read resources and watch bloggers you can trust.

You can often hear the question, what is the difference between oleophobic and liquid crystal displays? They are AMOLED and IPS. This question is important, since more than 90 percent of the smartphone and tablet market is focused on these two types of displays. So you have to answer.

It's worth starting with the fact that AMOLED is also Super AMOLED. And IPS can also be referred to as LCD. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Without going deep into the technological jungle, we will try to explain in our own words.

It should be noted right away that all major manufacturers prefer either one type of display or another. This is due not so much to the price (and IPS is cheaper than AMOLED), but to the patents of technologies, using which companies pay royalties to patent holders. Moreover, two seemingly AMOLED smartphones, placed side by side, can produce a picture of different quality. And this is due to the fact that technologies have been patented for slightly different indicators. That is, patent holders are different organizations in order to avoid monopolies.

If we talk about the difference between AMOLED and IPS LCD in a broad sense, then the differences between the two technologies have changed over the years and will continue to change as updates appear. So stay tuned for the latest updates from major manufacturers.

And now the specifics.

AMOLED

AMOLED technology is an active matrix based on organic light-emitting diodes. Nowadays, we often see her in a new guise - Super AMOLED. With these displays, individual pixels are lit separately. This is called the active matrix. And they light up on the top of the thin-film transistor (TFT). When an entire array goes through electrical organic compounds, it is called OLED. But some companies are cunning and do not miss the entire array, leaving an unfinished version of the display, which is called TFT. It is cheaper than AMOLED as it has an unfinished cycle. Or, more simply, this is half of the whole process. But in any case, the full or incomplete cycle of this technology shows the picture better than IPS LCD. But not in all regions. Assembly is different from assembly. So we can only talk about the picture as a whole.

At the heart of its technology, OLED uses anodes and cathodes to stream electrons through a very thin film. In this case, the brightness is determined by the strength of the electron current. And the color is controlled by tiny red, green and blue LEDs built into the display. The best way to understand the process is to think of each pixel as an independent light bulb with three colors to choose from.

Colors tend to be brighter with AMOLED and Super AMOLED, and blacks appear darker due to the part of the screen that can be effectively turned off. When the light is off, it gives a "pure" black color. When all three colors are lit, it gives a "pure" white color. So the contrast is better, the colors look brighter, richer. Just because each element works separately. Each pixel in this case is an independent nature.

And nowhere is it said that the saturated colors of the display must necessarily destroy the battery charge faster. Rather, battery performance is dependent on efficient processor performance. So AMOLED may be more power hungry than IPS LCD.

Another thing is that AMOLED burns out faster. And this has nothing to do with sun exposure. It's just that in this case, the display works at full power, which leads to more intensive wear. So pixel quality degrades over time. But they are actively working on solving this problem.

It is also often noticeable that upon closer inspection of a smartphone or tablet based on this technology, the user seems to see all the pixels separately. Only in this case it is necessary to look at the screen at a distance of less than 5 cm, which, of course, spoils vision. So these experiences have no actual application in life. The average user holds a tablet or smartphone about 30cm away from their face.

Samsung is a big fan of Super AMOLED displays and is actively supplying its devices with the latest technology in this area. This also applies to white balance and sharper black tones. So the latest devices from the Korean manufacturer have a stunningly rich picture and are not afraid of the sun. Wide viewing angle and long pixel life are included.

The key difference between Super AMOLED and standard AMOLED technology (which is often used by companies that are trying to save money, such as Motorola) is that Super AMOLED has reduced the thickness of the protective film over the sensors by an order of magnitude, which manifests itself in a more saturated color under the same conditions. security.

Plus, Super AMOLED also offers better battery life, although again, manufacturers are working hard to minimize the difference between technologies.

IPS LCD

In the other corner of the ring, we have an IPS LCD, which stands for In-Plane Switching LCD. If Super AMOLED is like an upgrade from AMOLED, then IPS LCD is an improvement on the first types of liquid crystal displays. The mighty Apple has become obsessed with these types of displays, releasing all iPhones over the years using the same technology. It's cheaper to manufacture, which is a bonus. But iPhones have never been cheap. So?

Essentially, LCD uses polarized light, which is then passed through a color filter. No separate items. Horizontal and vertical filters on either side of the liquid crystal control brightness and work regardless of whether each pixel is on or off. We add backlighting here and we see that usually phones with this technology have a rather thick case. IPhones from Applehere is rather an exception.

Since all pixels are backlit, the black balance is backlit, "gray". This is where the contrast suffers. But the white color does not care - it loves many colors, so white looks more beautiful than all other tones on this technology and sometimes even better than an oleophobic display, since it becomes a little yellowish there. The most interesting thing is that Apple calls one of its colors, offered for phones, dark gray. Although it is black. Just blown out. Because it cannot otherwise. But against the background of the same color of the case, it is not so noticeable. Mimicry makes the eyes deceive. It seems to us that we see black, because the brain matches it with the color of the body. A tricky commercial move.

The first bad thing about this technology is that the viewing angles are often not very good. This is again the backlight's fault. Photographers tend to choose IPS LCDs as they show colors more accurately. After all, photographs are often taken in excellent artificial or natural lighting, hence the prevalence of white over black. And when we see black and gray night photographs, we can blame the bad flash. Only the flash has nothing to do with it. This is the same "dark gray" black.

Output

There is no winner when it comes to AMOLED vs IPS LCD, but there are conventions to consider. Therefore, the quality of the screen primarily comes down to which manufacturer applies the reference technology. It should be borne in mind that many color rendering problems - from washed-out blacks to white spots - can be removed using digital processing, which is what advanced processors are actively doing before giving us the final picture. Of course, this affects battery performance. So the company Htc, which relied heavily on the digital processing of its advanced cameras by the processor, suffered severe overheating of the chips. The IPS display type played a cruel joke with the Taiwanese manufacturer.

In any case, both technologies have disadvantages. So it's nice to have something new, a third one, which will bring the advantages of both technologies together to the delight of a satisfied consumer.