You might have heard of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Red Screen issue. Many are now claiming that it is a defect that requires a recall, like that of the Galaxy Note7. But we will show you why this is just a software issue, not a hardware defect.
The Galaxy S8 Red Screen Defect?
While most of the world eagerly await their pre-ordered Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, they have already shipped to Samsung fans in the United States and South Korea. However, some early users in South Korea claim that their Galaxy S8 and S8+ (Amazon | Lazada) smartphones have a very noticeable reddish tint.
They posted photos of their Galaxy S8 and S8+ (Amazon | Lazada) smartphones in forums and social media. The search term “Galaxy S8 Red Screen” trended at the top of Naver, South Korea’s top search engine.
Samsung’s Response
Samsung pinpointed the problem as a software issue, one that can be easily fixed with manual colour calibration by the user, or at Samsung service centers. However, they soon decided to roll out an update to fix the problem directly, while increasing their colour range.
“The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are equipped with Super AMOLED displays to provide rich, expressive colors and optimal color range, saturation and sharpness depending on the environment.
In the past, we have received feedback that consumers wanted the ability to customize the color setting of their Galaxy devices due to natural variations in displays, and we provided the option to do so in previous software updates.
While the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have the ability for the user to modify the color of the display, Samsung has listened to feedback and has decided to release a software update as early as next week which will provide customers with a further enhanced ability to adjust the color setting to their preference.”
But this has not allayed the concerns of some users, including people who are waiting for their pre-ordered Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones to arrive. More so when some media publications are fanning the story for more page views and clicks.
Super AMOLED Isn’t New Technology
Introduced in 2011, the Super AMOLED display technology has been around for about 6 years now. It has been improved since then, of course. But the current version has been around since 2014, and used without issues in the Galaxy S7 edge and even the Galaxy S6 edge.
The Super AMOLED display used in the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ (Amazon | Lazada) is hardly a new technology that is susceptible to glitches and poor manufacturing quality. That makes a software issue more plausible than a hardware or quality issue.
Debunking The Galaxy S8 Red Screen Defect
But we are not here to speculate, so we took a look at what might possibly cause the Samsung Galaxy S8 red screen effect.. As it so happens, we have a Samsung Galaxy S8 (Amazon | Lazada) and a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. Let us show you why this is just a software problem, and what might be the real causes.
As our video demonstration shows, turning on the Blue light filter in the Galaxy S8+ (Amazon | Lazada) instantly gives the display a very noticeable reddish tint. Switching from the default screen mode of Adaptive display to AMOLED Cinema, AMOLED photo or even Basic also made the display turn a little pinkish.
So what can we conclude from this demonstration?
[adrotate banner=”4″]- The Blue light filter option in the Samsung Galaxy S8 (Amazon | Lazada) produces an unnaturally reddish hue.
- The AMOLED Cinema, AMOLED photo and Basic screen modes in the Samsung Galaxy S8 produces a slightly pinkish hue.
- Changing the brightness level does not prevent the reddish / pinkish hue from occurring.
- The reddish / pinkish hues disappear when we turn off the Blue light filter and/or switch back to the Adaptive display screen mode in the in the Samsung Galaxy S8.
- The reddish / pinkish hues are not seen in the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, even when we turned on the Blue light filter, or switched to a different screen mode.
You can replicate this phenomenon in any Samsung Galaxy S8 (Amazon | Lazada) smartphone. This shows that the display software that controls the screen modes and blue light filter are improperly introducing a reddish tint. The upcoming software update is likely to fix this problem.
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