Display Vividness and Color "fix"

[userQvgaoklMT1]

I have since analyzed and fixed the S24 Ultra to as close to the S23 Ultra as possible.  And I dont think its as bad as we thought however, it is better in some places and worse in other places.

Here's the deets, and the best you can do.  

First thing you need to know is these screens are calibrated at the factory.  While software can do alot, there is alot of bias built into the screen there.  Display quality, brightness and contrast is MUCH more important to the manufacturer to sell a flagship phone than what YOU think the color blue is.  

I need to revisit and change my original beef about returning these phones (I bought one for me and my wife) based on the dull screen.  I have since retested one and gone deeper and I have discerned the screen calibration of the S24 Ultra as it relates to the S23 ultra.

And I can definitively tell you the S24 screen is more vibrant and shows darker blacks and has more contrast than the S23 Ultra.  In most cases its the truth, in most OS views and in most apps.

And certainly in photos.

But here's what you need to know.

To FIX your S24 Ultra to be as close to the S23 Ultra do the following:

1.  Move the vividness slider all the way to the right (screen mode should be vivid)
2. Do not use eye comfort shield
3. Do not use adaptive color tone
4. Brightness slider is in general a few clicks lower with adaptive brightness on the S24 Ultra, move it up to match the brightness on your S23 Ultra.  The reason for this is that the S24 Ultra is brighter OLED.  So make it match exactly or bump it up a little.
5. Go to Screen mode (vivid) and move the "white balance slider" to the left 1 notch
6. Go to Screen  mode (vivid) advanced settings and move the R (RED) slider to the left 3 notches.
7. Reboot

WHY????????

The hardware screen calibration on these OLED panels has been calibrated to a warmer screen temp, AKA TOO MUCH RED.

These S24 Ultra screens are juiced to show RED in the white balance.  And in everything.

WHY does this matter?  Because when you calibrate white balance to show RED and the panel to exaggerate RED, and all the other colors are maxed out (in hardware at the factory but set at lower levels than RED)

Things start to look "Yellow", The more RED that is showing makes blue and green look YELLOW.

And that is the cause of the fadedness of the S24 Ultra calibration.  

But its not all bad.  If you make the adjustments above, its as close as you can get in software to the S23 Ultra on an S24 Ultra.

And while yes the greens and blues are NOT as PUNCHY the steps I listed above will get you to something that doesnt look terrible if you come from an S23.  And photos taken on either camera look better on the S24.

Its a consequence of factory screen calibration setting up software to do its job.  And pictures (even taken from the S23) look better on the S24 screen.

If you dont believe me, stop looking at the blues and the greens on the S24 and start looking at the REDS.  Its honestly too much. 

Follow the instructions above.  The light will go on. I guess we're ALL seeing RED.

Which turns into YELLOW

[userQvgaoklMT1]

Also BTW in regards to BLUE,

RED and BLUE makes PURPLE, so in case of certain Apps "dark modes" where it is not a pure black color, the increase in RED, can make it look purple, which is perceived as a "lighter black", than on the S23 Ultra.

Actual BLACKs on the S24 Ultra are darker than on the S23 Ultra.

The reason some blues look lighter in the S24 Ultra is that the RED is calibrated so high and the green and blue are to the max, so the result of punched shades of green get second banana.

Blues will look faded because they contain too much red just like greens. (Yellowing affect)

[userQvgaoklMT1]

While "white balance" may seem trivial to you, you should realize that Apple and Microsoft had intentional white balance differences for many years in their repective OS.  And Im not talking about true color hardware wasnt capable of that then. (now?)

But the shade of white in a PC operating system, vs Mac OS, vs an iPhone, or Android phone is very much up for debate.  

As long as it SELLS.  

Screen calibration is the "loudness wars" of digital music applied to OLED screens.

At some point our eyes will get tired.  Yellow wont fix it.

[SciGhostSA]

Awesome, thanks for the guidance.

Perhaps take some screenshots to annotate what the configuration is, as everyone's understanding of text is subjective.

Here are my configurations based on your instructions.

White balance 2 notches to left from mid is as follows:

Full vivid slider, Red 3 notches to the left is:

Please confirm if this is correct. Thanks. 

[userQvgaoklMT1]

Sorry move the white balance slider back to the right one notch!

Ill update my post.

[SciGhostSA]

Perfect, thank you. I have updated the settings. I will do some testing on SDR and HDR content and provide feedback a little while later.

[userQvgaoklMT1]

I think I made an unintentional omission there.

Its true pics taken on the S23 "look better" on the S24, but remember its the

SAME digital content.  

So you MAY be just looking at a SO-SO picture through a BETTER filter.
I dont think we should pay Samsung (or anyone) to "RE-edit" digital photos via hardware "upgrades".  

While that sounds tempting, Im curious what the quality of the actual picture is,

without extreme software rendering involved.  "RAW" mode i guess.

[SciGhostSA]

I think the configurations are also subject to the device and the user's eyesight. Some devices have this grainy (mura) effect at low brightness, some have overrated redness as you mentioned, and some do not have any of these defects. I have been one of the lucky few who does not have either, as far as I can tell, or perhaps my eyesight cannot perceive these issues. I tried your configuration and found it a little less vibrant than my previous configuration. Thank you, though, for the fantastic write-up and suggestions.

[usery9CmZxxEgg]

Thank you