Steam Deck OLED, glossy or premium anti-glare? Which colors pop best?

[Ocean of Time]

I know the original Steam Deck LCD had both as well, the colors imo seem to be better on the glossy version. I was wondering will this be similar to the OLED model, can we expect a certain better "pop" to the colors on the $549 version than the anti glare coating versions? I have seen this before on an IPS 27" monitor before too, glass versus matte, and the colors popped better on the glass variant of the same panel. So I am assuming the $549 version will technically have better clarity and pop based on my previous experience. Can anyone confirm this will be the case for the OLED models coming out soon?

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by cubotj7:

Just received my normal 512gb steamdeck the 2nd love it to bits but do feel stung by price drop so have sent ticket in for refund as within 14days hopefully steam honour the difference or something feel well done out it's a lot of money difference 😞

They likely won't refund the difference but within 14 days they should offer you a full refund and you can send it back and buy either the discounted LCD model or buy the OLED on Thursday.

Originally posted by Ocean of Time:

I play in my room most of the time, so reflections aren't an issue for me. So I guess I will go with glossy so I can get the extra clarity and pop.

There is no "extra clarity and pop". It isn't a matte finish or matte coating, it is an micro etched cover glass so that light hitting it from the front gets refracted away from your eyes. The smooth non-etched cover glass doesn't change the display brightness nor its color profile at all.

[ugafan]

Dave2D covers this topic in his video review. Skip ahead to 2:55.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FKJODmcdiM

[jennd]

If it's any help I'm going for the 1TB model. I always use screen protectors and I've ordered HD Clarity Glass protector not matte. If you want the 1TB with the 'pop' effect (basically like me) get an HD Clarity tempered glass protector from JSAUX. No need to wait for some new protector because these are compatible.....everything is.

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by ugafan:

Dave2D covers this topic in his video review. Skip ahead to 2:55.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FKJODmcdiM

What he shows is somewhat disingenuous. If you pause it at 3:57 (right when he puts the SteamDeck back on table and moves his hand out of the way), while the SteamDeck is still laying flat on the table, you will see there is no difference in brightness, color saturation, or "pop". What he shows is "off-axis" with a bright light source, which you see with the reflections on the screen protector.

Here is a still frame of it

https://imgur.com/a/DqLx0Lf

In normal use, while looking on-axis, you'll not see any difference. Holding it at an angle in bright light; you'll either get glare and reflections (non-etched cover glass) or diffused reflections (etched cover glass). Where as with the non-etched cover glass, even when looking on-axis straight at the display you will still see reflections in well lit environments such as his. Look at 4:06 of the video and you'll see how much reflection there is straight-on with his non-etched cover glass SteamDeck (LCD) model and the etched cover glass SteamDeck (OLED) model.

Otherwise good pre-view from Dave2D.

[Ocean of Time]

Originally posted by PopinFRESH:

Originally posted by ugafan:

Dave2D covers this topic in his video review. Skip ahead to 2:55.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FKJODmcdiM

What he shows is somewhat disingenuous. If you pause it at 3:57 (right when he puts the SteamDeck back on table and moves his hand out of the way), while the SteamDeck is still laying flat on the table, you will see there is no difference in brightness, color saturation, or "pop". What he shows is "off-axis" with a bright light source, which you see with the reflections on the screen protector.

Here is a still frame of it

https://imgur.com/a/DqLx0Lf

In normal use, while looking on-axis, you'll not see any difference. Holding it at an angle in bright light; you'll either get glare and reflections (non-etched cover glass) or diffused reflections (etched cover glass). Where as with the non-etched cover glass, even when looking on-axis straight at the display you will still see reflections in well lit environments such as his. Look at 4:06 of the video and you'll see how much reflection there is straight-on with his non-etched cover glass SteamDeck (LCD) model and the etched cover glass SteamDeck (OLED) model.

Otherwise good pre-view from Dave2D.

I think you have me convinced. I will probably get the 1TB version now. lol I am actually not interested in the color way limited edition one, I find the orange analog sticks to be distracting personally.

[ugafan]

I don't have any reason to believe he is being disingenuous in his review. How would it benefit him to state something other than his honest opinion?

Here is a video from someone who has the 256 and 512 models. At 3:00 he compares the glossy vs. etched glass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3XvcoBt_YI

Apple has both glossy and etched glass displays. Skip ahead to 6:15.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz-gyg93ks8

[@R+5]

Originally posted by deaddoof:

Glass is somewhat a terrible median for the display in many ways. The fact there is reflection and refraction led us here debating the merits between matte and glossy.

i think you meant "medium". but, sure, one the points of debating is figuring out why some possibilities may be better than others, or why some may appear to not be when they actually are, and so on.

imo, if you can afford anti-glare, thats always better, specially if you care about watching a screen close to an external light source which will create reflections. but, if that isnt the case, and most of the time you play in low light or with indirect light sources that wont create reflection where you play or work most of the time, then it may not be worth paying extra.

[@R+5]

Originally posted by ugafan:

glossy vs. etched glass.

i think a better debate could be steam deck 1 with antiglare vs steam deck "oled" with antiglare

imo, it should be obvious that the oled version is worth the extra cost, relative to the changes made in the hardware to improve quality in performance, efficiency of energy used and heat dissipation.

what op asked was about if colors would look washed out with anti-glare screen, but i dont think the glass could affect much color because the olde screen is very bright (i think is brighter than the lcd version), so even with it it should work well, and more considering it now works with hdr

[Ocean of Time]

Originally posted by @R+5:

Originally posted by ugafan:

glossy vs. etched glass.

i think a better debate could be steam deck 1 with antiglare vs steam deck "oled" with antiglare

imo, it should be obvious that the oled version is worth the extra cost, relative to the changes made in the hardware to improve quality in performance, efficiency of energy used and heat dissipation.

what op asked was about if colors would look washed out with anti-glare screen, but i dont think the glass could affect much color because the olde screen is very bright (i think is brighter than the lcd version), so even with it it should work well, and more considering it now works with hdr

this makes the most sense to me, what your getting it as the nits brightness is much higher on OLED Deck, that will probably mitigate the downsides of anti-matte in the past.

[Danith]

I am lost :) Still don't know which one to buy at 19h sharp (Paris time) I have the Steam deck 1 anti-glare 1tb and now I am looking to upgrade the steam deck 2 and maybe to buy the 521gb model (as I never play all the extra games that I put in my steam deck 1tb + sd card). I was looking for info, on how it changes to don't have the anti-glare.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Danith:

I am lost :) Still don't know which one to buy at 19h sharp (Paris time) I have the Steam deck 1 anti-glare 1tb and now I am looking to upgrade the steam deck 2 and maybe to buy the 521gb model (as I never play all the extra games that I put in my steam deck 1tb + sd card). I was looking for info, on how it changes to don't have the anti-glare.

There's no SD2. Not yet, anyway. Just the OLED model with a bit more performance.

[WarnerCK]

Originally posted by Danith:

I am lost :) Still don't know which one to buy at 19h sharp (Paris time) I have the Steam deck 1 anti-glare 1tb

There wasn't a 1 TB LCD Deck: the model with the anti-glare etching was 512 GB.

and now I am looking to upgrade the steam deck 2

There isn't a Deck 2 and won't be for many years. Just the same Deck with an OLED display, a bigger battery, and some miscellaneous tweaks.

and maybe to buy the 521gb model (as I never play all the extra games that I put in my steam deck 1tb + sd card). I was looking for info, on how it changes to don't have the anti-glare.

You'll see your face and environment lighting more clearly.

[Danith]

Thanks all for your comments and the precision.

[Carinthian Oak]

I got the 512Gb Version of the LCD Deck back in the days because the Colors had more accuracy. It was softer and not as sharp as the 256gb & 64gb versions but the Colors were more important to me.
I think retro game corps had a good video about it where he compared the 64gb with the 512gb.
Don't know about Oled.

[kilésengati]

The main reason for an OLED to me wouldn't be popping colours, but to be able to play under suboptimal lighting conditions for longer. The LCD model just isn't very good with on-the-go conditions - it ain't even good in sun-lit rooms. It's not like a vehicle is designed so that Steam Deck users get the best lighting or a cloud blocks the sun just for them. On top of the brighter and less power-hungry screen, anything that can fight those pesky reflections a bit helps.
Also, 1TB of storage.
The only downside is that you can't apply a protective film, but I didn't experienced any issues with scratches thus far, as I handle my Deck with care.