The OLED Display Hasn't Blown Me Away...

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

First of all, I didn't upgrade to OLED for the OLED screen itself, but all the other improvements. If the only improvement had been an OLED display then I wouldn't have bothered.

I've had OLED phones for a while and so I knew of the qualities of these screens, but comparatively I never felt the Deck's LCD display was much worse off with the inofficial vibrancy slider set to 118 for me. The only time I'd notice it wasn't OLED, and notice that the colors looked much worse compared to those on my phone, was when there was a lot of black on the screen. Which is simply not too common, at least in the types of games I play.

Yeah, there were exceptions, like INSIDE. If that game had been available on Android I'd have bought it there for the OLED display since there's a lot of dark on the screen at all times. But other than that I had no real issues with the LCD screen.

However, a while ago I listened to an episode of a podcast where someone said the OLED display of the Steam Deck looked like it was a photo frame. They said it didn't even look like a screen anymore but rather like it's something printed and glued to to the screen, and others in the podcast seemed to agree. So I kinda let myself get hyped a little as this made me assume the Deck OLED had some sort of secret sauce that would make it look much better than the OLED on my phones.

Turned out this was not the case, the Deck OLED feels like regular old OLED to me. So no idea what that was about... it's weird how I wasn't even in it for the OLED, to it becoming something I WAS excited about after a silly podcast, only to now be disappointed again that it doesn't do anything different than my OLED phones...

Anyway, I'm curious what other people think. Have you used OLED displays before and feel like OLED on the Deck is important?

[Shibby]

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

Originally posted by Shibby:

I have OLED on my phone and TV and comparing them to LCD it's night and day in the differences and maybe you should just listen to a new podcast or you know just watch the hundreds of videos of it before it launched. It honestly feels more like you didn't get one and want to feel better about your old Deck. OLED is a big deal and if your eyes can't tell then you are lucky as you will be saving tons of money.

LoL. Yeah I don't have one, that's why I have the OLED keyboard

Maybe go watch some reviews comparing it to the screens of the ROG Ally and Legion Go saying those screens look pretty amazing in comparison despite being LCD and I'll believe that any time of the day. OLED just isn't the big deal you think it is

I have a ROG Ally LMAO so again not sure what you are talking about. The Ally has a nice screen and the VRR is great but it's no OLED. Just sounds like you are easy to manipulate if you took the word of a single podcast at their word instead of looking at all the other media that didn't make the same claims. I guess I know why clickbait works so well now.

[Drak3]

Originally posted by Shibby:

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

LoL. Yeah I don't have one, that's why I have the OLED keyboard

Maybe go watch some reviews comparing it to the screens of the ROG Ally and Legion Go saying those screens look pretty amazing in comparison despite being LCD and I'll believe that any time of the day. OLED just isn't the big deal you think it is

I have a ROG Ally LMAO so again not sure what you are talking about. The Ally has a nice screen and the VRR is great but it's no OLED. Just sounds like you are easy to manipulate if you took the word of a single podcast at their word instead of looking at all the other media that didn't make the same claims. I guess I know why clickbait works so well now.

OLED isn’t a miracle technology, and it’s really not a huge improvement over a high end LCD. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that either, it was insanely easy to figure that out just by using both.

Not that many people are going to say that. Most people go off the words of tech bros and marketting departments, neither are what I’d call trustworthy sources on the matter.

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

Originally posted by Shibby:

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

LoL. Yeah I don't have one, that's why I have the OLED keyboard

Maybe go watch some reviews comparing it to the screens of the ROG Ally and Legion Go saying those screens look pretty amazing in comparison despite being LCD and I'll believe that any time of the day. OLED just isn't the big deal you think it is

I have a ROG Ally LMAO so again not sure what you are talking about. The Ally has a nice screen and the VRR is great but it's no OLED. Just sounds like you are easy to manipulate if you took the word of a single podcast at their word instead of looking at all the other media that didn't make the same claims. I guess I know why clickbait works so well now.

What are you talking about. EVERYONE has been overhyping OLED since the Switch.
And yes, I have OLED phones and an OLED TV but nobody is overhyping those so it's easy to believe there was something special about these specific panels.

[[?]legit]

Well OP, the industry and most people would disagree with you. Everything is shifting towards OLED, just as everything has shifted from TN panels to IPS some years ago.

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

I've had OLED phones for a while and so I knew of the qualities of these screens, but comparatively I never felt the Deck's LCD display was much worse off with the inofficial vibrancy slider set to 118 for me.

Lmao. The point of OLED is the insane contrast. Not sure what a vibrancy slider has to do with that

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Well OP, the industry and most people would disagree with you. Everything is shifting towards OLED, just as everything has shifted from TN panels to IPS some years ago.

That literally has nothing to do with what I said

It's also just not true, OLED has been around for many years. It's pretty obvious the industry isn't letting go of LCD technology, especially when you can get very similar quality to OLED

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

I've had OLED phones for a while and so I knew of the qualities of these screens, but comparatively I never felt the Deck's LCD display was much worse off with the inofficial vibrancy slider set to 118 for me.

Lmao. The point of OLED is the insane contrast. Not sure what a vibrancy slider has to do with that

Again twisting my words but I really just said the image quality is not much worse off. Plus, if you want "insane contrast" you use HDR. Which admittedly the Deck has but it didn't need OLED for that

[💀 Deadward 💀]

Comparatively, the OLED is better than the LCD in every way. This is objectively true. Color reproduction, brightness, input latency, response times, are all better on OLED. The problem is you hyped yourself up to think it would be significantly better than any other OLED because of a podcast.

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

Plus, if you want "insane contrast" you use HDR. Which admittedly the Deck has but it didn't need OLED for that

An LCD display capable of equivalent HDR to the OLED panel in the SD would have required a screen with higher power consumption. LCD is also more susceptible to blooming with HDR content due to the use of a backlight, especially if it doesn't have an adequate number of zones.

Everyone has different reasons why they may or may not justify getting an OLED Deck. The fact that Valve has made these updates as quickly as they have, while still keeping the price the same, is commendable.

[Drak3]

Originally posted by 💀 Deadward 💀:

Comparatively, the OLED is better than the LCD in every way. This is objectively true. Color reproduction, brightness, input latency, response times, are all better on OLED.

None of that is true. Your four claimed points on how OLED is better are not dependent on the technology. They vary greatly between different panels, and making that generalization demonstrates that you’re just parroting marketing BS.

The only things OLED does objectively better (in a flat panel) are that it can do high contrast and true blacks for relatively cheap compared to LCD and in smaller form factors. LCD can still do that (with Samsung, LG, and Apple pursuing mini LED style screens over OLED on high end displays where possible), it’s just going to be more expensive and we can’t go below the size of a tablet, and it genuinely brings every objective benefit OLED brings as a technology, but without the durability issues.

[[?]legit]

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

Originally posted by ?legit:

Well OP, the industry and most people would disagree with you. Everything is shifting towards OLED, just as everything has shifted from TN panels to IPS some years ago.

That literally has nothing to do with what I said

It's also just not true, OLED has been around for many years. It's pretty obvious the industry isn't letting go of LCD technology, especially when you can get very similar quality to OLED

Lmao. The point of OLED is the insane contrast. Not sure what a vibrancy slider has to do with that

Again twisting my words but I really just said the image quality is not much worse off. Plus, if you want "insane contrast" you use HDR. Which admittedly the Deck has but it didn't need OLED for that

Not twisting your words, I am literally quoting you. Again, you demonstrate you have no clue what you are talking about.

HDR has absolutely nothing to with oled and doesnt fix the issues lcd panels have: The backlight. Oleds can display true black levels, whilst lcd are not capable of that, due to the backlight. HDR doesnt change anything about that.

[Waldherz]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

That literally has nothing to do with what I said

It's also just not true, OLED has been around for many years. It's pretty obvious the industry isn't letting go of LCD technology, especially when you can get very similar quality to OLED




Again twisting my words but I really just said the image quality is not much worse off. Plus, if you want "insane contrast" you use HDR. Which admittedly the Deck has but it didn't need OLED for that

Not twisting your words, I am literally quoting you. Again, you demonstrate you have no clue what you are talking about.

HDR has absolutely nothing to with oled and doesnt fix the issues lcd panels have: The backlight. Oleds can display true black levels, whilst lcd are not capable of that, due to the backlight. HDR doesnt change anything about that.

Not entirely correct.
Modern IPS and VA panels sometimes have mini LED backlighting (what a stupid marketing term). Aka they can fully turn off parts of the backlight. The more of those zones you have, the closer you can get to OLED panels.
The Neo G9 e.g. can get incredibly close to OLEDs.

I have an LG C2 next to my G9. With the backlight stuff turned on and all that stuff blah blah blah my G9 gets basically as black as my OLED in zones where no backlight is needed.
Issues is when something that isnt pure black is on screen. Then you get the standard greyish black of non OLEDs.
However, most OLEDs cursh the blacks in those circumstances so...you get to chose between a grey image and perfect blacks with no image in those situations.

OLED isnt better than IPS or VA panels. It just does some things better, but others worse.

This while OLED vs Other-Panels discussion has gotten tiring and annoying years ago and I just have to roll my eyes hard whenever I see people arguing about this topic.

I have been using OLED panels for many years (especialy for movie purposes) but I wont hesitate to buy a good IPS or VA panel, as those still can do many things better than OLED panels. They tend to get much brighter, text is much easier to read, no burn in issues blah blah blah.

You know, I know it, everyone should know it. OLED is just another option of many, none of which are the best.

[[?]legit]

Originally posted by Waldherz彡:

Originally posted by ?legit:

Not twisting your words, I am literally quoting you. Again, you demonstrate you have no clue what you are talking about.

HDR has absolutely nothing to with oled and doesnt fix the issues lcd panels have: The backlight. Oleds can display true black levels, whilst lcd are not capable of that, due to the backlight. HDR doesnt change anything about that.

Not entirely correct.
Modern IPS and VA panels sometimes have mini LED backlighting (what a stupid marketing term). Aka they can fully turn off parts of the backlight. The more of those zones you have, the closer you can get to OLED panels.
The Neo G9 e.g. can get incredibly close to OLEDs.

I have an LG C2 next to my G9. With the backlight stuff turned on and all that stuff blah blah blah my G9 gets basically as black as my OLED in zones where no backlight is needed.
Issues is when something that isnt pure black is on screen. Then you get the standard greyish black of non OLEDs.
However, most OLEDs cursh the blacks in those circumstances so...you get to chose between a grey image and perfect blacks with no image in those situations.

OLED isnt better than IPS or VA panels. It just does some things better, but others worse.

This while OLED vs Other-Panels discussion has gotten tiring and annoying years ago and I just have to roll my eyes hard whenever I see people arguing about this topic.

I have been using OLED panels for many years (especialy for movie purposes) but I wont hesitate to buy a good IPS or VA panel, as those still can do many things better than OLED panels. They tend to get much brighter, text is much easier to read, no burn in issues blah blah blah.

You know, I know it, everyone should know it. OLED is just another option of many, none of which are the best.

No. Oled is far superior, especially on the steam deck. Only mini leds might be a competitor, as they can get incredibly bright, but tned to have color issues while doing so.

Oled is not one of many options, it is the only option for any flag ship product. Please name ONE flagship smartphone that comes with an IPS or VA panel... lol

In regards to gaming, Oleds have fantastic response times, this alone makes them better.

Claiming Oled "is just marketing" is outright false.

[Drak3]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Originally posted by Waldherz彡:

Not entirely correct.
Modern IPS and VA panels sometimes have mini LED backlighting (what a stupid marketing term). Aka they can fully turn off parts of the backlight. The more of those zones you have, the closer you can get to OLED panels.
The Neo G9 e.g. can get incredibly close to OLEDs.

I have an LG C2 next to my G9. With the backlight stuff turned on and all that stuff blah blah blah my G9 gets basically as black as my OLED in zones where no backlight is needed.
Issues is when something that isnt pure black is on screen. Then you get the standard greyish black of non OLEDs.
However, most OLEDs cursh the blacks in those circumstances so...you get to chose between a grey image and perfect blacks with no image in those situations.

OLED isnt better than IPS or VA panels. It just does some things better, but others worse.

This while OLED vs Other-Panels discussion has gotten tiring and annoying years ago and I just have to roll my eyes hard whenever I see people arguing about this topic.

I have been using OLED panels for many years (especialy for movie purposes) but I wont hesitate to buy a good IPS or VA panel, as those still can do many things better than OLED panels. They tend to get much brighter, text is much easier to read, no burn in issues blah blah blah.

You know, I know it, everyone should know it. OLED is just another option of many, none of which are the best.

Marketing nonsense

Oled is not one of many options, it is the only option for any flag ship product. Please name ONE flagship smartphone that comes with an IPS or VA panel... lol

More marketing nonsense

Apple’s putting Mini LED on their flagship products other than phones now, and have been using LCDs on their professional displays for decades without it ever being an issue for prepfessional work (where it actually matters). Samsung and LG are expanding into the tech for their flagship TVs right now too. Only reason OLED is dominating flagship phones right now is because it’s currently the only cheap and reliable method of getting high contrast and true blacks in a display that small.

OLED isn’t a miracle product, it has a small few advantages, but it also has disadvantages.

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

Originally posted by ?legit:

Not twisting your words, I am literally quoting you.

Yes, in a way that implies I said something I didn't say. The other points have already been addressed. Given how little knowledge you possessed about VRR technology while being totally sure you knew everything about it you are in no position to keep telling people how clueless they supposedly are. Not a very pleasant interlocutor for discussions

[💀 Deadward 💀]

Originally posted by Drak3:

Originally posted by 💀 Deadward 💀:

Comparatively, the OLED is better than the LCD in every way. This is objectively true. Color reproduction, brightness, input latency, response times, are all better on OLED.

None of that is true. Your four claimed points on how OLED is better are not dependent on the technology. They vary greatly between different panels, and making that generalization demonstrates that you’re just parroting marketing BS.

My four claimed points were specifically in reference to the screens in the Steam Decks since, you know, that's what we're discussing. According to the specs of the panels themselves and reviews that include such measurements, I'm right.

Originally posted by Drak3:

The only things OLED does objectively better (in a flat panel) are that it can do high contrast and true blacks for relatively cheap compared to LCD and in smaller form factors.

Bolded for emphasis. Last time I checked, 7.4" is a "smaller form factor."

Originally posted by Drak3:

LCD can still do that (with Samsung, LG, and Apple pursuing mini LED style screens over OLED on high end displays where possible), it’s just going to be more expensive and we can’t go below the size of a tablet, and it genuinely brings every objective benefit OLED brings as a technology, but without the durability issues.

Ask Apple how Mini LED worked in their iPad Pro. As someone who used it, the blooming was horrible. And again, this is irrelevant since we're talking about the two screens used in the Steam Deck.

[Schorsch Wadschinken]

Originally posted by 💀 Deadward 💀:

My four claimed points were specifically in reference to the screens in the Steam Decks since, you know, that's what we're discussing.

The confusion is understandable as we are not in fact discussing just the LCD and OLED Steam Deck, so it would have helped if you clarified

[💀 Deadward 💀]

Originally posted by Trading McGone™:

Originally posted by 💀 Deadward 💀:

My four claimed points were specifically in reference to the screens in the Steam Decks since, you know, that's what we're discussing.

The confusion is understandable as we are not in fact discussing just the LCD and OLED Steam Deck, so it would have helped if you clarified

Any mention of "the OLED" or "the LCD" would obviously reference the display of the Steam Deck. Your OP features primarily references to Deck OLED and the Deck's LCD display in the Steam Deck forum, and while there are multiple conversations within this thread, some of which focus more on the technology, the quote Drak3 took exception with was clearly referencing the screens of the Steam Deck and not the technology in general.