The AMOLED screen does better than the TFT LCD

Jan 25, 2010 10:23 GMT  ·  By

When it comes to which handset is performing better in direct sunlight, it all depends greatly on the maker, the technology used in building the screen, in display settings and more. There are few devices that can do great in such conditions, one should agree, but things are becoming pretty interesting when high-end devices are compared, and we learn that one does better than the other.

This time around, one enthusiast took two of the latest Android-based devices for a spin in the sunlight, namely the Nexus One by HTC, running under Android 2.1 and available for purchase via Google's web store, and the Motorola DROID, available with Android 2.0.1 via Verizon Wireless. The test is a quite simple one (put them both in direct light from the sun, and try to read something on their displays) and the results can be seen in the video below: Nexus One does better.

But this does not come as a surprise, one should agree. The new Android-based mobile phone from HTC includes a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, while the Motorola DROID sports a TFT LCD one, though of the same size. However, this is not the first time when an AMOLED display is showed as performing better in sunlight, so Nexus One proves this once again.

The video test was published by the guys over at oled-info.com, and they also summarize the findings: - The AMOLED is brighter than the Droid, and behaves better at Sunlight - In normal conditions, the Nexus One has much more vivid colors. When viewing photos or videos, the AMOLED has much better colors. - The reviewer complains that he 'sees individual pixels' on the AMOLED - and this does not happen on the LCD (I'm not sure what he means). He says that sometimes the LCD's image is more 'crisp'. - Overall the AMOLED is much better than the LCD.

Some of you might remember a similar comparison between Samsung's Omnia II Windows Mobile 6.5-based handset and Nokia's new Maemo 5-based N900. The Omnia II also sports an AMOLED display, and it was able deliver better performance in direct sunlight, the same as Nexus One does now. This technology might soon prove better than others, and we might see it included in more devices in the future but, until that happens, take a look at the video below to see what Nexus One and DROID can do.