I love my Nexus One's screen (AMOLED.) Android 2.2 corrected a lot of color calibration problems present when it was released, so the red/warm caste is mostly gone. The colors seem 'cartoonish' at first, since the contrast ratio is so ridiculously high compared to a normal screen.<p>You'll use it for a few days, then look at your iPhone (well, if you're a dork like me, you'll have both) and the iPhone will look washed out and crappy. The dark areas on an AMOLED are especially dark -- it looks like the screen when it's off. In other words, the screen on a Nexus One (and HTC HD2, etc.) looks pretty much the same with a full black screen as it does when it's powered off. Very cool.<p>Here's the downside: it's garbage in daylight. Even if you aren't in direct sun, as soon as you're outside, that vibrant screen turns into an indecipherable grey rectangle. Far worse than a TN or IPS display.<p>Apparently there are upcoming 'Super AMOLED'-type panels that should work better in daylight, but it's not what you'll get on a device right now, so oh well.<p>I spend most of my time in the dark, so the daylight thing doesn't bug me too much. The viewing angle is also very good on an AMOLED screen, better even than IPS.<p>It makes sense that Apple would choose IPS over AMOLED. IPS works in a broader range of conditions. Imagine the howls of anguish if people couldn't use it in daylight. There are lots of Android phones to choose from, so you could always get one without an AMOLED display. But there's only one iPhone.<p>The condescending tone in this article ("made this way to save money" repeated over and over) is retarded. They come off sounding like fanboys. At 250+ dots per inch, you can't see the difference between an irregular grid or a regular grid. Seriously.
> "The Nexus One's screen uses a "PenTile" grid, reportedly to reduce costs, which packs smaller green pixel components between red and blue elements. This irregular arrangement of subpixel elements results in the Nexus One providing a less accurate display of lines on the screen."<p>Is that really accurate? Our eyes are less sensitive to green than red and blue so it seems like the nexus one grid is logical. Also anecdotally my Nexus One display actually seems clearer and more vibrant than my iPhone 3g.<p>It'd be cool to have a more technical description of how the 2 approaches compare.<p>Edit: I just took pictures of my iPhone 3G, Nexus One, MBP and Samsung LCD TV. It's a close up of the Google logo on each display.<p>The Samsung one is especially interesting. It does make for a very clear bright display actually.<p><a href="http://axod.net/IPhone3G_Google.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://axod.net/IPhone3G_Google.jpg</a><p><a href="http://axod.net/NexusOne_Google.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://axod.net/NexusOne_Google.jpg</a><p><a href="http://axod.net/MacBookPro_Google.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://axod.net/MacBookPro_Google.jpg</a><p><a href="http://axod.net/SamsungTV_Google.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://axod.net/SamsungTV_Google.jpg</a>
The AMOLED pixel layout on the Nexus one is actually the same as that employed in many professional video codecs, just in case anyone was wondering where it originated. There's a lot of research backing up its viability as a balanced-looking display arrangement.
It's nice to see Apple get behind IPS to the extent that you don't even have to dig in to the Tech Specs page to be told that the iPad uses it ( <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipad/" rel="nofollow">http://www.apple.com/ipad/</a> )<p>IPS monitors on the desktop are a treat to use, especially if they're calibrated. All TFTs are nowhere near created equal.
I don't care about iPhone. But when do I get dense IPS displays for desktops? Feels like we have been stuck to 100 PPI forever.<p>24" 300 PPI IPS <i>droool</i>
Looks like Gruber was right on the money again. From April: <a href="http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/why_960_by_640" rel="nofollow">http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/why_960_by_640</a>