Aidan MalleyWhile many new iPhone 3G owners have griped that the device's occasionally yellowish hue is evidence of a defect, Apple has now gone on record to say that the tint is a deliberate choice to improve overall usability.
The original screen was too cold and slightly murkier, Borchers adds. In AppleInsider's experience, the new panel should also help improve visibility outdoors, where contrast and overall brightness are both important factors.
This notably doesn't affect color shifts at wide viewing angles, which are a symptom of certain LCD panel types that show either blue or yellow depending on the point of view.
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While many new iPhone 3G owners have griped that the device's occasionally yellowish hue is evidence of a defect, Apple has now gone on record to say that the tint is a deliberate choice to improve overall usability.
The company's Senior Director of Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, tells Engadget that the shift from the blue-biased LCD of the original iPhone isn't an accident and produces more accurate colors most of the time, registers deeper blacks, and makes the resulting image appear crisper.
The original screen was too cold and slightly murkier, Borchers adds. In AppleInsider's experience, the new panel should also help improve visibility outdoors, where contrast and overall brightness are both important factors.
This notably doesn't affect color shifts at wide viewing angles, which are a symptom of certain LCD panel types that show either blue or yellow depending on the point of view.
Which means (to me) that ALL 3G phones will be or are Yellow? Yet I don't see everyone complaining. Is this because some haven't noticed or are there a shit load of folks who are color blind?
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From the pictures I've seen, the difference doesn't look too severe anyway. And given better image quality overall, I'd say it's definitely a fair trade-off.
We see a HUGE range of "whites" in the world--even just on device screens. It doesn't surprise me at all that some people notice, while others don't--or notice but don't care.
I would think the people who would be MOST likely to notice would be those going from an old iPhone to a new one: they're used to a slight blue bias, and now a slight yellow bias seems extra yellow to them in comparison.
Most don't notice because they have nothing to compare it to.
The people who do compare it think that something is wrong because the 1st generation MUST BE RIGHT!!
Is this because some haven't noticed or are there a shit load of folks who are color blind?
No, it's because most people are relieved. Macs have traditionally followed the TV manufacturers in pursuing brightness at any cost by using ridiculously hot color temperatures: 8,000, 10,000, even 12,000 Kelvins (when sunlight is about 6,500.) Remember that brightness goes up with the fourth power of the temperature and you'll see why. Turn on your TV in a darkened room and then turn your back on it and you'll see that everything is actually some shade of blue, even though your visual cortex will (sort of) compensate for it. Every computer monitor (and TV) has to be calibrated to bring down the color temperature to some reasonable level. I know when I boot up my Mac, that first opening screen before my calibration takes over, seems just as hot and blue as a welding arc. If the iPhone can not in fact be color-calibrated, then this is a great step in making it more usable. Try watching a video before you decide you don't like it. I'll bet you'll find that it looks much more natural. But some people are so used to that blue actinic glare from their uncalibrated displays that they ARE complaining about it.
P.S.: A good test for any display is if you can't get natural skin tones without making blonde hair look green. That means the color temperature is too high, like every TV that's left the factory for the last 50 years!