Sun, sun, sun. And I can't see a thing on my phone!
Published by Steve Litchfield at 12:54 UTC, June 24th 2009
With the advent of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, Steve Litchfield reprises an old rant with a look at how the current crop of 2008/2009 smartphones fare on a sunny day. Does your phone turn into a hand mirror or can you see what's going on?
As with certain other subjects (which I won't go into here!) in the phone world, screen contrast on a sunny day is one I keep going back to - and for which I make no apologies. Almost every phone or PDA screen looks gorgeous indoors, but the acid test comes when you venture out into the big, bad world, with the sun's incandescence threatening to overpower the feeble screen backlight in your handheld device.
Now, you're unlikely to be checking your email or editing a document in the full sun (unless you're a real workaholic!), but you are likely to want to see the screen to:
- see who's calling you
- see the image of the thing you're trying to photograph
- see a map of where you are and where to go next
And so on. Over and over again, I believe that some manufacturers neglect to think about screen contrast in all conditions, with resulting poor choices in terms of technology and materials. What follows is just a brief sample of direct sun performance of some of the phones I happen to have to hand. If you're the really mobile sort, next time you're looking for a phone or smartphone, don't you think you should take the screen tech into account?
| Device | In sunlight | Comments |
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Nokia E75 Uses a non-touch, transflective LCD screen, similar to those on the majority of (but not all) Nokia smartphones, including the E61, E71, N95, N82 and many others. Curiously, the N76 and N93i didn't use this screen tech and failed miserably in the market. Coincidence?(!) |
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Superb contrast in direct sunlight, since the sun's own light is bounced back past the LCD crystals from the reflective layer. |
| Nokia N96 |  |
Uses a tweaked, high reflectivity transflective screen. Stunning visibility in the sun, to be honest (and rather hard to photograph!) - Nokia's best ever screen? |
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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Also some modern Windows Mobile phones (e.g. HTC Touch Diamond 2) |
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Not the worst TFT (with resistive touch) touchscreen I've ever used, but performance is poor in direct sunlight, since the backlight is directly competing with the sun. |
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Nokia N97
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{Image under replacement} | A surprisingly good take on modern touchscreens, the N97 has a resistive top layer but on top of a transflective backing. The resistive layer dulls brightness slightly indoors and adds reflectivity outdoors in sunlight, but the result is still very useable, unlike the 5800's screen above. |
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Nokia N86 8MP/N85 (also Samsung i8910 HD and i7110 - reports are that the i8910 HD is better, but I really don't see how this is possible. Watch this space!) |
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Nokia's first AMOLED screens. Utterly gorgeous inside and just about readable in sunlight (OLED much brighter than TFT) as long as the sun's not directly behind you (as was the case here, give or take a few degrees) - in such a case, the screen simply blacks out, since the OLEDs can't compete. |
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Samsung INNOV8 (also the rather forgotten G810 (the camera-centric one with Xenon and optical zoom) |
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Appalling use of TFT for a traditional phone form factor. Not only that, but it's a terrible TFT and the screen is effectively invisible whenever the sun's out. A showstopper, I'm afraid. |
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Apple iPhone/iPod Touch (also the T-Mobile G1 and other HTC Android phones, plus the Palm Pre) |
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Uses a transflective LCD, like most non-touch Nokias, but cunningly adds a capacitive touchscreen that doesn't get in the way of light. Visibility in the sun is almost as good as on the likes of the N95 and E61. |
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HTC TyTN 2 (and all previous Windows Mobile phones) |
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This is resistive touch, TFT, and the combination of the extra resistive touch layer and the transmissive technology mean that visibility is very poor in the sun. Marginally worse than the Nokia 5800, I'd say. |
Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 24th June 2009 (minor update Sept 09)
Categories: Comment, Hardware
Platforms: General
Feature Discussion
TheUndertaker
awwwwww no n97 picture? lol anyway great article steve!
I gotta agree, the touchscreen technology sort of hampers sunlight visibility... look at the e75 and n96! stunning!! :o
and to think that 5800, a touch screen phone, has better legibility under sunlight than the innov8 thats just shocking!!
I gotta agree, the touchscreen technology sort of hampers sunlight visibility... look at the e75 and n96! stunning!! :o
and to think that 5800, a touch screen phone, has better legibility under sunlight than the innov8 thats just shocking!!
Unregistered
Maybe the Finns design some phones in winter when they only get about 4 hours of daylight per day, and other phones in summer when it almost never gets dark.
Jetrel
Think about it:
on an touch-based phone you HAVE TO use the virtual touch keyboard to write text. But outdoor you can't see it.
on an touch-based phone you HAVE TO use the virtual touch keyboard to write text. But outdoor you can't see it.
Unregistered
It might be one of the best transflective screens, but effectively my E71 is nearly unreadable in direct sunlight. There is always only one angle in which the contrast gets good, but the colours are terrible. No way to show photos.
skyline100
i thought N86's AMOLED screen will be better...
but it isn't..
but it isn't..
Unregistered
Did you even try to increase the backlight level on the TyTN II? I have one of these and went outside with the sun shining directly into the screen and could see the contents of the screen very well even with the backlight set to 50%. Of course much better with 75% and more. And I have a screen protector on it too.
slitchfield
Yes, all backlights were at 100% in my test. I simply don't believe your TyTN 2 data point, I'm afraid. It's a bog standard TFT with touch layer on top and will be unreadable with the sun behind you.
mattrad
Excellent comparison Steve.
Luckily for Brits though, glare on a phone's screen is not generally a problem, owing to the lack of sunshine!
;)
Luckily for Brits though, glare on a phone's screen is not generally a problem, owing to the lack of sunshine!
;)
rvirga
Jejoma
That's why I've always avoided cameras without viewfinders - no idea of what picture you are taking in bright sunlight (I only take snaps, I'm not a real photographer :) ). I can't see why the manufacturers have ever made them.
Unregistered
No photo here, but I can confirm: brilliant mirroring layer under (internal) E90 screen. So, no problems to see (even colours, though not great, of course) on direct sunlight!
And, of course, very visible keyboard ;-D
And, of course, very visible keyboard ;-D
snoyt
Lovely shots. Should be a standard test. Nice kick in the teeth for OLED ;-) Maybe a fresh 100W lightbulb test in the dark at a certain distance for all phones to be tested? And where is the shot of the N97?
sajjadashraf
hi steve, i think u havnt done fair with omnia hd (i8910).
please post the separate picture of omnia hd in direct sunlight,
omnia hd will sure beat all including iphone.
thanks
please post the separate picture of omnia hd in direct sunlight,
omnia hd will sure beat all including iphone.
thanks
Unregistered
Wow, N97 only marginally better than the TyTNII? For all intents and purposes, that [TyTNII] phone didn't even turn on when outdoors here in Florida. The N97 seems to be a dream in comparison, perhaps not as good as some of the other photos taken here, but definitely not as bad as the 5800 plays it out to be.
ganxta
OLD is bright and rich contrast indeed.but most oleds totally sucks in direct sunlight.you can read most tfts better as oled in the sun.
tnleeuw
Hi,
I must say that I'm quite happy with the sunlight legibility of my HTC Dream / G1 smartphone :-)
It really is quite good, even in bright direct sunlight. Even with low brightness, the transflective layer makes the screen at least readable even if the colours are bad in that way. And with easy access to the brightness controls, I can easily and quickly turn up the brightness when I need to (like a situation which came up just this morning when I had to check google maps and show someone the way, in the middle of a sunny road... Everything clear and visible)
In comparison to my old P990i, it's absolutely a great delight. (That phone has really poor legibility in sunlight, much like the TyTN2.)
I guess that the G1 compares more or less to the iPhone's screen under sunlight, judging by comments I read in reviews. :-)
Cheers,
--Tim
I must say that I'm quite happy with the sunlight legibility of my HTC Dream / G1 smartphone :-)
It really is quite good, even in bright direct sunlight. Even with low brightness, the transflective layer makes the screen at least readable even if the colours are bad in that way. And with easy access to the brightness controls, I can easily and quickly turn up the brightness when I need to (like a situation which came up just this morning when I had to check google maps and show someone the way, in the middle of a sunny road... Everything clear and visible)
In comparison to my old P990i, it's absolutely a great delight. (That phone has really poor legibility in sunlight, much like the TyTN2.)
I guess that the G1 compares more or less to the iPhone's screen under sunlight, judging by comments I read in reviews. :-)
Cheers,
--Tim
dani2xll
My n85 with its oled screen was totally unreadable in sunlight not only to view the screen but also to view an actual image of the photo that you wanted to take. So much so, that in the end I had to box it up and buy a n82. I now have the n97 and dont have an ounce of difficulty in seeing my sun in daylight nor taking images and I have the setting display in the middle. For the n85 reason I certainly will not go for an oled screen again.
Brian_CaB
This is an excellent benchmark Steve and I appreciate you doing so.
I too would like to see more head to head comparison of the I8910 and N86.
My selfish reason for this is the fact that I'll be dropping coin for one or the other very shortly. As far as I can tell, they each check off most of my requirements and represent pretty close to the pinnacle of each form factor. However, sunlight legibility is lower on the priority list than other considerations and here's why:
Back in the dark ages of 2000 when I purchased the Compaq iPAQ, the side lighted reflective TFT set the standard for sunlight legibility. In fact, using a back light diminished the contrast. Indoor clarity and contrast, not nearly so good.
Sunlight visibility is not a difficult thing to do, it merely requires a compromise. If you need sunlight legibility, you'll diminish indoor clarity and richness which is something an obvious majority of gadget addicts will not embrace.
Some of us who are active life/gadget junkies will whine and moan about this topic but more who sit in their office chair or on the coach? They're the dominant demographic.
Are you willing to pay for sunlight legibility?
There are a few work-arounds - especially for camera use but you're not going to get around having to choose and pay for your preference.
I too would like to see more head to head comparison of the I8910 and N86.
My selfish reason for this is the fact that I'll be dropping coin for one or the other very shortly. As far as I can tell, they each check off most of my requirements and represent pretty close to the pinnacle of each form factor. However, sunlight legibility is lower on the priority list than other considerations and here's why:
Back in the dark ages of 2000 when I purchased the Compaq iPAQ, the side lighted reflective TFT set the standard for sunlight legibility. In fact, using a back light diminished the contrast. Indoor clarity and contrast, not nearly so good.
Sunlight visibility is not a difficult thing to do, it merely requires a compromise. If you need sunlight legibility, you'll diminish indoor clarity and richness which is something an obvious majority of gadget addicts will not embrace.
Some of us who are active life/gadget junkies will whine and moan about this topic but more who sit in their office chair or on the coach? They're the dominant demographic.
Are you willing to pay for sunlight legibility?
There are a few work-arounds - especially for camera use but you're not going to get around having to choose and pay for your preference.
yade
Hi Steve,
I know its not a recent device but I would say the N93 has the best screen in direct sunlight of all. I can't think of any device that could rival that.
I know its not a recent device but I would say the N93 has the best screen in direct sunlight of all. I can't think of any device that could rival that.
Unregistered
It's true my 5800 isn't a great display in strong sun, but I always seem to cope, it doesn't really cause too much trouble.
Barney KoKo
LoL such a coincidence, I was googling results for N86 under sunlight and here it is. So it is still readable? Maybe I will buy
abubasim
"HTC TyTN 2 (and all previous Windows Mobile phones) "
Not entirely true. I know of two older models produced by HTC which have excellent transflective displays: O2 XDA EXEC (HTC Universal) and i-mate JAMin (HTC Prophet). I currently own the O2 XDA EXEC and find it just as good in bright sunlight as the E61i and E90 which I also own.
I almost forgot: the earlier models of the HTC Hermes (i-mate JASJAM) did also have transflective displays. The same phone, renamed to HTC TyTN, was downgraded with a transmissive display which turned completely black in sunlight.
Not entirely true. I know of two older models produced by HTC which have excellent transflective displays: O2 XDA EXEC (HTC Universal) and i-mate JAMin (HTC Prophet). I currently own the O2 XDA EXEC and find it just as good in bright sunlight as the E61i and E90 which I also own.
I almost forgot: the earlier models of the HTC Hermes (i-mate JASJAM) did also have transflective displays. The same phone, renamed to HTC TyTN, was downgraded with a transmissive display which turned completely black in sunlight.
n1ckyr
I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. I currently have an Xperia X1 and frankly, its rubbish in direct sunlight. Problem I have is I use my phone as sat nav on my bike and therefore it has to work well in direct sunlight so I can read map.
I am due for upgrade and am currently swaying between the Nokia N97 and the iPhone 3GS .. I quite like the N97 but am worried the screen is going to be as bad as my X1 whereas the iPhone I know is good in direct sunlight with its transflective screen.
Hmm .. decisions decisions ... does anyone have first hand experience of the X1 and the N97 .. very curious to know which is better in this respect?
I am due for upgrade and am currently swaying between the Nokia N97 and the iPhone 3GS .. I quite like the N97 but am worried the screen is going to be as bad as my X1 whereas the iPhone I know is good in direct sunlight with its transflective screen.
Hmm .. decisions decisions ... does anyone have first hand experience of the X1 and the N97 .. very curious to know which is better in this respect?
Unregistered
Tsk. Tsk... Take those sun glasses off steve.
Seriously, good appropriate article that shows that some display engineers need to get out of doors more often and sun themselves. A highly ledgible display under bright light source should be a minimum ship criteria for new products.
Seriously, good appropriate article that shows that some display engineers need to get out of doors more often and sun themselves. A highly ledgible display under bright light source should be a minimum ship criteria for new products.
Unregistered
that's why i love my nokia e66; very good visibility in daylight.