[Q] Samsung Display Problem !!!

I bought a Note 3 on October 4th 2013.... And I was an extremely proud owner of an awesome phone... And...

And then after a few days I noticed a rectangular smudge near the back button on the glass. And also a purple flickering on certain widgets when quickly moving between home screens (check below video).

https://db.tt/k8Gg6PkK

So, I asked for a phone replacement... they said no... and finally after a small fight got the glass and display replaced...

Guess what.... the new phone I got had a permanent smudge as well, but at a different location. Moreover the display issue was still there !!!

And then after a BIGGG fight they agreed to replace the phone. They said they dint have stock and finally refunded the money.

So... I waited a month... and decided to buy the Note 3 again thinking that the previous cases were just bad luck. Got it day before yesterday.

No problem with the glass and all and everything running smoothly. But...

But... the issue shown in the video was still there. So, i decided to do a small investigation. Went around a few Samsung showrooms. And as most of you know, all phones displayed in showrooms are the Snapdragon version (N9005) and not the Exynos version (I have no idea why !!!). I transferred the same background image to those phones.. added the google now widget to the home screen... and tried to reproduce the issue on the N9005s...

Guess what... In none of the shops I could reproduce the issue.... As i was about to leave the last shop, the owner walks in and he has a Note 3.... this was an Exynos version ofcourse... I tried to reproduce the issue on it...

And voila.... there it was... the same issue..... So.... I saw the same issue on different phones.... but all were the Exynos ones..... the Snapdragon versions have no probs !!!

So the question is..... WHAT IS GOING ON ? ARE WE BEING SOLD SUB STANDARD PRODUCTS IN INDIA ? WHY DOES BOTH THE VERSIONS HAVE DIFFERENT DISPLAYS ? OR IS IT A CHIPSET ISSUE ? OR A GPU ISSUE ? OR A DISPLAY DRIVER ISSUE ?

I AM JUST SAD !!!

antique_sonic said:

Geez... u have to screw the samsung there for displaying snapdragon, but yet selling exynos.
This is a cheating to consumer.

Sent from N9005 4.4.2 NB7 rooted device

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Well, I definitely would luv to... Then I will have to put in all that time and effort. But I am seriously considering it... !!!

Anyone else seen similar issues ?

The easiest way to reproduce is when you have a new device and have not used the S-notes. Have the S-note widget on the homescreen. Just tap on it. This will open the welcome page for the S-note... its like a small video.... so between the time when the widget is touched and that video kinda thingy comes up you should be able to see the purple patches here and there....

denski101 said:

You can get rid/minimise the purple cast by using Lux. Go under night mode and decrease the screen temp(warm up). Doing this may exacerbate other shortcomings of the screen though.
e.g lines and splotches on grey backgrounds.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Well... I had read about the purple smearing even before buying the Note 3....This should be the workaround to reduce that I suppose ?

Smearing is OK.... this is like random purple patches coming up here and there.... And what concerns me is why it is seen only on the Exynos version and not on the Snapdragon one !!!

Any explanation for that ?

denski101 said:

I looked at the vid you uploaded and saw you trying to replicate the purple smearing(quickly transioning between homescreens). I didn't see any purple splotches(not saying they don't exist).

I myself own a Snapdragon N3 and the smearing is present, aswell as a line that runs across the screen (visible on greys and dimly lit display).My screen doesn't suffer from purple splotches although I think it's a common occurance on amoled displays(considered some what normal). I notice it the most when pulling down the status bar, and scrolling through my feeds in gReader, with white text on a black background at low brightness (mainly at night). The first thing you could do is increase the brightness which helps, but I find changing the color temp has worked a whole lot better.

From my own experience with my first amoled(non-technical), the purple smear is most prevalent with transitions from black to grey/white at low brightness. It even occurs on LCDs(which I myself tried and confirmed on an ipad at very low brightness). It's more widespread on amoled because of the deep almost pure black level.

Now with the splotches your concerned about; I believe this is a drawback of amoled manufacturing and to a certain degree is normal. If changing the brightness or color temp doesn't reduce it to an acceptable level for you, then I guess your only other option is taking it back for a replacement or getting a new device without an amoled screen. If your rooted and your warranty happens to be void, you could try a custom kernel with gamma support(others have reported this helps?).

I apologise for my dumb downed explanation as I'm not schooled on the technical aspects of screen technology. Here is a good write with a more technical background which you may find more informative (Mura Effect & AMOLED).


Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Well... I was also of tbe opinion that this was somehow a more dreadful recreation of the purple smearing effect. But here, there is no transition from black or even a dark color for that matter. The wideget is all white and if you carefully see the portions where the purple patches flicker is actually the whiter portion of the wallpaper (that is between the leaves). And the rest of the wallpaper is mostly green.

Now, this pretty easy to reproduce on my handset. With that wallpaper and the google now widget in place and a few quick movement between home screens and it can be easily seen.

At the samsung showroom where they display the n9005s (though we can get only the exynos versuon here in India!!! ) I put the same wallpaper and added the google now widget and recreated the exact scenario. I tried for atleast 5 minutes continuously in two shops and I couldnt reproduce the issue....

At the last shop the owner walks in with a Note 3 and his is an Exynos version. And I reproduced the issue with two flicks on the screen !!!

denski101 said:

I can assure you that this happens on both exynos and snapdragon models. Some devices have variations in the lower base brightness(0), this can exacerbate this effect.

You going to have to realise this is a downside of amoled screen technology. In the mean time you CAN take steps to minimize it!:
1. Have you tried the app I mentioned above? Download it and set the White Balance(WB) to Fluro. Then see if you can recreate the purple cast.*
2. When you start to notice the purple cast, increase the screen brightness. It shouldn't occur at higher brightness levels.

Do these things then tell me if you can recreate your problem.
*I've found changing the WB is enough and can avoid the Purple smear even at very low brightness levels(sub-zero).

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Sorry for yet another long reply !!!

I went to the Samsung service center and showed the display problem. Being within the first 7 days of purchase they readily gave me the certificate for replacement.

So, once I get my new phone this will be the first thing I try. Anyhow, once I realized that this was a problem with all phones I was kinda ready to live with it. As I knew the scenarios where this would be seen and I could just avoid those situations.

But, what got me mad was this :

The first time I bought the phone, there was a permanent rectangular smudge near the back button. If i really clean it, it would become less visible, but with use and finger smudges it would become very much visible again. So, I complained and they replaced the full front panel.

The second time, I was using a pouch (cloth). Permanent marks began appear on the top of the glass where the edges of the pouch used to touch the glass. The same kind - clean it really hard and it would could not be seen but with use they reappear. This was really annoying. So, this time I made a lot of fuss and got them to agree to get the phone replaced. They dint have stock and they ended up refunding the full money.

So i waited for the S5 launch just to see if it was worth a shot. Once it was out, I decided to buy the Note 3 again.

So, the third time I got it, its was wth 4.4.2 and to be frank I was surprised at how smooth it was. I mean the performance was fluid. I was happy. The display issue I could still see. That is when I had done the small investigation regarding the Snapdragon and Exynos versions. Anyhow, as I said, I was ready to live with it. And this time to avoid all problems, I had a Samsung Flip wallet. And guess what, after 4 days, 2 mark appeared on the screen corresponding to the card slot in the flip wallet !!! The same kind - clean - goes - touch - comes back !!!!

4 days !!! Cmon !!! I look after my phone like it were my baby !!! Does this even have Gorilla Glass 3 !!! I used a S3 before this. And i have used a flip cover with it and for the major part I was using a cheap pouch. It dint have a single mark or scratch on it when i sold it !!!

So, am sure of two things : the display issue is gonna be there and the screen is gonna get easily scratched (or get some kinda marks !!!). So, thinking of getting a tempered glass screen protector (I hate using screen protectors !!! )

And I can swear, the display issue is EASILY reproducible on the Exynos version and I couldn't manage to reproduce the issue on 2 N9005s after trying for atleast 10 minutes each !!!

If you havent used S-Note at all, just keep its widget on the homescreen and launch it from there. I should see the problem if it is there. It should be like, the very first time u use S-note, that is, when you launch it, a small video kinda page load.

denski101 said:

I can assure you that this happens on both exynos and snapdragon models. Some devices have variations in the lower base brightness(0), this can exacerbate this effect.

You going to have to realise this is a downside of amoled screen technology. In the mean time you CAN take steps to minimize it!:
1. Have you tried the app I mentioned above? Download it and set the White Balance(WB) to Fluro. Then see if you can recreate the purple cast.*
2. When you start to notice the purple cast, increase the screen brightness. It shouldn't occur at higher brightness levels.

Do these things then tell me if you can recreate your problem.
*I've found changing the WB is enough and can avoid the Purple smear even at very low brightness levels(sub-zero).

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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One more update :

The easiest way to reproduce the issue is to just launch the S-Note app using the widget from the home screen. Just that it should be like the first time use. So, when u touch the S-Note widget, the app launches with a small intro video kinda thingy. So, when this happens, multiple and random patches of purple can be seen all across the screen.

If you don't mind spending 10 minutes, here is what you can do :

If you are already using S-note :

1) Backup your notes from S-Note.
2) If the S-Note widget is already there in your home screen, remove it.
3) Goto app manager and delete cache/data related to S-Note.
4) Put the S-note widget on the home screen (Now it would be green in color with the picture of a note).
5) Open S-note using the widget.

If you haven't used S-Note at all :

1) Add S-note widget to homescreen if not already present.
2) Launch S-note using the widget

You should be able to see the purple patches right away and very much easily.


Now the update is that I visited 3 more Samsung showrooms and tried to reproduce the issue (using the above mentioned method) on the handset on display there (which are N9005s). THE ISSUE IS NOT SEEN !!!

I can say with utmost confidence that the above steps would reproduce the issue in the Exynos versions (Well, after checking on 5 Exynos devices ). If someone with an SM-N900 could verify this, it would be really helpful.

I can post a video once I receive my replacement device.

I am seriously considering suing Samsung !!! Not for giving me a handset with a AMOLED display that has some inherent issues, but for :

1) Showing something in all showrooms across the country and selling something different all together.
2) Having this issue just on the Exynos versions and not on the Snapdragon version.
3) The glass getting marked so easily even though it is supposedly Gorilla Glass 3.

denski101 said:

Short answer: I tried what you said and I couldn't reproduce your issue!
I can quite easily produce the purple smearing but not on the S-note intro video!
Maybe your not going crazy.?

On a side note?, I've had a Note 2 in my possession and apart from some lines, which can only be seen on certain grey backgrounds, it doesn't suffer the purple smear problem(Exynos one I tried didn't). If this issue continues to drive you up the wall, and considering all N900s you've tried exhibit the same issue, maybe consider a Note 2 (DittoNote3 ROM?) or import a N9005.
Alternatively, rally together all the disgruntled N900 owners and sue the pants of Samsung.?

Best of Luck either way.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Well... First of all thank you for spending some time for that...

And as soon as I get my hand on my new phone, I will post a video so that you (and I ) can be absolutely sure that I am not going crazy

And I would definitely luv to have an N9005 but i wont get one under warranty here in India I suppose !!!

And about suing Samsung... I am seriously considering that and I would be talking to a lawyer tomorrow just to confirm that I do have a valid case and it wouldn't be just a waste of my time and my money going behind this....

And yeah, lemme see if I can get a few more people behind this with me....

Anyhow, thanks a ton...