Apple says "yellow-screen" on 3G is on purpose

[zub3qin]

From Engadget:

"We just spoke with Bob Borchers, senior director of product marketing for the iPhone, and he had some very interesting info regarding the "yellow screen" phenomenon we've been hearing about. According to Bob (and Apple), the screen's color temperature has been purposely altered on the new iPhone to produce warmer, more natural tones, sharper images, and deeper blacks. The company says that 1st gen iPhone screens appeared colder and less defined, and they made some adjustments for the new models."

source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/12/iphone-3g-and-firmware-2-0-the-day-after/

 

[kis]

From Engadget:

"We just spoke with Bob Borchers, senior director of product marketing for the iPhone, and he had some very interesting info regarding the "yellow screen" phenomenon we've been hearing about. According to Bob (and Apple), the screen's color temperature has been purposely altered on the new iPhone to produce warmer, more natural tones, sharper images, and deeper blacks. The company says that 1st gen iPhone screens appeared colder and less defined, and they made some adjustments for the new models."

don't think he's lying - the warm tone looks nice to me

 

[albeli]

Aside from looking more natural, it's easier on the eyes insofar as reducing eye strain. I'm perfectly happy with my screen--it looks great.

 

[Joe23]

It was strange at first, but definitely easier on the eyes!

 

[hexonxonx]

It's strange but with last years iPhone and the 3G, both synced from the same backup so each has identical settings, I don't notice this yellow 3G screen at all.

Both iPhones are on 2.0. No matter what screen I compare, there is no yellow. I've heard others don't have it either.

 

[richard.mac]

the only reason theres been an outrage is because people are comparing the screen to the first iPhone.

 

[razorianfly]

I love the warmer colours.

Crisper, Sharper.

R-Fly

 

[AppleFan360]

I love the warmer colours.

Crisper, Sharper.

R-Fly

Totally agree. Screen looks much better.

 

[Sijmen]

I don't feel my screen is as yellow as it is on some of the photos. Instead, I thought my old iPod touch was too blue but my new iPhone spot on. I love it. It was the first thing I noticed on the demo unit in the store.

 

[drchipinski]

I highly doubt their reasons

 

[nickspohn]

So people are complaining about a yellow tint, yet little compared a blue tint.


Honestly, it isn't a yellow tint. You are just looking at a phone that has an accurate picture.

 

[zub3qin]

I highly doubt their reasons

This sounds like Apple damage-control.

Doesn't anyone think SJ would have announced that the new iPhone 3G "has the most realistic color reproduction of any screen ever made" if this was true? Apple hypes every little thing....

Instead, they said that 3G screen is exactly the same as the original iPhone. Whether the "yellow-tint" really is noticeable or is such a big deal is debatable-- but I don't buy for a second that this was a planned thing.

OR... It is possible I guess that Apple did extensive market research in Asia, as the new 3G iPhone seems tailor made for the massive Asian market, more so than the US/Europe. The glossy black back was a nod to the Asian demands for a glossy phone. Apple even intro'd handwriting recognition for the Asian market. Perhaps the Asian market also prefers a certain color-temperature on their displays? Anyone know for sure?

 

[pflau]

For Pete's sake people, step outside and take a look, the world is yellow!!!

 

[zainjetha]

then why the **** didnt steve jobs announce in the keynote as a new feature 'yellow screen'..

 

[shadowmoses]

I far prefer the yellow tint, it is definitely a more realistic tone as oppose the previous gen.

 

[nickspohn]

then why the **** didnt steve jobs announce in the keynote as a new feature 'yellow screen'..

Why didn't steve mention the screenshot feature? It's unnecessary.

Cmon people, i think it's safe to say that by now 100% of you have heard of people restoring their phones and using the latest firmware, and their screens get better. It's all firmware control, not faulty screens.


Oh, and i'll say it again. Stop complaining you have an accurate screen now compared to a tinted blue one.

 

[mkrishnan]

Honestly, it isn't a yellow tint. You are just looking at a phone that has an accurate picture.

Eh, not necessarily... this conversation gets confusing because too many words are being used with different meanings by different people.

The "yellow" screen is "warmer" in the sense that people tend to associate more positive emotions with yellower lighting, like incandescent bulbs and fires, and they tend to be more flattering to human skin tones.

But the "blue" is a "hotter" or warmer color profile in the blackbody sense, obviously, than the yellow.

As far as I know, the hotter temperature profiles have usually been considered more color accurate, in the sense that they produce a truer white.

The difference is like listening to a music recording through a home stereo or a studio monitor -- the music sounds better on the home stereo because the home stereo distorts it in a way that makes it sound "warm" in the emotional sense. The studio monitors, however, are more accurate.

But the point of all that is that accuracy is ultimately not necessarily a relevant concept, since none of us are doing digital proofing or graphical design on our iPhones. So ultimately, you like what you like. People who are used to accurate color calibration will probably like the blue; people are used to appealing color calibration (i.e. if you adjust your TV, you probably adjust it so that the people and the grass and the ocean look good, not so that you achieve white balance).

Perhaps once the phone is jailbreaked again, someone will just release a color calibration tool....

 

[cwosigns]

I like the screen better than my first gen iPhone. Much truer color, better blacks, easier on the eyes.

 

[pflau]

But the point of all that is that accuracy is ultimately not necessarily a relevant concept, since none of us are doing digital proofing or graphical design on our iPhones. So ultimately, you like what you like. People who are used to accurate color calibration will probably like the blue; people are used to appealing color calibration (i.e. if you adjust your TV, you probably adjust it so that the people and the grass and the ocean look good, not so that you achieve white balance).

It is precisely those people who do not usually do digital proofing that are not aware of the fact that the more "yellow" tone is actually more accurate in terms of adhering to the decades old photographic standard of daylight color temperature - the color of sunlight at mid-day between 10AM and 2PM.

The bluish tone is inaccurate. Just ask any professional who work in the photographic and film industry.

 

[akula34]

Eh, not necessarily... this conversation gets confusing because too many words are being used with different meanings by different people.

The "yellow" screen is "warmer" in the sense that people tend to associate more positive emotions with yellower lighting, like incandescent bulbs and fires, and they tend to be more flattering to human skin tones.

But the "blue" is a "hotter" or warmer color profile in the blackbody sense, obviously, than the yellow.

As far as I know, the hotter temperature profiles have usually been considered more color accurate, in the sense that they produce a truer white.

The difference is like listening to a music recording through a home stereo or a studio monitor -- the music sounds better on the home stereo because the home stereo distorts it in a way that makes it sound "warm" in the emotional sense. The studio monitors, however, are more accurate.

But the point of all that is that accuracy is ultimately not necessarily a relevant concept, since none of us are doing digital proofing or graphical design on our iPhones. So ultimately, you like what you like. People who are used to accurate color calibration will probably like the blue; people are used to appealing color calibration (i.e. if you adjust your TV, you probably adjust it so that the people and the grass and the ocean look good, not so that you achieve white balance).

Perhaps once the phone is jailbreaked again, someone will just release a color calibration tool....

Uhh.... blue is cooler when referring to white balance.

 

[Diversion]

+1, I prefer the warmer colors as well. After spending more time with the 3g iphone, it's actually very nice and produces more accurate colors in photos.

 

[frosse]

The old iphone was way to blueish. BUT there have reports on phones who were extra yellow, right? That has to be build error I think.

 

[DreamPod]

The old iPhone was bluer than pure colors, the new iPhone is yellower than pure colors. But in fact the new iPhone isn't as far off as the old iPhone was. And at least one thing I read said the more yellowish colors make the screen a little easier to see in sunlight.

 

[mkrishnan]

Uhh.... blue is cooler when referring to white balance.

Blue photons have a higher frequency / shorter wavelength than yellow ones (i.e. they carry more energy). The hotter a blackbody gets, the higher the average energy of emitted photons is. So as they get hotter, they sweep from the infrared, through the visible, and into the ultraviolet. So a black body that emits more blue is said to have a higher temperature as well.

Note the temperature scale and where blue and yellow are...

The bluish tone is inaccurate. Just ask any professional who work in the photographic and film industry.

And anyway, I don't agree that this makes any sense... a camera should color things it images yellow because they actually appear yellow. If a white object is illuminated by a yellow light, of course it looks yellow in the picture, as it should. Of course, if you're outside and you have a white card and it looks yellowish because of the light source, you shouldn't correct it to white. But that doesn't mean a true white element should be made yellow so that it looks like it was illuminated by yellow light when it wasn't. The camera should capture what's actually there, and the screen should show what the camera actually saw -- i.e. if you want yellow, you use yellow light to begin with.

 

[jecapaga]

Compare identical photos on the first phone and the new one at identical brightness side by side and it's pretty easy to see that the new screen calibration is better imo.