yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
I actually got a 32GB a day early and it does the screen smearing as well. I think it is firmware or spftware related.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Charlie Brown:
Hopefully it's only the software and not hardware.

Smearing has been found on all variants of the S4.

It's a shame because it's an awesome device. I think the new Touchwiz features are super cool. The chip set is fast and stable even though it heats up quite a bit (about the same as my S3).

I had mine for a day and returned it because I refuse to take another device that's been put out for us the consumer to "test". I do miss the features though lol. But I can wait for either new firmware or a new batch with a proper display.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Obagleyfreer:
Read a few posts back. Samsung have acknowledged the issue and will release a fix via a software update. It's software and it's being sorted :)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
Do you mind quoting it cause digging through gets tiresome and starts freaking me out when people say its all different scary things! Haha
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mydoople:
shnspos persons

same here :crying:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] inolvidable:
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=41237831&postcount=471
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apofisapep2008:
i am sure it is a software problem because i fixed mine by using an app to adjust contrast.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] renton82:
At the expense of true black...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chippyuk:
Yes but the S4 was never marketed as having True Blacks...... at this stage we do not exactly know what the fix will be from Samsung, they may be able to increase the response/refresh rate (I doubt it though)

Either way even with screen adjuster the blacks look very good, better than the S3.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apofisapep2008:
it is barely noticeable. and that true black it is in fact pixeles off. if u adjust tej contrast and compare with other screens like the xperia z and even the iphone 5 u will see mucho darker blak on the s4 screen.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
Then we disagree. I had the S3 and the S4 (with enough RGB adjustment to prevent the smudging) and did a direct black screen comparison. The difference, if there was one, was indistinguishable. Like I said, the difference is that the S3 doesn't have pure blacks in the first place as the pixels aren't deactivated like they currently are on the S4.

I have no doubt this issue can be, and more than likely will be, fixed with a software update.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eyecon82:
I guess we can both agree that it is a software problem, not a hardware problem with that display itself :D
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apofisapep2008:
i'm the only one who thinks the s4 it is a bit laggy?

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
Touchwiz is, yes. The phone, no.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eyecon82:
That's also a software/OS/kernel issue. That was also fixed for me after the recent OTA on Sprint :)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apofisapep2008:
so before the update ur s4 was laggy 2? i have the MDN kernel and i dont know if its the last one.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2

---------- Post added at 10:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

so before the update ur s4 was laggy 2? i have the MDN kernel and i dont know if its the last one.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eyecon82:
No, I was saying it was laggy before the OTA, now it is smooth after OTA
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Dark5tar:
Can we establish that this problem is a software and not a hardware issue? Please respond with a Yes or a No.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] maximusl:
People testing display with smearing issues.

Easy way to find if you have this issue:

1. install Display Tester by gombosdev

2. launch gamma detection

3. try to scroll first testt in it, Grey. The pink is awfull :(

I think it's a hardware issue with display :( 99.99% sure....
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eyecon82:
Yes, most definitely a software issue
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] greenhorngreen:
Hello everyone.

New to this thread. I have the I9500 version and build number is JDQ39.i9500ZSUAMDF

Also have the red tint in a dark room .. with smearing on grey colors in black backgrounds.. when watching movies (i watch anime) especially with dark grey backgrounds, you'll notice the black shades are pixelated, as its trying to adjust itself. Screen Adjuster helped alleviate these issues .. as what other people think.. i believe it's a software issue since SA was able to solve this atm..hope this helps :cyclops:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
That is really bad. Happens even when Screen Adjuster is on for me. Does it for you?

BTW for an unrelated problem Samsung changed my LCD screen as well. The new one seems to be more affected by the purple smearing. Previously it was barely noticeable. This time even at max brightness it is quite obvious!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Fabiak:
First ROM I9505XXUAMDE in my country (Czech Republlic) is withouth this problem.

I jumped via Odin back to this ROM.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] apofisapep2008:
normaly at max brightness is more noticeable! turning on the adjust screen its not the solucion, you must increase the contrast in order to fix the problem.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
Sorry, I forgot to quote this:

Anyone get the fugly pinky thing even with Screen Adjuster on? Adjusted contrast and still no go.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chippyuk:
In answer to Hardware/Software issue question!

1. Any display of this type will have smearing if the pixels are turned off. It is inherent to the display, the smearing you see if the time it takes for the pixels to turn on/off etc...

2. Samsung need to tweak the rom to find a balance between keeping the pixels on, keeping the deepest blacks and eliminating the smearing. They may be able to speed up the refresh rate but I doubt it.

3. The S4 was never marketed as having true blacks so it's not like we are not getting something we paid for.

4. People will argue it is a hardware issue but the issue would exist in any other phone with the same type of display. Yes it is the way the hardware works but that does not make it a fault!

5. Samsung just need to pull their finger out and get some updates out but personally, the smearing does not really bother me and I prefer the true blacks so I am not really looking forward to their fixes unless the fix actually keeps the true blacks and increases the refresh rate which I very much doubt.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eyecon82:
1) the smearing isn't a hardware issue because it didn't exist before the OTA. Now it does.

3) it may have not been marketed that way, but that is how the technology works. Each pixel gets light up technically, so technically it should display a pure black
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chippyuk:
Talk about being miss-quoted!

1) No but you would have had the pinky black issue (even if you did not notice it) where the pixels were not turning off for the black colour. Up until this point every single phone out there either had pinky blacks or the smearing issue. An OTA update resolved the pinky blacks by turning the pixels off to give you true blacks but as I have said numerous times this then introduces the smearing issue.

3) That is the way the pixels work but by turning the pixel off to give you a True Black you then have to power it back on to display a colour this is where the smearing comes in.... There is no way round this unless you have displays of a very high refresh rate which will limit the visibility of this effect.

I never said it is a hardware issue at all! All I am saying is that this is the way the screen works. Turn the pixels off to give you true blacks there is a lag when turning them back on, hence the smearing.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dannyyyyy:
I hope theres a fix for this because its really annoying
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EmDzei:
Old war horse SGS speaking

This my comment doesn't below here than giving some sympatia points to you.

Tested with my old war horse, Galaxy S (GT-I9000) and does have the pink background when scrolling the grey test screen, but not smearing at all.

Neither smearing with those early on thread posted four test screen: blue, green, red and grey (gradient from 1 to 21). Old war horse is using Gingerbread Value Pack on it (v2.3.6) and it have the Pin Title AM OLED with 68 Hz refresh rate (info from Display Tester).

Yep, on dark room the full black screen shine in violet.

No refund coming from me. ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] greenhorngreen:
Since the phones are less than a month old.. let's just wait and see what Samsung will do.. i mean this is a very BIG issue since it's their current flagship. Regardless, I'm still happy with my i9500.. will never return it back unless.. Samsung recalls all their S4 from last month.. which is most unlikely. Hopefully in the future, if there's a custom rom that would tweek the smearing and red tint.. i'm a happy camper
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] alexd83:
Got mine yesterday (Belgium) and this smearing is disgusting !!

I am happy to see you all have but I am still concerned. I hope that it is sofware related but...

EDIT: I did some change in the developer option and it improved it ! I do not have lag of text anymore. I deactivated all the animation. Far better now
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
I got mine two days ago, and it has the red black issue

it's not too bad, but it made some pictures with black look so horrible :/ I fixed it with screen adjuster but I think I'd prefer a smearing rom lol can anyone tell me what's the latest smearing rom? I currently have XXUAMDM
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Schnuerschuh007:
I have XXUAMDM and smearing and no red black issue.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PLUG313:
hmm, how odd, well I had another one before I flashed this one but I didn't backup and I forgot which one. I know, dumb ****. anyway I flashed MDM thinking I'd get the smearing... maybe for some reason the kernel didn't get flashed? I'm guessing it's a kernel issue
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vprabu:
In spite of knowing these issues, I picked up my S4 yesterday and to my horror, the screen display is purple / pink on the top and at the bottom. This is clearly seen on white backgrounds and is this a different issue?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
I have just checked and mine doesn't have that issue.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] renton82:
Perfect amoled display doesn't exist! Having near perfect is a kind of lottery! I had GS1 GS2 and GS3 never had a perfect display. Now i'm thinking that GS3 is the last amoled i bought. SLCD3 of OTC One is superb compared to this f*****g amoled!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] exec99:
I also think that amoled screen it's the greatest drawback of the gs4. The screen is dim compared to a good slcd screens (and has some dumb brightness throttling built in). Despite being dimmer it's still power hungry. There are issues with color tint on whites or blacks. And then there's that smearing issue...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
There might be better alternatives like HTC One or iPhone 5 ... but freedom, SD Card and exchangeable battery made this and easy choice for me.

Coming from S2 and satisfied despite of some compromises regarding screen quality (dim and smear in some situations) ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] exec99:
Better alternatives? Maybe htc one does have a better screen, but the rest is worse.

No I really like the s4 I just think that the screen is its weakest point.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] renton82:
For me, the screen, is the most important part of phone, i like very much galaxy s4 , but for its cost i'm expected a better screen!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] greenhorngreen:
Hope there's an update soon.. or Root/custom rom for the S4 (i19505/i9500)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vprabu:
It is going back to Samsung. Waiting for the replacement piece. Will take two days!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jsmith8858:
Holy cow, that's not 100% perfect but it helps a LOT! The good news is twofold: first, it's a simple short-term fix, but more importantly, it's a pretty clear indicator that it's a software issue, not hardware.

THANK YOU!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] renton82:
Ok, but take a look at blacks in a dark room with and without fix...:rolleyes:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chippyuk:
How many times does it have to be said! This is the way the screen works. If you turn off the pixels it takes time for them to turn on, hence the smearing. There is NO way around this on any display of this type and size unless Samsung can increase the refresh rate which I doubt. The fix prevents the pixels from turning off but it still leaves the S4 with much better blacks than any other phone out there at the moment.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Obagleyfreer:
for the third time:

SAMSUNG HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THIS ISSUE AND ARE RELEASING A FIX VIA A SOFTWARE UPDATE

I think the OP should update the first post to let everyone know that this isn't really an issue anymore, we just have to wait for a fix.

The things I'm more bothered about is the screen flickering and hue changing on low brightness that goes on when you open and close keyboard for example.

Anyone else notice screen flickering?

Or slight hue change from green to magenta when opening keyboard?

These are really bugging me.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
I have. But that is something to do with Android itself I think. The HTC One does the same kind of thing and it has a Super LCD screen not AMOLED.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
Mine shows a very brief flicker but no hue change. It's a software issue to do with the call up of the keyboard - there is no way it has anything to do with the screen. I also changed to a third party keyboard to see if it rectified it but it displayed the same brief flicker.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Obagleyfreer:
The hue change is definitely there it's just subtle unless viewing a black and white image or something. I first noticed it while watching a black and white you tube clip, I touched the screen to bring up the menu to pause it and as I toggled the menu on and off you can see whole screen change from to a greenish hue and back again.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] toadsurfer:
Are the screen filter apps safe to use long term? I'm using screen adjuster at the moment as it's the only way I can solve the awful yellow green tint on my screen. However the filter your screen app had a warning not to adjust RGB levels on oled screens or it can damage them. I have to add some blue to my screen to reduce the yellow tint - am I risking damaging my screen if I have the app on all the time?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Infy_AsiX:
a question I haven't seen mentioned is with the pixels staying on with workaround are there "ink spots" like on the s3 and other hd amoleds?

?????? Galaxy S3 ??????
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] big_b0sss:
are you sure that is software related buddy because i have two galaxy s4 one mine and another my brother owns mine does flicker when calls up the keyboard on browser, Gmail app, its for short period of time but noticeable on white background however my brother's s4 doesn't do that. i was gonna open up a new thread about this until i saw your post. this screen issue frigging killing me. should i take it back to store?

i wish i didn't notice that now its bugging me
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
I think its software too. I exchanged my first S4 for a One and it did weird flickering for certain things too and now that I went back and got another GS4 which I am glad I did cause I just love Samsung products more than the others out now and even my second one does it as well. I think it may have something to do with Android and the Qualcomm chip adjusting the screen as well. Not just Samsung's software or hardware doing it.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cnever:
I exchanged my S4 due to technicians stating the phone having a fault and that causes the smearing. But then new one does this as well. I can fully vouch that this is something in all S4 phones and will be visible depending on settings and the software version you are running - but stays my opinion.

We got feedback that Sam will fix this in next update so now we can just wait and complain some more if necessary I suppose.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] slind:
Imho, adding more blue to your screen will reduce it's health, as blue still wears out much quicker than red and green on every AMOLED I know of.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
Can I check with you guys, do you experience colour banding in your phone's screen? Which means to say, when you load a solid background (especially grey), there are some 'vertical lines' where the brightness is slightly different.

Is this normal for AMOLED screens?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Aerys:
Does the CM10.1 project also have this annoyed issues?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
Yes mine does too. I think it's normal because even my Galaxy S3 would have issues displaying greys and blacks sometimes. And I got it in October so it wasn't an early adoption haha.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
Okay. But anyway while checking for the bands I found a bright pixel (appears only on grey it seems) so I rushed it to the service centre once again anyway... *Sigh*
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
Did you try a pixel fixing app first?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mckaos:
Im also having an issue with my screen. Not sure if i have the same issue as threadstarter has because as you can see at the pics i can hardly see my screen. So i didnt know i should start a new tread or just write a post here. It seems like a software issue because when i go into the camera the screen is crystal clear, and when i restart my phone its clear until a certain point in the startup process. this happend only 3 days after i got my phone.

The worst thing is this is my first android phone, i have had a iPhone 4 for 2.5 years and its been flawless, but the 3 days with a working droid got me convinced that im not going back to apple any time soon :)

My first post EVER, Sent from my A500 using xda app-developers app
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
That is almost certainly a hardware issue, most likely GPU. The fact the screen works in the camera mainly rules out a OLED hardware issue rather than the internal electronics which render the screen.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mckaos:
I tried now to turn of the auto adjust on the brightness, when is off the screen is ok.. some glitching but not much.. whe the auto adjust is turned on again it comes back imedatly..

I was thinking hardware at first too, but im more and more convinced that its software
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rmansh:
This is very odd... but I don't think it's software problem..! I hope so...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dannyyyyy:
Sigh samsung I hope your reading all of these complaints.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
Me and you both. When I spoke to Samsung I showed them the link to this thread.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] trenzterra:
I don't think such apps would work on AMOLED technology unfortunately... And hopefully by sending it in my colour banding issue could be solved too.

Personally I wish Samsung went with LCD for the GS4. I mean, is it worth experiencing all the problems just to get 'true blacks'? I don't think so...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nabilsweet007:
I have same problem..Its just 7 days old s4..n facing this problem

Screen tint problem

Heating issue

Battery life sucks
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captivatedguy7:
I have seen some say works for AMOLED.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] flo110:
So it's software problems.. Pheww
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Charlie Brown:
I returned my S4 and did not bother getting another; providing the MANY complaints about the screen and of course the smearing, bad greys and blacks on my day old S4 as well as a bunch of other S4s I tested!

My sentiments exactly. I refuse to dish out $630 for a device that is not working as it should. We the consumers have the power to either let corporations fool us (and be their monkeys) or simply refuse their goods. I chose the latter.

Yeah it's an innovative device and I did like it and would have loved it if the display didn't have issues. So I chose to let them (Samsung and Tmobile) keep it while I wait for the issue to be rectified or until a more solid device comes out.

So I check the internet and xda to see if a firmware will fix the issue and/or the 32 gig version will be from a different batch with "better" displays.

My S3 will do ....for now.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] greenhorngreen:
Just got OTA Update yesterday (I'm from the Philippines)

My new BASEBAND VERSION IS I9500XXUAMDK and BUILD NUMBER JDQ39.I9500ZSUAMEI

Believe it or not, the smearing is gone! the blacks are now refined compared to before! The red tint that you see when you're in a dark room is now all BLACK! Although the purple hue is still there .. the most important thing is that the smearing, ghosting ,blurring and red tint are gone.... :good: :D
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] maranello69:
Octa Core here, XXUAMDK, same f'in issue with the menus, I can't believe this is happening...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Spix:
Hello Guys,

I have smearing problem, but no red tint issue. I am on MDM firmware.

I have noticed one more thing in relation to s4 screen. If I look to bright background (doplhin HD browser home screen in my case) in direct sunlight, I can see screen flickering. I am very sensitive to such things and I usually can distinguish when coventional pc screen is running on les than 60hz. Can anyone test this issue I have?

Also bug in Instagram. Take a picture and try to apply enhanced brightness (little sun icon on top of instagram filter selection screen) and you will see green tint all over the dark picture parts.

Same as explained in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1kIgeF8CMY
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] inolvidable:
Same here. I sold my S3 and bought the GT-I9505 (the only version available in my country). Screen and sound issues were unbearable for me though, so I went to the shop for a refund. Unfortunately I needed a phone urgently and s4 was the only one that covered my needs and likes, so I took my chances and ordered a GT-I9500 from Revo-digital.

Blacks were red at first, but since I received a 38 MB OTA update, my blacks were pure blacks again and I had very little ghosting. Purple issue is still there but with such a responsive and black screen the phone is usable now (even enjoyable).

The phone sound is good so far

¡¡So say we all!! from my GT-I9500
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
I defrosted my Software Update service in Titanium but when I tried to run the 72mb update that had been downloaded it says my device has been modified, presumably due to CF Root and SuperSU being installed. Oh well, looks like I will have to wait.