[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Real Life Review] Kamikaze_Ice:
Hello. Home theater enthusiast here. Thought I would share my opinion as I have my own calibration tools (i1d3 with HCFR, Lightspace and DisplayCal, and eeColor boxes for 3D LUTs for 1080p and lower content (4K boxes are still too expensive IMO).

This is by far the best display I own. This thing is just as good as my LG E6 OLED... with a 3D LUT! I'd like to mention that the E6 and similar displays are deployed and used for critical grading of movies due to their accuracy and gamut coverage. Without a 3D LUT they're pretty crappy due to limited and buggy built-in calibration controls (you can only have part of the gamut accurate by sacrificing accuracy everywhere else. Skin tones, memory colors or a distributed error focusing on improving the 50-70% saturated colors, can only have one of these or none at all.

Sorry, getting off topic, back to the Note 8 display.

This is very important. DON'T USE ADAPTIVE MODE IF YOU WANT ACCURATE COLORS -OR- THE STANDARD D65 WHITE POINT COLOR TEMPERATURE.

Adaptive has a fairly aggressive boost to saturation. Also, the RGB slider controls are for controlling the SECOND saturation boost on top of what Adaptive has already boosted!

Adaptive/Cinema/Photo use a DCI-P3 in BT.2020 colorspace

Basic uses rec.709/sRGB colorspace.

All non-HDR content (movies, pictures, graphics) do not use this color space. The colors will not be converted properly (primaries and secondaries have an axis shift. Also, 50% saturation in sRGB/rec.709 (non-HDR movies) will be at a different location in the visible spectrum (i.e. not the same color). This is a notable difference if you can quickly do an A/B comparison.

Basic is the most accurate colorspace simply because it's rec.709/sRGB and that is what everything was made for. Use Cinema or Photo if you want/like the saturation boost that happens when viewing /rec.709/sRGB content with a DCI-P3 in bt.2020 colorspace.

HDR videos have embedded metadata (sort of like ID3 tags for music files) which will trigger the display to automatically change to the appropriate and totally separate color space that you can't choose in the display options. The reason for this is because HDR by spec needs each pixel of the screen to produce drastically higher luminance (nits). rec.709/sRGB generally reach up to around 300-400 nits at peak on a quality display while HDR has a defined peak of 10,000 nits by spec. No current display can reach this yet, most are around 2-5000 nits (OLEDs are in the 700-1800 range. See AVSForum for discussions about OLED vs LCD/Quantum dot/Projector HDR nit levels).

This prevents users from using HDR levels of luminance for extended periods of time. More nits needs more voltage, more volts means not only faster battery drainage, but also more heat is generated and shortens the life of each OLED subpixel as the organic compound ages (more voltage quickens aging).

Image BURN IN is caused when some OLED subpixels have aged faster than others near it. This

IS

permanent.

Image RETENTION is

NOT

permanent yet looks just like image burn in. This is from voltage that has built up and can no longer be contained in the components controlling each pixel. Simply discharge them by turning the screen OFF (As in power off. I think Always On Display keeps them primed and ready for use). You could also look at animated full screen color noise/static patterns. This would improve uniformity by fully charging the components for remaining pixels. (ex: The old and free ".js" file version of jscreenfix. Present version is web based and not full screen).

If you're worried about being blinded by the high HDR nits, don't be.

The intent of HDR is to NOT cap peak brightness and provide a fixed gamma transfer function (layman: How bright something is relative to your display's darkest possible black and brightest possible white).

To explain what I mean, let's say we have two identical displays with an impossible 100% for color accuracy. And let us assume we have a perfectly mixed movie for both SDR and HDR (alot of movies are only graded once from the source material and then that graded copy gets regraded for the other releases. Basically this is bad but most movie studios are either trying to save money or simply don't care unless it's a "blockbuster" movie....

So again, let's say he have a perfect SDR and HDR release.

Side by side they will be 90% identical. The "HDR" levels are ONLY for specular highlights, like light reflections water/chrome/etc, clouds, sparks and other generally small details. Having something at 10,000 kits that is only, let's say, ~30x30 pixels isn't going to appear blindingly bright but will appear brighter in relation to the pixels around it (which again is the whole point of HDR).

Now for the other three screen modes...

Despite what you think you're seeing, CINEMA/PHOTO/BASIC MODES ARE NOT "TOO RED". ADAPTIVE DOES HAS TOO MUCH BLUE.

Adaptive is default, and by the time you get to the display options your brain has already adapted to this colder color temperature and you perceive the change as having too much red.

Instead of trying to explain why this happens, look at THIS ILLUSION.

The biological and science mechanics at the core of this illusion is exactly why you should NEVER compare colors by sight alone, and this is basically what happens when switching back and forth between modes after adapting to one mode. The rods/cones on our retina are not digital and takes time for them to adapt to changes in stimulation to light entering your eyes.

It appears this way because most displays come from the factory with a cooler color temperature than the industry standard D65 white point. This makes displays look better on a showroom floor under all their fluorescent lights. Simply put, if you think it's "too red", it's because you're used to seeing something that's "too blue".

Actually use these other modes for a day or there about so you have put real hours into looking at the screen, not just a few minutes of the day. Then try switching back to your adaptive settings. You may be surprised to find your opinion to be different about the other modes being too red.

This doesn't mean you can't prefer adaptive mode's saturation boost and/or cooler warmer temperature (aka a more "blue" screen), nor am I criticizing anyone who does not use Basic.

I'm just presenting fact, and not my opinion, based on data in regards to accuracy.

Personally I use Cinema mode and only switch to Basic for drawing.

TL;DR:

Adaptive has terrible accuracy,

doesn't have

a D65 white/color temperature, uses an HDR colorspace for non-HDR content (this is bad), and two levels of built-in saturation boost (RGB slider controls effect only one of these boosts).

Straight from the factory basic has color accuracy rivaling even the best ISF calibrated displays with a 3D LUT,

has

D65 white/color temperature, and uses same SDR colorspace that non-HDR content was made with.

I've done my own measurements with my own calibration equipment, and my results support their findings. Not that I doubt their results, I mean DisplayMate is known in the Home Theatre scene for their technical articles. If you don't agree with them then do your own measurements to get factual data for comparison. Human eyes are lying sacks of crap (read: adaptive) and you can search AVSForum if you need explanations and/or proof of this.

Here is DisplayMate's shootout for anyone enterested.

http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note8_ShootOut_100.htm