yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Confirmed no improvements with the newest firmware (seems more responsive though for some reason, as in no longer experience a delay before the phone opens certain apps).
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I was just able to take a quick Look since i'm at Work, but it seems like the problem itself isn't fixed.

I will further look into it later, but maybe someone else will confirm my observations until then.

Hopefully Samsung will really fix ist since i'm really happy with the phone besides that.

Seems we have to continue pushing them to fix it.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Flash701:
Very disappointing news..
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Going to post a video to youtube highlighting the issue (comparison between S7 and S9+ when watching the Black Panther trailer). If it gets enough views they might even respond. :highfive:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] arnes_king:
I had this issue only visible a little bit when the ambient was very dark. But a few minutes ago I went outside and the automatic brightness went to full brightness, in the red zone. When I unlocked my phone it was TERRIBLE. the pictures and videos posted here are nothing. Everything was very bad on the display, I took a few screenshots, but as soon as the brightness went down it disappeared. The problem is, that none of it is visible on the screenshots :S

Does that mean that it is a hardware issue if not visible on screenshot but in real it was really really strong!
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
It probably is a Software issue, but there ist no final conclusion on that issue as far as i know.

Some People already said it can be fixed with the Screen Balance App, that sounds like it can be fixed via Software.

I really hope Samsung does fix it, i got a perfect screen other than this issue for the first time in years, perfectly uniform in white and grey, so really don't want to return it.

But I'm also cunsuming a lot of video content etc and this also a lot in low light situations, so this is a major letdown for me.

Edit: there was a typo, it's probably a software issue, not hardware.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
Its unfortunate that Samsung is addressing a symptom rather than the problem. I wish this issue would get some press. Phone reviewers seem to use the device for a day or so in optimal conditions, then they go back to their beloved Pixel or iPhone after they post their review. Samsung gets away with it because that's the nature of how it works with these sites. Get your review out before anyone else and profit.

I too am up against my return period. Not sure what to do. I'll probably keep it because it's a great device otherwise and I have nothing else I really want. If I hadn't traded in my S7 Edge, I likely would have returned this and waited it out.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] unibomber:
I had this issue allllllll the way back with the blackberry storm. Gradient issues. Has to be a fw update to fix it.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
To be honest right now I'd take an interim fix for the wallpaper UI issues as it irritates me multiple times on a daily basis. I don't watch videos daily in low light so I can live a little longer with that.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] trenzterra:
What are the exact seconds where this phenomenon is most apparent? Maybe we could all do a test to compare.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Dojoman:
appId=de.butterflyeffected.SuperCar_31135.wallpaperpack&SITE_CODE=uk

Not allowed to post links yet but hopefully you can use the above to find what I'm referring to below. It's a wallpaper on the Samsung theme store.

Noticed the crush had returned and saw it pretty blantantly on the above link...a background image with black that appear to crush badly before your very eyes. Have a look.

The image loads and you can see the pixellation spread across. Horrible.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I bought the Pro Upgrade for the Screen Balance App to see myself if it might be possible to fix it via Software.

I'm no expert, but playing around with the settings posted some pages back, comparing it with my S7 Edge, it seems like a software/calibration thing.

The need to fix the transition between the grey tones near black, they need to be smoother like on my S7 Edge as far as I can tell.

And in the anandtech article they mentioned that the S9+ seems to have a higher gamma, so the whole image is a little bit lighter on the S9+, that might lead to seeing things I can't see on my S7 Edge where some dark details get crushed more, but also some not so great looking things get covered more.

In my eyes the app doesn't fix it completely, but it shows that it should be possible to improve it significantly via Software.

So hopefully the "Wallpaper" Update was just a first step and there will be another update fixing this issue.

Maybe it helps contacting the support telling them and showing them pictures that the need to further evaluate it, since the the update doesn't improve anything when watching videos etc.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] trenzterra:
Hi Toss3, still waiting for your video so I can do some tests myself.

Anyway, earlier in this thread, there was an example showing a white cross with a minor white glow against a black background that looks like crap on the S9+.

Indeed, it does look bad with the black crushing and black 'dithering' dots in the gradient when zoomed in. But strangely, Screen Balance didn't seem to help much with very noticeable banding.

So same thing, connected phone to my Dell U2417H monitor. Lo and behold, banding is still present:

Viewing the same image on the same monitor while it is connected to the PC reveals a much smoother gradient:

Much less banding here. Note: Contrast and gamma adjusted so it is clearer to see.

So I still believe my hypothesis is correct, that the issue is caused by a combination of AMOLED itself AND display driver. Hopefully most of it is mitigatable by software.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I still have my S7 Edge, but I will probably keep the S9+ hoping there will be an update improving the issue.

I really like the S9+ besides that and getting another Phone will get you other issues. I had 3 Pixel 2 XL with horrible Screens, two iPhone X with bad white uniformity and bad grey uniformity, which are definitely Panel issues which aren't fixable.

So at least here is hope that it can be fixed via Software, other than that my S9+ Display is pretty much perfect.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] vwite:
Is this really a software problem? Some people are other forums are claiming they got replacements and the problem is gone in the new phone with the same software version. I also remember the red tint on the S9+ could be slightly masked with a software update but the issue was really never gone until I got a replacement.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] leoaries1986:
New firmware improved quality of homescreen wallpaper and no have color blending in here.

But when I enter app drawer, this issue still there.

Hope Samsung will fix it as soon as possible.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
Other forums source?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] garret1976:
Its not a hypothesis because color banding is always been a OLED issue till we get 10bit displays or better dither filters.

Black Crushing is also not new, but now with S9+ it's suddenly very noticeable.

So wait for fix, enjoy the screen and live with oleds technical shortcomings.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I would also like to know the source. It just doesn't look like a hardware issue.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ssking:
There is no crashing or any other screen problem when playing HDR videos on netflix
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] jazzzzzzz:
So whats the conclusion here..? I can see that its a common issue and replacing phone will not help.!! so whats the point here? should I sue samsung in court or wat...???
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ericj09:
You guys may want to check your phones for brightness uniformity. For me, it was most noticeable while using the Spotify app or anything else with a dark background at night. My first Unlocked S9+ had coloration issues between the left and right side of the display. The two replacements I tried looked like the example below.

I've decided to return until these quality control issues are sorted out. I didn't realize there was still so much variance in AMOLED display quality.

Example:

https://i.imgur.com/hGfI1h4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LIlJYMa.jpg
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
That's nothing new and not the issue we are discussing here.

What you got there can be found on any OLED Display, regardless the manufacturer. You can be lucky and get a real good one which is almost completely uniform, but from what I can tell there is a higher chance to get a not so uniform display.

I had lots of phones in the last couple years from all different manufacturers which I returned because of uniformity issues, but as I mentioned the S9+ i have now is close to perfect for OLED standards. It's my second S9+, the first one had a damaged frame but was also very uniform. Seems like Samsung did a good job this year.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ericj09:
I'm glad yours have been fine. As I stated, my fist S9+ was fine. Two others were unacceptably bad.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
Did they all have the gradient blending issue?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ericj09:
They did, but it didn't seem as bad as what others have posted here.

The first two were manufactured in Korea. Last one in China.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I just tested Netflix, watched Episode 1 of Marco Polo in bed with no ambient light and wow, this is absolutely terrible :( Tommorow I will try to make a video of it and send it to the Samsung support.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] salada2k:
I wish we had confirmation on hardware of software. Want to root and ROM but worried about voiding warranty and Samsung not replacing the device if this issue is hardware related.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
Wow you're not kidding. Marco Polo Episode 1 looks terrible at anything under 40% brightness. Not even fully fixable with the Screen Balance app for me.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Nine9•:
my note8 had this problem. but when i realize the issue, my 14days return period was over. thats why i dont like AMOLED. fortunately, my s9+ us unlocked (made in korea) doesn't have this issue till now. **EDIT** i just checked like u; using Spotify background..... and its there. upper side of display is little brighter than the lower side. but i can only see in really dark room. unfortunately, my 14days return period is just over yesterday, otherwise i will return my s9+.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] trenzterra:
I think netflix's compression may have something to do with it. Netflix's compression removes detail from shadow areas. I tried Friends in College episode 5 and it was terrible too. Then I hooked up the phone to a monitor and realised netflix or the phone's display driver was the main culprit and not the AMOLED display.

---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 AM ----------

Good luck. Back in the day I went through 5 different s6s in search of a perfect set. See here https://xdaforums.com/galaxy-s6/general/getting-replacement-s6-due-to-screen-t3074865

I never got a perfect unit but learnt to live with it. In comparison with the s6, my s7 edge and s9+ seemed much better. Maybe that's why I'm not so hung up about the black crush issue now.

Anyway since Apple is fully onboard the OLED train now I would expect such displays to improve over the next few years.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Kko5:
Samsung Please send ASAP a camera software patch correction for all these colour issues that we are all facing.

It is ridiculous for a flagship "Reimagined" camera phone. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I watched the same Marco Polo Szenes with the Netflix App on my S7 Edge that I watched with my S9+ Yesterday and everything was fine on the S7, it was enjoyable to watch.

So it's not on Netflix in this case.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] trenzterra:
Yes same as you on my s7 edge Vs s9+ too so I was reluctant to believe, until I hooked the s9+ up to my monitor. Too bad my s7e doesn't support MHL so no way to test.

I suspect netflix is loading a different version of the video to the s9+ Vs s7e. Maybe has to do with hdr support or something. But when I view older non Netflix titles on Netflix it seems fine. E.g. the opening sequence of Friends which is quite dark too seems to render just fine on the s9+.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Bedro89:
Guys .. i have my mobile in the 14 days replacement period and it have the colour issue .. shall i replace it or what do u think i can do ?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ericj09:
I'm sorry yours also has this issue. It was noticeable during the day on the two I tried (bad screen batch maybe?) so at night it was impossible for me to ignore.

I researched this issue and it seems like even the Iphone X suffers from inconsistent color and brightness gradients. It's basically an amoled lottery where some displays are perfect and others suffer from nonuniformity. I wasn't able to find anything recently about this issue on the Iphone X. Perhaps they sorted out manufacturing issues further after launch.

I'm tempted to give the S9+ another chance through a different retailer.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Nine9•:
the gradient will be same ir it will increase over time? actually, itsnt noticeable in normal light. but can see it in dark if i give attention. im worried because, if it will increase, then i need to sale this at much lower price like my note8
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] effortless:
I have the same issue on my TMO S9+. I also noticed when in direct sunlight (and the screen kicks into super bright mode), the screen issues become increasingly and alarmingly apparent. Try to stand inside by a window and hold the top sensors into sunlight but keep the bottom of the phone out of the light. When the super bright mode kicks in, you'll see all the shadowing that follows the icons (which I didn't notice before) and the discussed black crush and blending issues.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] pieces of cake:
Um, camera software update? Are you sure you understand the issue?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Galaxo60:
ROTFLSHMSFOAIDMT

:laugh:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Well I have my phone for 3 days and I'm noticing this really badly even more when I have my old s6+ on his side and it doesn't happen, so should I got to the store and ask them to give me a new one, or what?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
No one really knows if it is a hardware problem, so getting a new one may not save the problem. Some guys here got an exchange and they still have the problem. Many here believe it looks more like an Software issue which hopefully can be solved via an update.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Well I don't know what to do then, if it's an hardware problem i need to trade now, probably going to the store and comparing to another one there, the problem is like some one was saying it's hard to see it on placed with good light

Edit : and some people say they had this issue on other mobiles and that they never fixed it... I can't stand those wierd colors
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
I have until Friday to decide, I'm also not 100% sure what to do. If I knew it's definitely software, than I would keep it and wait it out.

What I wonder about, why does the regular S9 Not have this issue, don't the 2 phones share the same software settings regarding display calibration? Are the displays so different that the same calibration setting doesn't work for both? Or don't they share the same settings and the S9+ is just poorly calibrated?

Those questions just make sense if it's indeed no hardware defect.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
Hey everyone, wanted to post an update. So last night I decided to go to Best Buy and talk to them about the issue. I was able to show the Samsung rep there the black crush and he offered to exchange mine out. I am happy to report that my new device does not have the issue. I still see a tiny bit of banding but the crushing is gone. I tested this by playing the test material we've been sharing in here (Black Panther trailer, Marco Polo ep1 on Netflix, the screenshots in the first post, etc) and cannot reproduce what I saw before. The infinity wallpapers have a smooth gradient even at near zero brightness. There is a little bit of pixelation but nothing like before.

However, I am still not sure it's a hardware issue. I am still on the initial Feb firmware and now AT&T is trying to push the new update to me. I am trying to avoid it but eventually it will be force installed when I'm not paying attention, which is how the AT&T updates typically work. I would like to stay on this build as long as I can if the new one does introduce the issue. I was actually able to enjoy some videos last night before going to bed. I am going to try and take some photos in low light to see if I can show you all.

Another note: This screen looks much better to my eyes. My previous screen had a pink hue to it that could especially be seen when tilting the device forward and backwards. This one has a blue cast when I tilt the device the same way. In fact, I have to tilt it a little farther than before to get it to change color. It's a warmer display overall. Also, low light looks more like my previous S7 edge did. My first S9+ had a greenish color to it in low light. This was amplified a lot by using Blue light filter. It would get quite green, which I didn't like but figured it was as designed in this generation. This new S9+ looks just like my S7 did, where it gets very warm (yellower) with the blue light filter. I don't see the green I had before. Not sure if this could have something to do with the black crush. Given how much better this one looks to me, I beleive my previous S9+ was not properly calibrated or just had a worse display.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
Would be nice to know if it changes with the update, that would be the final confirmation that its a software issue.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Well my seller gave me the money back i'm going there to pick up a new one, in 2 days because they didn't have any more stock , but i managed to get a new one ,because of not hearing people in calls problem , i tried to reproduce this black thing on the store and he told me it was perfectly normal , on places with huge amount of light its really hard to reproduce it, and it's hard to explain too , how are you guys trying to explain them what the problem is? or reproduce it? Because i couldn't quit manage too, and he was saying it was normal because of the "artifacts on the video" lol....

Meanwhile ill want to check the new one in a few days and see how it is, let's hope its way better
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
Well, my phone force-updated itself before I could get home. I just ran through all the tests again and I see no black crush or degradation in low brightness. The Black Panther trailer looks great. For example, at 0:44 his jacket collar, beard and hair would be totally crushed into a solid blob. Now it looks normal. Marco Polo ep 1 on Netflix looks excellent. It used to look terrible before. I can't really find a flaw. Infinity wallpapers look OK. They aren't perfect. There is some banding at low brightness but much better than before. Overall I see no change after this update. I have verified I am on the same AT&T build I had before (Feb 28) with the previous S9+. Not sure what to make of it. Could there be differences in hardware? Possibly different screens are being used and one of the batches isn't calibrated properly? As I said in my previous post, my new device has a warmer and more uniform display than the unit I had before.

Edit: I still see a little bit of black crush in the very dark scenes of Marco Polo (38 mins or so). Way better than before but not completely gone there. Though the opening dark scenes look great for me now. Those had a lot of crush in the background and on their hair.

---------- Post added at 04:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:07 PM ----------

The way I demonstrated it was to switch to an animated infinity wallpaper and show the intense crushing in the corner when the phone wakes. He had to go into a dark room to see it. After that, he said it looked bad and would give me another phone.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
I tried the wallpaper and i couldn't see it ho well, i guess i need to try it again with the new one but i really need a way to reproduce it in store, because he even pulled out his One plus and it was doing the same thing on his phone.

When i showed this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg1tWXtH1zg , he said it was a "artifacts on the video" that made him have those effects but it was on the video on purpose.....

When i showed this image : http://i.rtings.com/images/reviews/tv/sony/x900f/x900f-uniformity-local-dimming-large.jpg, he said it was a thing on the image ......

When i showed the Black panther trailer, he said it was normal on the video because of artifacts.... Oo

He then start doing the screen tests on the phone screen (the dialer codes) and it was all fine (of course it is ..lol)

Wellp i don't know ,thank god i started talking about randomly stopping hearing people on my phone calls , and then he said he couldn't test it, and said he would give me a new one (at this point i think he understood i wanted a new phone), I really need to try that background thing for when i get the phone and see if it does it
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] coolguy949:
I still see those video artifacts but just not as bad as before. Still not great though. For the image, at around 30 - 60% brightness I still see a glowing blob around the pattern but it used to be much more pronounced and a olive green color. Now it's more gray with a little bit of black crush around it. For me the big improvement is the improvement in black crush during videos now. It's still not perfect but significantly better. As I test more, I am seeing a little bit of crush in the very dark scenes of Marco Polo (around 38 mins). The beginning scenes are totally fine for me now. Before they were really bad.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Well i think if the next s9+ i get has this same issue i will ask for the money back and wait for another mobile or something (note?) because im back at my s6´+ and the blacks are actually blacks and everything is fine watching those videos....pisses me off an equipment with 3 years ...
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] trenzterra:
the glowing blob is supposed to be there... The said picture is a photograph of the glowing blob issue on a Sony television if I'm not wrong.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
When and where was your S9+ manufactured? The olive green problem is for me the nr 1 issue.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] BlackBird_666:
After the Update which I received today, the Wallpaper gradient banding is no more but when watching HDR videos on youtube or watching Netflix black crush and gradient banding is still present.

I was waiting for the update to decide to return my S9 Plus for another S9 Plus but now I don't think its going to fix the problem unless Samsung acknowledges the issue.:eek: