yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
The blacks are not "crushing" - this is just straight up wrong. What you are seeing is clipping between darker shades of gray. The reason for the blockiness is that Samsung have done their best to reduce black crush (just check Anandtech's comparison), and the amoled panel isn't really capable of displaying that many shades of gray at those brightness levels. The thing they fixed here was the calibration at the lowest brightness level (grays are no longer green). The only way to completely fix the black crush would be to get rid of the inky blacks (you can do it yourself with the screen balance app).

If you want to see black crush just check out the pixel 2 xl: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12520/the-galaxy-s9-review/7
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
My grays were never green anyway.. What I have is dark grey color being shown as complete black and by that, some parts of videos look bad.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Well I still have that issue, but my grays don't look green anymore. Not sure if they can fix the blockiness as that is visible on pretty much all Samsung phones since the S8. My S7 is still the best amoled screen I've seen and doesn't suffer from any blockiness.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
Argh stop saying this! It is not visible on all Samsung phones. It's complete nonsense. I've had an S5, S6 Edge, S7 Edge. My wife has regular S9. I've even got an S2 Tab - none of them have this frigging problem. To the best of my knowledge, my frigging eyes work and have worked just fine over the last few years!

The problem exists on the S9+.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ikbenjelly:
I watch a lot of movies/ series on my phone... since the note 4.... s7 edge.... s8+ and i never had an issue regarding the screen in any lighting condition and whatever scene. Now with the s9+ when there is a scene that takes place at night.....its just horrible and some scenes when a guy wears a dark suit or some curtains in the background they seem like they have oil spills all over... trying to check this in a store during the day with lights on everywhere you wont notice because of the sun and lights reflecting off the screen. HDR Youtube fullscreen will look fine with that fixed automax brightness..in the store. But i still think its too damn bright for watching at home under normal lighting especially at night
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
Digital foundry web site check out God of war and Res evil 7 both have dark scenes. Res evil from the start when the girl gets pushed to the floor it looks awful and God of war just after 8min. Both suffer from black blocks and blobs that spread when camera moves. Never had this with any Samsung before and I've had most of them.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
So its fixed or not? The guys that says its fixed haven't posted a single picture neither on this or the other forum, so i'm still waiting
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
I'm gonna say no as I'm definitely seeing blocky blacks still.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
https://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4485176&stc=1&d=1524598371
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
https://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4485176&stc=1&d=1524598371

Bottom left of the picture shows it. Sorry posted twice not sure how to delete posts.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Why can't you post photos of the devices that don't have the issue? If you want something done about it how about doing something other than just complaining on XDA?

My biggest issue was the green grays at lower brightness levels. The blocky grays are still there (this is not black for your information, nor is it "black crush"). Please learn the terms so that the engineers over at Samsung know what we are talking about.

What we are seeing is called banding and it happens because Samsung tried to alleviate black crush by trying to get the display to show us shades of gray it apparently just cannot show (examples below); all of the grays between RGB(0,0,0) to RGB(8,8,8) are all black while everything from RGB(9,9,9)->RGB(15,15,15) is a similar shade of dark gray - there's nothing in between.

As you can see in the following picture the S9+ actually displays more information in black areas than the S7:

This can be seen in this scene from the Black Panther trailer where the S9+ is trying its best to display all of the information in the frame.

Clearly no "black crush" here, it's actually the opposite; the display is showing darker grays as too bright.

The following scene was all green before and now the darker areas are actually gray as they should be (again you can clearly see here that the S9+ is showing more information in the darker areas of the image, meaning no black crush):

And if you read the Anandtech article and scroll to the screenshot comparisons, you'll see that even the S8 suffers from blocky blacks:

So in order for us to actually communicate this to Samsung we need to get more people to post photos of their devices showing off the issue compared to other amoled devices that don't suffer from it (blocky blacks or banding). Complaining here won't do a thing. I've contacted Samsung on twitter, facebook, email, contacted Sammobile (they ended up mentioning it here), Andrei before the review was published (he mentioned it in the article I linked to earlier), etc. so please don't just sit idly by if you want Samsung to take the issue seriously, and instead of attacking each other help in creating a helpful dialogue that could help communicate the issue to other users and Samsung alike.

Uploaded a Zip with all the screenshots and testfiles you need here.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
Nobody is attacking anyone. It's just not helpful stating things like "newest update fixes issue" when clearly it doesn't. Or, "all Samsung devices suffer with the issue" when clearly they don't, else there would be similar threads in their respective XDA forums.

Clipping, banding, crushing - whatever it's technical terminology is. I think we've demonstrated the issue enough in the many replies to this thread. It's the clipping in dark scenes, causing the blocky blacks which people are most concerned about. I know I've highlighted this in conversation with Samsung tech over email numerous times. They gave up replying to me in the end. I've linked them this thread and others also, I do give them some credit that they can navigate a forum thread and read user experiences, so I disagree that writing about it here doesn't help. The thread has had 34k views which I think highlights this is a pretty serious issue and one I'm sure Samsung are fully aware of by now.

The only way they will take notice though and do something about it is to do what a few have said they've done in this thread and that's send the device back for a refund. The problem is, I would bet this issue is not enough to put people off to get a refund, and most will just live with it. Even if hundreds returned the device, compared to the quantities they'll sell and users will keep it, it's a tiny minority trying to make an impact.

Samsung wins.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ConnyHedgehog:
[MENTION=5039407]Chris_c81[/MENTION] You say that clearly all S9+ don't have this problem (I'm talking about the color banding problem when showing dark scenes). Do you have any proof? :)

I'm not saying you're wrong but every single S9+ I've seen has had this problem (I even got my screen replaced, and the new one also had the problem, so I returned the phone), and I've never seen anyone proving (with picture evidence) that they don't have the problem. Sure, I've heard alot of people saying they don't have the problem, but I've never seen an S9+ without the problem.

[MENTION=980049]Toss3[/MENTION] I don't think this is a hardware issue since as far as I know the iPhone X (which also have an AMOLED screen made by Samsung) doen't have this issue at all. I think Samsung will be able to fix it completely if enough people start returning their phones and writing to the support etc :)
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
Mine looks like this. When you pause the video and toggle Youtube interface on/off it gets worse.

That screen balance app fixes this almost completely but the drawback is that I lose true deep blacks.

I'm sure Samsung can do at least SOMETHING about this. I think they are aware of the issue, why would you think they put a software update fixing the stock wallpapers? Because they probably noticed that mess.

Time is our friend for now. If this wont get better i will go for repair and i dont care what they will replace or fix. Simple as that. Replacing to a new one just loses your time since you will get exactly the same problem.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
You misunderstand me. I am saying all S9+ have the issue. You're confusing me with someone else. I've never once said anything to the contrary.

This particular issue seems to exclusively affect the S9+ out of Samsung's flagships released this year.

My comment earlier was with reference to other Samsung models. A few like to claim this issue has affected many Samsung models over the years, whereas I'm saying that is simply untrue.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ConnyHedgehog:
I'm sorry, you are correct, I completely misunderstood what you said :)

I thought you said that all S9+ didn't have the issue, when you actually said that not all Samsung models have the issue. Then we both have the same experience, it seems that all S9+ have the issue :)
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ingenious247:
All S9+ will have this issue.

The issue is with Oreo and AMOLED, not the S9+

Anyone who has been through the black crush issue in the past would know.. when the Galaxy S2 intially came out it was on Gingerbread, and did not have the issue. Once it updated to Ice Cream Sandwich, the black crush issue was present.

I have seen this happen before and from what I can tell it has EVERYTHING to do with Android coding and AMOLED panels.. so blaming Samsung isn't going to fix anything.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ingenious247:
As you can see, this is a problem with Android and AMOLED panel phones.. being discussed on Reddit

Notice the guy at the bottom mentions his Note 8 does not have the issue.. I am betting his the Note 8 is still on Nougat
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
Do you need the pro version of the screen balance app ? Plus when you set it there's a option on the top of the screen saying on and off which setting does this need to be on ?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] andy7a:
I have returned my phone yesterday and asked for a Refund. No replacement. If you guys are not 100% content with the phone I advise you do the same thing if you still can. This is advertised as best phone with best screen, camera blah blah at a whooping price of almost 1000€. For that price in my perspective there should be no excuses other than a near perfect phone. Sorry Samsung but you lost a customer, very disappointed. Unfortunatelly I see this trend going in the future not only for Samsung but others too with milking customers more money without offering better quality service.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] th.android:
So if the issue is supposed to be software related then I suppose the regular S9 (which doesn't have the issue) runs different "software" than S9 plus?

I hope I'm wrong but my bet is on a bad batch of OLED panels out of the manufacturing line. And given the ambiguous nature of the problem with users having a hard time explaining it with technical terms to Samsung Support, I believe it is never going to be "fixed" and the only solution is refund. Maybe Samsung has just moved on to Note 9 now because there is yet no official response from them.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Been told numerous times by Samsung service reps that they are working on an update, but my guess is that this issue won't be solved (banding in darker scenes due to it being a panel issue). Only thing that would get their attention would be a lawsuit (they are already facing one because of the dropped call issues).

---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

I'm going by the Anandtech article I linked to earlier and you can clearly see the blockiness in the photo of the S8. Please share photos if this isn't the case.

I'm sure they are aware of an issue, but unless we communicate it clearly they won't know what to fix (they already fixed the banding in the wallpaper as an example).

Samsung have all in all done an awful job with the S9/S9+and that's why I'm considering selling it: the Exynos 9810 has been utterly ruined by the tweaks they made to gain the highest possible Geekbench/Antutu score (probably because of marketing reasons), the variable aperture doesn't make any difference, the screen suffers from blockiness in lower lit scenes, there are call dropping issues in some regions, etc.

I'd love it if people with the S9 could post photos of their phones showing the screenshots I posted earlier as it is impossible to ascertain with any degree of certainty if the device suffers from the same issue, in the well lit environments of the phone shops around here.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
Equally link me to threads, posts, Reddit discussions etc. where users of other Samsung handsets have discussed this.

I can't demo you some of the other handsets I've had, as I no longer have them. I can however demonstrate the S9 and S2 tablet does not have the problem and if it pleases you I'll do just that later.

I'm not suggesting the handsets that Anandtech reference do not suffer from the problem. But for whatever reason, its worse and more easily noticeable on the S9+.

I'll post results later. When I first noticed this issue, I asked my wife to watch the same clips on her S9 and me on my S9+ I'm telling you now, the S9 doesn't suffer.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
I would if I could, but that's like saying most S9+ don't suffer from it because people aren't complaining. I found some threads complaining about banding on the S8+, but nothing concrete. Saw pictures posted in the thread over at android central showing a distinct difference between the S8 and S9+ so that would be proof that the S8 doesn't suffer from a similar issue, but when looking at the shots of the S8 in that anandtech article I do see a similar pattern (not owning the device myself I can't draw any conclusions).

Could be because of the long shutter speed used for those photos (they would show even the slightest of banding, but wouldn't be a realistic scenario of how they look in person watching a video in low light).

If you have an S9 at hand then I do believe you. I just can't figure out why the S9+ would be suffering from an issue when the S9 isn't considering they are running the same software and the panels were manufactured at the same plant unless it's a hardware issue. :confused:

Would love to see some comparison shots that I can send to Samsung!
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
Today I went to my local electronics store to check out the S9 and S9+. The lighting was pretty dim so I was able to spot it. Both S9 and S9+ had exactly the same issue (crushed blacks). Then I compared with note8 and s8 and they didn't have the problem.

So basically the bottom line is that all the phones have this crap.

Of course they were display models which are a little different from retail but at least the screen should be the same? Because again neither note8 or s8 have it. =)
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
How did you test it?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
I watched the infinity war trailer and since I know what moments show the best on my phone I tried to replicate the same on the display models in the store. Lucky for me it was dim so I was finally able to notice it. Both S9 and S9+ look exactly the same with the issue present.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ollieden:
Check this link out was looking for bad examples of this issue it's unwatchable.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...EQo7QBCCkwBg&usg=AOvVaw0RRZMdhlOOTixTwRSbynyX
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ingenious247:
That's because neither the Note 8 or Galaxy S8 you checked were on Oreo.. I'd bet you $100

I'm telling you, this is an Oreo calibration issue..
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Lenkbron:
In my opinion black crush isn't the biggest problem on the S9+, the gradient banding or what it is called is much worse. The horrible image quality in dark scenes is a much bigger issue and this doesn't exist on other OLEDs, regardless if those phones are on Oreo or not.

If it were just for the black crush, i would have kept my S9+.

Gesendet von meinem ONEPLUS A5010 mit Tapatalk
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ikbenjelly:
Hello it is not an oreo problem... i updated my s8+ to official oreo and no crushed black issues... i have the s7 edge ... s8+ .... note 3 and iphone x inhouse and none of them have the display issues......the s8+with oreo update worked really well during the weeks before i got the s9+.. i watch a lot of netflix etc. The s9+ is the worst video viewing experience on any phone ive ever had....because the artefacts and black crush are clearly visible in some scenes ..almost like the early days of playing videos on pc with a buggy codec
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
I read that someone on xda who has the black crush issue increased the display to max resolution and that fixed it for them? If you haven't tried it then you might want to check it out? ?

Sent from my SM-G955W ??
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
I wish it was that easy mate :D
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Galaxo60:
I have always been with max resolution and still have the issue.

Is true that with latest updates it has decreased a little bit in certain parts, like the power menu or some wallpapers, but I don't think it will fix never completely.

I also have a P20 Pro and it also suffers from this problem.

:confused:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Ikbenjelly:
Installed april update.....ARD1....The black panther trailer its less noticeable now..but hacksaw ridge scene scene lord help me get one more is absolutely horrible... if you open youtube...make a popup window of it and then open an app that supports landscape... now play that youtube scene in a smaller window over it...now it seems better....
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
I'm still waiting for my S9+ (today or tomorrow) But has anyone tried the Screen Balance App mentioned here:

https://www-theandroidsoul-com.amp....sh-and-gradient-banding/amp/?amp_js_v=1-4-71#

Canadians on Rogers were advised that there is a delay with the April Bug Fix & Security Patch update (originally scheduled for the 16th of April) because of issues with the update.. No specifics were given about the issues with the update.

?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Chris_c81:
Yes the app is a workaround which some are happy with.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
Screen balance fixes the black crush but then you lose deep true blacks. Not really optimal solution.

Anyway, I got the recent update and the issue hasn't changed. Possibly even worse now or I'm just going crazy with this. :D:D
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Maij19:
I think this this video explains the issue being discussed here, at least it gave me some peace of mind...she starts reviewing the display at around the 27:00: https://youtu.be/YVk8bc-TV3Y
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
It's been reported on the S9/S9+ Telegram Group that the April 10th Build for Exynos has fixed the Black Crush issue? ?

I can't verify this - So just an FYI

BLACK CRUSH OTA OFFICIAL FIX S9+ EXYNOS:

Model : SM-G965F

Changelist 13138380

Build date Tue, 10 Apr 2018 01:56:25 +0000

Security Patch Level : April

PDA: G965FXXS1ARD1

CSC: G965FOXM1ARCA
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Galaxo60:
No, it doesn't, but it minimize it somehow in some conditions.

;)
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
So you think samsung can recalibrate the display using software? Or they just dont care?

And no, ARD1 firmware has no impact on the issue at least for me.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Maij19:
The update didn't have any impact on my phone either. The blacks look exactly the same on my daughter's s9 so I think it's safe to say it is a calibration issue and I think but not 100% sure they can adjust that with an update.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] andy7a:
It's the screen and how it was manufactured that it cannot display darker gradients properly.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Apparently this is a hardware problem as two people in the thread over at Androidcentral posted pictures of what seems to be displays without the horrible banding. It's probably just a very widespread issue.

Oh and it appears to affect some s9s as well (not as widespread though).

---------- Post added at 07:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

So apparently Samsung have made an official statement on the matter:

"Samsung provided the following statement to Tom's Guide:

'At Samsung, customer satisfaction is core to our business and we aim to deliver the best possible experience. We are aware of a limited number of reports of Galaxy S9/S9+ displaying dark colors differently than intended in certain instances. We encourage any customer with questions to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG.'"

So we need to get them exchanged which sucks because I just got my Whitestone dome installed. :(
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Wait, samsung already talked about this? jesus took them a long time
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
They have told people repeatedly that they are working on an update, so not returning mine yet. :good::fingers-crossed:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
Try watching star wars trailer :D Looks pretty good, doesn't it? :D

That bad on yours too?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
Do you have a link to the article? I searched on Tom's Guide but didn't find anything?

Thanks ?

Sent from my SM-G955W ??
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Galaxo60:
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-s9-black-crush-display-issue,news-26969.html

:good:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
Thanks - I thought that it was a more recent story with some new developments ??
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Toss3:
Two weeks isn't really that long. :cool:
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] shaggyskunk:
Yeah I know - I thought from reading your post that perhaps there was an updated explanation from Samsung - That's all ??

It occurs to me, that Samsung in spite of their massive budget, seems to be less focused on ensuring the quality of their Flagship devices on the market now, and is trying to be all things to all people?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
I think I will get a replacement phone. When I do I'll report if the issue is any different.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] DemonSoul:
Ive returned mine 2 days after release , and i didnt regreat it. I think even if its fixed ill wait for teh next flagship from samsung, its probably around the corner
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] Huey85:
Latest update seems to improve the black crush issue on my S9+. Or maybe my eyes just refuse to want to see it anymore lol
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] effortless:
The ARD9 update fixed all the black crush issues for me.
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] s0nixx:
Thats some pretty solid info. Waiting for others to respond. Can you post a changelog ?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] ssj100:
Which update is that specifically?

Pretty amazed that some have already got the May 1st update - I didn't think that existed yet? Certainly the date has yet to exist!