Samsung Galaxy S3 Display Better Than iPhone 5: Study

By Anu Passary | Oct 03, 2012 12:45 PM EDT

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The Samsung versus Apple battle continues as both companies look to dominate the smartphone market with their respective flagship devices, the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5. A recent report by IHS iSuppli indicates that the Galaxy S3's display is superior to that of the sixth-generation iPhone.

According to the IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Service, the Galaxy S3's display is just 0.04-inch thick, compared to the 0.06 inch thickness of the iPhone 5. Additionally, the S3 offers a full color gamut that is of the NTSC standard, whereas the iPhone 5 offers only 72 percent of the standard color gamut.

"The addition of in-cell touch technology has improved the display of the iPhone 5, but it still lags the Galaxy S III smartphone from chief rival Samsung when it comes to screen thinness and color gamut, according to the IHS iSuppli Display Materials and Systems Service from information and analytics provider IHS," stated the IHS iSuppli report.

However, the report goes on to say that this fact does not imply that the iPhone 5's display is visibly worse than that of arch-rival Samsung's offering. Vinita Jakhanwal, director for Small & Medium Displays at IHS went on to aver that the iPhone 5 is the first device that employs the in-cell technology, which in itself is a big achievement.

Jakhanwal went on to state that "although the iPhone 5 still trails the Galaxy S III in the display specs race, the iPhone 5 overall remains thinner than the Galaxy S III, and its display color gamut is more than sufficient for most users." Apple, Jakhanwal opined, opted for overall features that were designed to generate profit and "deliver a superior customer experience," rather than focusing on providing consumers with "technology for technology's sake."

The IHS iSuppli findings are a direct contrast to a recent study which was conducted by DisplayMate and analyzed the color gamut and display of both smartphones. According to the DisplayMate study, the iPhone 5's display was "very good and probably more accurate than any consumer display you own (including your HDTV), unless you have a new iPad." Additionally, the comparison of the color gamut put down the Galaxy S3 as being lopsided and stated that it was much larger than the standard, which lead to distorted and exaggerated colors.

"While Apple has clearly made a big effort in getting the Color Gamut very accurate for the new iPad and iPhone 5, Samsung has not bothered to correct or calibrate their display colors to bring them into closer agreement with the Standard sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut," noted DisplayMate.

IHS iSuppli's Jakhanwal acknowledged the user reviews that point to oversaturation issues on the Galaxy S3. She added that while the comparison of the display specification of both smartphones may be interesting, it was the actual viewing experience that could vary for different users.

Additionally, a CNET report said that Raymond Soneira, DisplayMate president, discounted the findings of the IHS study and contended that the color gamut test they undertook was based on an older standard and, therefore, resulted in incorrect conclusions.