Google Pixel: Bright halo under dark shapes

[euthymos]

Hi,

on my Pixel dark-coloured shapes (especially black text) over a bright background (especially white) have a (much) brighter halo under them, like a broken anti-aliasing/ClearType. Did anybody notice this on their device? It's hard to show an example here because screenshots of course don't reveal the problem, and photos taken with another device look horrible (you can't really take a photo of a screen). It's annoying and makes reading harder.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[Crono]

If it won't show up in screenshots then it's probably a defective screen or connection. I'd return it while it's still under warranty.

 

[Yuriman]

I noticed something similar on my Moto X 2013. On a black screen with white text, in a dark room, the white text had a halo. After investigation, I concluded it was an optical illusion. Covering the white text with my finger made the glow around it go away.

 

[euthymos]

It's not that kind of halo. In fact, it's like a 1px brighter-than-the-background line beneath any line of dark pixels over a bright background. It looks like some broken ClearType setup, or an out-of-phase monitor from the 90's. I attach this picture, which is a bit rubbish to be honest, but may give you a clue of what I am talking about.

If you own this phone, just pay attention and I promise you won't be able to "un-see" this any more! To be fair, it won't cause any problem to most people, but I do read and write a lot on my smartphone, and I require my text to look perfect - rightfully so. Even those budget <100£ phones don't do that, and neither does my old S4 mini, for that matter.

I am returning this device, and I won't be getting another Pixel, as they all have this crappy effect (played with a few of those at the shop).

 

[Yuriman]

I see what you're talking about, and wonder if it might not just be the nature of OLED screens? Or, maybe a standard font-sharpening done now? I took a picture of my Pixel with my S7, and a picture of my S7 with my Pixel, and both have the same "issue".

Pixel:

S7:

Frankly, IPS LCD would be a really hard sell for me in a phone at this point.

 

[Crono]

Frankly, IPS LCD would be a really hard sell for me in a phone at this point.

Good IPS LCDs aren't that far off from OLEDs.

If someone had told me the LCD screen in the Honor 8 was an (inexpensive) AMOLED I would have believed it. Though I did have to adjust the color temperature, and it's not reviewed as being particularly good (at least not versus the most expensive phones... obviously it wouldn't compete against the Note7).

 

[euthymos]

Thank you all, seems like there's not much I can do then. While I am writing this on my Pixel, words get underlined as I type, and beneath the black underline a whiter-than-the-background shadow-y sort of line appears and it pisses me off. I feel like I want my mediocre S4 mini back.

 

[Crono]

Thank you all, seems like there's not much I can do then. While I am writing this on my Pixel, words get underlined as I type, and beneath the black underline a whiter-than-the-background shadow-y sort of line appears and it pisses me off. I feel like I want my mediocre S4 mini back.

Is it just in Chrome or system wide? Because it could just be Chrome's rendering at fault, and not (just) the display. I'd try Firefox (or Aurora, the dev beta version) and see if it's the same.

I've never noticed what you are describing (can't even see it in the pictures, actually) on any LCD or AMOLED device I've used, but I also don't use Chrome.

 

[euthymos]

Yhsn

Is it just in Chrome or system wide? Because it could just be Chrome's rendering at fault, and not (just) the display. I'd try Firefox (or Aurora, the dev beta version) and see if it's the same.

I've never noticed what you are describing (can't even see it in the pictures, actually) on any LCD or AMOLED device I've used, but I also don't use Chrome.

Thanks for your reply. It's not happening in Chrome only and in fact it's got nothing to do with fonts... Every dark shape on a bright background creates a brighter-than-background shadow-like line beneath it. 1px horizontal table lines have a super bright line under them. It is probably a feature and this scares me. It sucks hard.

 

[Crono]

Thanks for your reply. It's not happening in Chrome only and in fact it's got nothing to do with fonts... Every dark shape on a bright background creates a brighter-than-background shadow-like line beneath it. 1px horizontal table lines have a super bright line under them. It is probably a feature and this scares me. It sucks hard.

I don't see it on my AMOLED screen (Moto Z Play), so whatever is causing it it may be particular to the subpixel arrangement of that phone and similar displays, and/or you are particularly sensitive to it.

 

[Crono]

I see what you're talking about, and wonder if it might not just be the nature of OLED screens? Or, maybe a standard font-sharpening done now? I took a picture of my Pixel with my S7, and a picture of my S7 with my Pixel, and both have the same "issue".

Pixel:

S7:

Frankly, IPS LCD would be a really hard sell for me in a phone at this point.

Do you see the effect viewing those pictures on a non-AMOLED display or non-S7/Pixel screen? Because the text looks perfectly normal to me, the same as on a desktop display.

 

[ChronoReverse]

What about images? What happens if you made black shapes on a pure white background. Does this still appear?

How about text in an image (unzoomed)? Do you also get this effect?

 

[Yuriman]

What it could be is sharpness enhancement. I'm currently using a hotel TV as my monitor and there are bright borders all the way around everything dark.

 

[euthymos]

What about images? What happens if you made black shapes on a pure white background. Does this still appear?

How about text in an image (unzoomed)? Do you also get this effect?

Yes of course. If I take a screenshot and look at it with this same phone, I see the artefact, if I copy the screenshot somewhere else and look at it from there, the problem disappears. It's a feature of the screen and nobody seems to be bothered except me, which maybe implies I am the problem here! Nonetheless I like my dark shapes to be surrounded by the proper background, not a brighter version of it. With tiny text it's close to unbearable... as the super-bright pixels cover more real estate, in percentage terms.

 

[Raduque]

Do you see the effect viewing those pictures on a non-AMOLED display or non-S7/Pixel screen? Because the text looks perfectly normal to me, the same as on a desktop display.

I can see what he's talking about on my laptop LCD (IPS). Check the legs of the A, M, N and I. I've never noticed it on anything till it was pointed out - but I don't actually see it on text on my S7e.

 

[euthymos]

I can see what he's talking about on my laptop LCD (IPS).

Fortunately, not on my laptop.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Yes of course. If I take a screenshot and look at it with this same phone, I see the artefact, if I copy the screenshot somewhere else and look at it from there, the problem disappears. It's a feature of the screen and nobody seems to be bothered except me, which maybe implies I am the problem here! Nonetheless I like my dark shapes to be surrounded by the proper background, not a brighter version of it. With tiny text it's close to unbearable... as the super-bright pixels cover more real estate, in percentage terms.

Okay then it's an overly aggressive sharpening filter. Does sRGB mode make any difference? If not I think you'll have to forgo the Pixel.

 

[Raduque]

Fortunately, not on my laptop.

I'm talking about the artifact present in the pictures he took of his phone screen, not that I see the issue in text presented on my laptop's display.

Click yuriman's images to make them bigger and look at the bottoms of the letters.

 

[euthymos]

Does sRGB mode make any difference?

I tried, it doesn't: colours look more natural, though. I am looking at a 1px black square and I can see a super-bright 1px line beneath it. Sigh.
Well, I am also a bit annoyed by the "camera halo" problem, which is going to be fixed by "software post-processing". Meh. Not gonna miss this phone.