[h3j4]

I just received my 4th Storm replacement, which is a 12/29/08 Mexico model, and noticed something that I that I haven't seen in previous units.

While the screen is very bright and not dim as in previous Mexican versions, there seems to be significant banding on the LCD. It's particularly noticeable on subtle gradients; instead of being a smooth transition of colors, it looks very segmented and chunky/blocky. It's not as easy to detect on the included sample pictures, but if you have an image with a large gradient you can very easily see it (it's evident even on the mini-gradients on the folder icons and the media player background).

I was wondering if anyone had noticed this as well.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about (first image):

[vyrus]

I have it, it is VERY obvious on the landscape Locked screen (the blue one). But that is the only picture I have really noticed it on.
-Cyrus

[cray1000]

i can see little lights coming from the bottom of mine when i use that ball bounce program to test the accelerometer. almost like that is where the backlight is shining from.

it looks like its coming from the hard buttons backlight.

[srg1226]

my landscape lock screen looks like your 2nd picture

[onepoonis]

mine looks like your 2nd (middle) picture as well. mine is also made in mexico 11/12/2008.

[bigmo384]

same here , locked landscape is the 2nd pic.

[CrackberryMike]

My landscape lock screen looks like your 3rd picture, in blue.

[Romple]

quality 1st post imo

[acautivar5]

mine is like the second pic.

[killastorm]

my screen is fine

[jazz_nh]

I believe that the landscape lock screnn is supposed to look like that. It is the "wallpaper" for the lanscape locked screen, not a lighting or screen defect.
Try landscape with the BB buttons on the left, then turn the phone to the BB buttons to be on the right. The gradiant moves with the accelerometer.
this is not a defect

[h3j4]

Well to be honest, the screen-lock background isn't a good depiction of the issue (which looks more dithered [#2] than actual banding [#1]), as mine looks closer to #2 than #1 (but other gradients look like #1).

If you research into LCD panel banding, it's a common issue with the larger and cheaper models of LCD panels. It isn't an issue where it's a problem in a specific part on the screen, rather the capability of it to produce smooth gradients (therefore, it wouldn't matter if you rotated the screen).

On all of my Canadian (and I think Mexican prior to this), I have never come across this, so it's not as if this is the first time I've taken a look at the screen.

I'm just curious if it's a change in hardware or some other factor that's causing this issue.

[alexf1852]

The screen only supports 65K colors. You will see banding on 16-bit and 24-bit color images.

Alex

[h3j4]

Yes, but the issue is I'm seeing banding on regular 8-bit images. Even the OS interface has banding visible within in.

[BrianW2007]

I haven't noticed any of this yet...

[JRSCCivic98]

Last I checked, it was a 16bit screen. Why are we surprised that it does this again?

[h3j4]

Last I checked, it was a 16bit screen. Why are we surprised that it does this again?

Well the reason I'm surprised is that (like I stated), this is the first time I've seen it. I've used the same exact wallpaper on all of my Storms, so my observations are based on a control.

Please don't misunderstand my intentions. I'm just trying to see if this is an issue with the entire line of Mexican models produced after 12/12/08, so I can try finding a different replacement.

[JRSCCivic98]

Save them as png and you won't get banding on 16bit color depth. As jpg, you can expect some.

What you're seeing is probably something you just didn't notice before.

[h3j4]

I tried rendering the image as a .png and banding is still evident. Does anyone else see banding on this image, on their Storm (the gradient in the sky)?

[JRSCCivic98]

No, the image is fine. If you are viewing it in the browser however, you must hover a finger over the picture and hit Menu/Full Image to get rid of the banding. That has to do with browser picture color depth, not your screen. The full pic is about 300k large if you view the full image.