Poor color (yellowish tint) on new iPhone 3G displays (photos)
Posted by Dave Merten 
Jul 12, 2008 at 12:37am
A number iPhone 3G early adopters are finding that their new phone’s display has a yellowish tint to it compared to the original iPhone display. Some have begun lodging complaints at Apple Discussion Boards and MacRumors.
As you can see for yourself from the photos below, there is a difference in color.
Spanky Deluxe at MacRumors writes, “Since starting this thread, I’ve returned my iPhone and have been lucky enough to get another one that’s a lot better. Now, from what I can gather from this thread and people’s experiences is that all 3G iPhones have a slight yellow tint compared to the original iPhone. Its not as bad on the whole as my picture indicates.
If you have an original iPhone to compare it with, set both to maximum brightness with auto-dimming off. The iPhone 3G should be brighter than the original one. Yes it will have a yellowish tint compared to the blueish tint of the original iPhone. SOME iPhone 3Gs appear to have a slightly faulty screen/backlight and appear to be dimmer and very yellow compared to the original iPhone. In my opinion, these are faulty.
I’m a lot happier with my replacement phone although I would still prefer the colours a little cooler.
If you have an issue with the yellow tint but its not as bad as I described mine to be then I suggest filing some feedback with Apple about the iPhone using the following form:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
If enough of us ask for it, we MAY be able to get screen colour temperature options and maybe even more advanced colour/contrast/gammut settings etc – something professional photographers would probably like anyway so as to showcase their work on the fly better.
Some people prefer the blue tint, some people prefer the yellow tint. If we ask Apple enough, maybe they will give us some more choice on this. I fully believe this can be far better controlled with a software update. Honestly, there’s a good chance that Apple purposefully made the screen appear this way so that the icons on the dashboard and films appear to have far more colour depth and contrast and so would pop out as better to some people.
Some comparison shots of my replacement iPhone 3G and my original iPhone 2G are here. A montage of my first iPhone 3G, replacement iPhone 3G and iPhone 2G are here.
Some people have reported better colour tones after connecting their iPhones to iTunes and doing a full restore to factory settings. It appears that a slightly newer firmware version is downloaded and this seems to have corrected the colour somewhat. I add that I did this with my replacement 3G iPhone by accident too because it got messed up during Apple’s server activation crash so my second 3G iPhone photos are using this new build. Make sure you backup your iPhone before trying this.”
UPDATE: Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, tells Engadget that the shift from the blue-biased LCD of the original iPhone isn’t an accident and produces more accurate colors most of the time, registers deeper blacks, and makes the resulting image appear crisper.
The original screen was too cold and slightly murkier, Borchers adds. The new panel should also help improve visibility outdoors, where contrast and overall brightness are both important factors.
“Macsimum News” is a proud supporter of Planet Gumbo, which feeds the hungry. We urge you to help them in their efforts
Dave Merten Says:
UPDATE: Apple’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, tells Engadget that the shift from the blue-biased LCD of the original iPhone isn’t an accident and produces more accurate colors most of the time, registers deeper blacks, and makes the resulting image appear crisper.
Posted on July 13, 2008
Jack Says:
Then again Bob Borchers would say that wouldn’t he? As it’s unlikely to be proven wrong other than by a lab method.
On the whole a yellow tint on any screen will always be associated with poor/cheap manufacturing or failing backlighting.
Not what you want on the top of the line phone on the planet.
Posted on July 13, 2008
Michelle Says:
Not sure what the fuss is about. That’s a normal setting for example on HDTV’s sets. That’s also the proper color setting for motion pictures. Perhaps you should check out some of the latest High Definition TV’s.
You will notice that the auto color setting mode for a movie will be warm versus cool, which is what the older iPhone had. On my Samsung HDTV, movie mode is auto set to “Warm2”, while dynamic is “Cool”.
Posted on July 13, 2008
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dave Merten
Dave was one of the founding guides at ‘The Mining Company,’ now known as About.com, in February 1998. Dave was their ‘Focus on Mac Support’ guide. In 2004 he started ‘G5 Owners Support Group,’ and in 2005, renamed it ‘Mac Owners Support Group.’ In 2006, he started the ‘MacOSG Support Corner’ column here at Macsimum News.
View Dave Merten's Articles
David Says:
I would like to see the photos taken on the same plane.
The phones are not laying flat in the attached shots.
I checked my two phones (w/o changing the default brightness setting) and there is a smaller difference than depicted.
Posted on July 12, 2008