Plane to Line Switching (PLS) screen technology (Samsung)

Crisis Message of Aug 29, 2015 from Hunbiased: Immigration which I very much felt to share here before anything else of my own: “ Immigration is *the* topic in the news in Hungary. It’s what all newscasts lead with and it’s the issue that dominates the front pages. How bad is the situation?  I take a look at some basic figures to see whether or not the current EU policies regarding immigration are fair and answer the question, “if Hungary is expected to absorb 140,000 people without batting an eyelid, how many people should Germany and the UK take?” ”

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Plane to Line Switching (PLS) screen technology (Samsung)
Microsoft gives Samsung Windows 8 developer PCs to Build attendees, AT&T throws in 3G service [engadget, Sept 13, 2011]

… that PC comes complete with a second-gen Intel Core i5 processor, an 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 Samsung Super PLS display, a 64GB SSD, 4GB of RAM, and a dock with a USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports.

[PLS-LCD only introduced in North America for the Galaxy 10.1 Tablet:] What Are The Benefits Of Using A PLS-LCD In My Wi-Fi GT-p7510 Galaxy 10.1 Tablet? [Samsung FAQ, Aug 6, 2011]

The GT-p7510 tablet comes with PLS-LCD touchscreen panel technology. The Plane to Line Switching technology is roughly 10% brighter (should help with better visibility in sunlight) and offers about 2x the increase in wide angle viewing compared to certain other LCD technologies. In addition, PLS-LCD offers the following below:

• Higher Contrast
• Decreased Power Consumption
• Response Time Faster
• Lesser Reflection
• Clearer Screen

Due to the cost of Super AMOLED displays, PLS-LCD was used in the GT-p7510 to remain price competitive in the marketplace with the 10.1 inch display.

PLS LCD @ Samsung SA850 [Feb 27, 2011]

New PLS (Plane to Line Switching) LCD technology by Samsung will be used in its professional monitors SA850

SyncMaster™ SA850 Series 27″ LED Monitor [June 27, 2011]
Samsung S27A850D 27” LED Monitor [March 21, 2011]

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See perfect colours from wherever you sit

Maximise your viewing experience with Samsung’s superior PLS technology (Plane to Line Switching). Regular screens suffer from what is called Colour Shift, which reduces the picture quality and colour when viewed from an acute angle. The SA850, which can cover an amazing 178° viewing angle both vertically and horizontally, boasts a crisp and detailed picture by maintaining true-to-life colour, even when viewed from extreme angels, so the experience is vivid and brilliant.

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Samsung to Release LED Monitors with Super PLS, Best Fit for Specialists [SamsungTomorrow, Aug 23, 2011]

Samsung Electronics is to release three models of new LED monitor (S27A850, S24A650 and S24A350T) applying cutting-edge Super PLS (Plane to Line Switching) technology — which makes it possible for a viewer to watch in much wider viewing angles than models in the market.

The new LED monitors employed LED panels thus realizing Samsung TV’s iconic features like vivid resolution and eco-friendliness. This monitor line-up is said to be best fitting for professional users. The SyncMaster SA850, for example, is a 27-inch monitor, has a screen aspect ratio of 16:9 and a native resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. Such products are highly interesting in my opinion.

Samsung launches Evolutional Central Station and LED Monitor Lineup with Ultra High Quality LED Panels for Enterprises [Samsung press release, June 21, 2011]

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Samsung SyncMaster SA850 series deploys Samsung’s own display technology, PLS panel, which covers 100% sRGB color space, providing excellent image output with the highest color accuracy. This is best-designed for industries such as graphic designs, publishing, filming and broadcasting. PLS panel also provides 178° wide viewing angle (both horizontally and vertically), and it enables users to view high quality images from any viewing positions. The Gamma Distortion Index of the PLS is less than 0.15, which meets the high demands of all users for the highest quality and flawless image.

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Samsung SyncMaster SA850 is the first to implement Samsung’s own PLS panel. It has a 27″ WQHD screen which covers 100% sRGB color space, fulfilling the high requirements for image quality and color accuracy of professional users, such as photographers, architectures and advertising practitioners. PLS panel also delivers energy saving features. Comparing to conventional LCD monitor, its LED-backlight can save power consumption up to 36%. The 27″ 2048 x 1152 WQHD screen allows 178° wide viewing angle and produces vivid images with richer color.

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Samsung to showcase TFT-LCD vs PLS-LCD vs Super-Amoled-Plus [Feb 22, 2011]

http://www.oled-display.net At the MWC-2011 Samsung show a comparison between a ordinary TFT-LCD against PLS-LCD (IPS type) and the brand new Super-Amoled-PLUS Display. More about OLED-Displays at http://www.oled-display.net

Samsung SyncMaster SA850: World’s First Monitor on PLS Matrix [X-bit labs, May 30, 2011]

Over a year ago Samsung made an attempt to introduce an alternative to mainstream TN-based products by releasing monitors with C-PVA matrixes. The SyncMaster F2080 and F2380 were not much of a success, however. Although Samsung claims that corporate users were eager to buy them, these models were not interesting for home users due to their high response time and some color rendering problems. Later on, Dell and some other brands introduced their e-IPS based products which met the mainstream requirements by having a reasonable price and well-balanced specs.

In late 2010 Samsung responded to e-IPS with its PLS technology. The name itself (it spells out as Plane-to-Line Switching) was quite a surprise for specialists because it was not a variant of the proprietary PVA technology but seemed to resemble IPS matrixes which were produced by Samsung’s largest competitor LG.

PLS technology was at first advertized as a solution for tablet PCs and mobile phones (high-quality matrixes are quite popular in these devices thanks to Apple’s backing and LG’s active participation) but then one monitor from the new 8 series, namely SyncMaster SA880, was declared to have a PLS matrix.

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Closer Look at Samsung’s Super PLS Matrix

Although the Super PLS technology (I will call it simply “PLS” below) was introduced by Samsung back in December 2010, there is still very little information disclosed about it. PLS matrixes were first showcased as displays of mobile devices. It was even rumored that Apple took a fancy to PLS and would use it in its iPad 2 (the rumors were wrong; the iPad 2 comes with IPS matrixes). In February, some scraps of information about the first full-featured PLS-based monitor, specs and photos, emerged.

We could only make guesses as to what the new matrix was like. PLS stands for Plane-to-Line Switching which sounds similar to IPS (In-Plane Switching), so PLS was supposed to be Samsung’s version of IPS. Samsung itself compared PLS with IPS, but that didn’t prove anything. The various versions of PVA matrixes were compared to IPS as well, just because IPS matrixes are manufactured by LG, Samsung’s largest competitor. Anyway, the comparisons put an emphasis on such facts as excellent viewing angles, lack of off-angle color distortions (tonal shift), a higher brightness and a lower cost.

It must be noted that we’ve already got a successor to the IPS technology which features a higher brightness and a lower cost. It is e-IPS which is manufactured by LG and is quickly gaining in popularity. The main downside, and not a very serious one, is that black gets lighter when the screen is viewed from a side.

For you to better understand the numerous types of modern LCD matrixes, I’ll just put down their highs and lows in this brief list:

• TN: low price, low response time (below 5 milliseconds GtG), average contrast ratio (600:1), poor viewing angles (especially vertical ones), significant off-angle color distortions.
• IPS: high price, average response time (5 to 10 milliseconds GtG), average contrast ratio (600:1), excellent viewing angles, minimal off-angle color distortions.
• PVA: high price, high response time (over 10 milliseconds GtG), high contrast ratio (over 1000:1), good viewing angles, noticeable off-angle color distortions.
• C-PVA: average price, high response time (over 10 milliseconds GtG), high contrast ratio (over 1000:1), good viewing angles, noticeable off-angle color distortions.
• E-IPS: average price, average response time (5 to 10 milliseconds GtG), average contrast ratio (600:1), good viewing angles, minimal off-angle color distortions.

As you can see, e-IPS matrixes are not rivaled directly by any other technology. They are comparable in price to C-PVA matrixes but have different properties. C-PVA matrixes boast a high contrast ratio but are limited in their applications due to their imperfect color rendering and high response time. I wouldn’t dismiss them altogether, yet an LCD matrix with a response time as high as 75 milliseconds can hardly be viewed as suitable for a versatile home monitor.

So, what does Samsung offer us under the name of Super PLS? To answer this question I’ve made macro photographs of pixels of different LCD matrixes.

This is the TN matrix of a Samsung SyncMaster SA950 monitor [the senior 3D model of the home-oriented 9 series … based on a TN matrix with a native resolution of 1920×1080 pixels and a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz]. We see subpixels of solid colors with slanted corners. When the monitor’s brightness is reduced, the whole of a subpixel keeps on glowing. The photo lacks sharpness a little due to the antiglare coating of the screen (it’s glossy in the SA950, yet affects the quality of the photo anyway).

Here is the PVA matrix of a Dell 2407WFP at full brightness. We can see intricately shaped subpixels with a “waist” in the middle and diagonal segmentation. It’s hard to mistake this one for anything else.

This is the same PVA matrix at half brightness. Again, this matrix type is absolutely different from other technologies. We can see that only the ends of the subpixels are aglow while the middle is turned off.

That’s the e-IPS matrix of a Dell U2311H. The picture is blurred by its antiglare coating, yet we can see that each subpixel consists of two parts with a black line in the middle. The two halves of each subpixel are slightly segmented diagonally, like with PVA. As opposed to PVA, each subpixel is square and does not split in two parts at reduced brightness but keeps on glowing as a single whole.

And this is the PLS matrix of the Samsung SyncMaster SA850. It is obvious that its subpixels are closest to e-IPS. They have the same rectangular shape with a barely visible black line in the middle. It is hard to discern the details because of the monitor’s antiglare coating which, coupled with the small pixel pitch (0.233 millimeters), hindered my photographing. The subpixels of this matrix keep on glowing as a single whole at reduced brightness.

Thus, PLS matrixes do resemble e-IPS in terms of the subpixel structure as far as we can discern it. Let’s see if they also resemble e-IPS (or IPS) in technical properties.

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Brightness and Backlight Uniformity

The monitor’s Brightness and Contrast are set at 100% and 75%, respectively, by default. I achieved my reference point of 100-nit white at 30% Brightness and 48% Contrast.

The monitor regulates its brightness by modulating the power of its LEDs at a frequency of 180 Hz. The SA850 uses a white LED backlight, which helped make its case rather slim and light.

[so the monitor’s brightness is Black 0.58 and White 313 (nits)]

Unfortunately, the contrast ratio isn’t high at below 600:1. This is lower than the typical contrast ratio of e-IPS matrixes (600 to 700:1). The maximum brightness is high but you can easily make the screen as bright as is comfortable to you.

The three available MagicBright modes give you three different levels of brightness. The Cinema mode has a very odd color rendering setup (I’ll talk about them shortly) whereas the Standard and Game modes do not distort colors. For practical purposes, I guess that the monitor should be set up manually for a lower screen brightness than the Standard mode for productivity and Web applications, so you can use Standard for viewing photographs and playing games at night and switch into the Game mode for watching movies and playing games in the daytime.

The low contrast ratio may be due to the poor uniformity of the backlight. The picture based on the results of my measurements shows a bright spot in the center of the screen, just where I measured the contrast ratio. That spot is not as bright as the bottom left corner, though.

Although the extent of the variation in brightness is exaggerated in the picture for illustrative purposes, the monitor is obviously far from ideal, especially with black. Talking about the exact numbers, the average nonuniformity of brightness for black is 8% whereas the maximum deflection from the base level is as high as 45%! For white, the average and maximum are 3.6% and 8.3%, respectively. It’s hard to say why the monitor is so good with white and so poor with black, but the bright spot in the corner of the screen can be considered a defect. It is going to be conspicuous when watching movies, for example.

Viewing Angles

The viewing angles of the PLS matrix are excellent when the monitor shows a bright colorful image. I could see no color distortion or contrast deterioration even at large viewing angles, both vertically and horizontally.

There was one interesting thing with black. To illustrate it, I made a few photos of the monitor from different angles in a dark room. The monitor works at full brightness and displays a black fill.

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It is easy to see that the screen doesn’t get much brighter when viewed from a side, but the areas with backlight irregularities show some more light. Moreover, each such area has its own particular viewing angle at which it becomes the brightest. For example, the bright spot at the top of the screen moves rightwards in the last two photos.

For the comparison’s sake I will show you photos of an e-IPS matrix (Dell U2311H) under the same conditions.

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The brightening of black has nothing to do with backlight irregularities (which have a rather typical X-shaped pattern on this monitor). As the viewing angle gets larger, there appear yellow-colored symmetrical spots in the far corners of the screen. These spots get larger along with the viewing angle.

So, it looks like PLS is indeed superior to e-IPS in terms of viewing angles, especially on black, and can compete with the more expensive samples of IPS matrixes. Besides, my sample of SyncMaster SA850 with a PLS matrix is prevented from showing its best in this parameter by its backlight irregularities. When viewed from a side, its screen gets brighter the most in those areas where the backlight is the most irregular.

Color Rendering

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Samsung claims that PLS matrixes with white LED backlight (that’s the kind of the matrix employed in the SA850) cover the entire range of sRGB colors. And that’s indeed so. The monitor’s color gamut triangle matches the sRGB one along one rib and is larger in the other two ribs. Thus, the SA850 is one of the few monitors that you can get an immaculately accurate sRGB gamut with by creating an appropriate profile with a calibrator and using that profile in your image-editing application.

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Conclusion

The Samsung SyncMaster SA850 with its Super PLS matrix is not an ideal monitor, but it’s good.

Samsung has indeed begun to manufacture LCD matrixes which are similar to IPS and capable of competing with e-IPS in price and beating them in specs, especially in terms of viewing angles. PLS matrixes do not have the annoying effect of e-IPS ones which show a brighter black when viewed from a side. Considering the comparable price, PLS makes a more appealing option.

On the other hand, it is yet too early to talk about any competition with e-IPS on the market of desktop monitors. PLS is only going to be available in a single product so far. And while the 27-inch SA850 (S27A850) is interesting due to its high resolution, it can hardly challenge mainstream 21.5- and 23-inch e-IPS based monitors.

It should also be noted that Samsung becomes the only company to produce LCD matrixes of all possible types: TN, VA (C-PVA for the SyncMaster F2380 and S-PVA for TV-sets and large info boards), and now PLS which is functionally similar to IPS technology. This may be due to the company’s ongoing search for the most promising and demanded solutions. Instead of making its decisions in labs and at internal meetings, the company releases products with all technologies available to it in order to check out the reaction of real users. This approach brings about more choices but, on the other hand, the buyer may easily get confused.

As for the SyncMaster SA850, this particular product seems quite competitive to me.

Highs:

• Serious exterior design, good functionality and handy controls
• High native resolution
• Low response time, good color rendering, excellent viewing angles
• Full coverage of the sRGB color space
• Matte coating of the screen that is free from glares and graininess
• Three digital inputs and a USB 3.0 hub
• Ambient lighting sensor

Lows

• Low contrast ratio
• Poor uniformity of backlight for black

Even now, three months prior to its official release, this model has more highs than lows. If the manufacturer gets rid of the backlight irregularities, the SyncMaster SA850 will easily become one of the best products in its class and an indispensible solution for people who need a high resolution and good color rendering but cannot afford a 30-inch monitor. The SA850 will also be good as a versatile home monitor.

I hope that PLS matrixes will go beyond 27-inch monitors and into 23-inch and 24-inch products at prices comparable to those of the same-size e-IPS models. After all, if PLS is planned for such different devices as 10-inch tablet PCs and 27-inch desktop monitors, there must be no technical problems with producing a 23-inch PLS matrix. I’m now waiting for Samsung to release one!

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review: The Sleekest Honeycomb Tablet [AnandTech, June 13, 2011]

A Beautiful Display

Other than form factor, the 10.1’s display is the only other major advantage Samsung holds over ASUS. While the Eee Pad’s display is quantifiably similar to Apple’s iPad 2, it does fall victim to an incredible amount of glare. There’s a sizable gap between the LCD panel and the outermost glass, which results in more glare than most other tablets we’ve reviewed this generation. The 10.1 however doesn’t suffer this fate and as a result is more directly comparable to the iPad 2.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (left) vs. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (right)

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (left) vs. Apple iPad 2 (right)

While both ASUS and Apple use an IPS panel in their tablets, Samsung uses its own technology called Super PLS (plane line switching). Brian Klug, our resident smartphone and display guru did some digging and it turns out that Super PLS is Samsung’s own take on IPS that maintains viewing angle while boosting throughput (brightness). The Samsung supplied photo below shows a comparison of the tradeoff you make with S-IPS and I-IPS, as well as both of those compared to Super PLS:

Traditionally you’d have to trade off viewing angle for brightness or vice versa even within the IPS family. Super PLS lets you have your cake and eat it too, giving you the same side viewing angles as S-IPS but with the light throughput of I-IPS.

Perhaps due to the use of Super PLS, Samsung actually managed to outfit the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with a brighter panel than what we saw with the iPad 2. Black levels aren’t quite as good but peak brightness is measurably better at nearly 500 nits. While the display isn’t what I’d consider bright enough to use in direct sunlight, it is more versatile than the iPad 2’s as a result of its brightness.

The higher black levels balance out the brighter panel and deliver a contrast ratio comparable to that of the iPad 2:

I should mention that the quality of the panel on the retail 10.1 sample is significantly better than what I saw with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition at Google IO. The sample from IO had noticeably worse black levels, lower peak brightness and as a result lower overall contrast. On top of all of that, the LE suffered light bleed from one of its corners – a problem I haven’t seen on the retail 10.1. With only two Galaxy Tabs to compare this is either an indication of wildly varying quality control, or more likely that Samsung simply repackaged its early samples as LEs and saved the mass production hardware for paying customers a month after Google IO.

As you can see in the shot above the Samsung panel has a considerably cooler white point than the Eee Pad Transformer. A quick measure with our colorimeter shows a white point of 8762 (vs 7805K for the Eee Pad). It does make Samsung’s default wallpaper look very pretty. If you’re wondering, the iPad 2’s panel is calibrated to a 6801K white point – at least with our 16GB CDMA sample here.

Samsung reloaded more possibilities on the go with GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus [Samsung press release, Sept 30, 2011]

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leading mobile device provider, today announced the launch of the GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus. Offering a portable, rich multimedia experience on a 7-inch display, the GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus packs power and productivity into a chic lightweight design. The GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus runs Google AndroidTM Honeycomb, enabling an easy and intuitive user experience.

“Samsung pioneered the seven-inch tablet market with the launch of the GALAXY Tab, marking an innovation milestone in the mobile industry. Building on the success of the GALAXY Tab, we’re now delighted to introduce the GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus reloaded with enhanced portability, productivity and a richer multimedia experience” said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business. He added “GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus is for those who want to stay productive and in touch with work, friends and content anytime, anywhere.”

Enhanced Portability

With 7-inch display, GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus provides enhanced portability, weighing just 345g and measuring at just 9.96mm thin. Enhanced portability ensures that it fits easily into an inside-jacket pocket or a handbag, making it an ideal device for those who need to stay productive and entertained while on-the-move.

Advanced Productivity

GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus delivers a smooth and intuitive user experience with powerful performance powered by 1.2GHz dual core processor. Mini Apps allows seamless multitasking by consolidating 7 applications easily accessed from a bottom-side tray on main screen. Users can launch favorite features such as music player or calendar as pop-ups over full screen applications. Not only that, users can design an individualized up-to-the-minute interface through Live Panel.

Web browsing is also enhanced by Adobe Flash and super-fast HSPA＋ connectivity, providing download speeds up to three times faster than a conventional HSPA connection. On top of that Wi-Fi Channel Bonding bonds two channels into one for improved network connection and data transfer at up to twice the speed.

Furthermore, the GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus offers voice and video call support, with no need for a headset.
Users can see friends and family from anywhere in the world in high quality thanks to the device’s larger screen.

Rich Multimedia on-the-move

Full HD videos can be enjoyed on the 7-inch WSVGA PLS display, with DivX & multi codec support ensuring the device is capable of supporting a variety of different formats. An improved virtual clipboard, which stores text and images enabling easy copy and paste, further adds to these capabilities.

Additionally, the GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus features Social Hub, Readers Hub and Music Hub services. Social Hub aggregates the user’s contacts, calendar and email along with instant messaging and social networking connections all within one easy-to-use interface. Readers Hub provides e-reading content such as e-books, newspapers and magazines. Music Hub enables access to over 13 million songs even when out and about.

GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus will be available starting in Indonesia and Austria from end-October and gradually rolled to globally including Southeast and Southwest Asia, US, Europe, CIS, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, and China.

For multimedia content and more detailed information, please visit www.samsungmobilepress.com/

Samsung GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus Product Specifications

Network	HSPA＋ (HSDPA 21Mbps/HSUPA5.76Mbps) 900/1900/2100EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
Processor	1.2GHz Dual Core
Display	7-inch WSVGA(1024X600) PLS LCD
OS	Android 3.2 (Honeycomb)
Camera	Main(Rear) : 3 MP AF with LED Flash Sub (Front) : 2 MPAction Shot, Panorama Shot, Smile Shot
Video	Codec : MPEG4, Divx, Xvid, H263, H.264, VC-1, WMV7/8, VP8 Format: 3GP,MPEG4, WMV, AVI, MKVPlayback : 1080p Full HD Recording : 720p HD
Audio	Codec : MP3,WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC, AAC＋, e-AAC＋, AC-3, Flac Midi(SMF), WAV, OGG apt-X Bluetooth Codec Music Player with SoundAlive
Value-added Features	Samsung Apps
	Samsung Kies 2.0 Samsung Kies air (downloadable via Samsung Apps)
	Samsung TouchWiz : Live Panel, Mini Apps
	Social Hub – Integrated Messaging(Email, SMS, SNS, MMS), Contacts/ Calendar Sync – POP3/IMAP Email & Exchange Active Sync
	Readers Hub/Music Hub (will be available for download via Samsung Apps after launch)
	Google™ Mobile Services – Gmail™, Google Talk™, Google Search™, YouTube™, Android Market™, – Google Maps™
	Smart Remote
	Enterprise Solutions
	Adobe Flash
	Document Editor
Connectivity	Bluetooth® technology v 3.0 USB 2.0 HS & Host Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz) Wi-Fi Channel bonding & Wi-Fi Direct
Sensor	Accelerometer, Gyro, Digital compass, Ambient Light, Proximity
Memory	1GB(RAM) ＋ 16/32GB Internal memory ＋ microSD (up to 32GB)
Size	193.65 x 122.37 x 9.96 mm, 345g
Battery	Li-on 4,000 mAh