How hard is it to check out text on a smartphone when you are outside in the sunlight? You likely know that the answer is, "Very hard" when it comes to many phones on the market. Now a new report from DisplayMate shows that Nokia"s Lumia 900 beat out four other smartphones, including Apple"s iPhone 4S, in a test of their displays when used in various levels of light.
The study also checked out three other older smartphones; the Samsung Galaxy S, the Motorola Droid X and the HTC Desire. The tests showed how the smartphone displays held up to eight light levels, from 0 lux (total darkness) to 40,000 lux (indirect outdoor sunlight). The final results show that the Lumia 900 beat out the other smartphones in this area, with the report stating, "This results from a combination of its high screen Brightness and low screen Reflectance, which Nokia calls ClearBlack technology."
Once more, the five smartphones were the top models that the study looked over in terms of outdoor readability. The study states, "ALL manufacturers need to pay much more attention to their display performance in high Ambient Lighting because that is frequently how they are used. The highly touted and advertised display Contrast Ratio applies only to Absolute Darkness, which makes it pretty much irrelevant for mobile devices."
The same study also looked at four tablets and concluded that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 had the best display for outdoor reading. The new iPad apparently is just behind the Galaxy Tab 10.1, even with its high resolution display.
Image via DisplayMate