200 vs 280 nits: a picture of the difference

Sharing the battery tests on the Q1P earlier today led to quite the revelation: Samantha appears to have an LED backlight. Weren't we just discussing that technology yesterday? It's already made an impact on my mobile device because the Q1P looks to get at least an hour more of runtime over the original Q1. So, aside from the potential power savings: how does the screen look?

Above are both devices with the Brightness setting on each set to the minimum. Sammy with the standard backlight is on the left and looking kinda dim. Samantha is on the right, and if we're correct, is providing vibrant color and brightness using LED backlighting. I stepped through some brightness settings and have a trail of pictures to illustrate the difference.

Sammy now has 50% brightness while Samantha is still at the lowest setting. To the eye, these are pretty comparable.

Both units are now at 50% brightness.

Sammy gets boosted to full brightness while Samantha is unchanged at 50%. Again, these are comparable to the eye.

Both units running at full brightness.

If we do the math and compare 200 nits against 280 nits, it comes out to a 40% brightness boost. That makes sense since the Q1 at full brightness looks similar to the Q1P at 50% brightness. Add that to the benefit of around 40% to 50% more runtime if the test was right and this device looks even more attractive. I'll be peforming more tests to validate and verify what we've seen so far.

The shame of this is: the product page for the Samsung Q1P only states that the screen is 280 nits of brightness; if that's due to the LED backlighting, why not mention that in the specs?

Comments

[Steve Paine]

You're right. Samsung have really missed a trick.
If they want to sell a device, they should highlight the advantages. A 4 hours battery life is a huge one!!!!
Steve.

[Anton P. Nym]

That's an amazing difference; either more visibility in daylight or a nice extension to battery life. It makes the jump in price a bit more understandable on the Q1P, too; LCD isn't expensive, but it ain't as cheap as cold cathode either. Once again Samsung stays quiet on a desirable feature rather than bring it out as a genuine competitive advantage. *sigh*

(The Q1P is looking really nice, but I'm still keeping my aulden Q1.)

-- Steve

[Ken N.]

Hope springs eternal that Samsung used that same energy saving screen on the Q1b (it sure looks that way from Samsung's less-than-informative web page). With its battery sipping Via processor, that should go forever on a charge! Wasn't UberTablet reviewing that unit?

[Michael Venini]

WOW. That is a big difference.

So is Sammy jealous of Samantha’s screen?

[medah4rick]

so how did we figure out it has led backlighting?

[jk]

Kevin,now you're nitpicking again. :)

[John in Norway]

But is it now usable outdoors? The Q1 certainly isn't.

[JKK]

...just open your device and if you can't see any inverter connected to screen, it uses leds ;)
Inverter in q1 is about 1cm x 10cm pcb with 2 silicon cables connected to screen..

[Mike Cane]

Yes, what about outdoors?!??

[Carsten]

but my q1 is sometimes even too bright for me at the lowest setting! this way the q1p would be unusable in very low light conditions (a dark room e.g.).

if it would make the q1 usuable outside on a sunny day, I could live with it, though...

[John Christian]

This is indeed good news. I have the Q1P and was impressed with the brightness on the device - in normal living room circumstances I often turn it down to 2 (out of 8). I have not yet tried it outdoor, but in my office which has very bright overhead lights I feel I need to crank it up to the full 8 to use it. My Dell screen is certainly more bright than my Q1P.

I have updated the Wikipedia Q1 article with a link to this blog posting.

Kevin, can you write the model here? I would like to compare it to mine which is NP-Q1-V002/SEA - wondering if all Q1Ps are the same or if this is something they have recently changed on the Q1P. I ordered mine just before christmas so I am hoping I have a new production if so.

[Willie]

Is there a way to get the brighter screen to the q1 celeron. The q1 isnt bright enough on the low settings. And to watch a movies the brightness level has to all the way up. And that kills the battery.

[grimster]

Not all Q1p has the LED screen. :( I have model NP-Q1-V002/SEA and it has the regular old lamp screen. Yes I took it apart. So beware when buying the Q1p! Its going to be a hit or miss for awhile. Im exchanging mine since its only a week. Not becuase of the screen but because the joystick is not functioning correctly. Hopfully I will get the LED version. Fingers crossed.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Although the evidence is compelling so far, I have not re-run my testing, so we shouldn't jump the gun just yet. There is another Q1P user reporting 3 to 3.5 hours of battery life here, which is promising: http://www.origamiportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=831&forum=8&post_id=3240#forumpost3240

Additionally, I've just posed the question on the Q1P backlighting to Samsung through Edelman, their PR agency. Once I have a response, I'll share what I can.

[Helmut]

My Q1P screen brightness looks comparable to the pictures of the Q1 in this post. I also get a maximum of about 2.75 hours of battery life for the standard battery with brightness set to 4 out of 8 and minimal video watching.