Raising the Bar for Smartphone Displays, Galaxy S9 Earns DisplayMate’s Highest-Ever A+ Grade

The results of DisplayMate Technologies’ comprehensive evaluation of the Galaxy S9’s Infinity Display are in. The world’s leading evaluator of screens has concluded that Samsung’s latest flagship is equipped with “the best performing smartphone display that we have ever tested,” and has awarded the device its highest-ever “Excellent A+” grade.

Although the Galaxy S9’s 3K Quad HD+ OLED Infinity Display features the same size (5.8 inches) and resolution (2960 x 1440) as last year’s Galaxy S8, the new device matches or sets many smartphone display performance records, and outpaces its predecessor in several measures including color accuracy, brightness, outdoor visibility and reflectivity.

Each of the Infinity Display’s screen modes demonstrates record-setting absolute color accuracy, which means that depicted colors are visually indistinguishable from perfect. In Cinema Mode, the Galaxy S9 has been rated to 0.7 JNCD (Just Noticeable Color Difference), a measurement that refers to the bare minimum color difference that the human eye can perceive. The display also features a wide native color gamut – 113 percent of DCI-P3 and 141 percent of sRGB/Rec. 709*; the largest that DisplayMate has ever measured in a smartphone or tablet.

The Galaxy S9 offers users the best in terms of image quality and brightness, and features an enhanced High Brightness Mode that allows it to produce vibrant visuals when users need them, such as when they’re under direct sunlight or in other environments with lots of ambient light. The display’s peak brightness of 1,130 nits is approximately 10.7 percent brighter than that of the Galaxy S8.

The Galaxy S9 also features a record-setting reflectance score – another measure that’s crucial when it comes to evaluating screen readability, picture quality and color accuracy in bright settings. DisplayMate’s evaluation has found that the display’s screen reflectance level is just 4.4 percent, which is the lowest that the firm has ever measured in a smartphone.

The device is additionally certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium, which means that the Galaxy S9 is capable of playing the same dynamic 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range) content as 4K UHD premium TVs.

The Galaxy S9 will be available in stores beginning on March 16.

*The Galaxy S9 features four screen modes calibrated for different content, applications and user preferences. These measurements reflect the devices’ default screen mode, ‘Adaptive Display’.