The top-notch Infinity Display, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are apparently facing some color blending issues, commonly referred to as "black crush."
Samsung's AMOLED displays are famous for their high quality and crisp details, yet they're not without a fault. Several Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ users have taken to various online forums to report this black crush issue, which has previously affected other smartphones such as the Google Pixel 2 XL.
Galaxy S9 'Black Crush' Screen Issue Explained
This "black crush" screen issue refers to various dark shades displayed inaccurately. As a result, dark sections of videos or images can appear with blocks or black, pixelated, or grainy, which is quite the opposite of what you'd expect from a top-notch, high-resolution display. The visuals rendered with this "black crush" issue are with significantly less detail, like a file that's lost most of its quality after heavy compression.
Simply put, rather than showing details, screens affected by this issue will show blocks of pixelated or black images in dark sections. The Android Soul shows this issue in a sample image, with the phone above displaying the picture correctly, while the one below suffers from the "black crush" issue.
This problem seems more prevalent on Galaxy S9+ units, and it apparently becomes apparent at lower brightness.
Hardware Or Software Issue?
While it might seem like a hardware issue at first glance, it's most likely a software one. Phones that have previously faced such problems fixed it through a software update, and this will likely apply in this case as well. Samsung should issue an update soon enough, and the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ should display visuals correctly again, even in the darkest shades.
Galaxy S9 'Black Crush' Fix: Temporary Workaround
Until Samsung issues a software update to address this issue on its flagship smartphones, users can take matters into their own hands and resort to a temporary workaround that should make things significantly better.
In the Pixel 2 XL's case, for instance, users were able to improve this color blending issue by using a special app called Screen Balance. The app is available as a free download from the Google Play store and should work as a decent workaround until an official fix becomes available.
It remains unclear at this point just how widespread this issue really is, but it doesn't affect all handsets. If you have a Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+, have you experienced such color blending issues? Let us know in the comments section below.
