This technology of Samsung flagship units within the Galaxy S21 line-up is sort of totally different to that of previous years, as Samsung has opted to create a way more uneven machine line-up between the “standard” Galaxy S21, S21+ and the bigger, extra feature-packed Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Beyond the cameras and the overall form-factor, the one space the place the Galaxy S21 Ultra differs considerably to its siblings is the show. This just isn’t solely because of the cheaper siblings opting to downgrade to FHD decision panels, but additionally as a result of the S21 Ultra generationally employs a model new first-of-its-kind OLED display that pushes the boundaries by way of expertise.
QHD at 120Hz, lastly, however nonetheless restricted VRR
One of the bigger adjustments within the capabilities of the S21 Ultra show is that skill to lastly run the display at its native 1440 x 3200 decision at 120Hz – an possibility that beforehand wasn’t doable on the S20 or Notice20 sequence units.
Samsung’s manner of enabling that is comparatively simple and in step with what’s we’ve seen within the OnePlus 8 Pro final yr: the MIPI interface clock has been upped from 1157MHz to 1462MHz. It’s nonetheless a single 4-lane interface by way of width, however like on the 8 Pro, the elevated frequency permits for enough bandwidth to now allow the excessive refresh charge at excessive decision.
The panel of the S21 Ultra, very similar to the Notice20 Ultra, makes use of a brand new hybrid oxide and polycrystalline backplane expertise which is roughly equal to LTPO show applied sciences, and permits it to allow low refresh charges and seamless switching between refresh charges.
We’ve coated this new VRR (variable refresh charge) extensively in our display evaluation of the Notice20 Ultra and the way it works transparently to the {hardware}, and the way the LFD (low-frequency drive) is ready to obtain nice energy effectivity advantages when within the “Adaptive” display refresh charge mode.
In this regard, the Galaxy S21 Ultra behaves the identical because the Notice20 Ultra. It’s to be famous that this additionally contains the behaviour of the VRR mechanism just isn’t useful in low ambient brightness conditions, with energy consumption various relying on what the ambient mild sensor of the telephone is choosing up. This signifies that when in brighter conditions the place the ambient mild sensor detects luminance past 40 lux, the VRR and LFD are working seemingly as supposed.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra now permitting QHD at 120Hz, imply that we’ve got 2 further working modes for the show in comparison with how the Notice20 Ultra ran issues:
At 60Hz QHD decision, the bottom energy consumption of the S21 Ultra (an Exynos 2100 variant on this context), makes use of up 469 to 481mW of energy on a very black display by way of complete machine energy. Similarly to the Notice20 Ultra, we’re seeing that there’s nonetheless some kind of VRR/LFD working when within the 60Hz mode because the show will devour much less energy when in brighter ambient conditions, though the delta right here is lower than what we noticed on the Notice20 Ultra.
At 120Hz FHD, the identical working modes that doable on the Notice20 Ultra, the S21 Ultra right here appears to devour 130mW extra for some purpose, ending up at 558mW over the Notice20 Ultra’s 428mW. I’m not too positive as to why we’re seeing this bigger distinction between the units, however we’re speaking about totally different DDICs and totally different panels together with totally different SoCs right here.
The S21 Ultra right here compares very properly in opposition to the Snapdragon S20 Ultra, utilizing as much as round 200mW much less energy, though the distinction to the Exynos S20 Ultra isn’t that large at solely round 45mW.
Unfortunately, the large catch on Samsung’s VRR/LFD mechanism is similar as on the Notice20 Ultra, as if you end up in ambient mild situations under 40lux, the facility financial savings mechanisms don’t work anymore,…
