As was reported, the Steam Deck OLED comes with SteamOS 3.5 preinstalled, while the stable channel is still on 3.4.
This means if reviewers didn’t take care to properly match the software versions on the OLED and LCD models, they might not compare apples to apples. The effect is probably small, but so is the reported performance and power draw difference between the models. Also SteamOS 3.5 introduces the saturation slider which in its default setting tries to emulate sRGB more, and could affect screen comparisons.
See for example Taki Udon’s first video, where clearly it is visible that MangoHUD is an older version on the LCD model https://youtu.be/3C6ekDyO18s?t=807
So unless it is explicitly mentioned or shown otherwise, assume that part of the differences might be due to different software versions.
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Most of the reviewers have installed 3.5 from main or beta chanel already.
This may be why the first Gamers Nexus video was a tear down. They’re working on an in depth review
I think OLED is still gonna make a substantial difference considering the LCD panel they chose only covers like 60% of sRGB, but I too am curious what build # came with the review units
The power differences and performance are all based on changes in hardware. Do not expect an appreciable difference. Not to mention 3.5 is available to everyone here on the respective channel, and has been for a while.
tests are currently showing that the new chip is actually less efficient at lower wattages despite being 6nm
As another comment pointed out, the SMT bug is also fixed in 3.5.
The move to faster memory definitely helps performance, as was shown by those who overclocked the LPDDR5 on their launch models.
But the effect of both is game dependent, you can’t say it is all one or the other.
iirc the SMT bug is also only fixed with 3.5
I must only watch better reviewers (like Taki Udon) but so far they’ve all mentioned this. Seems like the SD OLED is absolutely gorgeous from all I’ve heard
The video linked by OP is Taki Udon’s first video of the two made for oled steam deck this far. But he does mention it in the second video and show direct effects of the slider op is questioning.
Doing the lords work right here.
I would love the OLED but since I already have a deck, gonna just wait for the deck 2 in a few years. Gotta stop spending money on small upgrades like I did with the Switch.
From a screen standpoint this doesn’t matter that much. The screen does look a LOT better on 3.5 than it did before but if you have a reasonably modern phone at hand you can just do a comparison of its screen with the Deck IRL.
Good way to know if OLED is an upgrade that’s worth it for you.
The LCD can literally only cover 70% of the very basic sRGB color gamut. The saturation slider in SteamOS 3.5 does not “correct” this problem. The OLED screen is not better because the saturation slider is cranked up. It’s better because it covers 100% of sRGB, 97% of DCI-P3, is capable of 600 nits in SDR, and 1000 nits in HDR. It has per pixel dimming allowing it to have infinite contrast. OLED pixels transition between colors effectively instantaneously for the purposes of a gaming discussion.
These two things are simply incomparable regardless of the version of SteamOS running. The LCD appears pale to the eye without the Decky Loader plugin because it cannot generate the necessary colors. Cranking up the saturation makes the colors it can generate appear more vibrant but wildly inaccurate.
Jokes on you, I’m colorblind
Dude, the screen on the SD has been shit since launch. Increasing saturation via digital vibrance is a placebo effect in looking good - it’s not color accurate at all. It’s got like 60-70% SRGB coverage, account for variation, which is really, really bad when the SD was released and especially now. The new OLED model has like 121% SRGB coverage, literally over double, and can hit 1000 nits peak brightness in HDR, over 2x the brightness. in SDR, it is 50% brighter.
It’s display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity.
No software update is gonna change all that.
It’s display latency is also 0.1ms vs like 7ms, which is significant in terms of motion clarity.
I found this to explain it:
Pixel color change response time on OLED is faster. 30x faster.
On the LCD, this creates a motion blur effect. We can see the slow motion comparison near the beginning of above video.
For some people, the much faster OLED pixel response time can make stuttering visuals at lower FPS. <– this is what I found when googling.
Alternately, people can see smearing and ghosting at higher FPS on LCDs, when compared to OLED.
The smearing on LCD is especially noticeable in dark areas in a game, that is the pixel response time is slowest between black pixels and bright pixels.
Overall, TBD.
I’m going to wait and see what people say about steam deck OLED running at 40Hz or 30FPS @ 60Hz.
The color saturation slider is of course not the real deal. But it makes the colors pop more, which is part of what people want.
for one clip in Digital Foundry’s video they show the overlay proving their LCD was running 3.4. I made a post about this earlier and got downvoted saying I was wrong and they could never make a mistake like that. glad to see this post got traction.
Dude, an LCD screen can try a lot to be an OLED screen, but it will never be. Besides, the OLED screen takes less space, so the Steam Deck OLED has a bigger battery and the performance is better because OLED displays consume less energy.
Sure the software can give you better performance, but overrall, the SD OLED is far better than the LCD version.
Something most people AREN’T talking about is the persistence of the display; although it isn’t too bad; the Steamdeck LCD display has noticeable “ghosting” that on the OLED isn’t present. This is called “Motion clarity” and the oled steamdeck should be a massive improvement on that front.
I don’t want to burst your bubble, but that Deck is on 3.5.
Gundam Deck = 3.5
Black LCD Deck = 3.5
Atomic Purple Deck HD = 3.5.1The MangoHUD version shown in the performance overlay clearly is different in the screenshot (Gundam LCD is v0.6.9-1-22-g1d8f9f6 and OLED is v0.7.0-54g9393066). So possibly one is on 3.5 and one on 3.5.1 which is not as bad as 3.4 vs 3.5, but still not properly matched.