Some Samsung Galaxy S8 units apparently have a red tint on their display, but Samsung does not consider it a defect — more like an easily adjustable detail.
For those unfamiliar with the matter, the Galaxy S8 is not set to go on sale in the United States until April 21, but it already launched in Samsung's home country of South Korea on April 17.
The smartphone had been leaked, rumored and anticipated for months before its release and Samsung fans worldwide were eagerly waiting for its release, but for some early customers the excitement quickly turned into disappointment when they noticed an unusual red tint on the smartphone's screen.
Galaxy S8 Red Screen
The top search engine in South Korea, Naver, saw a spike in searches about the smartphone and with "Galaxy S8 Red Screen" as one of the most searched terms on Tuesday morning, with early Galaxy S8 owners who got their new handset heading online for more details on the red display tint.
The issue quickly went viral, and numerous users uploaded photos of their red-screen Galaxy S8 on social media, forums and other online venues, asking others about the matter.
Galaxy S8 Red Tint Is Not A Defect And It's Easy To Fix
Samsung, for its part, did not deny that the Galaxy S8 might display unusually red visuals, but it's far from a manufacturing defect. The company says that the glitch is easily fixable by tweaking the color optimization settings for the display.
However, some users apparently tried Samsung's proposed course of action and adjusted the color optimization settings, but it did not solve the problem.
A red tint is not nearly as serious as the exploding battery issues that plagued the Galaxy Note 7 and forced Samsung to recall the device twice, but it's still frustrating especially since high-end flagships like the Galaxy S8 don't come cheap. Nevertheless, industry observers agree that the matter is not as critical as to warrant a recall, since there's no safety hazard involved and it only seems to affect a small number of Galaxy S8 units.
Galaxy S8 Red Screen: Minor Glitch Or Serious Defect?
While Samsung has downplayed the severity of the Galaxy S8 red tint, however, some experts worry that it may actually be a sign of a more serious matter. Some speculate that the curious hue might stem from defective chips that caused a GPU malfunction, while others argue that the structure of the display might be unstable because of the new 18.5:9 aspect ratio.
Others, meanwhile, believe that the red tint could stem from Samsung's new deep red AMOLED technology, which made its debut on the Galaxy S8. The technology uses two types of joint pixels — blue-green and red-green — and Samsung made the red ones look deeper and stronger because the green ones could cause a color imbalance. This could have backfired, causing the red tint instead.
Whatever the cause, early Samsung Galaxy S8 customers might want to take a good look at their smartphone as soon as they get it and, if the red tint is present, try first to adjust the settings. To do so, access the smartphone's Settings> Display > Screen Mode > Color balance.