When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 Ultra at the late-February Galaxy Unpacked event, everyone was buzzing about the new Privacy Display feature. Not only that, but Samsung claimed it has finally upgraded its displays to true 10-bit panels, capable of displaying over a billion colors and eliminating the color banding that has plagued its flagships for years.
While that last part is true of the S26 Ultra’s screen, Samsung confirmed to Android Authority that the displays were actually 8-bit panels (16.7 million colors), not 10-bit (1.07 billion colors) as initially advertised. Apple was sued back in 2008 over similar claims about its laptop displays. Meanwhile, competing flagship phones like the Honor Magic 8 Pro and OnePlus 15 utilize true 10-bit panels.
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The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display is just built different
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
One of my most common tests involves watching this 4K HDR YouTube video about wildlife in Costa Rica. The green snake scene at the 8-second mark is the perfect showcase of whether a phone is capable of 10-bit color reproduction. In the image above, you’ll see clear color banding on the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s display, while it’s not visible at all on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Color banding is a stark separation of colors that appears when a display isn’t capable of showing all the colors in a gradient.
Since Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display is still an 8-bit display, as the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s is, this means that Samsung adopted some sort of dithering to make the color shift appear smoother. Typically, this means using FRC, which looks like this excellent quick explainer video from Wikipedia. However, that’s not what’s happening on the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display.
I’ve created a quick example video here of what FRC usually looks like on LCD and OLED displays under a microscope at 480FPS to compare them to what’s happening on the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display:
So it’s clear that Samsung is doing something different with the Galaxy S26’s 10-bit software simulation method, but it’s not clear what they are doing to achieve this. I’ve reached out to Samsung and asked about the company’s methodology, but didn’t hear back in time for publishing.
While viewing the video above, you can see the pixels “dancing” during the two examples, showing what dithering typically looks like on an LCD and an OLED. When looking at the gradients under a microscope on the Galaxy 26 Ultra’s screen, I don’t see any pixel flashing or movement, which is exactly how it should be.
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(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
I’ve been performing display testing to detect dithering for years and have never seen a display that does this. I never like to guarantee that a display will never use dithering because it’s impossible to test every app and source where dithering could occur. The image above is a great example of why I say this (open the original image if the site compression ruined it). There’s no color banding in the 10-bit video, yet the YouTube app exhibits clear color banding right next to the video.
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This brings up a fascinating, and often confusing, reason why tricks like FRC are so difficult to measure or determine. Samsung’s method here is an interesting one that appears to be far better than the rest, at the very least, but there’s also no telling if and when the company’s techniques could become a problem for flicker-sensitive users.
Why dithering is a problem
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Temporal dithering is a rather fascinating trick that uses speed to trick our eyes into seeing something that doesn’t exist. Other temporal tricks, like PWM dimming, are employed in a way that leverages the idea that most human eyes cannot see flickering at a certain rate, but they ignore the fact that our brains process sight in different ways.
For some people, flickering lights or colors can create discomfort. A mild headache, sore or dry eyes, and dizziness are some common mild symptoms associated with FRC dithering and PWM dimming. Others, however, are not so lucky. Discomfort from these display tricks is well-documented on forums like LEDstrain and the PWM sensitive sub-Reddit, and I’ve known many individuals who fear for their jobs because modern operating systems have started forcing the tactic.
One prominent member of the PWM-sensitive community, Mark, has found himself in this exact situation. Mark explained to me that “Microsoft introduced ‘dithering’ in Windows 11 display manager since some build in version 22H2 – which has unfortunately rendered Windows 11 completely unusable to me and others as we are sensitive to dithering and flickering.”
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
A question levied to Microsoft’s official IT YouTube channel in early December (start at 8:27) confirmed Mark’s findings. “None of the current accessibility tools remedy this issue,” Mark said, “and I’m really worried about my ability to work going forward, as I’ve already had to persuade my reluctant IT department to let me carry on with Windows 10 under ESU.”
Of course, the solution should be simple: either buy a 10-bit display or change the color space to 8-bit in the OS. But the problem is twofold. Modern operating systems almost never allow users to force 8-bit color and, even then, there’s no guarantee an app won’t try to use dithering to “deliver a better experience,” as the marketing so often puts it.
The second is that 10-bit panels are elusive, as this debacle with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s display proves. As was the case with PWM dimming, many companies started employing tactics without proper research, only to find out that users started complaining about not being able to use the latest devices because of them.
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
In a world where everything is connected and you’re forced to at use newer versions of nearly everything, poor decisions by companies are forcing users to make life changes they otherwise wouldn’t have. The low frequency PWM rate of the Galaxy S26 Ultra makes it impossible to recommend to flicker-sensitive people, for instance.
Samsung’s use of FRC to fake 10-bit color means its displays have the potential to bother even more users, as I’m personally sensitive to PWM dimming but not at all bothered by FRC dithering. Several others find themselves in the opposite boat, and it’s ultimately up to companies to companies to pursue the needs of its customers if they want to keep them. I just hope Samsung is listening.
See the Privacy Display in action on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the first phone that can protect your messages and other sensitive information the moment someone else looks at it.
