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.
You must log in or register to comment.
Would I need to upgrade to 3.5 before taking out my 1tb ssd with all my games on, and putting it into the new oled deck ?
I would for sure upgrade first
most likely 3.5 will release as the same time as the oled model
Waiting for 3.5 as well. I had installed it before, but reverted back because of some input issues. The color change makes it so much better. Was hoping it was already in beta, but looks like it is still not there yet.
Most of the reviewers have installed 3.5 from main or beta chanel already.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
“while the stable channel is still on 3.4” And if we look at your image, we can see that you are on the beta channel, not the stable channel.
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