Introduction to Always-On Display
Always on Display or AOD is a feature found in smartphones with LED, OLED, or SuperAMOLED displays. This function enables us to view text, date, time, or graphics on our screen even when the display is switched off.
Always-On Display (AOD) is only available on LED, OLED, or SuperAMOLED displays, not on LCD displays. The explanation for this is due to the technologies used in these displays.
Let’s start with the fundamentals of our smartphone’s display.
Does Always-On Display (AOD) drain battery, especially on Samsung Phones?
A smartphone’s display is primarily divided into two types: LCD and LED. LED displays come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including OLED, AMOLED, MicroLED, QLED, and others. There are also various types of LCDs, such as TN, IPS, and so on.
To fully comprehend the Always-on Monitor, let us first examine how these two display technologies — LCD and LED — work.
LCD vs LED, what are the pros and cons of LCD and LED panels?
How does LCD work?
The image above depicts a room with two windows. The warm light of the sun is streaming in. On each of those walls, the owner has hung a room darkening curtain. When we draw the curtain over a window, no light enters the room through that window. As a result, while we can’t control the sun’s rays, we can control the curtain to let light in through whichever window we like.
The image above is a representation of a two-pixel LCD. The sun is referred to as a backlight, each window is referred to as a pixel, the curtain is referred to as liquid crystal, and our mechanical work to open and close those curtains is referred to as voltage or electricity.
How does an LED display work?
LED is an abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode. Modern electronics has helped us to make these LEDs so small that they are invisible to the naked eye. One significant advantage of this Display is that we can individually toggle these light-emitting diodes on and off.
As a result, does the Always-On Display drain the battery?
No, it does not. Since the display driver in an LED, OLED, or Super AMOLED display only switches on those pixels (LED) needed to show text, picture, or graphics relevant to AOD, all other pixels (LED) are switched off, the Always-On Display does not drain the battery. As a result, it consumes very little energy, and in our experiment on our Samsung phones, we discovered that it only consumes 1% of the battery’s energy per hour.
Should I allow the Always-On Display?
We use the AOD feature on our Samsung devices. However, several people are hesitant to activate this AOD for two reasons:
- Battery drainage is a problem.
- Concerns about OLED show screen burn
According to our testing, Always-On Display consumes approximately 1% of the battery charge per hour when only the time, date, and battery percentage are shown on the AOD panel. We have interviewed a large number of our peers, colleagues, and family members. Many who have used this AOD have reported no problems with battery drainage. Furthermore, even though AOD is turned on, the screen turns off when we place our phone in our pocket or purse. As a result of our real-world experience, we can attest that Always-on Display does not drain the power.
Is it possible to get a screen burn from Always-On Display ?
There is a disadvantage to the OLED display. It’s known as the “screen burn” issue. If an image, text, or graphics remains in the same location for an extended period of time, it will leave a ghost mark in the Display. For instance, the black notification bar on some Samsung phones or the direction icon in Google Maps if you use it frequently. As a result, the worry with Always-On Display is that it will trigger “screen burn” on the OLED Display. Don’t worry; it won’t happen.
We’ve been using AOD on our Samsung phones for three years and haven’t experienced any screen burn.
The Always-on Display does not trigger screen burn; it is caused by the fact that the Always-on text, graphics, time, date, alerts, and so on do not remain in the same place all of the time. To avoid this issue, the software that powers AOD shifts them on a regular basis.
Why are there no Always-On Display on the LCD screen?
This functionality is technically feasible on a smartphone with an LCD screen. However, it will drain the battery. It’s because the LCD screen’s backlight is still on, draining the phone’s battery. An LCD, unlike OLED, does not allow us to monitor individual pixel lighting. As a result, the Always-on Display option on an LCD-screen smartphone makes no practical sense.
Conclusion to Always-On Display
In short, Always-On Display is a wonderful feature that many people are unaware of, and many do not use it because they believe it will drain their battery power. However, the AOD feature consumes very little resources, so we can use it on our phone without worry.
