Apple’s iPhones can be quite complicated to repair. Users need to shell out a lot, and also wait for a considerable amount of time to get them repaired directly from Apple’s dealers.
The other option would be to hire the services of a third party store for repair and replacement. However, when third-party repairs are sought, one must ensure that the replacement parts meet the standard of quality — especially in case of an LCD. A spurious part, or one that does not meet the quality standards, will pose problems with the touch, display, viewing, software updates and many more.
Price is not the sole factor for buyers to consider. LCD screen suppliers need to study how to provide the best service solution to their customers.
In the replacement market, there are various Chinese-made LCD technology products such as LT, Tianma, Auo, and LG. One is not sure as to how each of these would meet the expectations of the customers, in terms of matching with the Original equipment (OE).
The replacement market or aftermarket (as popularly called) LCDs, if not sourced properly, will lead to a host of issues such as:
1. Thicker, Wider, Longer screens:
Research has indicated that unlike OEMs, especially those of Apple, the aftermarket spare screens are marginally thicker causing fitment issues as well as backlight consistency. This leads to dimmer screens, and can also lead to dark spots on the screen.
Further, these are slightly longer as well as wider than the original parts and hence, while attempting to fit them into the original frame, there are possibilities of the original frame bending or breaking. This increases the pressure and risk of the mobile service operators, requiring greater care to ensure minimal or no damage to the OE.
2. Notch Difference:
This refers to the bundle of possible differences popularly called notch difference that occurs when replaced with a screen other than OE. This requires re-adjusting the cameras that are actually fitted to the original height in the case of OE.
Such issues especially those of thicker screens also leads to touch sensitivity, which in turn lead to delayed response time (which can be irritating while texting).
Research has also indicated that replaced non-OE screens with these differences leads to a quicker battery drain, with the screen heating up, resulting in safety issues and frequent recharging.
3. Color:
Apart from physical discrepancies, there are also differences in the color gamut, with LCDs having a narrow gamut compared to the OE. The color tones of the replaced screens are usually significantly cooler, as compared to warmer color tones of the OE.
4. Display Structure:
In OE iPhones, the touch screen is rooted in the LCD screen. This form of structure helps make the display thinner as against other smartphones.
However, in aftermarket LCDs, the structure is quite different making them thicker, leading to response delay and battery usage.
How To Select A Better LCD Screen?
Several factors have to be considered when choosing a proper LCD. One must look out for a better Display and Touch Panel. There are basically two types of mobile displays: TFT LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Displays) and AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode). Presently there are super AMOLEDs too, where the touch system layer is embedded into the display.
An indicative set of Touch Panel technology terms are discussed below:
- GG (glass lens and glass sensor): This has a single glass sensor and better mechanical strength. It has ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) glass in rhombus structure that enables multiple touch points.
- GFF（cover glass and film sensor): It has double layer film sensors, ITO glass in rhombus structure enabling multiple touch points.
- OGS (one glass solution): The touch screen and glass is laminated into a single piece, and the glass has ITO coating. This LCD screen will be thinner, flexible and sans air gaps. It is also cheaper.
- In-Cell: This has the Touch panel along with a sensor beneath the color filter glass.
- On-Cell: Here the Touch panel plus sensor is embedded between the polarizer and the color filter glass. This is a comparatively easier technology when compared to in-cell.
In-cell and on-cell technologies are relatively newer ones and costlier too. They do not offer a stable performance.
GFF technology has slightly enhanced sensitivity, but low optical effect. OGS possesses single lamination only, and that can lead to security problems.
In comparison to various other technologies, GG is widely used and relatively lower priced. But using this has its own disadvantages as discussed earlier, as it is far from the OE.
Understanding KingWo Technology
The advent of KingWo (KW) LCD technology with CE and ROHS certification has addressed the fear of clients in the replacement market, with regards to getting a closer or a perfect match with the OE.
KingWo technology has a perfect combination of Brightness, Chromaticity, and Polarizer solution in the aftermarket mobile business.
The Brightness, Chromaticity and Polarization factor tested for KingWo technology by the third party Teevo, has shown that this technology is way ahead and matching the OE, as compared to its Chinese counterparts.
1. Teevo's Brightness Testing:
This refers to the brightness variation that gets dispersed around the screen and is best noticed when using the full-screen display for purposes such as while using spreadsheets, documents, etc.
For instance, the Luminance (amount of light reflected from a particular area) comparison between conventional LCD technology and that of KingWo technology as tested by Teevo is described below:
2. Teevo's Chromaticity Testing:
This refers to the quality of the color regardless, of its luminance. The chromatic triangle formed used in the sRGB (standard Red, green blue) primaries is an essential metric for gamut verification.
Chromatic changes scatter, but they are not noticeable on the screen while the brightness factor gets noticed on screen. Improper chromaticity may cause unnatural graphic displays and deterioration in color reproduction.
KingWo has passed the white image chromaticity test with the never blue never green and never red tint factors indicating the best possible chromaticity.
3. Teevo's Polarization Testing:
This refers to the polarizing filter which is a transparent crystal that allows light waves of a particular polarization direction to pass through. For instance, a vertical polarizer allows only vertical polarized waves to pass through it, while the horizontal waves are blocked completely.
The following figure shows a Vertical Polarizer:
An LCD display uses two polarizers to control brightness. However, since each display has millions of pixels and each pixel requires to be controlled independently, it is impractical to rotate polarizers within every pixel.
This is overcome by liquid crystal. LCDs use a form called Twisted Nematic (TN) crystals. These molecules are cylindrical and are found in a twisted arrangement.
Liquid crystals possess two properties that help in LCDs. First is the ability to adapt themselves in an electric field, and the second is to enable twisting the polarization of light that passes through them.
Polarizers and Liquid crystals together control the brightness of LCD Pixel and form the base of conventional twisted Nematic TFT LCD, i.e. TFT LCD and its relative IPS LCD. TFT LCD is widely used and costs less, but has restricted color reproduction and viewing angle while IPS (inline plane switching) LCD has up to 170 degrees wider view angle and better resolution as well as brightness and chromaticity when viewed from different angles and is a little expensive.
Pricey LCD Displays give better quality resolution with broader viewing angles. Apple uses Retina Display that comes with high pixel density and a wide array of pixel densities ranging from 326 ppi for small devices, 264 pi for medium and 220 pi for larger ones with better viewing distance.
The best part is KingWo technology has achieved 100% in this polarizer testing and one can get a 360-degree perfect vision even with sunglasses.
Further, this technology has anti-fingerprint oil coating that makes it scratch resistant and in this case a shade better than the OE.
Hence, though the generic replacement market screens may be cheaper, it must be remembered that they are LCDs and not the OLEDs used by OEMs.
Some prominent KingWo Product features are:
- Superior quality connector.
- RA copper treated of FPC with 30% more foldability the folding as compared to ordinary material.
-
Extreme high brightness to view even in strong sunshine.
(5.5-inch above 400 nit, max.565 nit; 4.7 above 450 nit, max 550 nit) - Kingwo3D enables better playing 3D games.
- 360° exceptional vision with sunglasses.
- 100% clearance in the original test standard for iPhone LCD.
Bonus: How To Look For A Cell Phone Parts Supplier!
According to Teevo 2018 survey data, there are top 5 factors that influence buyers to make a decision:
- Company History: An established company is expected to have great professionals who have helped it survive for this long. It is expected to have a good reputation in this industry and can help buyers avoid the risks.
- Good Quality: A professional inspection procedure by the vendor before shipment, indicates better control of the product quality. A complaint from the buyer regarding a poor LCD screen is too costly in terms of replacement, reputation, and cost especially if the buyer is overseas.
- After-sale Service: Buyers always request at least one year warranty from the third party service providers, besides product warranty. There are very entities that are able to offer such warranty, with TechRepair being one of them.
- Factory Sourcing: Compared to trade companies, LCD screen factories can supply the quality that the buyer needs with a high performance-price. This coupled with a long warranty clause will be an added bonus for the purchaser.
- Supply Chain: Third-party cell phone service centers request and offer customized package solution, requiring suppliers to have the ability to allocate their supply chain resources to meet the customers’ demands.
To conclude, the supply chain of cell phone replacement part market is huge and unorganized, without any standards.
Hence, finding a trustworthy partner who can build a long-term relationship and help in long-term growth is essential for cell phone repair shops and the closest that comes to the OE are the centers that use KingWo technology.
Some custom tests offered by Teevo are:
- Touch Screen
- Bright Display
- Polarizer
- Oil Film
- Thickness
-
Fingerprint
Hence, those looking for a perfect aftermarket LCD screen should insist on spares that have better LCD quality. They should bear in mind that the ones that are perfect in terms of Brightness, Polarizer, and Chromaticity are the perfect aftermarket ones to go for.
TechRepair is a perfect one-stop shop for sourcing all mobile parts, as they are tested using internally defined standards, and they offer various grades at various amazing prices.
Further, they also educate mobile store owners regarding various mobile parts present in the market, as only an informed person can make the right decision.
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