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[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

Nintendoes with the Switch 2 what Nintendoes best: putting terrible screens on their hardware (with a few exceptions, like the later GBA SP models and maybe the Switch OLED). So, good news, the Switch 2 is shaping up to be a true handheld… proudly following in the footsteps of the 3DS and its awful display! At a price of a PS5, it's downright indecent.

 

[FireFly]

Most of those screen are in the 6.5/6.7 inch region.

And there's tablets with good screens too.

Nintendo surely can get a great deal for a screen that will sell many, many millions of copies.

Do we know who is supplying them?

No, but it was rumoured to be Sharp in 2023.

Sharp Working on LCD Screen for Next Generation Gaming Console

Sharp Corporation's Chief Executive Officer, Robert Wu, has revealed that the Japanese company's display division is involved in the research and development of an LCD screen intended for use in an "upcoming" gaming console. This small detail was announced during an earnings briefing/call with...

www.techpowerup.com

Their Aquos line offers "true" HDR, but the latest models seem to be OLED only. It's not clear if they have an LCD that would deliver decent HDR support.

Edit:

Oh yeah, Switch is now in the low volume niche production category… .

No, but there are differences in economies of scale between phones and handhelds.

 

[TheAssist]

How is the brightness of the screen outside? I'd love to take a handheld with me while hiking in the forest and play some Zelda or something. Best of both worlds.

 

[jm89]

You guys are gonna be in trouble when gigabowser is back.

 

[Killer8]

nort believ nerds got unit in hand best eveerrrr derstroys steemdeck

 

[nowhat]

nort believ nerds got unit in hand best eveerrrr derstroys steemdeck

 

[Fermbiz]

Reading stuff like this is a double edge sword.... Now I can notice the damn ghosting on this shit screen....

 

[Revolutionary]

Terrible, but honestly it doesn't matter to me since my Switch usage is 99% docked.

 

[LuckyLuke]

The original article begins with this premise.

Nintendo Switch 2付属ディスプレイの「画質」をレビュー【応答速度や色域が判明】 | ちもろぐ

任天堂の大人気ゲーム機「Switch 2」本体に付属している、あの7.9インチディスプレイの画質をレビューするオタク向け記事です。目視だけでなく、測定機材（分光測色計）も使って、搭載されている液晶パネルの性能を詳しく検証します。

chimolog.co

"This is a report investigating the display performance of the main unit, a detail that 99% of regular people buying a Switch 2 absolutely do not care about."

 

[Parazels]

Has the Switch OLED passed those tests?
What results?

 

[SatansReverence]

I'm surprised it's even possible to buy such a low quality display in 2025.

It looks like the very first LCD I bought for my 360 back in 2007/8

 

[MicTyson]

Yes, this is the actual screen.

Seems like Nintendo chose the absolutely cheapest bottom rung LCD they could find.

I mean, are you surprised? It's not just Nintendo. Sony and Microsoft make everything as cheap as possible too.

 

[diffusionx]

I mean, are you surprised? It's not just Nintendo. Sony and Microsoft make everything as cheap as possible too.

PS Portal has a far nicer screen than this.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Not sure where John got his 3 times worse than Steam deck info

Switch 2

Steam deck

50% / 80% Grey Switch 2 would be peak 27.46 ms vs 30.1ms SD
From 0% to 100% Switch 2 lands at 10~11.24ms vs 14.5 ms SD

Not a high bar but just curious where he pulled that 3 times worse out of

I think an overdrive correction via software update can mitigate motion blur a lot

 

[Pop]

I mean, are you surprised? It's not just Nintendo. Sony and Microsoft make everything as cheap as possible too.

Portal screen is actually quite nice

This is just Nintendo being cheap

 

[Dacvak]

Nintendo really is looking at that OLED refresh, huh. And those bastards know we'll pay for it, too.

The screen has been fine for MK, but it's certainly not a great screen. Thankfully the colors are still very nice and vibrant, and the VRR works great. It's by and large a better screen than some devices, like the OG Steam Deck, which had some of the worst colors and viewing angles I've ever seen.

But it's still nowhere near as good as a Switch OLED. I really hope we get a hardware refresh sooner rather than later…

 

[BlackTron]

A hardware refresh is going to have to make the launch model look like a DS phat for me to buy another one.

 

[Pejo]

You guys are ignorant. It's so slow because Miyamoto personally hand delivers every pixel, with that Nintendo TLC.

Slower than the Switch 1 display sure is something though, cheap asses.

 

[fallingdove]

It's sounding more and more plausible that Nintendo prevented gaming outlets from reviewing the devices ahead of launch to hide some gremlins.

- HDR issues
- Stick drift is alive and well
- Poor screen durability
- Worst LCD response time in the market
- No docked VRR

Wasn't the estimated build cost around $350?

 

[FeastYoEyes]

That's a big yikes.

 

[IFireflyl]

Not sure where John got his 3 times worse than Steam deck info

Switch 2

Steam deck

50% / 80% Grey Switch 2 would be peak 27.46 ms vs 30.1ms SD
From 0% to 100% Switch 2 lands at 10~11.24ms vs 14.5 ms SD

Not a high bar but just curious where he pulled that 3 times worse out of

Agreed. And one problem with both of these images is that we don't know how these were tested. If each of these tested only a single device, then it would be ridiculous to assume that this is a widespread "issue" (in quotes because I don't truly know the impact). If they used multiple devices with multiple runs per device, then these results would likely confirm a widespread "issue". Having said that, the ASUS RPG Ally pantsed everyone in these images, which doesn't surprise me as that screen looked sharp even at launch.

I will throw shade at Nintendo any day of the week, but only for things that are legitimately issues (or that I perceive to be issues). $80 base games? Lick my sweaty butthole you greedy trollops. However, I don't think this is something that anyone should be truly upset about without confirmation of widespread visual issues due to a sub-par screen.

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

Japan clearly got the fair msrp while the rest of us are just being:

 

[Neofire]

I'm curious to how they can charge 450 for a system with a inferior LCD screen compared to the original switch or did they cut corners on the display to get the price down to 450?

I know this rains on Nintendo fans parade with this news but let's be real no company is above a mistep.....not even Nintendo.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Don't worry guys, the real GigaBowser will return to us soon

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Sonic is just too fast for the screen.

 

[Bry0]

That's like iPad tier terrible response times. Yikes.
Apple usually partially makes it up with excellent calibration, but response times like that for a gaming device is a really questionable choice.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I'm either skipping this Nintendo gen or waiting for the oled to fix all this. But by the time that comes out I might be buying the Steam Deck 2 oled.

 

[readonly]

I'm gonna assume this is down to their tuning of the display to reduce the power consumption as much as possible. Using overdrive would increase the volts used to change pixels and increase power consumption to the display. I'm not an expert on displays but wonder if there's any inverse to overdrive that would reduce power consumption but increase pixel response times.

 

[bender]

Nintendo really is looking at that OLED refresh, huh. And those bastards know we'll pay for it, too.

The screen has been fine for MK, but it's certainly not a great screen. Thankfully the colors are still very nice and vibrant, and the VRR works great. It's by and large a better screen than some devices, like the OG Steam Deck, which had some of the worst colors and viewing angles I've ever seen.

But it's still nowhere near as good as a Switch OLED. I really hope we get a hardware refresh sooner rather than later…

I'd guess we are 3-4 years away from an OLED. If it follows the path of S1, we'll see a revision with better battery life and a Lite model first.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Not suggesting "sufficient" is a high bar. It does the job. I'd love to know what the price difference would have been for an OLED.

GL finding a OLED that size 1080p@120hz

 

[StreetsofBeige]

17 ms response time.

Is it apples to apples to compare against old ass LCD TV screens from the 2000s where 8 ms was even bad? Back then you could literally see the motion ghosting.

 

[Topher]

GL finding a OLED that size 1080p@120hz

I would have settled for Steam Deck's OLED, frankly

 

[scydrex]

Ok so wait for the OLED for $500 and $500 bundle...

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Waiting for the inevitable OLED revision seems like a wise choice.

That could be years away which fucking sucks so hard.

 

[Hoddi]

GL finding a OLED that size 1080p@120hz

iPhone X had a resolution of 2436x1125 all the way back in 2017. Price is a different issue but those displays do exist.

I find the whole thing pretty disappointing, personally. I don't mind that they have a low cost option but I would have pre-ordered the thing if they had an OLED version at launch even if it cost more. I also wouldn't mind if it had a decent LCD but this just isn't it.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Yup, the screen sucks donkey balls. I was originally angry at no OLED until I realized I don't play handheld so what the hell.

The HDR settings are laughable. Nintendo should be ashamed as there has to be one person at the company that should have said something. Maybe the guy in shipping.

 

[ReasonBeing]

and not one person playing Mario Kart World gives a damn.

John did say it's mostly noticable on 2D elements and 3D games don't suffer too much from this.

 

[POKEYCLYDE]

Glad there isn't anything I want to play on it yet, so I've held off on purchasing. Not that they'll fix this issue anytime soon. They still have joycon drift FFS.

 

[REDRZA MWS]

Well, can't blame Nintendo. They've made it clear they will never compete with hardware again. Cant expect anything close to modern let alone "next gen". You know what your buying, a toy , not anything gonna do 4k/VRR/instant response times etc etc etc.

 

[Jacobson]

bros just dock it

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

I'm surprised it's even possible to buy such a low quality display in 2025.

It looks like the very first LCD I bought for my 360 back in 2007/8

That's an exaggeration and a half ....im a stickler for good displays and I own 3 oleds ...the Switch 2 screen is indeed worse but if a game gets patched for 1080p and HDR it can look as good as my switch oled

But that's the problem....Nintendo has only patched 12 or so games so far ...so unpatched games like MP Remastered and Luigis Mansion, Mario Wonder, Pikmin4 do indeed look worse on Switch 2

What bothers me is this- Nintendo could've solved so many "problems" by offering people an Oled model Switch 2! Could've charged me an extra $100 and I would've happily bought it and so would many other people. Not only would this have made for better looking games but it would've improved battery life a ton AND we would've actually had great HDR....

I recently learned that Switch 2 screen tops out at only 450 nits....no wonder HDR kinda sucks.. well, OLED would've solved that issue too as it doesn't require high peak brightness for great HDR!

But ....i think there is definitely some over exaggeration going on here. I've tested many games next to my Oled and its very much a game by game basis as to how they stack up. Most don't look significantly worse, however, some definitely do like Metroid Dread and games that have a darker color palette. I also think the color accuracy of Switch 2 is a little sub par.

Games that have received patches though? Like Echoes of Wisdom, Links Awakening, etc actually look pretty great...Nintendo though im worried won't bother patching most of their games. Even Sony and Microsoft couldn't be bothered to patch all of their own games for SX/PS5/Ps5 Pro....if they can't be bothered then Nintendo certainly won't be!

 

[Camper182]

Weird, i had the original steam deck LCD, which i got rid of due to ghosting.
Now, i own a Switch 2 and am only slightly noticing the ghosting, a lot less than when i had the Steam Deck. Still noticeable tho.
Are there different manufacturers/suppliers for the LCDs in the Switch 2's? I might have one of the "better" LCDs in my Switch 2 ?

 

[fallingdove]

That's an exaggeration and a half ....im a stickler for good displays and I own 3 oleds ...the Switch 2 screen is indeed worse but if a game gets patched for 1080p and HDR it can look as good as my switch oled

But that's the problem....Nintendo has only patched 12 or so games so far ...so unpatched games like MP Remastered and Luigis Mansion, Mario Wonder, Pikmin4 do indeed look worse on Switch 2

What bothers me is this- Nintendo could've solved so many "problems" by offering people an Oled model Switch 2! Could've charged me an extra $100 and I would've happily bought it and so would many other people. Not only would this have made for better looking games but it would've improved battery life a ton AND we would've actually had great HDR....

I recently learned that Switch 2 screen tops out at only 450 nits....no wonder HDR kinda sucks.. well, OLED would've solved that issue too as it doesn't require high peak brightness for great HDR!

But ....i think there is definitely some over exaggeration going on here. I've tested many games next to my Oled and its very much a game by game basis as to how they stack up. Most don't look significantly worse, however, some definitely do like Metroid Dread and games that have a darker color palette. I also think the color accuracy of Switch 2 is a little sub par.

Games that have received patches though? Like Echoes of Wisdom, Links Awakening, etc actually look pretty great...Nintendo though im worried won't bother patching most of their games. Even Sony and Microsoft couldn't be bothered to patch all of their own games for SX/PS5/Ps5 Pro....if they can't be bothered then Nintendo certainly won't be!

Patching a game doesn't address the poor response time/ghosting though right? That's a hardware situation.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I would have settled for Steam Deck's OLED, frankly

iPhone X had a resolution of 2436x1125 all the way back in 2017. Price is a different issue but those displays do exist.

I find the whole thing pretty disappointing, personally. I don't mind that they have a low cost option but I would have pre-ordered the thing if they had an OLED version at launch even if it cost more. I also wouldn't mind if it had a decent LCD but this just isn't it.

Not 1080p@120hz OLED.
They don't exist at 7.9 inches.

I think because of the larger SOC they went with that screen size.(Could be wrong)

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Weird, i had the original steam deck LCD, which i got rid of due to ghosting.
Now, i own a Switch 2 and am only slightly noticing the ghosting, a lot less than when i had the Steam Deck. Still noticeable tho.
Are there different manufacturers/suppliers for the LCDs in the Switch 2's? I might have one of the "better" LCDs in my Switch 2 ?

Good question.
We don't notice it on the two models we have.

 

[Neff]

So I tried playing in handheld mode for the first time since owning it, and I don't know what all the fuss is about. The screen looks great and is responsive. I just dodge offset'd Gracious and Glorious to death, no problem.

 

[Danjin44]

So I tried playing in handheld mode for the first time since owning it, and I don't know what all the fuss is about. The screen looks great and is responsive. I just dodge offset'd Gracious and Glorious to death, no problem.

Same, maybe I just don't have eyes for these things because so far I haven't experienced any ghosting.

 

[Bernardougf]

This doesn't matter to the average Nintendo user. Gameplay > screen response time. For those 17 ms or less, nothing else matters when you're locked in, it's just you, the game, and family.

And in about six months.. "wow this brand new oled screen is amazing and so responsive, its game changing!"

Nintendo fans, never change you're amazing.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

It's sounding more and more plausible that Nintendo prevented gaming outlets from reviewing the devices ahead of launch to hide some gremlins.

- HDR issues
- Stick drift is alive and well
- Poor screen durability
- Worst LCD response time in the market
- No docked VRR

Wasn't the estimated build cost around $350?

Outlets got to preview it. But it was ina controlled environment and they weren't allowed to mess with settings I believe. So in brightly lit room, not sunlight, the screen probably would have its best showing. In bright light or darker rooms it falters as far as picture quality goes.

It's an edge lit IPS. So HDR being poor isn't a surprise. IPS, if I recall correctly also traditionally have the slowest response types of the three main lcd display types. The positives for IPS are color gamuts are generally better and is off axis viewing is better, both of which seem to be true for the screen. Yes, an OLED screen would be a better option. Hope, they do have an update more closely than last gen.

 

[Ceadeus]

Once again I would be the only one thinking the image looks good and crisp. Could it has been better? Probably. It's a bit irritating but what gives? Being pissed off is just draining energy for nothing.

We used to enjoy playing on a PSP..